131 - Grudge Match

It would’ve been easy for Sylvester Stallone & Robert DeNiro to simply coast on the strength of the high-concept behind GRUDGE MATCH: “Rocky versus Raging Bull”. Instead, Sly & DeNiro got in excellent shape and provided inspiration to all of us slackers who keep putting off doing crunches & push-ups. Unfortunately, the Tomatometer hates fit senior citizens, and critics slapped a rotten 31% on this film . . . which means it’s time for Alex & Julio to celebrate all its merits! Listen to The Contrarians rally behind the last great American boxing movie - which also happened to be a Christmas release!

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Bonus! - Tango & Cash

The over-the-top fun of The 80s didn’t surrender to the angsty thoughtfulness of The 90s without a fight. Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell teamed-up to fight crime, make us laugh, and prove that yes, sometimes cops do go to prison - and unfairly too! Listen to Alex and Julio take on the much maligned last great action movie: TANGO & CASH! Why can’t critics appreciate Sly playing against type? Why can’t they appreciate Russell boldly dressing in drag before the world was ready for it? And how can anyone resent an early appearance from the best Lois Lane ever? Also: Jack Palance kisses a rat!

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130 - Crash (1996)

It’s impossible to talk about sexy 90s movies without bringing up David Cronenberg’s CRASH. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? The Tomatometer can’t make up its mind, so The Contrarians must battle! On this latest Gray Area Episode, Alex will attack CRASH’s gratuitousness while Julio does his best to defend Cronenberg’s kinks. Is James Spader being turned off by car accidents a bold approach to sexuality in film? Did we really need Casey Jones’s image forever stained in our memories? And what’s up with that leg scene?

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129 - The Wrestler

Darren Aronofsky’s THE WRESTLER is like that guy who won’t shut up about how they did the special effects for a movie. Nobody cares, dude, shut up and stop ruining the magic. Still, Aronofsky’s most boring movie racked up critical acclaim and landed a whopping 98% Tomatometer score, so you know what happens next: Listen to Alex & Julio as they lament the damage Mickey Rourke’s Oscar grab inflicted on the pro wrestling industry! Laugh at the mere idea of anyone making fun of a stripper that looked like Marisa Tomei! And cringe at Aronofsky’s attempt at making a serious film!

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Bonus! - Bacurau

If an American filmmaker depicted Brazil the way BACURAU does, they’d be accused of stereotyping a foreign country. When Brazilian filmmakers do it, however, they get top honors at Cannes and a 93% on the Tomatometer. What kind of double standard is that? Listen to Alex and Julio as they try to make sense of the weirdest Brazilian Western - if such a thing could even exist. When does Udo Kier become a hindrance in your movie? Why is it important to have a clear protagonist? And why would anyone mix science fiction with magical realism?

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128 - Showgirls

SHOWGIRLS is a movie made up of scenes that could only exist in SHOWGIRLS. That alone makes it worthy of recognition, and that’s before you even factor in how director Paul Verhoeven and screenwriter Joe Eszterhas managed to depict Vegas in an unflinchingly brutal - yet still entertaining - way. So, of course, the Tomatometer deems this film rotten and now Alex and Julio have to come to its rescue. Elizabeth Berkley, Gina Gershon, and Kyle MacLachlan getting down and dirty for two hours? How could anyone hate this movie???

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127 - Marriage Story

Rich white people have feelings too, and that’s okay. What’s not okay is pretending their lifestyle is relatable to us common folk. Basically, if any of us was married to Scarlett Johansson and she wanted to move to L.A., we’d say, sure, anything you want, dear. Nevertheless, MARRIAGE STORY became a critical darling and now Alex and Julio have to take it down a peg. It’s Noah Baumbach’s long-awaited debut on The Contrarians! Will he sink the show with his high-falutin dialogue, his heavy-handed symbolism, and his overall pretentiousness? Only one way to find out!

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Bonus! - Sling Blade

Back in 1996, Billy Bob Thornton became a household name by making a movie that not only made fun of the South, but it also demonized Southern hospitality. We hope you can sleep at night, Billy Bob. Listen to Alex and Julio as they wrestle with the critically acclaimed and disturbingly offensive SLING BLADE! Is this really two and a half hours glorifying murder? Why did Billy Bob cast beloved comedian John Ritter as a target of homophobic abuse? Is the whole film a subtweet about the quality of Dwight Yoakam’s music?

Thanks for patron Ben Murray for the pick!

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126 - Indecent Proposal

Talk about a high concept: would you rent out your spouse to Robert Redford for a million dollars? You’d think the answer would lead to a lurid tale about sex and money, but the beautiful twist in Adrian Lyne’s INDECENT PROPOSAL is it’s actually about three people learning the meaning of true love. Listen to Alex and Julio analyze the most heartbreaking and life-affirming romantic relationship covered on the show! Share their fascination with Robert Redford’s sex contracts! And ponder the ultimate question: WOULD YOU?

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125 - Robocop (1987)

For his American debut, Paul Verhoeven knew exactly how to win over movie critics and audiences: with a crude celebration of violence. Listen to Alex and Julio as they discuss the cheap Terminator knock-off ROBOCOP, an encapsulation of everything that was wrong in The 80s! Why are all these cops as trigger-happy as the criminals? Why doesn’t Nancy Allen feel guilty about causing the death of her partner? Did anyone tell Peter Weller he wasn’t a robot at the beginning of the movie? And who can take Red Foreman seriously as a villain?

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