Bonus! - Dead Alive (Braindead)

Do you like blood? Do you really like blood? Well, then DEAD ALIVE might be just what the doctor ordered for you. The rest of us, on the other hand, will look the other way and wonder how is it that the man behind this mindless gorefest ended up helming one of the most successful franchises in the world (yeah, the one with the ring). Listen to Alex and Julio as they take a trip back to Peter Jackson’s humble beginnings and uncover a whole lot of guts and not a whole lot of anything else!

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144 - Doctor Who: The Movie

Doctor Who? More like Doctor Who Doesn’t Like This Movie? Listen to Alex & Julio as they finally fulfill a promise made almost two years ago, and give The Contrarians Treatment to a controversial entry in a franchise they know next to nothing about! Is there anything more charming than 90s commercial breaks? Why was there such a backlash to a hunky Doctor? And can we all agree that Eric Roberts is a national treasure?

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143 - Mad Max: Fury Road

Y’all are too easy to impress. Sure, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD is a fine action flick. But best motion picture of the year? One of the GOATs? Let’s all take a breath. We don’t even get a Mel Gibson cameo here! Thus, Alex & Julio start their eighth year of podcasting by welcoming David, Irena, and Rhys from the Franchise Killer podcast, to join them in bringing the fourth Max Max film down a few notches. Should we really be praising George Miller for not having the courage to simply make a Furiousa movie instead of smuggling her inside an almost-dead franchise?

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Bonus! - The 2021 Embries

Happy birthday to us! We’ve been doing this podcasting thing for seven years, and loyal listeners know we like to celebrate by handing out our very own brand of awards. Join Alex & Julio as they recap the most recent year in Contrarians History and celebrate the good, the bad, and the sexy stuff they covered since the last Embries ceremony!

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142 - Oscar

We can’t seem to stay away from movies where Sylvester Stallone is determined to prove to the world he can be funny. And you know what, OSCAR might just be ultimate proof of his comedic bonafides. Surrounded by a cast of titans - Marissa Tomei! Tim Curry! Chazz Palminteri! - Sly carries OSCAR through its delightfully convoluted plot like an absolute champ. And somehow this got a 12% on the Tomatometer??? Listen to Alex & Julio, joined by Ryan & Bartek from the SPIT & POLISH podcast, jumping in to defend Stallone’s finest hour!

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141 - Baby Driver

It was bound to happen. Sooner or later, Edgar Wright was going to let style win over substance, and we were all going to pay the price. BABY DRIVER fooled critics with its hipster soundtrack and its attractive cast, managing to weasel itself toward a 92% Tomatometer score - and allowing its director to be celebrated for his most shallow effort yet. Listen to Alex and Julio as they refuse to be blinded by the cool cars and the pretty people - and take B-A-B-Y to task!

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Bonus! - The Master

As the years have gone by, irresistible boy-wonder Paul Thomas Anderson has gone from being the cool guy who directed an ode to the porn industry to being the boring old man behind a period dramedy where Daniel Day Lewis put us all to sleep. Somewhere in between Boogie Nights and Phantom Thread lies THE MASTER, a pretentious, bloated, so-called “exposé” on Scientology that fooled critics into thinking it was great - even though nobody could really agree on what the movie was saying. Listen to Alex & Julio break down the mutually parasitic relationship between Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix in PTA’s most overrated film!

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140 - Pain & Gain

It’s so easy to make fun of Michael Bay, Filmmaking Bro Extraordinaire. On the other hand, it’s not so easy to fully engage with a truly challenging film in his oeuvre. Is PAIN & GAIN a misguided celebration of American stupidity, or a surprising cautionary tale about the dangerous allure of the American Dream? The Tomatometer can’t make up its mind, so it’s up to Alex & Julio to figure it out in yet another Gray Area battle!

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139 - In the Cut

Sometimes actors take a left turn in their careers and it pays off wonderfully, with award nominations and a creative renaissance. Sometimes, IN THE CUT happens. Meg Ryan’s attempt to pivot from romantic comedies into erotic thrillers bombed hard, despite being helmed by acclaimed filmmaker Jane Campion, and despite co-starring a young, virile, mustached Mark Ruffalo. Listen to Alex and Julio as they praise this indie deep-dive into the perils of being a woman with a healthy sexual appetite in New York City!

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Bonus! - Hancock

Simply put: 2008 is the year humanity failed cinema. Audiences & critics embraced vanilla superhero fare like IRON MAN and THE DARK KNIGHT, and then turned their nose up at a much more challenging take on the genre. Peter Berg’s HANCOCK gave us a hero we hadn’t seen before, played by a Will Smith we hadn’t seen before, and it was clearly too much for the world to process. Listen to Alex & Julio as they discuss the untapped potential of this maligned masterpiece - a work of art that could’ve saved us from the current MCU and DCEU nightmares we’re living through.

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