The Contrarians

The Contrarians embark on a quest unlike any other as they’re joined by Joe Hulbert and STEVE(!) to host a 20-year retrospective on the ground-breaking reality television series, The Ultimate Fighter. For Episode 1 of this 14-part journey, we chronicle the history of the UFC heading into 2005 and put into perspective just how much was at stake with this show. We pick our teams and learn about our...

Even if you haven’t seen MAN ON FIRE, you probably have a good idea of whether you’ll like it or not, especially once you learn it was directed by latter-day Tony Scott. It’s Denzel on a revenge rampage across the border! But does that play a little differently 20 years from when it was released? And how does it hold up against other revenge stories we’ve covered on the show? That and more on this...

There’s no explosion like an explosion Denzel Washington walks away from in slow motion. Tony Scott understood this, audiences in 2004 understood this, but critics did not. And so MAN ON FIRE sits with a shocking 38% Tomatometer score, despite giving us the very first Denzel / Dakota Fanning team-up. Listen to Alex & Julio celebrate another exciting Denzel adventure while trying to ignore the...

We gave it a shot, but it was inevitable to bring up Bone Tomahawk time and again when talking about S. Craig Zahler’s most recent effort. There’s more to this Real Talk segment than unflattering comparisons thought! Gibson’s persona, Vaughnn’s seriousness, and what can we really make of that Jennifer Carpenter sequence? This is how we close 2024! TIMELINE 00:01:26 Long-term Damage 00:02:29 Real T...

It took S. Craig Zahler three movies to unleash an anti-woke manifesto on the masses - all wrapped around an attempted Mel Gibson comeback vehicle. It must have looked like a ridiculously bad idea on paper, yet critics loved DRAGGED ACROSS CONCRETE. Thus, The Contrarians are here to tell you it is, indeed, ridiculously bad. Listen to Alex & Julio as they ponder the meaning of “anchovies”! TIME...

We have a wide range of Trek-experience on this episode, and that’s part of what makes this Real Talk segment so special. Both Contrarians and both Yum Yum Podcasters agree it’s a slow movie and we all also agree it’s not the best adventure the Enterprise crew has been in - but at least one of us loves it, and one of us finds it extremely boring. Plus: should this story have ended with Kirk sacrif...

Long before Star Trek was anchored by young hipsters like Chris Pine and Sonequa Martin Green, it was a franchise that revolved around adults dealing with heady matters. Less shooting, more thinking. Less quips, more philosophical pondering. STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE has been underappreciated ever since its debut, even by Trek fans, so it’s time for Alex & Julio - with help from Trek exper...

Some critics say THE APARTMENT hasn’t aged particularly well. Is it the lighthearted depiction of infidelity, the sudden shift into very dramatic circumstances, the patriarchal happy ending, or something else? We discuss that in this Real Talk segment, as well as our ongoing efforts to figure out Billy Wilder as a filmmaker. Also: a special announcement about an upcoming new project! TIMELINE 00:0...

Let’s travel back to the 50s, when men cheated on their wives like it was a competition and the one dude who enabled them was considered a hero. Billy Wilder’s THE APARTMENT sports a towering 93% score in the Tomatometer, so it clearly needs to be taken down a peg. Listen to Alex & Julio as they discuss the logistics of turning your bachelor pad into a cheap motel, and wonder if Jack Lemmon wa...

Will Alex be able to look past his unabashed adoration for The Exorcist so he can embrace a sillier exorcism movie? Will THE POPE’S EXORCIST be part of that rare group of horror flicks Julio can enjoy? More importantly: are you aware of Russell Crowe’s Wrestlemania connection? All this and more in this Real Talk segment! TIMELINE 00:01:26 The Great Deceiver 00:02:14 Real Talk 00:54:09 The Future &...

Russell Crowe has reached the delightful stage of his career where he’s just having fun. No longer burdened with the responsibility of being a hunky leading man, Crowe has played a schlocky Mr. Hyde, a campy Zeus, and now, a lighthearted exorcist. Love it. Unfortunately, THE POPE’S EXORCIST met with lukewarm critical reception, which means is up to The Contrarians to sing its praises. Listen to Al...

It’s taken close to ten years for MOANA to get a sequel - an uncommon length of time for a movie so successful. Does it hold up as we prepare for the further adventures of Moana and Maui? Even better: does it live up to the hype for someone who had never seen it before? And what are the odds that The Rock dresses up as Maui on his next wrestling match? The answers to this (and more!) lie in this R...

Every now and then, Disney likes to apply its Disney Template to other cultures in an effort to diversify the way it makes trillions of dollars. As the release of Moana 2 looms in our immediate future, it may be a good time to revisit the original MOANA and try to figure out why critics keep falling for the same tricks over and over. Listen to Alex and Julio as they try to figure out if the novelt...

It wasn’t that long ago that we praised Steven Spielberg’s gritty take on the war genre. Does Clint Eastwood’s similar approach to Westerns manage to capture our interest the same way? UNFORGIVEN is just as celebrated as Saving Private Ryan, but you could argue we have less of a connection to its origin and its stars. So do we find anything transcendent in Eastwood’s most acclaimed cowboy adventur...

Props where props are due: back in 1992, Clint Eastwood figured out a way to turn his status as an aging cowboy into an asset. UNFORGIVEN may be an unremarkable Western, but Clint managed to trick critics and audiences into buying it as an exploration of the first half of his career - successfully fueling the second half. Listen to Alex & Julio as they try to determine if this movie has anythi...

This one’s for the fans. And for us, honestly. It’s been ten years since we sat down to record the first episode of The Contrarians, and the journey has been fun, rewarding, and well-worth celebrating. So allow us to be more than a little self-indulgent as we stroll down memory lane, go over some of the show’s milestones and listen to messages from our friends and patrons! TIMELINE 00:00:59 Ten Ye...

In a Contrarians year dominated by Peter Bogdanovich and PJ Hogan, will their filmographies take over our annual awards ceremony? The only way for you to find out is to listen to The Embries 2024, as we celebrate the last twelve months of Contrarians awesomeness by giving away Embries, Hooeys, Ruffalos, Gads, and The Lancaster Dodd Grant! TIMELINE 00:01:24 The Embries 2024 00:12:55 Supporting Actr...

We dragged poor Paul from The Countdown, kicking and screaming, through a Contrarians Corner dedicated to one of his favorite movies. Now it's time for the all-out praise-fest to be unleashed... or is it? How do we truly feel about SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, and what do we make of that American flag waving us goodbye as the end credits get ready to roll? It's a heavier Real Talk segment than the one in...

Oscars are like Pringles: you can't stop at just one. And that's why Steven Spielberg spent several years chasing the high of winning all those Academy Awards for Schindler's List - a journey that culminated in a Best Director Oscar for SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. The price? Sucking the fun out of the war movie genre forever. Listen to Alex & Julio - joined by SPR Superfan Paul from The Countdown Pod...

Okay, level with us, Judge Dredd fans: is the hate mostly about the helmet? The Contrarians are barely familiar with the 2000 AD comics, so it's very likely this Real Talk segment won't reflect the feelings of the average Dredd fan. But surely we can find common ground? Surely we can agree that Stallone looks great? And can this movie be judged as a 90s Sci-Fi Flick, separate from its comic book o...

Find us a more pitch-perfect casting than Sylvester Stallone's granite jaw as Judge Dredd. Find us a more delightful comic relief sidekick than pre-MAGA Rob Schneider. Find us a hotter cop/lawyer hybrid than Diane Lane. But the Tomatometer didn't care, and it stamped the 1995 JUDGE DREDD adaptation with a rotten 22% score. Listen to Alex & Julio as they celebrate a comic book movie that wasn't...

Michael Fassbender: videogame geek. Who would've thunk it? There is certainly passion and determination to be felt when watching ASSASSIN'S CREED, but is it in service of a movie worth watching? This Real Talk segment finds Alex, Julio, Nerdbomber, and Techtic trying to crack the code to a successful video game adaptation! TIMELINE 00:01:26 Murderer 00:02:26 Real Talk 00:51:19 The Future & Pat...

Oh, how the world changes. Back in 2016, the ASSASSIN'S CREED movie was ahead of the curve, taking its source material seriously before people were ready to give video game film adaptations the respect they deserve. Poor Michael Fassbender put in the work to set up an ambitious franchise, and the Tomatometer stamped an 18% score on it. Listen to Alex, Julio, and special guests Nerdbomber & Tec...

Who said Tom Cruise has the monopoly on ridiculously over-the-top spy adventures? And what happens once you get past the Mission: Impossible comparisons when you are discussing PATHAAN? Neither Contrarian is familiar with the other movies in the YRF Spy Universe, but does that mean they can't fully enjoy Shah Rukh Khan's escapades? This and more in this Real Talk segment! TIMELINE 00:01:26 Ask Not...

Once upon a time, Die Hard was the template for action movies. Die Hard On A Plane. Die Hard On A Train. But we are now in the era of Mission Impossible clones, so PATHAAN is the Hindi version of an Ethan Hunt adventure - a very popular one, at 82% on the Tomatometer. Is the Shah Rukh Khan vehicle worthy of all the praise? Listen to Alex & Julio as they dive into another Indian action blockbus...