The Contrarians

The tenth installment of Fresh Immigrants, Rotten Fascists introduces us to the Gangoli family - first generation Indian immigrants to America. Familiar faces Irrfan Khan and Tabu play the parents, but the big marketing angle was Kal Penn’s dramatic turn as their son, he of the multiple names throughout the movie. THE NAMESAKE, based on a novel by Jhumpa Lahiri, directed by Mira Nair, was certainly an important step in Penn branching out from his Harold and Kumar persona, but it’s also a gentle, heartfelt portrayal of what it’s like to have two homelands.

Thank...

How much sleaziness is too much sleaziness? Is Elmore Leonard’s 52 PICK-UP as nasty as its John Frankenheimer adaptation? Does the movie deserve its somewhat forgotten status in the director’s filmography, or should we all push for a 52 PICK-UP re-evaluation? This and more in this Real Talk segment - including a roll call of all the adult performers in the infamous party sequence!

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00:01:26 Second Feature

00:02:23 Real Talk

00:53:27 The Future & Patreon Stuff

- Interested in more Contrarians goodness? Join THE CONTRARIANS SUPPLEMENTS on our Patreon Page! Deleted clips, exte...

The second chapter of B2B - Bedroom to Box Office - brings us a gaggle of porn stars smack dab in the middle of a mean, nasty, supremely entertaining John Frankenheimer joint. Sadly, 52 PICK-UP was too sleazy for critics and not even the Elmore Leonard connection or having Roy Scheider as its star saved it from a rotten Tomatometer score. Listen to Alex & Julio as they welcome the man behind Reindeer Games back to the show with another banger!

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00:01:24 52 Pick-Up

00:08:34 Contrarians Corner

- Wanna know how we really feel...

The real surprise when it comes to RABID is that Cronenberg meant it to be about the dangers of mishandling an epidemic. As much as we can all relate to that, it can be difficult to connect to that theme when it’s carried by a movie that plays like a parody of the director’s body-horror obsessions. But how does Marilyn Chambers do, regardless of the film’s shortcomings? Listen to this Real Talk segment and find out!

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00:01:26 Get out of there!!!!

00:02:25 Real Talk

00:56:33 The Future & Patreon Stuff

- I...

Our Bedroom to Box Office Summer Event begins with David Cronenberg’s sophomore effort, RABID - a horror ditty starring iconic adult movie star Marilyn Chambers. The concept of patient zero using an armpit-stinger to infect other people must have blown critics’ minds back in the 70s, leading to a fresh 78% Tomatometer score. To us? It’s basic, uninspired Cronenberg. Listen to Alex & Julio as they analyze this awkward takedown of plastic surgery culture!

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00:01:24 Rabid (1977)

00:12:42 Contrarians Corner

- Wanna know how we really feel about RABID (1977)? Check out the Real Talk...

As the long-awaited(?) Ronda Rousey Vs. Gina Carano fight looms, Julio and Alex are, once again, joined by Joe and STEVE(!) to reflect on a fighter crossing over to film.

As the four travel back to 2012 for Steven Soderbergh's Haywire, the conversation takes some wild, and some very expected, turns.

The perfect appetizer for Saturday's Netflix MMA event is here. Grab a drink and join the boys for an (semi)action-packed jaunt!

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The ninth installment of Fresh Immigrants, Rotten Fascists features a presidential sex scandal, and the (fake) war the White House creates to distract from it. WAG THE DOG could have been written yesterday! Although you could argue Robert DeNiro, Anne Heche, and Dustin Hoffman are waaaaaay more competent than the crooks we get in the real world…

Thank you for checking this new project out, whether you are a long-time Contrarians fan or someone who’s just trying to listen to people talking positively about immigrants and negatively about fascism. If you have any recommendations for future entr...

It’s hard to think anyone could argue against the cast of this DENNIS THE MENACE adaptation. It’s not just Matthau, Thompson, and Christopher Lloyd doing solid work, but also Mason Gamble as Dennis, holding his own against them. And it’s directed by Nick Castle, the original Michael Myers? We can all agree it’s an artifact of interest at least. But is it a good movie too, or does it only work if you let nostalgia for the 90s (and perhaps your own childhood) overwhelm you?

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00:01:26 Only been around for five years

We’ve been around our fair share of children and we can assure you, there is far worse than poor Dennis out there. That’s not to say that DENNIS THE MENACE doesn’t work as a brutal takedown of bad parenting and the crux carried by the community that has to deal with a spoiled kid. With a 28% on the Tomatometer, this Walter Matthau vehicle (no, he doesn’t play Dennis) is screaming for a Contrarians defense! So listen to Alex & Julio as they celebrate the return of Lea Thompson to the show and commiserate for the unfairly reviled...

Like Westerns and Musicals, Romantic Comedies keep being pronounced dead and then fighting their way back into relevance. RYE LANE is certainly a strong effort to revive the genre, even if it doesn’t reinvent the wheel the way some of the critical acclaim proclaims. Does it matter if you have a good time? And can you have a good time if you are very much over some of the tropes the movie embraces? Let’s find out in this Real Talk segment!

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00:01:26 The arms are nice

00:02:24 Real Talk

00:44:02 The Futu...

When you take the concept of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl and you apply it to an entire movie - making a Manic Pixie Dream Film, if you will - you get RYE LANE. And you know what, critics are so starved for romcoms that the super quirky romance between David Jonsson and Vivian Oparah received an impressive 98% score on the Tomatometer. How could we resist? Listen to Alex & Julio grind their teeth and make their way through the British equivalent of a Zooey Deschanel vehicle.

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00:01:24 Rye Lane

00:14:25 Contrarians Corner

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Eight episodes of Fresh Immigrants, Rotten Fascists in, it’s time to pause, take a breath, and invite someone to help us recap what we’ve gone through so far. Enter the always articulate, always passionate, Jason from Binge Movies (and also The Slashers) - a very smart friend of the show who partially inspired this FIRF venture. Listen as Alex, Julio, and Jason talk about the eight films covered on FIRF since July 2025, rank them, and give them made-up awards!

Thank you for checking this new project out, whether you are a long-time Contrarians fan or s...

Not sure “Bruce Dern one-man show” was on our checklist for this Contrarians Year but that was the hand we were dealt on this episode. And yes, the drones are cute, but can we really sync with what SILENT RUNNING is trying to do, with its slow pace, and in-your-face ecological activism? Find out in this Real Talk segment!

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00:01:26 Nobody cares

00:02:17 Real Talk

00:38:34 The Future & Patreon Stuff

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It’s tough out there for old sci-fi movies, as their once-cutting-edge visuals can feel dated and even silly. And then, if you are SILENT RUNNING, you have to also deal with the uncanny-valley-esque experience of watching a young Bruce Dern mugging the camera non-stop. Critics - and the Tomatometer - didn’t care though, and Douglas Trumbull’s directorial debut got a suspiciously fresh score. Listen to Alex & Julio try to figure out why this 90-minute movie feels like it’s three hours long!

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00:01:24 Silent Running

00:17:11 Contrarians Corner

- Wanna kn...

Who doesn’t love Italian food, even when it’s surrounded by petty, self-involved men? The case could be made that BIG NIGHT is worth watching just on the strength of how much fun it can be to see people enjoying a decadent feast. But is there more to Tucci and Scott’s comedy? Can we get in sync with the movie’s open ending? Find out in this Real Talk segment!

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00:01:26 We were dying

00:02:09 Real Talk

00:50:36 The Future & Patreon Stuff

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You can get away with making a lightweight movie if you appeal to critics’ base instincts - hunger in this case. That’s probably how BIG NIGHT scored a fresh 96% Tomatometer score despite featuring a problematic Italian impersonation from Brit granddaddy Ian Holm and lots and lots of food porn B-roll. Listen to Alex & Julio as they pick apart this overcooked timpano from co-directors Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott?

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00:01:24 Big Night

00:10:58 Contrarians Corner

- Wanna know how we really feel about BIG NIGHT? Check out the Real Talk (RT) episode, on y...

The eighth installment of Fresh Immigrants, Rotten Fascists takes us to 1931 Germany, where a whole lot of people keep telling each other the rise of the Nazi party is not a big deal. Yes, old chums, we are going to the cabaret - Bob Fosse’s CABARET, specifically. It will be distressing, and eerily familiar, but at least we’ll have songs.

Thank you for checking this new project out, whether you are a long-time Contrarians fan or someone who’s just trying to listen to people talking positively about immigrants and negatively about fascism. If you have a...

That William Goldman… what a tough writer to pin down, huh? MARATHON MAN never reached the popularity or garnered the reverence some of his other works have, but it’s still a well-respected 70s thriller. How did it play to a couple of present-day film fans, and were Dustin Hoffman and Lawrence Olivier able to steal the show back from a super-cool post-Jaws Roy Scheider? That and more in this Real Talk segment!

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00:01:26 It’s over

00:01:58 Real Talk

00:54:32 The Future & Patreon Stuff

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What do you know, Dustin Hoffman doesn’t run a single marathon in John Schlesinger’s MARATHON MAN. He does run from Nazis and corrupt American operatives a lot though. Was that enough to warrant a fresh 82% Tomatometer score? Listen to Alex & Julio as they lament that Roy Scheider is relegated to back-up status in this convoluted thriller - and wonder why bad dentistry was the worst Lawrence Olivier could come up with as an evil superpower.

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00:01:24 Marathon Man

00:13:01 Contrarians Corner

- Wanna know how we really feel about MARATHON MAN...

All joking aside, it’s a bummer that a movie like DOGFIGHT is not better known and, once we get past our annoyance at younger reviewers engaging with the film on a superficial level, we do our best to celebrate Nancy Savoca’s bittersweet love story. So no point in even trying to be suspenseful about it: expect lots of appreciation for River Phoenix and Lily Taylor’s performances in this Real Talk segment… and a commitment to owning the Criterion release!

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00:01:26 Feel like walking?

00:02:11 Real Talk

00:49:36 The Future & Patreon Stuff

What if Dinner for Schmucks was an artsy love story? Yes, that change would suck the fun out of the film, but, in exchange, it would get it some cred with film critics. And that’s how DOGFIGHT ended up with a fresh 87% score on Rotten Tomatoes - and a pretty recent Criterion Collection induction to boot. Listen to Alex & Julio as they try to figure out if River Phoenix and Lili Taylor have any actual chemistry, and if tying stories into the JFK assassination will ever get old!

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00:01:24 Dogfight

00:11:50 Contrarians Corner

We were going to originally drop this on Valentine’s Day, but we figured the In the Heights conversation needed an extra holiday in the spotlight. Regardless, here we are, at the end of our Exorcist Franchise journey, as we chat our way through THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER - yet another failed attempt at making The Exorcist series a blockbuster-machine. But hey, we got Ann Dowd, Ellen Burstyn, and the team behind Alex’s beloved modern Halloween trilogy so… it can’t all be bad, can it?

Thank you for joining us in this project!

- Interest...

The seventh installment of Fresh Immigrants, Rotten Fascists introduces us to a whole host of characters that would get harassed by ICE in today’s America. Writer and friend Cathy Alvarez joins us to talk about Usnavi and the rest of the Latino community of IN THE HEIGHTS!

Thank you for checking this new project out, whether you are a long-time Contrarians fan or someone who’s just trying to listen to people talking positively about immigrants and negatively about fascism. If you have any recommendations for future entries in the series, let us know!

- Ma...

It would be disingenuous to talk about SERENITY without addressing the Whedonesque Elephant in the ship, so to speak. So, yes, this Real Talk segment devotes some time to the rise and fall of the Whedon brand. But we also talk about Serenity itself, and how it works for someone who’s not familiar with the show versus how it works for a hardcore Firefly fan. Can you enjoy the movie if you didn’t care for the show? It’s all answered here!

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00:01:26 I aim to misbehave

00:02:34 Real Talk

00:56:12 The Fu...

The year was 2005 and Joss Whedon decided to audition for a spot among Big Hollywood Blockbuster Directors. He submitted SERENITY for our collective consideration and it didn’t quite light the world on fire, despite its passionate fanbase - who would’ve thought a movie based on a short-lived cult show wouldn’t break box office records? Still, it’s fresh on the Tomatometer, so it’ll get the Contrarians Treatment!

(Patrons: check your feeds for a discussion about FIREFLY that leads right into this episode.)

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00:01:24 Serenity

00:14:37 Contrarians Corner

- Wanna...

The actual title is DOMINION: PREQUEL TO THE EXORCIST, which really rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? Anyway, we continue paying our Livestream for the Cure debt by doing a commentary on the Paul Schrader version of the fourth Exorcist movie - which happens to be the one you can watch for free!

- Interested in more Contrarians goodness? Join THE CONTRARIANS SUPPLEMENTS on our Patreon Page! Deleted clips, extended plugs, bonus episodes free from the Tomatometer shackles… It’s everything a Contrarians devotee would want!

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Director Nick Cassavetes has a penchant for successfully manipulating audiences into loving movies most critics scoff at. That explains the disconnect between JOHN Q’s 26% Tomatometer score and its 78% Popcornmeter score. Of course, we live in a world where half the American population low-key celebrated the death of a healthcare company’s CEO so we shouldn’t be surprised most regular folk sided with Denzel on this one. Lots to talk about in this Real Talk segment!

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00:01:26 You have to look in the mirror

00:02:24 Real Talk

00:52:25 The Future & Patreon Stuff

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More than 20 years before Luigi Mangione became a controversial celebrity, Denzel Washington was taking on the American healthcare system in JOHN Q - a thrilling hostage flick that might have been a bit too challenging for movie critics, leading to a rotten 26% Tomatometer score. Listen to Alex & Julio as they discuss the many twists and turns embedded in health insurance and wonder if it’s okay to still like James Woods as an actor.

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00:01:24 John Q

00:06:44 Contrarians Corner

- Wanna know how we really feel about JOHN Q? Check out th...

To tackle Michael Radford’s NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR on the sixth installment of Fresh Immigrants, Rotten Fascists almost feels like a cliche. But then, isn’t the current political climate in America a bundle of tired authoritarian tropes anyway? And so we dive into this bleak adaptation of Orwell’s dystopian tale and marvel at how it predicted Fox News - among other things.

Thank you for checking this new project out, whether you are a long-time Contrarians fan or someone who’s just trying to listen to people talking positively about immigrants and negatively about fascism. If you have...

Regardless of where your allegiances lie - with Ivan, Felix, or Lola - odds are that you’ll have a good time watching OFFICIAL COMPETITION. That is, of course, unless the movie’s relentless focus on rehearsals turns you off. Or you could have a problem with the complete absence of sympathetic characters in the cast. Was that the case for one or both of The Contrarians? Listen to this Real Talk segment to find out!

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00:01:26 Pobres muchachos

00:02:19 Real Talk

00:55:54 The Future & Patreon Stuff

- Interested in more Cont...

Breaking news: successful filmmakers and actors are very likely to be pretentious tools completely disconnected from reality. We’ve known this for over a century, so did we really need a movie that’s exclusively about that? The team behind OFFICIAL COMPETITION thought so, and critics agreed, stamping a 96% Tomatometer score on it. That means it’s time for The Contrarians to bring Penelope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, and Oscar Martinez down to Earth! Listen to Alex & Julio as they try to figure out if they can even pick a side in this three-way conflict.

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00:01:24 Offici...

44 INCH CHEST isn’t particularly gory, nasty, or offensive. It’s pretty foul-mouthed, but not to the point where THAT would tank its chances with critics and audiences. So is it a bit of a whiff because most people have trouble caring for Ray Winstone and his friends? Are they too reprehensible to elicit any sympathy? We try to figure it out in this Real Talk segment!

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00:01:26 Let’s hope it’s heads

00:02:27 Real Talk

00:44:16 The Future & Patreon Stuff

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You thought John Wayne was problematic last episode? We’ve got five British powerhouses ready to give him a run for his money in the criminally underrated 44 INCH CHEST! The movie’s 40% Tomatometer score seems to reflect people’s inability to cope with bad behavior when it’s not traditionally scolded, so listen to Alex & Julio try to be open-minded and give Ray Winstone a shot!

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00:01:24 44 Inch Chest

00:14:52 Contrarians Corner

- Wanna know how we really feel about 44 INCH CHEST? Check out the Real Talk (RT) episode, on your feed RIGHT NO...

Merry Christmas! We continue paying our Livestream For The Cure debt by watching THE EXORCIST III and chatting all throughout it. It qualifies as a Christmas movie because It’s a Wonderful Life plays a role in the story - and isn’t that all that matters?

- Interested in more Contrarians goodness? Join THE CONTRARIANS SUPPLEMENTS on our Patreon Page! Deleted clips, extended plugs, bonus episodes free from the Tomatometer shackles… It’s everything a Contrarians devotee would want!

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Yes, of course THE SEARCHERS is not the Unforgiven of the 50s - but was it even trying to be? Can we set aside the things our modern eyes flag as regressive and appreciate the movie on its own terms? Do you need to be a John Wayne superfan to truly enjoy this John Wayne vehicle? What will our favorite movies look like to podcasters of the future? Let’s get it all out in this Real Talk segment!

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00:01:26 That’ll be the day

00:02:01 Real Talk

00:47:01 The Future & Patreon Stuff

It is SO America to have a problematic movie star as the ultimate icon of the quintessential American genre. And even worse: take John Wayne’s reputation out of the equation, and John Ford’s THE SEARCHERS can barely register as a serviceable Western. So it’s not just that Ford’s romanticizing of cowboy life is dated - it’s also boring, and a little cheesy when it goes for full emotion. Listen to Alex & Julio as they try to figure out if The Duke made his own brother a cuckold!

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00:01:24 The Searchers

00:1...

The fifth installment of Fresh Immigrants, Rotten Fascists introduces us to the Yi family - Korean immigrants chasing the American dream in Arkansas, led by patriarch Jacob (Steven Yeun). MINARI was a bit of an awards darling in the midst of COVID, and it even nabbed a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Youn Yuh-jung for her role as the family’s disruptive grandma. So get some kimchi to snack on, and listen to us discuss the trials and tribulations of farmers in the 80s!

Thank you for checking this new project out, whether you are a long-time Co...

Seriously, why would anyone hate this movie? Even if you account for film buffs being horrified by Zhang Yimou’s apparent Hollywoodization, there’s so much in THE GREAT WALL that average audiences would enjoy. Lots of theories in this Real Talk segment, in addition to unabashed praise for the film — and regret for not having supported it when it first opened. Matt Damon’s daughter is wrong on this one!

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00:01:26 What happened?

00:02:12 Real Talk

00:51:37 The Future & Patreon Stuff

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You’re telling us the director of Hero and House of Flying Daggers made a movie where Matt Damon and Pedro Pascal team-up with the Chinese army to battle aliens at the Great Wall of China… and it somehow wasn’t a smashing success? Was it the man-bun? THE GREAT WALL sports a shameful 35% Tomatometer score, which means Alex & Julio must jump (er-dive) to its rescue. And you get to listen!

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00:01:24 The Great Wall

00:16:51 Contrarians Corner

- Wanna know how we really feel about THE GREAT WALL? Check out the Real T...

Happy Thanksgiving! We continue paying our Livestream For The Cure debt by sitting through EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC and chatting all throughout it. Will this be the lowest point of the franchise? Let’s hope so.

- Interested in more Contrarians goodness? Join THE CONTRARIANS SUPPLEMENTS on our Patreon Page! Deleted clips, extended plugs, bonus episodes free from the Tomatometer shackles… It’s everything a Contrarians devotee would want!

- Our YouTube page is live! Get some visual Contrarians delight with our Contrarians Warm-Ups and other fun videos!

- Contrarians Merch is finally here...