The Contrarians

Dec 11 2024 300 ep. 82 mins 380
The Contrarians Podcast artwork

Hosts Alex Mattis and Julio Olivera take on popular opinion, trashing movies everyone loves and praising movies everyone hates. Visit their website at www.wearethecontrarians.com

  TV & Film  Comedy
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222 - Pt. 2 - The Apartment (RT)

Dec 11 2024 56 mins  
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 proj

222 - Pt. 1 - The Apartment (CC)

Dec 11 2024 49 mins  
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 i

221 - Pt. 2 - The Pope's Exorcist (RT)

Nov 30 2024 60 mins  
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!

221 - Pt. 1 - The Pope's Exorcist (CC)

Nov 30 2024 51 mins  
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 p

220 - Pt. 2 - Moana (RT)

Nov 20 2024 57 mins  
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 mo

220 - Pt. 1 - Moana (CC)

Nov 20 2024 53 mins  
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 o

219 - Pt. 2 - Unforgiven (RT)

Nov 11 2024 61 mins  
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 a

219 - Pt. 1 - Unforgiven (CC)

Nov 11 2024 58 mins  
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 movi

Bonus! - Our Ten-Year Anniversary!

Oct 31 2024 157 mins  
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!

Bonus! - The Embries 2024

Oct 23 2024 111 mins  
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!