Contra Zoom Pod

Nathan Sizemore and Katey Cottrill return to the show as we share some Halloween movie recommendations. The I Hope you Suffer podcast hosts and Dakota share some classic horror, modern horror and comedy horror picks along with Nathan and Katey talking about a movie they have covered on their show. Classic Horror: Night of the Living Dead , Rosemary's Baby and The Uninvited Modern Horror: Impetigor...

On this episode I chat with Joshua Demers , the writer and director of the new Canadian political satire Québexit . The film was originally reviewed on episode 125: Cinefest Sudbury 2020 . Here Joshua discusses how important language is to the Canadian identity, getting support from his two co-writers to help craft a better story the reflects more realities of living in Canada and much more. Québe...

An episode more than five years in the making, after ranking the Best Picture winners decade by decade starting from episode 1 with Wings in 1927 going all the way up to the end of decade nine, episode 123 , with The Shape of Water in 2017. Stephanie Prior joins the show as we cover the most and least deserving winners, the oddest and overrated winners and much more.  Go to contrazoompod.com...

We cover one of the largest film festivals in Canada with the 2020 edition of Cinefest Sudbury that offered a digital package for viewers. Stephanie Prior joins the show as we talk about Lucky Grandma , My Salinger Year , Quebexit , Mogul Mowgli , Black Bear , Radioactive and Another Round . They also give out their own awards to Best Film, Best Actor and Best Actress.  Keyboard Fantasies: Th...

On this episode we recap the 45th Toronto International Film Festival. We are joined by film lovers John Brody and Maria Escribano who describe the experience of attending a digital festival, their favourite films that they saw, and the People's Choice Winner Nomadland, which instantly is the front runner for Best Picture at next year's Oscars.  Films discussed include Nomadland , Another Rou...

Continuing the long running series chronicling every Best Picture winner and ranking them decade by decade, Dakota is joined by Stephanie Prior to break down the winners from 2008-2017. On this episode they countdown numbers 5-1 and give out their awards for best performances and film of the decade. If you missed Part 1, click HERE to listen.  Timestamps: 5. 12 Years a Slave 3:30-18:30 4. Arg...

Continuing the long running series chronicling every Best Picture winner and ranking them decade by decade, Dakota is joined by Stephanie Prior to break down the winners from 2008-2017. On this episode they countdown numbers 10-6 with part 2 coming out in one week to finish off the decade. Timestamps: 10: The Hurt Locker 3:00-9:30 9. Slumdog Millionaire 9:30-17:00 8. The King's Speech 17:30-23:30...

The Toronto International Film Festival of 2020 is going to be a hybrid mixture of traditional screenings, mixed with digital and drive-in ones too. We preview then 10 films we're most excited about for this year. Here you can find a complete list of movies being shown and screening times . Here are a list of movies we preview: Ammonite , Another Round , Beans , Concrete Cowbo y, Falling , The Fat...

On this episode Sammy Feilchenfeld joins the show to talk about the first weekend of DC Fandome that covered their upcoming movie projects.  The Batman released its first trailer and we learned that there would be a Gotham PD spinoff coming to HBO Max. Wonder Woman 1984 released a new trailer showing more of the characters Max Lord and Cheetah. The Suicide Squad put out two clips, one a chara...

On this episode we chat with Martyn Zub , a sound re-recording mixer who was nominated for two Emmys for his work on Beastie Boys Story , the brand new Apple TV+ documentary that has Mike D and Ad Rock tell the history of the band. Martyn is an accomplished sound mixer and editor who previously has worked on all three John Wick movies, both Deadpool's, Nocturnal Animals, Nightcrawler and Frozen.&n...

No new episode this week, but some general housekeeping to still share. For the most part moving forward, the show will be bi-weekly (every other Tuesday) but we specifically left gaps for any interviews or surprise topics to discuss. We have a brand new website! Visit contrazoompod.com for all things CZP including past shows, guest appearances, blog posts and much more. Bookmark the page as we wi...

This year's San Deigo Comic Con couldn't be held physically this year, so they pivoted to offer their full slate of panels and presentations for free on YouTube. Sammy Feilchenfeld joins the show to discuss the reception the convention received, the two Keanu Reeves panels, all things Star Trek, the latest news on The New Mutants and much more. With Justice League and DC being absent from SDCC it...

In our second "A History Of..." series after the success charting the rise of A24 Films , we are looking at The Criterion Collection . The company that is the premiere destination for your favourite hard to find art house flicks, out of print classics, B-movie masterpieces, retrospective boxsets and the best special features of any home video distributor. We look at their start from Janus Films ba...

On this episode Kelvin Harrison Jr. star of films like Waves, It Comes at Night and The Photograph joins the show to discuss his latest flick The High Note . In the movie he plays an aspiring musician named David Cliff who meets Dakota Johnson's aspiring producer character as they begin to work together and fall for each other. The film also stars Tracee Ellis Ross, Ice Cube, Bill Pullman, Marc Ev...

In celebration of Christopher Nolan's new film Tenet coming out later this summer, we thought we would rank all ten of Nolan's previous films from worst to best. We briefly discuss his earliest available work, the short film Doodlebug as well. View Dakota's own rankings on Letterboxd . This is the first entry into a new series where we look at the complete or partial filmographies of director...

This week it is Dakota Arsenault's birthday! To help celebrate he names one movie per year that make up who he is as a film lover. View the entire list on Letterboxd , and send in your picks for a movie per year! Dakota of course can't count very well and actually 31 movies, but don't hold that over him. Listen to Contra Zoom on Anchor , Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Google Play , Overcast , Rad...

On this episode Royce Benson returns after guesting on the Top Ten A24 Films, as we discuss how we are consuming media during quarantine life. That includes what new movies we've been watching and oldies we've made time for, our favourite 2020 releases so far, how Jurassic Park beat out Jaws to top the box office, when TENET will be released along with the gradual reopening of theatres , and what...

On June 27th is Global Pride Day and we are celebrating with our favourite queer films. Sammy Feilchenfeld joins the show as we discuss our recommendations for L, G, B, T and Q+ works of art and representation and depictions of queer people in media.  Lesbian Films Mulholland Drive, Carol, The Kids Are All Right, The Handmaiden, Aniara, The Favourite and Booksmart Gay Films Call Me By Your Na...

On this episode artists Sébastien Heins , Tony Ofori and Jerome Jarvis join the show to discuss the new Spike Lee joint, Da 5 Bloods that was released on Netflix on Friday June 12th. In the second half of the show artist Mouna Traoré joins the group as they have a roundtable discussion to talk about some of their favourite black films.  List of Notable Black Films Do The Right Thing Chi-Raq D...

On this episode we review a selection of films that were selected to air during the 2020 Hot Docs, the premiere Canadian documentary festival based out of Toronto. Unfortunately due to COVID-19, they had to pivot and offered screenings of their films to people at home, thus birthing Hot Docs at Home.  Nathan Sizemore and Katey Cottrill from the horror movie podcast I Hope You Suffer join the...

On Part 2 of our A24 features, Royce Benson joins the show to help rank the top ten films A24 has distributed. If you missed Part 1 (A History of A24 Films), which covered the history of the company make sure you listen first. We also reveal the results of our A24 survey we posted on Reddit. Follow Royce on Letterboxd .  Dakota's full A24 rankings and Royce's full rankings . Top 10 Films (Dak...

A24 Films was founded in 2013 has been the home to some of the best cinema this decade. They have won countless awards including Best Picture for Moonlight and had critical and commercial hits with the likes of Lady Bird, Uncut Gems, Ex Machina, Midsommar, The Witch, Greenroom and The Lobster. We trace the companies origins, their early years, breakthroughs and ups and downs. This is a two part ev...

In this episode, Bruce Franks Jr. a twice elected representative for the Missouri Legislature, an activist who works with the Community Justice Action Fund , a successful battle rapper and the star of the Oscar nominated documentary short film St. Louis Superman joins Dakota. They talk about his inspirations for activism, why he allowed a film crew to document his story, learning about being nomin...

Continuing the long running series chronicling every Best Picture winner and ranking them decade by decade, Dakota is joined by Stephanie Prior to break down the winners from 1998-2007. On this episode they countdown numbers 5-1 to finish off the decade. If you missed Part 1, click HERE to listen.  Timestamps 0:00-2:00 Recap 2:00-11:00 Shakespeare in Love 11:00-20:00 Gladiator 20:00-29:00 The...

Continuing the long running series chronicling every Best Picture winner and ranking them decade by decade, Dakota is joined by Stephanie Prior to break down the winners from 1998-2007. On this episode they countdown numbers 10-6 with part 2 coming out in two weeks to finish off the decade. Timestamps 10. Crash 2:00-9:00 9. Million Dollar Baby 9:00-17:00 8. A Beautiful Mind 17:00-24:00 7. Lord of...