Contra Zoom Pod

In lieu of a full episode this week, we bring you the second in our series of bonus episodes, Better Know a Contributor, where we ask frequent guests of the show 10 Contra Zoom Pod movie questions so you can learn more about your favourite voices. We talk favourite movies (Arrival, both Blade Runners), favourite guest appearances ( 81: Video Game Films - Past, Present and Future ), last movie turn...

On this show we talk about all the films we watched during the 2021 iteration of Hot Docs, the worlds premiere documentary film festival. Joining the show is Rachel Ho. In exciting news Rachel now joins the show as a regular contributor. She won't be on every episode, but she will be on very frequently and will help shape the show going forward. Movies we both saw discussed: Set! - reviews by Dako...

Just like last year, film critic Thom Ernst joined the show to recap the Oscars. Thom is the host of the Rewind Fast Forward Podcast , a film podcast where he interviews Canadian directors, it was made in participation with the Kingston Canadian Film Festival. Thom previously hosted TVO's Saturday Night at the Movies and the podcast This Movies About You and you can find his written reviews at Ori...

After spending the last three weeks breaking down the odds that each of the Best Picture nominees and their odds to win each of their awards ( Sound of Minari Nomadland , Judas and the Mank , The Trial of the Promising Young Father ). Stephanie Prior joins the show as we list off who we think will win, who we want to win and who was snubbed at this year's Oscars. How will they fare? Below are thei...

Every year we break down all the Best Picture nominees at the Oscars and go over their chances to win each of their nominations. We rank them as Front Runners, Dark Horses, Long Shots and Just Happy to Be There. Joining the show is Joe Aragon host of House of Cinema , who previously was heard on episode 134: David Fincher Ranked . On today's show we are discussing Promising Young Woman , The Fathe...

Every year we break down all the Best Picture nominees at the Oscars and go over their chances to win each of their nominations. We rank them as Front Runners, Dark Horses, Long Shots and Just Happy to Be There. Joining the show is Jeff and Pierre, hosts of Classic Movies Live who are appearing for their first time. On today's show we are discussing Mank and Judas and the Black Messiah . This seri...

Every year we break down all the Best Picture nominees at the Oscars and go over their chances to win each of their nominations. We rank them as Front Runners, Dark Horses, Long Shots and Just Happy to Be There. Joining the show is Paulo Bautista the host of the Oscars Death Race Podcast , who was heard on episode 142: Most Anticipated Films of 2021 . On today's show we are discussing Sound of Met...

On this episode we review movies watching during the 2021 edition of the film festival portion of South by South West (SXSW). Rachel Ho returns to the show, previously heard on episode 139: Celebrating Asian American Cinema . We discuss the pros and cons of the digital festival, six different films and some of the awards that were handed out.  Timestamps: Intro 0:00-11:30 Islands 11:30-20:00...

The 93rd Academy Awards just announced the nominees for the biggest awards in film. Mank leads the pack with 10, but other big players include Minari, Nomadland, Sound of Metal, The Trail and the Chicago 7 and more! Sammy Feilchenfeld joins the show to discuss what the early nominations mean and some of our surprises and snubs amongst the pack. Stay tuned for plenty of Oscar coverage leading up to...

Continuing our series celebrating cinema from around the world. On part two we look at animated Japanese films. We look at the history of Studio Ghibli and the impact the films of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. We discuss the influence of such seminal films like Ghost in the Shell, Paprika and Akira and the debate of dubs vs subs. Joining me on the show is Naomi Wada Platt, who guested on episo...

We are officially into 2021's movie season, while some release dates are still unconfirmed or destined to change, we look at the movies we are most excited about. Joining the show is Paulo Bautista host of the Oscars Death Race and Box Office Watch podcasts, who previously was on the show for episode 100: Oscars Death Race Interview . Movies we talk about include Shang-Chi, After Yang, The Tragedy...

Continuing our series celebrating cinema from around the world. On this episode we look at live action Japanese films, from Seven Samurai and Godzilla, to Ringu and House up to Shoplifters. We gush about Akira Kurosawa, Yasujirō Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Hirokazu Koreeda and others. Joining me on the show is Naomi Wada Platt, who guested on episode 130: imagineNATIVE , a YouTuber who often covers Japa...

The annual SXSW festival is gearing up to happen from March 16-20th online and we have a list of the ten most anticipated films we are looking forward too. Visit sxsw.com for the full festival lineup. The ten films we are looking forward to include: Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil, Alone Together, Under the Volcano, Hysterical, Lily Topples The World, The Fabulous Filipino Brothers, Swan Song,...

On this episode Rachel Ho , who previously appeared on episode 129: Make/Remake Rebecca , comes on to celebrate Asian American cinema. We talk about some of the bigger classic films like The Joy Luck Club and Better Luck Tomorrow up to more recent films like The Farewell and Crazy Rich Asians . We even spend some time discussing film tourism with the idea that studios will only make English langua...

Normally we share our top films of the year after the Oscars, but with this year's ceremony being pushed back to April that doesn't make sense. Joining the show is Royce Benson as he and Dakota each share their top 10 films of 2020. A host of friends of the show also share their picks. Dakota's Top 10 10. Promising Young Woman 9. The Assistant 8. I’m Thinking of Ending Things 7. Palm Springs 6. An...

On this episode, Stephanie Prior joins the show as we talk about some classic New Year's movies including The Poseidon Adventure , When Harry Met Sally... , Four Rooms , Bridget Jones Diary and New Year's Eve . After we play some fun what if games with the situations that arose during the movies including what party we most want to be at and who we would want to be our midnight kiss.  Contra...

On this episode Sammy Feilchenfeld returns to discuss all the news from the December 10th Disney Investor Day announcements. We go over topics like Star being bundled with Disney+ (and the incoming price hike), the new movies and TV shows from Disney Animation, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel, FX and much more.   Listen to Sammy on episode 90: Disney+ as we go more in depth for a lot of the pro...

Normally Make/Remake examines how two films that share the same story. Not to say what film was better or worse, but how they are similar and different while following the same arcs. But this time we are looking at the 1941 classic Citizen Kane directed by Orson Welles, and the recent David Fincher release Mank , that looks at the writing of the movie. Joining the show is Sam Blakeley and Hugh Dem...

On this episode we rank the ten theatrically released films directed by David Fincher in preparation of the just released Mank. Joe Aragon of House of Cinema joins the show as we talk all things Fincher and give out our own awards afterwards. Rankings 10. Alien 3 9. Panic Room 8. The Game 7. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 6. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo T-4. Zodiac T-4. Se7en 3. Gone Girl...

On this episode we continue our look into NEON as we rank our ten favourite films released by them. Joining the show is Royce Benson, who previously appeared on our Top Ten A24 Films and Life During Quarantine . We also reveal the poll results of listeners favourite NEON films. If you haven't checked out part one where the history of NEON is chronicled make sure you listen to that first.  Dak...

In our third "A History Of..." series after the success charting the rise of A24 Films and The Criterion Collection we are looking at NEON, a distributor who in just three short years managed to win a Best Picture Oscar for Parasite.  They got their start in 2017 and have put out films like I, Tonya, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Palm Springs, Apollo 11 and Honeyland. We trace their roots of th...

In lieu of a full episode this week, we bring you the first in our series of bonus episodes, Better Know a Contributor, where we ask frequent guests of the show 10 Contra Zoom Pod movie questions so you can learn more about your favourite voices. We talk favourite movies, favourite guest appearances ( 115: Christopher Nolan Ranked ), last movie turned off and more!  Go to contrazoompod.com fo...

On this episode Jesse Harley, co-host of Canadian Politics is Boring and filmmaker joins the show to discuss two Canadian movies that cover our countries involvement in foreign conflicts. We look at Passchendaele and Hyena Road with World War One and Afghanistan conflicts. Follow Canadian Politics is Boring on Twitter and Instagram . Go to contrazoompod.com for all things CZP including past shows,...

On this episode we cover the 2020 imagineNATIVE film festival , which celebrates the best Indigenous filmmaking from around the world! We are joined by Naomi Wada Platt, a YouTube film reviewer who covers film in both English and Japanese . We talk about Inconvenient Indian , Monkey Beach , Brother, I Cry , The Legend of Baron To'a and Love and Fury . Follow Naomi on Twitter and Instagram . ...

Make/Remake examines how two films that share the same story. It isn't about what film was better or worse, but how they are similar and different while following the same arcs. In this episode we look at Alfred Hitchcock's 1940 Best Picture winning film Rebecca and this year remake directed by Ben Wheatley . Both films tell the story of a young woman who marries a widower and when they return to...