Contra Zoom Pod artwork

Contra Zoom Pod

410 episodes - English - Latest episode: 12 days ago - ★★★★ - 9 ratings

Contra Zoom is a film based podcast going in depth about varying movie related subjects. Dakota Arsenault and guests go over both academic and the fun aspects of enjoying the film medium. Episodes feature lists, interviews and comparisons. Visit contrazoompod.com for more details!

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Episodes

281: 2024 Toronto Japanese Film Festival

July 01, 2024 12:00 - 1 hour - 118 MB

The 2024 Toronto Japanese Film Festival has just concluded and we wrap up the best films that we saw during the run. Joining the show is Jeff Bulmer, one half of the ⁠⁠Classic Movies Live⁠⁠ podcast. We discuss Stay Mum, Missing, Great Absence, Life is Climbing and Mondays: See You "This" Week. Read Jeff's reviews of Missing and Don't Call It Mystery. Follow Classic Movies Live on ⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠. Follow Contra Zoom on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

280: Canadian Screen Awards 2024

June 03, 2024 12:00 - 1 hour - 66.4 MB

The Canadian Screen Awards celebrate the best in film, television and web content from Canada, and we discuss the films that were nominated and won at this year's ceremony. Movies discussed include BlackBerry, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person, The Queen of my Dreams, Red Rooms and more! Joining the show is Jeff Bulmer, one half of the ⁠Classic Movies Live⁠ podcast. Read our collected reviews for films that were nominated. Check out Jeff's Letterboxd list of nominated fil...

279: Most Anticipated Movies of 2024

May 27, 2024 12:00 - 1 hour - 93.4 MB

Summer movie season is upon us, so it is time to pick what movies with a confirmed release date we are most excited about seeing this year! Dakota's picks are The Bikeriders, Kinds of Kindness, Wolf Man, Gladiator 2 and Nosferatu. Rachel's picks are Twisters, Trap, Speak No Evil, Wolfs and Mufasa: The Lion King. Rachel also announced that she is ending her run as permanent co-host. She will still come back as a guest, but won't be a full time contributor going forward. She listed her th...

278: 2024 SIFF Wrap Up

May 20, 2024 12:00 - 58 minutes - 110 MB

The 2024 Seattle International Film Festival just concluded and we wrap up some of the films we saw. Joining the show again is Thomas Stoneham-Judge, the owner of For Reel, who was last heard on episode 270: 2024 Oscar Draft. We talk about Dìdi, The Missing (Iti mapukpukaw), Tiger Stripes, Terrestrial Verses, Hitchcock's Pro-Nazi Film and Bob Trevino Likes It. Read Dakota's review of Hitchcock's Pro-Nazi Film and Red Rooms. Paulo Bautista's reviews of The Missing and Dìdi. Watch For Ree...

277: A24 Retrospective - Dark Places

May 13, 2024 12:00 - 1 hour - 128 MB

We continue our series going through the entire catalog of A24's films. On this episode we are looking at 2015's Dark Places directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner. The film stars Charlize Theron as Libby Day a woman who witnessed her older brother murder her entire family in a satanic ritual as a child, only to now be forced to questioned if that's what really happened. Joining the show is Matthew Simpson, one half of the Awesome Friday Podcast. Our double bill pairings include Satan Wants You...

276: Hot Docs 2024

May 06, 2024 15:51 - 1 hour - 170 MB

For the fifth year in a row we are covering the Hot Docs Film Festival, which celebrates the best in documentary films. We discuss 6 films watched during this year's fest. Joining the show is Jeff Bulmer, one half of the Classic Movies Live podcast. The films covered are Secret Mall Apartment, American Cats, Red Fever, Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story, Agent of Happiness and Michel Gondry: Do It Yourself. Read Jeff's reviews for Whatever It Takes and Agent of Happiness, with more to c...

275: Seven Samurai at 70 Years

April 29, 2024 15:38 - 1 hour - 157 MB

Back in 1954, Akira Kurosawa made the seminal samurai epic Seven Samurai starring Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura. The film tells the story of a group of ronin who band up together to save a farmers village from a group of bandits. The film came out 70 years ago, so to celebrate the anniversary we review it and talk about the film’s influence. Joining the show is Bryan Loomis host of the What a Picture Podcast. Check out Matthew Simpson's Letterboxd list Movies that are just The Seven Sa...

274: A24 Retrospective - The End of the Tour

April 22, 2024 12:00 - 1 hour - 139 MB

We continue our series going through the entire catalog of A24's films. On this episode we are looking at 2015's The End of the Tour, directed by James Ponsoldt. The film stars Jesse Eisenberg as David Lipsky a Rolling Stone journalist who spends five days interviewing breakout author David Foster Wallace, played by Jason Segal. Joining the show for the first time is critic Nick Tiffany. Our double bill pairings include Almost Famous (Dakota) and Birdman (Nick). See our complete A24 Double...

273: Best Films of 2023

April 02, 2024 02:51 - 2 hours - 255 MB

Now that the Oscars are behind us, it is time to put a cap on the movie year that was 2023. There were a ton of incredible films so buckle in as Dakota and Rachel name their ten favourite films from last year. Along the way they get plenty of help from friends of the show who sent in voicemails of their pick for their number one movie too! Dakota's Top 10 Monster The Teachers' Lounge How to Blow Up a Pipeline BlackBerry The Zone of Interest Oppenheimer The Iron Claw The Killer Evil...

272: 2024 Oscar Wrap Up

March 11, 2024 12:00 - 1 hour - 107 MB

The 96th Academy Awards are officially behind us! We look at the big winners, best dressed, best performances and hosting! Joining the show once again is Todd Pengelly, a writer from For Reel who was last heard on episode 271: 2024 Oscar Predictions. Before we dive into the show we look at the crop of this year's Canadian Screen Awards nominees. Check out this helpful Letterboxd list made by Jeff Bulmer. In response to the episode 270: 2024 Oscar Draft, Thomas Stoneham-Judge and Alex Wats...

271: 2024 Oscar Predictions

March 04, 2024 13:00 - 1 hour - 173 MB

We have come to the end of Oscar season, with our final episode before the Academy Awards on March 10th, 2024. We predict the winners for all 23 awards. Joining the show is Todd Pengelly, a writer from For Reel and a member of the Cascadian Film and Television Critics Association. See below the picks for the Oscars: Supporting Actress - Da'Vine Joy Randolph (Dakota and Todd) Supporting Actor - Robert Downey Jr. (Dakota and Todd) Actress - Lily Gladstone (Dakota and Todd) Actor - Cillia...

270: 2024 Oscar Draft

February 26, 2024 19:45 - 40 minutes - 76.6 MB

For the second year in a row, we are doing an Oscar Draft! It is very simple, each person selects 5 movies that are nominated at this year's Oscars and whoever gets the most awards, wins! Joining Dakota once again is Alex Watson and Brodie Cotnam, and filling in for Rachel this year is Thomas Stoneham-Judge the owner of For Reel. Check out last year's draft. Dakota's Team Barbie Killers of the Flower Moon Maestro The Creator The ABCs of Book Banning Thomas' Team Oppenheimer Past L...

269: Poor Lives and American Holdovers

February 19, 2024 13:00 - 1 hour - 156 MB

We continue our yearly tradition of breaking down the Best Picture nominees and the odds they have to win each of their categories. On the second episode of the series we talk about Poor Things, American Fiction, The Holdovers and Past Lives. We label each nomination as Frontrunner, Dark Horse, Longshot and Just Happy To Be There. Joining the show is Jeff Bulmer and Pierre Frigon, the hosts of Classic Movies Live. Listen to our last episode breaking down the Best Picture nominees, 268: Kil...

268: Killers of the Barbie Maestro

February 12, 2024 13:00 - 1 hour - 149 MB

We continue our yearly tradition of breaking down the Best Picture nominees and the odds they have to win each of their categories. On the second episode of the series we talk about Killers of the Flower Moon, Barbie and Maestro. We label each nomination as Frontrunner, Dark Horse, Longshot and Just Happy To Be There. Joining the show is Kyle Garzon who was last heard on 228: Oscars 2023 – The Way of WesTÁRn Sadness. Listen to our last episode breaking down the Best Picture nominees, 267: ...

267: Anatomy of an Oppenheimer Zone

February 05, 2024 17:06 - 1 hour - 184 MB

We continue our yearly tradition of breaking down the Best Picture nominees and the odds they have to win each of their categories. On the first episode of the series we talk about Oppenheimer, Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest. We label each nomination as Frontrunner, Dark Horse, Longshot and Just Happy To Be There. Joining the show is Paulo Bautista host of the Oscars Death Race Podcast and John Richards the owner of ⁠Red Carpet Rosters⁠. Read Paulo's reviews for Perfect Days and...

Bonus Episode: AODR Festival Interview with Mike Donahue of Troy

January 29, 2024 12:00 - 18 minutes - 16.8 MB

On this bonus episode, I am sharing my interview with Mike Donahue, director of the new film Troy for the Academy of Death Racers Festival. Troy is a short film about a couple in NYC who hear their neighbour having loud sex nonstop, the noise consumes their lives until one day it stops and they try to learn what happened. I was asked to film a Q&A with Mike to appear alongside the film's screening. Watch Troy for free on the New York Times website (U.S. residents only). To learn more about...

266: 2024 Oscar Nomination Reactions

January 24, 2024 05:24 - 1 hour - 122 MB

The 2024 Oscar nominations have now been announced with Oppenheimer, Poor Things, Killers of the Flower Moon, Barbie and Maestro leading the pack. We go over the big categories and discuss what we think of the crop of nominees including who our pleasant surprises were and biggest snubs. Joining the show is Matthew Simpson, one half of the Awesome Friday podcast and co-founder of the Cascadian Film and Television Critics Association. Check out the full list of nominees. Listen to Dakota's a...

265: A24 Retrospective - Amy

January 15, 2024 13:00 - 1 hour - 109 MB

We continue our series going through the entire catalog of A24's films. On this episode we are looking at 2015's Amy directed by Asif Kapadia. The film chronicles the life and career of the singer Amy Winehouse who tragically died at the age of 27 in 2011. The film only uses archival footage and home movies an adding in narration from friends, family and colleagues. Joining the show is Alex Watson who was last heard on Bonus Episode: Oscars 2023 - Oscar Draft. Our double bill pairings inclu...

264: James Bond Draft

December 18, 2023 13:00 - 53 minutes - 49.2 MB

To end 2023 we are having another game themed episode! Earlier this year we celebrated the birth of the James Bond film franchise on episode 236: Dr. No at 60 Years. After watching all 25 official Bond films in a calendar year, it was time to make our ultimate spy movie. 10 different categories were selected to create our own Fantasy Bond Film. Joining the show is Matthew Simpson and Simon Best, the hosts of the Awesome Friday Podcast. Check out Dakota's Bond rankings on Letterboxd. How to...

263: Make/Remake The Wages of Fear and Sorcerer

December 11, 2023 17:43 - 1 hour - 56.2 MB

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. This time we are looking at the 1953 Henri-Georges Clouzot film The Wages of Fear and the 1977 William Friedkin film Sorcerer. Check out our past Make/Remake‘s for more great comparison episodes and see the Letterboxd list. Listen to Drink In The Movies and visit their website to read Taylor's reviews. Follow Taylor on ...

262: A24 Retrospective - Barely Lethal

December 11, 2023 02:17 - 1 hour - 53.9 MB

We continue our series going through the entire catalog of A24's films. On this episode we are looking at 2015's Barely Lethal directed by Kyle Newman. The film stars Hailee Steinfeld as a teenaged secret agent who runs away to be a regular high schooler but trouble pops up in the form of her rival in Sophie Turner. Joining the show is Jericho Tadeo, The Asian Cut's newest editor! Our double bill pairings include Agent Cody Banks (Dakota), Harriet the Spy (Rachel) and The Edge of Seventeen ...

261: McCarthyism in Noir

November 27, 2023 13:00 - 1 hour - 52.9 MB

It's Noir-vember, which means it's time for our 3rd annual noir themed episode! This year we are looking at McCarthyism in film noir with three films, On The Waterfront, Storm Center and Witch Hunt. Joining the show is Alisha Mughal, who was last heard on episode 216: Fox Film Noirs. Watch Storm Center and Witch Hunt for free on YouTube. Watch Orson Welles criticize Elia Kazan and read about Kazan receiving his honorary Oscar. Read Jericho Tadeo's feature on Alice Wu. Read Alisha's rev...

260: The Red Shoes at 75 Years

November 20, 2023 18:20 - 1 hour - 60.6 MB

Back in 1948, Powell and Pressburger made one of the definitive dance films with The Red Shoes starring Moira Shearer, Anton Walbrook and Marius Goring. The film tells the story of a young ballerina who gets caught up between dedicated herself completely to dance and falling in love. The film came out 75 years ago, so to celebrate the anniversary we review it and talk about the film's influence. Support the show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Ko-fi by sending us a tip⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Follow Rachel on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter...

259: 2023 ImagineNATIVE

November 13, 2023 13:00 - 1 hour - 49 MB

ImagineNATIVE is the world's biggest Indigenous film and arts festival. This year the fest ran from October 17-22nd in Toronto and from October 23-29th online. We discuss I'm Just Here For The Riot, Fancy Dance, Hey Viktor!, Tautuktavuk: What We See, Red, White and Brass and Inky Pinky Ponky. Listen to our review of I'm Just Here For The Riot back on episode 235: Hot Docs 2023. Read Dakota's reviews of I'm Just Here For The Riot and Tautuktavuk: What We See. Read Jeff's reviews of Fancy ...

258: Canadian Horror with Kyle Edward Ball

October 30, 2023 20:25 - 1 hour - 51.1 MB

To celebrate Halloween this year we have brought on Kyle Edward Ball, the writer and director behind the hit horror film Skinamarink. As both a Canadian and a horror filmmaker, who better to bring on! We asked Kyle about 3 classic films and he selected Black Christmas, Rituals and Scanners to discuss. We also chat about Skinamarink and how his life has changed since its release. Stay tuned to the end where Kyle talks about how his follow up project is going. Read The Globe and Mail's 20 be...

Bonus: 2023 New York Film Festival

October 26, 2023 12:00 - 30 minutes - 24.4 MB

We've got a bonus episode this week, Paulo Bautista host of the Oscars Death Race Podcast attended the New York Film Festival, which ran from September 29th-October 15th this year. Paulo recorded his immediate reactions. Evil Does Not Exist: 03:15-09:00 The Zone of Interest: 09:00-15:45 The Taste of Things: 15:45-20:10 The Boy and the Heron: 20:10-26:40 Read Paulo's reviews for Evil Does Not Exist, The Zone of Interest, The Taste of Things and The Boy and the Heron. Follow Paulo on ⁠⁠...

257: Halloween at 45 Years

October 25, 2023 17:11 - 1 hour - 61.9 MB

Back in 1978 John Carpenter made his third feature film, Halloween for only $300,000. It went on to be a massive box office hit and spanned a franchise that has released 13 films. The film came out 45 years ago October 17th, 1978 so we celebrate the enduring legacy of the film. Joining is our resident Halloween super-fan Brodie Cotnam. Check out this handy guide to understand how the Halloween franchise works. Listen to Scaretroducing's podcasts on Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends. Chec...

256: VIFF Interviews - Wild Goat Surf and I Used To Be Funny

October 16, 2023 12:00 - 43 minutes - 39.9 MB

We wrap up our Vancouver International Film Festival coverage with two excellent interviews. First is Caitlyn Sponheimer, the writer, director and lead actor from Wild Goat Surf. We follow that up with Olga Petsa, an actor from I Used To Be Funny. Check out our VIFF Wrap Up podcast. Read our reviews of Aitamaako’tamisskapi Natosi: Before the Sun and Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person. Read our reviews from the New York Film Festival by Paulo Bautista. Support the show o...

255: 2023 VIFF Wrap Up

October 09, 2023 12:00 - 1 hour - 62.4 MB

The 2023 Vancouver International Film Festival just concluded and we wrap up some of the films we saw. Joining the show again is Todd Pengelly who was last heard just two shows ago on 253: 2023 VIFF Preview. We talk about Anatomy of a Fall, The Promised Land, The Royal Hotel, The Teachers’ Lounge and The Zone of Interest. Check out the full list of Canadian award winners at VIFF. Watch Thomas Stoneham-Judge's interview with the director of Asog. Read Dakota's reviews for The Royal Hotel...

254: Celebrating Filipino Cinema

October 02, 2023 12:00 - 1 hour - 64.5 MB

October is Filipino American Heritage Month and to celebrate we are looking at the contributions that The Philippines have made to cinema. We specifically are looking at three films Manilla in the Claws of Light, Ma' Rosa and Islands along with namedropping plenty of other titles. Joining the show to lead the discussion is Paulo Bautista host of the ⁠Oscars Death Race Podcast. Check out Paulo's Letterboxd list with every movie mentioned on the show along with plenty more to expand your Fil...

253: 2023 VIFF Preview

September 25, 2023 12:00 - 53 minutes - 42.5 MB

The 2023 edition of the Vancouver International Film Festival runs from September 28-October 8th. We preview our most anticipated films that are playing. Joining the show is Todd Pengelly a critic from For Reel. Dakota's picks include: I Used to Be Funny, Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe, Monster, Only the River Flows and The Teachers' Lounge. Todd's picks include: Anatomy of a Fall, Goodbye Julia, On the Adamant, Priscilla and The Royal Hotel. Stay tuned for more great VIFF conte...

252: 2023 TIFF Wrap Up

September 18, 2023 22:08 - 1 hour - 58 MB

We wrap up this year's Toronto International Film Festival by talking about the big hits and misses, our favourite films and the award winners. Joining the show to help us break it all down is Jeff Bulmer, one half of the Classic Movies. Jeff also contributed some festival movie reviews to Contra Zoom. The films we review include: The Holdovers, Woman of the Hour, Dream Scenario, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person, Hit Man and Motherland. See the full list of award winnin...

Bonus: Better Know a Contributor - Bil Antoniou

September 11, 2023 12:00 - 51 minutes - 40.9 MB

In lieu of a full episode this week, we bring you the ninth 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. On this show is Bil Antoniou, the host of the Bad Gay Movies Podcast and authoring of the monthly Criterion Shelf column (a column Dakota often contributes to as well). Dakota and Bil talk about the legacy of Yasujirō Ozu and Tokyo Story, whether ...

251: 2023 TIFF Preview

September 04, 2023 12:00 - 48 minutes - 39.2 MB

The 2023 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival will run from September 7-17th and we are here to preview our picks for the movies we are most excited about. Dakota's Picks: Evil Does Not Exist, Hit Man, Poolman, Woman of the Hour and Zone of Interest. Rachel's Picks: The Boy and the Heron, The Critic, Dumb Money, Knox Goes Away and The Pigeon Tunnel. It was announced a few weeks before the festival that Bell will not return as the title sponsor next year. Stay tuned for a...

250: A24 Retrospective - Slow West

August 28, 2023 12:00 - 1 hour - 72.2 MB

We continue our series going through the entire catalog of A24's films. On this episode we are looking at 2015's Slow West directed by John Maclean. The film stars Kodi Smit-McPhee as Jay a teenager from Scotland who comes to the wild west in search of the young girl he's in love with. Michael Fassbender plays Silas, a mysterious man who agrees to help guide Jay across the plains with questionable motivations. Joining the show is Jericho Tadeo, The Asian Cut's Critic at Large. Our double b...

249: The Films of Elvis Presley

August 21, 2023 12:00 - 1 hour - 72.5 MB

On August 16th 1977 Elvis Presley died, marking the 46th anniversary of his untimely passing. Currently The Criterion Channel has a 6 movie collection available to stream. We discuss three of the films, King Creole, Wild in the Country and Viva Las Vegas. We talk about Elvis' acting abilities, how his music is incorporated and whether or not his movies deserve a reevaluation from the film community. Read Rachel's interview with Steve Binder, the director of the famous 1968 comeback special...

248: 2023 Fantasia Film Festival Wrap Up

August 14, 2023 12:00 - 1 hour - 58.6 MB

For the third year in a row we are covering Montreal's Fantasia Film Festival, which celebrates the best in horror and genre cinema with an emphasis on international movies. We review A Disturbance in the Force: How The Star Wars Holiday Special Happened, Talk To Me, river, With Love and a Major Organ and Sometimes I Think About Dying. We also have some honourable mentions including Where The Devil Roams, Baby Assassins 2 Babies and It Lives Inside. Watch Dakota's interview with the filmmak...

247: Fantasia Fest Interviews - Satan Wants You and Where The Devil Roams Directors

August 07, 2023 12:00 - 42 minutes - 39 MB

Fantasia Festival is still going on, but we had the chance to interview two sets of directors who had their films screening at this years fest! First up is Steve J. Adams and Sean Horlor, the directors of Satan Wants You a documentary about the start of the Satanic Panic. Second is Toby Poser, John, Zelda and Lulu Adams the team behind Where the Devil Roams, about a murderous carnie family during the Depression Era. Read Dakota's review of Satan Wants You from Hot Docs earlier this year, an...

246: A24 Retrospective - Ex Machina

July 31, 2023 18:32 - 1 hour - 65 MB

We continue our series going through the entire catalog of A24's films. On this episode we are looking at 2015's Ex Machina directed by Alex Garland. The film follows Oscar Issac as a billionaire tech CEO who invites his employee, Domhnall Gleeson, to administer a Turing Test. The subject is Ava, played by Alicia Vikander, a robot that may or may not have human consciousness. We have Canadian writer and director Jeremy LaLonde, best known for films such as Ashgrove and James vs His Future Se...

245: Make/Remake The Day The Earth Stood Still

July 24, 2023 12:00 - 1 hour - 64.8 MB

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. This time we are looking at the 1951 film The Day The Earth Stood Still directed by Robert Wise and the 2008 remake also called The Day The Earth Stood Still directed by Scott Derickson. Check out our past ⁠Make/Remake⁠'s for more great comparison episodes and see the ⁠Letterboxd⁠ list. Watch Brodie's short film ⁠The Gi...

244: The 50 Greatest Films Directed by Canadians

July 17, 2023 12:00 - 1 hour - 67.7 MB

A few weeks ago CBC released a poll conducted by them where industry professionals and critics voted to help make a list of The 50 Greatest Films Directed by Canadians. Both Dakota and Rachel voted on the list, with Rachel even writing in praise of the #6 movie Crash. Joining the show to talk about the list and who they also voted for is Matthew Simpson and Taylor Beaumont. Listen to episode 45: Canadian Filmmakers where we discuss a similar subject. Check out Taylor's massive list of gr...

243: Best Films By Language

July 10, 2023 12:00 - 1 hour - 85 MB

It is Dakota's birthday week, and we continue the trend of picking a category and choosing our favourites from it. In 2020 there was 114: 30 Films in 30 Years, in 2021 it was 157: Best Films Through the Decades and in 2022 it was 199: Best Films by Genre. This year we are naming our 10 favourite films by language. We cover four specific languages, one country, two regions and three wildcards! We name both our picks and runners-up. See our picks below (Dakota’s first, then Rachel’s)! Frenc...

242: 2023 Toronto Japanese Film Festival

July 03, 2023 12:00 - 1 hour - 56.1 MB

For the 3rd year in a row we cover the Toronto Japanese Film Festival and talk about movies we saw. They include Plan 75, BL Metamorphosis, Roleless, and Father of the Milky Way Railroad. Read Jericho Tadeo's original review of Plan 75 when it was screened at TIFF last year on The Asian Cut. Both Dakota and Rachel participated in CBC's The 50 Greatest Films Directed by Canadians and Rachel wrote in support of the #6 film, Crash. Check out past episodes covering TJFF including 201: 2022...

Bonus: Better Know a Contributor - Paulo Bautista

June 26, 2023 12:00 - 50 minutes - 40.6 MB

In lieu of a full episode this week, we bring you the eighth 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. On this show is Paulo Bautista, a man who wears many hats but some of the podcasts he hosts include the Oscars Death Race Podcast, Box Office Watch, Filmography in Focus, Yet Another Anime Podcast and Into the Aether Vortex. Dakota and Paulo talk a...

241: Best Movies of 2023... So Far

June 19, 2023 12:00 - 1 hour - 65.4 MB

We're a little over halfway through 2023, so we decide to look at the best films of the year so far! Our titles are listed alphabetically, so they are not in order of our rankings. We also share our honourable mentions that just missed the cut! Dakota's Top 5 BlackBerry Renfield Satan Wants You Scream 6 Showing Up Rachel's Top 5 BlackBerry John Wick: Chapter 4 Past Lives Retrograde Riceboy Sleeps Listen to Classic Movies Live review BlackBerry. Listen to past episodes 238: Most...

240: Good Gay Movies

June 12, 2023 12:00 - 1 hour - 56.9 MB

It's June, which means it is Pride Month! Bad Gay Movies is one of my favourite podcasts and love hearing Bil Antoniou talk about gay themed movies, but I wanted to hear his thoughts on movies that are actually good. We decided to focus on movies that were influential to Bil as he was coming of age. We discuss Madonna: Truth or Dare, Jeffrey and Clueless. Listen to our last Pride themed episode 112: Celebrating Queer Cinema. Read Examining the Politics of Madonna's 'Truth or Dare,' 30 Yea...

239: A24 Retrospective - Cut Bank

June 05, 2023 12:00 - 1 hour - 61 MB

We continue our series going through the entire catalog of A24's films. On this episode we are looking at 2015's Cut Bank directed by Matt Shakman. The film stars Liam Hemsworth and Teresa Palmer as a couple who accidentally film the murder of their small town mailman. Once John Malkovich, the towns sheriff, starts to investigate the crime, things suddenly start not appearing as they seem. Joining the show is Daniel Grant, one half of the Spoiled Rotten podcast a fellow That Shelf show. Our...

238: Most Anticipated Movies of 2023

May 29, 2023 12:00 - 1 hour - 76.9 MB

Now that all the limited releases of 2022 have come out and we are past the winter studio dumping grounds, it is time to look at what movies are coming out the rest of this year. Both Dakota and Rachel pick 6 movies each that have confirmed release dates and discuss why they are so excited for them. Dakota's picks: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Asteroid City, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, Barbie, Next Goal Wins and Kraven the Hunter. Rachel's picks: Past Lives, Elem...

237: A24 Retrospective - While We're Young

May 22, 2023 12:00 - 1 hour - 58.4 MB

We continue our series going through the entire catalog of A24's films. On this episode we are looking at 2015's While We're Young directed by Noah Baumbach. The film stars Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts as a couple who hit their mid-life crisis and meet young hipsters played by Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried who re-energize them. Joining the show is Bil Antoniou host of the Bad Gay Movies podcast. Our double bill pairings include The Darjeeling Limited (Dakota) and Being Julia (Bil). See our...

236: Dr. No at 60 Years

May 15, 2023 12:00 - 1 hour - 69.8 MB

The first James Bond film Dr. No was first seen outside the United Kingdom in May of 1963. We celebrate the 60th anniversary of the film franchise by revisiting the seminal action movie directed by Terrence Yonge and starring Sean Connery, Ursula Andress and Joseph Wiseman. After we discuss the movie we look back at the franchise as a whole including our favourite Bond actors, best theme songs and overall best movies. We then look ahead to who we want to play James Bond now that Daniel Craig...

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