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 o…

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 en…

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 Trevi…

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 wha…

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 Sha…

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. J…

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 fo…

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…

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. Ch…

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…

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 yea…

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 …

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 Garzo…

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 Pa…

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 …

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 F…

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, fami…

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. Joi…

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 c…

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 Tade…

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 Orso…

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 w…

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 …

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…

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-…

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 th…

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 an…

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…

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 th…

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…

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, Wo…

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 Cri…

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…

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 …

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 mo…

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…

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 De…

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 n…

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 …

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 Si…

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, …

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 Great…

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 th…

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 Wic…

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 Cl…

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 …

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-Ver…

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…

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 includi…

The 30th edition of the Hot Docs festival that celebrates the best new documentaries just concluded in Toronto. We discuss the films Satan Wants You, July Talk: Love Lives Here, I’m Just Here For The Riot, A Still Small Voice, Aitamaako’tamisskapi Natosi: Before the Sun and The Mountains. Joining the show is Courtney Small a critic who runs the pub…