Every year to celebrate Dakota's birthday, he picks a topic and names his favourite films by that category. This year he picked the 10 most popular filming locations in North America, including NYC, Las Vegas, Chicago and more and named the best film by these cities. Joining Dakota is Bil Antoniou, host of the Bad Gay Movies and Riviera Rats podcasts. Here are their picks, with Dakota's first and Bil's second. NYC - Midnight Cowboy, Hannah and Her Sisters Chicago - The Blues Brothers, Return To ...
Jul 07, 2025•1 hr 32 min•Season 11Ep. 7
The 2025 Canadian Screen Awards were handed out from May 30-June 1st and the television portion was hosted by Lisa Gilroy. Universal Language and The Apprentice were the big winners. We look at ten categories and discuss the winners and Dakota, Matthew and Jeff pick our own favourites. Check out our collection of CSA nominated film reviews that cover 22 different movies. Check out Jeff Bulmer’s Letterboxd list and Matthew Simpson put together where to watch all of the nominees . For more of Matt...
Jun 09, 2025•1 hr 36 min•Season 11Ep. 6
Your mission, should you choose to accept it is to listen to Dakota and Matthew rank the Mission: Impossible films to celebrate the release of the 8th entry (and possibly last film in the series?) , The Final Reckoning. Joining the show is former co-host Rachel Ho the film editor at Exclaim! Our Rankings 8. Final Reckoning (time stamp for spoilers 9:30 for general discussion and 19:30 for big spoilers) 7. M:I-II 6. Dead Reckoning (spoiler warning for Final Reckoning at 38:35) 5. Mission: Impossi...
Jun 03, 2025•1 hr 35 min•Season 11Ep. 5
The 2025 edition of Hot Docs ran from April 24-May 4th, and we recap six of the films we watched including Ultras , Coexistence, My Ass! , The Flamenco Guitar of Yerai Cortés , The Secret Lives of My Three Men, Always and Writing Hawa . Joining Dakota and Jeff is Pedro Lima, a writer for Contra Zoom Pod . Check out Dakota's reviews of Paul , and The Secret Lives of My Three Men. Check out Jeff's reviews of I Dreamed His Name , Shamed and Endless Cookie. Check out Pedro's reviews of The Flamenco ...
May 12, 2025•1 hr 21 min•Season 11Ep. 4
With the announcement of there being a stunt Oscar coming in 2028, we decided to name who we think should have been the nominees and winners for the past five years. We also discuss other new Oscar rules. Joining the show is critic Todd Pengelly . Read about the addition of the Best Stunts category . Read about the upcoming changes to some Oscar categories . Dakota's picks for Best Stunts the last five years: The Fall Guy, The Iron Claw, The Batman, No Time to Die and Tenet. Todd's picks for Bes...
Apr 28, 2025•1 hr 25 min•Season 11Ep. 3
We continue our series going through the entire catalog of A24's films . On this episode Dakota and Matthew are looking at 2021's Val directed by Leo Scott and Ting Poo. The film is a documentary using actor Val Kilmer's extensive home video collection to cover his life and career up to his diagnoses with throat cancer that left him without a voice. Kilmer sadly passed away on April 1st, 2025 so we decided to jump forward to cover this film. Both Matthew Simpson and Jeff Bulmer are officia...
Apr 14, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Season 11Ep. 2
The Canadian Screen Awards announced their nominations for the June 1st gala with Universal Language leading the pack with 13 nominations. Jeff Bulmer, one half of the Classic Movies Live podcast, joins the show as the guys try to predict who will be nominated and then react to actual films that made the cut. See the Letterboxd list that Jeff made that features all of the nominated films. Check out some of our Canadian Screen Award reviews from this past year, Darkest Miriam , Paying For It , Ru...
Mar 31, 2025•1 hr 17 min•Season 11Ep. 1
Now that Oscar season has come and gone, it is finally time to put a bow on the films from 2024. We rank our top 10 films of the year. Joining the show is CZP's former co-host Rachel Ho. We also feature voicemails from friends of the show who name their favourite film of the year. Dakota's List 10. The Seed of the Sacred Fig 9. Dune: Part Two 8. The King Tide 7. Kneecap 6. Challengers 5. Dìdi 4. Saturday Night 3. Civil War 2. Sing Sing 1. Conclave Rachel's List 10. The Bikeriders 9. Sing Sing 8....
Mar 17, 2025•2 hr 22 min•Season 10Ep. 27
Oscar season is officially over after Anora won Best Picture and four other trophies at the 97th Academy Awards. We recap the ceremony, give our thoughts on the biggest winners and losers and judge the production of the show itself. Joining the show is critic Alex Southey , who was last heard on episode 295: 2025 Oscar Nomination Reactions . We look at who won the the contest back on episode 299: 2025 Oscar Draft , with Alex Watson winning with 7 points, followed by Dakota and Thomas Stoneham-Ju...
Mar 03, 2025•53 min•Season 10Ep. 26
We are less than a week away from the Oscars, so we put our reputations on the line to predict who will win at the 97th Academy Awards. Joining the show is Elizabeth Mulloy a Washington based critic. Below are our picks of who we think will win: Best Picture - The Brutalist (D), Anora (E) Best Director - Sean Baker (D+E) Best Actor - Adrian Brody (D+E) Best Actress - Demi Moore (D+E) Best Supporting Actor - Kieran Culkin (D+E) Best Supporting Actress - Zoe Saldaña (D+E) Best Adapted Screenplay -...
Feb 24, 2025•1 hr 45 min•Season 10Ep. 25
We are back with our third annual 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 is Thomas Stoneham-Judge , Brodie Cotnam and Alex Watson. Stay tuned to the Oscar Wrap Up podcast to see who the winner was! Check out 2024's Oscar Draft and the 2023 Draft too . Dakota's team - The Brutalist, A Real Pain, The Wild Robot, No Other Land, A Lien Alex's team - Anora, Conclave, Nosferatu, Flow a...
Feb 17, 2025•37 min•Season 10Ep. 24
We continue our yearly tradition of breaking down the Best Picture nominees and the odds they have to win each of their categories. On this final episode of the series we talk about Wicked , Conclave , I'm Still Here and Nickel Boys . 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 . Check out our Oscar Primer blog entries where we look at other films nominated at the Oscars. The ...
Feb 10, 2025•1 hr 53 min•Season 10Ep. 23
We continue our yearly tradition of breaking down the Best Picture nominees and the odds they have to win each of their categories. On this episode of the series we talk about Emilia Pérez , Dune: Part Two and The Substance . We label each nomination as Frontrunner, Dark Horse, Longshot and Just Happy To Be There. Joining the show is Ethan Simmie, the host of The Movie Draft Podcast and 24 Minutes of A24 . Check out our Oscar Primer blog entries where we look at other films nominated at the ...
Feb 03, 2025•1 hr 37 min•Season 10Ep. 22
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 The Brutalist , A Complete Unknown and Anora . We label each nomination as Frontrunner, Dark Horse, Longshot and Just Happy To Be There. Joining the show is Jeff Bulmer, one half of the Classic Movies Live podcast and frequent contributor to ContraZoomPod.com . Check out our nomination reactions podcast where we looke...
Jan 27, 2025•1 hr 43 min•Season 10Ep. 21
The nominations for the 97th Academy Awards have been announced and we react to the big winners, surprises and snubs for this years show. Joining the show is Alex Southey, who runs the Play With Rabbit Ears blog. This Oscar season I will be highlighting different organizations that are helping victims of the Palisades fire. This episode consider donating to the California Fire Foundation and the California Community Foundation . Listen to Dakota's predictions on who would get nominated on the Os...
Jan 23, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Season 10Ep. 20
The first half of the decade is now behind us, so let's look back at the best films that came out from 2020-2024. We sent out a poll to critics and made a list of the 50 best films of the decade so far. Last week on Part 1 , we revealed picks 50-26. Now here is Part 2 where we count down picks 25 through number 1! Huge thank you to the following people for sending in voicemails on behalf of films that made the list: Calum Macnab , Bryan Loomis , Brodie Cotnam , Daniel Grant , Matthew Simpson , A...
Jan 13, 2025•50 min•Season 10Ep. 19
The first half of the decade is now behind us, so let's look back at the best films that came out from 2020-2024. We sent out a poll to critics and made a list of the 50 best films of the decade so far. On Part 1, we reveal picks 50-26, with the rest being named on Part 2 next week. Huge thank you to the following people for sending in voicemails on behalf of films that made the list: Bryan Loomis , Stephanie Prior, Ethan Simmie , Calum Macnab , Ricky Valero , Darren Zakus , Mike Noye...
Jan 06, 2025•42 min•Season 10Ep. 18
We continue our series going through the entire catalog of A24's films . On this episode we are looking at 2015's The Witch directed by Robert Eggers. The film stars Anya Taylor-Joy, as the eldest child of a New England family who moves out of their plantation home to live near woods where witches may habitate. Joining the show is Ethan Simmie, the host of The Movie Draft Podcast and 24 Minutes of A24 . Our double bill pairings include Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched (Dakota's pick) and Th...
Dec 23, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Season 10Ep. 17
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 Matthew Simpson, one half of the Awesome Friday podcast. Dakota and Matthew discuss how to market a film podcast, how you can still discover Airplane! jokes even after dozens of viewings, what makes Sam Raimi so special and more! Ch...
Dec 09, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 10Ep. 16
It's November, which means it is time for our annual Noir-vember themed episode! To celebrate Columbia Pictures 100th anniversary, The Criterion Channel put together a pack of some of their noir hits. We discuss Gilda , The Crimson Kimono and Experiment in Terror . Joining the show is Alisha Mughal, editor at The Asian Cut . Alisha previously joined the show for 261: McCarthyism in Noir and 216: Fox Film Noirs . Read Alisha's Silence As Salvation: The Quiet Femmes of Modern Horror . Follow Alish...
Nov 25, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Season 10Ep. 15
We continue our series going through the entire catalog of A24's films . On this episode we are looking at 2019 and 2021's The Souvenir and The Souvenir: Part II , written and directed by Joanna Hogg. The films are autobiographical stories of Hogg's own life with Honor Swinton Byrne portraying her during a bad relationship and the reverberating effects it has on her life. Joining the show is Jeff Bulmer and Pierre Frigon, hosts of the Classic Movies Live podcast. Our double bill pairings...
Nov 17, 2024•1 hr 23 min•Season 10Ep. 14
For our Halloween special this year we decided to fill in some horror blind spots and check out the Giallo collection that is available to stream on the Criterion Channel. We review Blood and Black Lace , Don't Torture a Duckling and Deep Red . Joining the show is Matthew Simpson, one half of the Awesome Friday podcast. Check out the full list of movies in the Criterion Channel collection on Letterboxd . Check out Filmsplaining with Martyn Strange episode 206: Giallo that was used as research ...
Oct 28, 2024•1 hr 20 min•Season 10Ep. 13
We continue our series going through the entire catalog of A24's films. On this episode we are looking at 2016's Mojave , directed by William Monahan. The film stars Garrett Hedlund as Tom, a depressed director who goes into the desert and ends up coming across Oscar Issac’s drifter Jack where they have a confrontation that continues back in LA. Joining the show is Matthew Simpson, one half of the Awesome Friday podcast. Our double bill pairings include The Gift (Dakota's pick) and The Hateful E...
Oct 21, 2024•56 min•Season 10Ep. 12
The 2024 edition of VIFF just wrapped its 43rd year. We discuss our thoughts on the festival and review some of the films watched. Joining the show is Todd Pengelly , Marta Djordjevic and Christopher Cross . We review Anora , Universal Language , All We Imagine As Light , Conclave , A Different Man , The Girl With a Needle , No Other Land and Rumours . Read Dakota's reviews of Inedia , A Different Man , Conclave , The Mother and the Bear and Rumours . Read Marta's reviews of All We Imagine as Li...
Oct 07, 2024•1 hr 32 min•Season 10Ep. 11
With TIFF now behind us, it is time to discuss some of our favourite films that played, the award winners and what comes next for the People's Choice selection. Joining the show is Jeff Bulmer from Classic Movies Live , Thomas Stoneham-Judge from For Reel and Darren Zakus from Movie Scene Canada . We review The Life of Chuck , The Substance , Queer , Eden , The Shrouds , SATURDAY NIGHT , The Assessment and Heretic . Read Dakota's reviews of SATURDAY NIGHT and The Last Showgirl . Read Jeff's revi...
Sep 23, 2024•2 hr 8 min•Season 10Ep. 10
The Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 5-15th and we will be in town covering the fest. Here we preview our most anticipated films playing! Joining the show is Jeff Bulmer, one half of the Classic Movies Live podcast. Dakota's picks: Oh, Canada , SATURDAY NIGHT , The Shrouds , The Last Showgirl , Anora and Relay . Jeff's pick: Ick , Universal Language , The Life of Chuck , Cloud , The Return and Piece by Piece . Read Dakota and Jeff's blog previewing their picks for ...
Aug 26, 2024•1 hr 14 min•Season 10Ep. 9
The 2024 edition of the Fantasia Film Festival just concluded and we discuss some of the films we watched, including Cuckoo, The Silent Planet, The Tenants, Electrophilia, Darkest Miriam, Hollywood 90028 and Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In. Joining the show is Jeff Bulmer, one half of the Classic Movies Live podcast. Read Dakota's reviews of The Silent Planet and Electrophilia . Read Jeff's reviews of Cuckoo , Infinite Summer , Kizumonogatari - Koyomi Vamp and Darkest Miriam . Follow C...
Aug 19, 2024•1 hr 27 min•Season 10Ep. 8
We continue our series going through the entire catalog of A24's films. On this episode we are looking at 2015's Mississippi Grind directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. The film stars Ben Mendelsohn as Gerry a down and out gambling addict who befriends Ryan Reynolds Curtis, a man who he believes is his good luck charm. Joining the show is Eric Zhu, who publishes his work on Substack called The Insert . Our double bill pairings include Hard Eight (Dakota's pick) and The Adults (Eric's pick). See...
Aug 12, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Season 10Ep. 7
It is recently Dakota's birthday, 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 in 2022 it was 199: Best Films by Genre and in 2023 it was 243: Best Films By Language . This year we are continuing 2022's theme of doing ten more genres by going through ten different film genres and name our favourite films from each of them! See our picks below (Dakota's fi...
Jul 22, 2024•1 hr 24 min•Season 10Ep. 6
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 ...
Jul 01, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Season 10Ep. 8
