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 episode 130: imagineNATIVE , a YouTuber who often covers Japanese culture and politics in both English an...
Mar 08, 2021•1 hr•Season 6Ep. 37
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 of Macbeth, The Northman, The Green Knight, In the Heights and more! We separated our picks into ca...
Mar 01, 2021•39 min•Season 6Ep. 36
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 Japanese culture and politics in both English and Japanese language videos. Look forward to part two com...
Feb 22, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Season 6Ep. 35
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, Violet, How It Ends and The Spine of Night. Dakota was also recently a guest on Please Watch This a...
Feb 15, 2021•18 min•Season 6Ep. 34
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 language films with Asian casts (like Mulan or Memoirs of a Geisha ) if they are set in Asia. Check out Ra...
Feb 08, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Season 6Ep. 33
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. Another Round 5. Emma. 4. Nomadland 3. The Vast of Night 2. Never Rarely Sometimes Always 1. The Trial...
Feb 01, 2021•1 hr 43 min•Season 6Ep. 32
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 Zoom Pod is taking a brief hiatus and will be back in a few weeks. Listen to Contra Zoom on Anchor , Apple...
Dec 28, 2020•35 min•Season 6Ep. 31
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 projects that are recapped on this show. List of full announcements and article about the price hikes and addition ...
Dec 21, 2020•45 min•Season 6Ep. 30
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 Dempsey, hosts of Please Watch This . No Film School chronicles the controversy of Pauline Kael's origi...
Dec 14, 2020•1 hr 20 min•Season 6Ep. 29
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 2. Fight Club 1. The Social Network Best Picture - The Social Network (both D+J) Best Actor - Jake G...
Dec 07, 2020•1 hr 40 min•Season 6Ep. 33
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. Dakota's Top 5 5. Three Identical Strangers 4. Wild Rose 3. I, Tonya 2. Portrait of a Lady on Fire 1. Apollo ...
Nov 30, 2020•1 hr 30 min•Season 6Ep. 32
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 the two founders and how they managed to be so successful. What "A History Of..." would you like us to cover...
Nov 23, 2020•36 min•Season 6Ep. 31
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 for all things CZP including past shows, guest appearances, blog posts and much more. Bookmark the page as w...
Nov 17, 2020•24 min
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, guest appearances, blog posts and much more. Bookmark the page as we will be updating it frequently...
Nov 11, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Season 6Ep. 30
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 . Go to contrazoompod.com for all things CZP including past shows, guest appearances, blog posts and much mo...
Nov 02, 2020•52 min•Season 6Ep. 29
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 his seaside estate we learn that his first wife's mysterious death is still haunting everyone that l...
Oct 26, 2020•1 hr 28 min•Season 6Ep. 28
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 , Let The Right One In and Cronos Comedy Horror: Tusk , Serial Mom and Corpse Bride IHYS Pick: Manb...
Oct 19, 2020•1 hr 19 min•Season 6Ep. 27
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. Québexit currently is making the festival rounds and hopes to have a distribution deal in the near future...
Oct 12, 2020•40 min•Season 6Ep. 26
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 for all things CZP including past shows, guest appearances, blog posts and much more. Bookmark the page as...
Oct 05, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Season 6Ep. 25
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: The Beverly Glenn-Copeland Story screened at the festival and was previously reviewed on the Hot Docs at Hom...
Sep 28, 2020•48 min•Season 6Ep. 24
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 Round , Concrete Cowboy , One Night In Miami , Falling , The Father and Good Joe Bell , which all appeared on...
Sep 21, 2020•1 hr 18 min•Season 6Ep. 23
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. Argo 19:00-31:00 3. The Shape of Water 31:00-41:00 2. Moonlight 41:00-55:00 1. Spotlight 55:00-1:06:00 Awards...
Sep 12, 2020•1 hr 19 min•Season 6Ep. 22
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 7. Birdman 23:30-32:30 6. The Artist 32:30-40:00 Go to contrazoompod.com for all things CZP includin...
Sep 07, 2020•42 min•Season 6Ep. 21
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 Father , Good Joe Bell , MLK/FBI , Nomadland and One Night in Miami . Honourable Mentions include Under...
Aug 31, 2020•21 min•Season 6Ep. 20
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 character introduction and the other consisting of behind the scenes footage and interviews with some completed...
Aug 24, 2020•55 min•Season 6Ep. 19
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. We discuss the differences between sound editing and mixing, the fear of meeting your heroes (and the...
Aug 17, 2020•28 min•Season 6Ep. 18
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 will be updating it frequently! Speaking of appearances, Dakota was a recent guest on both the Hawkeye...
Aug 10, 2020•6 min
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 leads credence to the importance of DC's Fandome late this month. Listen to Contra Zoom on Anchor , ...
Aug 03, 2020•44 min•Season 6Ep. 17
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 back in the 1950's to being pioneers of CD-ROMs under the Voyager banner to putting out the best Laser...
Jul 27, 2020•32 min•Season 6Ep. 16
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 Evan Jackson and Eddie Izzard. We talk about the differences between acting as a musician on set and i...
Jul 20, 2020•20 min•Season 6Ep. 15
