On this episode we wrap up the 2021 edition of the Vancouver International Film Festival. Joining the show to talk about movies watched is Thomas Stoneham-Judge, the Editor-in-Chief of ForReel Movie News and Reviews.  Belfast 11:00-19:00 Read Dakota's review. Red Rocket 19:30-30:00 Read Dakota's review. Official Competition 30:00-39:00 Benediction 39:00-47:30 Read Dakota's review. Drive My Car 49:00-52:30 Memoria 52:30-1:04:30 Read Thomas' review. All My Puny Sorrows 1:04:30-1:10:00 Read Dakota's review. Check out our preview episode 167: Vancouver International Film Festival Preview 2021. Watch Thomas' own festival wrap up! Follow Thomas on Twitter and Instagram and ForReel on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Check out and subscribe to Box Office Watch on Spotify and follow them on Twitter. Listen to Contra Zoom on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, Overcast, RadioPublic, Breaker, Podcast Addict and more! Please rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. Send us a screenshot of your 5 star rating and review to contrazoompod@gmail.com and we will send you free swag! Thank you Eric and Kevin Smale for creating the awesome theme music and Stephanie Prior for designing the logo. Follow the show on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/contrazoompod/message

Contra Zoom Pod

170: VIFF 2021 Wrap Up

We continue our series going through the entire catalog of A24's films. On this episode, 2012's Spring Breakers, directed by Harmony Korine is on the docket. The film had some stunt casting bringing in teen starlets Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Benson putting them in bikinis and watching them act like bad girls opposite James Franco doing a riff on the rapper Riff Raff and the directors wife Rachel Korine who rounds out the quartet of young women.  Our double bill pairings include Taxi Driver (Dakota's pick) and Wild Things (Rachel's pick).  If you haven't heard our deep dive into the origins of A24, listen to episode 108: A History of A24 Films and our last episode in this series 159: A24 Retrospective - The Green Knight.  Check out Rachel's website for more great reviews. Check out and subscribe to Box Office Watch on Spotify and follow them on Twitter. Listen to Contra Zoom on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, Overcast, RadioPublic, Breaker, Podcast Addict and more! Please rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. Send us a screenshot of your 5 star rating and review to contrazoompod@gmail.com and we will send you free swag! Thank you Eric and Kevin Smale for creating the awesome theme music and Stephanie Prior for designing the logo. Follow the show on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/contrazoompod/message

169: A24 Retrospective - Spring Breakers

After having such a great time covering last year's Cinefest Sudbury, it was a must to return to this Norther Ontario film festival. Last year it was digital only, this year they went to a hybrid model like so many other film festivals. We look at a few films we both saw and some short films seen too.  Wildhood 6:30-15:30 Read Dakota's review and Rachel's review. Drunk Bus 15:30-27:30 Read Dakota's review and Rachel's review. Shadowtown 29:00-41:30 Read Dakota's review and Rachel's review. Shorts 41:30-48:30 Read Rachel's reviews. Check out Rachel's website for more great reviews (including Learn to Swim as seen at Cinefest) and follow her on Twitter. Check out and subscribe to Box Office Watch on Spotify and follow them on Twitter. Listen to Contra Zoom on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, Overcast, RadioPublic, Breaker, Podcast Addict and more! Please rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. Send us a screenshot of your 5 star rating and review to contrazoompod@gmail.com and we will send you free swag! Thank you Eric and Kevin Smale for creating the awesome theme music and Stephanie Prior for designing the logo. Follow the show on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/contrazoompod/message

168: Cinefest Sudbury 2021 Wrap Up

On this show we are previewing the 40th edition of the Vancouver International Film Festival. It is the largest film festival in Western Canada and gets plenty of prestige films from around the world. Joining the show is Matthew Simpson, who is one half of the Awesome Friday Movie Podcast. We each picked five films (and a few honourable mentions) to talk about.  Dakota's picks - Red Rocket, Petit Maman, Benediction, Ste. Anne and Wife of a Spy. Matthew's picks - The Power of the Dog, The Worst Person in the World, Paris, 13th District, Official Competition and Belfast. Check out the official Letterboxd list for every film playing at the festival. Follow Matthew and Awesome Friday on Twitter and check out his work on the Awesome Friday website. Listen to Contra Zoom on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, Overcast, RadioPublic, Breaker, Podcast Addict and more! Please rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. Send us a screenshot of your 5 star rating and review to contrazoompod@gmail.com and we will send you free swag! Thank you Eric and Kevin Smale for creating the awesome theme music and Stephanie Prior for designing the logo. Follow the show on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/contrazoompod/message

167: Vancouver International Film Festival Preview 2021

The Toronto International Film Festival just concluded, this year the fest did a hybrid model offering both in person and digital screenings. We talk about the biggest news stories, who won the awards and review films we watched. Read Rachel's review of Belfast. Some digital screeners were leaked online, causing the festival scene to reevaluate the hybrid model. No movies were sold during this year's TIFF. Steven Soderbergh re-edited and re-released his 1991 Kafka, now called Mr. Kneff. Alanis Morissette disowns the documentary Jagged that is about her. Complete list of TIFF award winners.  Check out Dakota's reviews during the fest. Check out Rachel's website for more great reviews and follow her on Twitter. Listen to Contra Zoom on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, Overcast, RadioPublic, Breaker, Podcast Addict and more! Please rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. Send us a screenshot of your 5 star rating and review to contrazoompod@gmail.com and we will send you free swag! Thank you Eric and Kevin Smale for creating the awesome theme music and Stephanie Prior for designing the logo. Follow the show on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/contrazoompod/message

166: TIFF 2021 Wrap Up

We're back with even more great Fantasia Festival coverage. Both Rachel and Dakota did solo interviews with directors who had their films screened at the best genre film festival in Canada. Dakota talked with Mark O'Brien, the director, writer and star of the Canadian horror film The Righteous. They talked about what horror films influenced Mark, finding the right cast members in two Canadian icons and getting to talk with Justin Chon about being a triple threat while he acted in Blue Bayou. Rachel talked with Travis Taute, the director of the South African action thriller Indemnity. They talked about the stigma of mental health, especially in men of colour, the grizzly side of firefighting that isn't talked about and struggling to figure out how to shoot an action film when you can't have actors too physically close to one another.  The Righteous 02:30-25:00 Indemnity 26:00-54:30 If you haven't already, listen to episode 161: Fantasia Fest Interviews - Glasshouse and Alien on Stage Directors. Listen to episode 163: Fantasia Festival 2021.  Read Rachel's interviews with Riz Ahmed and Simu Liu. Check out Rachel's website for more great reviews and follow her on Twitter. Listen to Contra Zoom on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, Overcast, RadioPublic, Breaker, Podcast Addict and more! Please rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. Send us a screenshot of your 5 star rating and review to contrazoompod@gmail.com and we will send you free swag! Thank you Eric and Kevin Smale for creating the awesome theme music and Stephanie Prior for designing the logo. Follow the show on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/contrazoompod/message

165: Fantasia Fest Interviews - The Righteous and Indemnity Directors

With this year's Toronto International Film Festival just around the corner, we are here to share our most anticipated films that are playing during this year's iteration. We both had five films we've named and included a few honourable mentions. Dakota's Picks - Spencer, All My Puny Sorrows, Official Competition, A Hero and The Middle Man Rachel's Picks - Flee, Night Raiders, Scarborough, Aloners and Belfast Honourable mentions include Memoira, The Forgiven, Encounter, DASHCAM, Snakehead and Titane Check out Rachel's helpful TIFF planning website. Read Dakota's article detailing his most anticipated movies still to come out in 2021.  Read Rachel's interviews with Riz Ahmed and Simu Liu.  Check out That Shelf's best films of 2021 so far. Listen to The Troubles podcast to learn more about the background information of Kenneth Branagh's Belfast.  Check out Rachel's website for more great reviews and follow her on Twitter. Listen to Contra Zoom on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, Overcast, RadioPublic, Breaker, Podcast Addict and more! Please rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. Send us a screenshot of your 5 star rating and review to contrazoompod@gmail.com and we will send you free swag! Thank you Eric and Kevin Smale for creating the awesome theme music and Stephanie Prior for designing the logo. Follow the show on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/contrazoompod/message

164: TIFF 2021 Preview

We review the films that we watched during the 2021 edition of Fantasia, the yearly Montreal film festival that specializes in genre movies (horror, SciFi, thriller, action etc). We talk about movies we both saw, ones we had previously covered, ones only one of us saw and awards that were given out! 9:45-13:30 Glasshouse (Read Dakota's review and Rachel's review) 13:30-18:50 Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (Read Rachel's review) 18:50-25:00 Art Kabuki (Read Dakota's review and Rachel's review) 25:00-30:45 Last Night in the Strip Club (Watch this doc short for free on YouTube) 30:45-33:45 Alien on Stage (Read Dakota's review and Rachel's Review) 33:45-38:00 Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched (Read Dakota's review and Rachel's review) 38:00-39:45 Under the Open Sky (Listen to my review on episode 155: Toronto Japanese Film Festival) 39:45-45:45 Tombs of the Blind Dead (Read Dakota's review) 45:45-51:00 Indemnity (Read Rachel's review)  **Trigger Warning - suicide and self harm** 51:00-59:15 #Blue_Whale (Read Rachel's review) Listen to our interviews with Kelsey Egan the director of Glasshouse and Lucy Harvey and Danielle Kummer the directors of Alien on Stage. Listen to Contra Zoom on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, Overcast, RadioPublic, Breaker, Podcast Addict and more! Thank you Eric and Kevin Smale for creating the awesome theme music and Stephanie Prior for designing the logo. Follow the show on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/contrazoompod/message

163: Fantasia Festival 2021

Vancouver's second largest film festival and the largest queer arts festival in Western Canada had their 33rd annual Vancouver Queer Film Festival, celebrating the best films from the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Joining the show is Stephanie Prior as we review three films that were screened during the festival.  Raw! Uncut! Video! 02:30-13:00 Workhorse Queen 13:30-27:00 The Fandom 27:30-41:00 Check out our previous episode talking about LGBTQ+ movies, 112: Celebrating Queer Cinema. Listen to Contra Zoom on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, Overcast, RadioPublic, Breaker, Podcast Addict and more! Please rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. Send us a screenshot of your 5 star rating and review to contrazoompod@gmail.com and we will send you free swag! Thank you Eric and Kevin Smale for creating the awesome theme music and Stephanie Prior for designing the logo. Follow the show on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/contrazoompod/message

162: Vancouver Queer Film Festival 2021

Montreal's Fantasia Festival is going on until August 25th. We had the chance to talk to the directors of two films being screened. Glasshouse, directed by Kelsey Egan, is a South African film about a family living in a green house during a pandemic that causes people to lose their memories and a mysterious stranger appears that upends the families tight bond.  We also chatted with Danielle Kummer and Lucy Harvey, the directors of the documentary Alien on Stage. The doc follows a group of bus drivers in Dorset, England as they are mounting a stage production of the classic horror film Alien and how it became an unlikely hit. Follow Kelsey Egan to get updates on Glasshouse. Visit Alien on Stage's official website to learn more about the film. Fantasia Reviews: Art Kabuki by Dakota and Rachel, Tombs of the Blind Dead by Dakota. Check out Rachel's website for more great reviews and follow her on Twitter. Listen to Contra Zoom on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, Overcast, RadioPublic, Breaker, Podcast Addict and more! Please rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. Send us a screenshot of your 5 star rating and review to contrazoompod@gmail.com and we will send you free swag! Thank you Eric and Kevin Smale for creating the awesome theme music and Stephanie Prior for designing the logo. Follow the show on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/contrazoompod/message

161: Fantasia Fest Interviews - Glasshouse and Alien on Stage Directors

We're just past the halfway mark of the year so we decided to name our five favourite and least favourite films of the year, so far. We added a caveat of removing any films that were in awards contention, so you won't hear us talking about Minari, Judas and the Black Messiah, The Father and others that technically came out in 2021.  Dakota's Top 5 1. The Green Knight 2. Under The Open Sky 3. Zola 4. Luca 5. The Dig Rachel's Top 5 1. Nine Days 2. Pig 3. Riders of Justice 4. Nobody 5. The Mitchells vs the Machines Dakota's Bottom 5 1. The World to Come 2. With Drawn Arms 3. School Meals Time Final Battle 4. I Care A Lot 5. In the Earth Rachel's Bottom 5 1. Space Jam: A New Legacy 2. Mortal Kombat 3. Cherry 4. The Last Letter From Your Lover 5. Coming 2 America Read the Luca review from Victor Stiff at That Shelf. Rachel and Dakota both wrote an article about our most anticipated films still to come in 2021. Read her's HERE and Dakota's HERE. Check out Rachel's website for more great reviews and follow her on Twitter. Listen to Contra Zoom on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, Overcast, RadioPublic, Breaker, Podcast Addict and more! Please rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. Send us a screenshot of your 5 star rating and review to contrazoompod@gmail.com and we will send you free swag! Thank you Eric and Kevin Smale for creating the awesome theme music and Stephanie Prior for designing the logo. Follow the show on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/contrazoompod/message

160: Best and Worst of 2021... So Far

With the release of one of the most anticipated films from the last two years, we decide to turn our A24 Retrospective forward to review The Green Knight. The film directed by David Lowrey tells the tale of Sir Gawain, who is challenged to a game by the Green Knight and how his loyalty and desire to become a legend is then tested. This episode does include some spoilers, so if you have not watched it yet, be warned. The film stars Dev Patel, Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton, Sarita Choudhury, Sean Harris, Kate Dickie, Ralph Ineson, Barry Keoghan and Erin Kellyman.  Read Rachel's review of The Green Knight on Exclaim!, along with David Ehrlich's from IndieWire and Simon Abrams from The Wrap. Our double bill pairings include Eyes Wide Shut (Dakota's pick) and Nine Days (Rachel's Pick), with an honourable mention of The Sword in the Stone. If you haven't heard our deep dive into the origins of A24, listen to episode 108: A History of A24 Films and our last episode in this series 158: A24 Retrospective - Ginger & Rosa. Check out Rachel's website for more great reviews and her Most Anticipated Movies For The Rest Of 2021 and follow her on Twitter and Instagram. Listen to Contra Zoom on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, Overcast, RadioPublic, Breaker, Podcast Addict and more! Please rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. Send us a screenshot of your 5 star rating and review to contrazoompod@gmail.com and we will send you free swag! Thank you Eric and Kevin Smale for creating the awesome theme music and Stephanie Prior for designing the logo. Follow the show on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/contrazoompod/message

159: A24 Retrospective - The Green Knight

In lieu of a full episode this week, we bring you the third 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 (Speed, Casablanca), favourite guest appearances (155: Toronto Japanese Film Festival), last movie turned off (The Matrix Reloaded) and more! Check out Rachel's website for more great reviews and interviews and follow her on Twitter. Read her recent review of For Madmen Only: The Story of Del Close on POV Magazine. Listen to Contra Zoom on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, Overcast, RadioPublic, Breaker, Podcast Addict and more! Please rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. Send us a screenshot of your 5 star rating and review to contrazoompod@gmail.com and we will send you free swag! Thank you Eric and Kevin Smale for creating the awesome theme music and Stephanie Prior for designing the logo. Follow the show on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/contrazoompod/message

Bonus Episode: Better Know a Contributor - Rachel Ho

We are continuing a new series here at Contra Zoom. A24 is putting out some of our favourite films and we want to revisit them and fill in the gaps for movies we have missed. We plan on going through every A24 episode, in order (except for some select new releases along the way). On this second episode, we look at the 2012 Sally Potter film Ginger & Rosa. The film stars Elle Fanning, Alice Englert, Christina Hendricks, Alessandro Nivola, Oliver Platt, Timothy Spall and Anette Bening. The film is a coming of age tale of two teenage girls in 1960's England as they navigate becoming young women will dealing with threats of atomic war.  Our double bill pairings are An Education (Dakota's pick) and I May Destroy You (Rachel's pick). If you want to learn more about Split Diopter shots, watch this video from The Movie Textbook. If you haven't heard our deep dive into the origins of A24, listen to episode 108: A History of A24 Films and our first episode in this series 156: A24 Retrospective - A Glimpse Inside The Mind Of Charles Swan III. Check out Rachel's website for more great reviews and interviews and follow her on Twitter. Listen to Contra Zoom on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, Overcast, RadioPublic, Breaker, Podcast Addict and more! Please rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. Send us a screenshot of your 5 star rating and review to contrazoompod@gmail.com and we will send you free swag! Thank you Eric and Kevin Smale for creating the awesome theme music and Stephanie Prior for designing the logo. Follow the show on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/contrazoompod/message

158: A24 Retrospective - Ginger & Rosa

Last year for my birthday, I made an episode picking my favourite movie from every year that I have been alive for (114: 30 Films in 30 Years). This year Bil Antoniou joins, host of the podcast Bad Gay Movies, as we pick our favourite movie (and runner up) for every decade from the 1920's through the 2010's.  Dakota's picks are first then Bil's. 1920's - The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The Passion of Joan of Arc 1930's - M, L'Atalante 1940's - The Great Dictator, Black Narcissus 1950's - Rififi, Tokyo Story 1960's - The Apartment, La Dolce Vita 1970's - All The President's Men, Nashville 1980's - Do The Right Thing, Missing 1990's - Devil in a Blue Dress, Howard's End 2000's - Inglorious Basterds, Talk To Her 2010's - The Master, A Separation  Read Bil's article on German Expressionism. Follow Bil on Instagram and YouTube.  Listen to Contra Zoom on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, Overcast, RadioPublic, Breaker, Podcast Addict and more! Please rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts. Thank you Eric and Kevin Smale for creating the awesome theme music and Stephanie Prior for designing the logo. Follow the show on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/contrazoompod/message

157: Best Films Through the Decades

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. Contra Zoom is presented by Aesthetic Magazine. Email us at contrazoompod@gmail.com

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