Contra Zoom Pod

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 c...

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 ...

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. Con...

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 win...

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 S...

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, ...

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 aboutWicked,Conclave,I'm Still Here andNickel Boys. We label each nomination as Frontrunner, Dark Horse, Longshot and Just Happy To Be There. Joining the show is Paulo Bautista host of theOscars Death Race Podcast.

Check out our⁠Oscar Primer blog entries⁠ wher...

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 Pri...

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....

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.

Li...

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, Br...

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...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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...

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 wit...

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...

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 R...