On this episode Sammy Feilchenfeld joins Dakota Arsenault as they discuss the end of the summer movie season. This epsidoe includes talk on some summer movie highlights, the media’s decision to cause a panic about low attendance rates for crappy movies, the success of IT and the emergence of the app Movie Pass.

– THR talks about what a poor few weeks August was for the box office.

– Movie Pass might be the greatest idea ever, except it is only for Americans.

– A fancy infographic about the history of the summer movie season. 

Follow Dakota @Dgapa on Twitter.

The post 48: Summer Movie Season Post Mortem appeared first on LIVE IN LIMBO.

With the recent passing of Horror legend George A. Romero, we here at Contra Zoom thought we should honour him by dedicating an episode of Make/Remake to him.

In this Make/Remake series we discuss how remade films are both similar and different from each other, without going super in depth into if they are “good” or “bad” movies.

Much like the first iteration of this Make/Remake series (Seven Samurai/The Magnificent Seven), host Dakota Arsenault is joined once again by Stephanie Prior who also did the cover art for this episode. 

1978’s Dawn of the Dead directed by Romero was his second zombie film and a landmark horror movie. Combining body horror with a consumerist satire and comic book humour was a stroke of genius for the auteur as it propelled him into the mainstream movie going collective.  Throughout his life Romero made fifteen feature films. 

In 2004 Zack Synder made his directorial debut with a remake of Dawn of the Dead. At the time Synder was known for his work as a commercial director before given the reins to make his feature debut. Going for a more traditional thriller/horror film, he forwent the satirical take on the concept and made his mark on the industry, which lead him to eventually be the big shot behind the current DC cinematic universe and helming the new Superman and Justice League films. 

Follow Dakota @Dgapa on Twitter.

The post 47: Make/Remake Dawn of the Dead appeared first on LIVE IN LIMBO.

On this special episode, Dakota Arsenault is joined by Sammy Feilchenfeld as they discuss the greatest aspect of Canada- our filmmakers! 

From talking about their favourite Canadian produced films like Incendies, Men With Brooms, C.R.A.Z.Y. and many more to just plain talking about their favourite Canadian directors like Denis Villeneuve, Jean-Marc Vallée, David Cronenberg and Deepa Mehta. 

Let us know what you favourite Canadian films and filmmakers are @liveinlimbo and @dgapa. 

The post 46: Canadian Filmmakers appeared first on LIVE IN LIMBO.

On this week’s episode Sierra Nutkevitch joins Dakota Arsenault and they talk about the latest DC film Wonder Woman directed by Patty Jenkins. In the second part of the episode the two discuss their favourite films directed by women and the importance of female fronted movies. 

The post 45: Wonder Woman and an Appreciation of Female Directors appeared first on LIVE IN LIMBO.

This is the first episode of a new series called Make/Remake where we look at two films, an original and a remake and compare and contrast the films. It isn’t about anointing, which one is the superior film or deriding remakes as unoriginal. This series is about looking at two films that tell the same story and how the utilize the art of telling a story in both similar and different ways. 

This week Dakota Arsenault is joined by Stephanie Prior to talk about Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven.

Seven Samurai was released in 1954 and was directed by Akira Kurasawa (Rashomon, Akira Ran). The film was nominated for two Oscars (Best Art Direction/Set Decoration B&W and Best Costume Design B&W) and remains one of Japans most famous and influential films. Shop samurai sword for a Japanese Katana that is handmade by expert swordsmiths with a full-tang blade crafted of high carbon steel. We also have a custom sword shop.

Only six years later did The Magnificent Seven come out, it was directed by John Sturges (The Great Escape, Gunfight at the O.K. Coral). The film only received one Oscar nomination for its iconic score even though it starred a who’s who of Hollywood including Steve McQueen, Yul Brenner, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, Eli Wallach and more. 

Special thanks to Stephanie Prior for joining me and for creating the artwork used for this special episode. 

Follow Dakota @Dgapa on Twitter.

The post 44: Make/Remake: Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven appeared first on LIVE IN LIMBO.

On this week’s episode Dakota Arsenault introduces interviews that Sierra Nutkevitch conducted at the Toronto Screenwriting Conference this year. 

The post 43: Toronto Screenwriting Conference 2017 appeared first on LIVE IN LIMBO.

Rachel Gordon and Dakota Arsenault discuss the top films of 2016, even though it is now 4 months into 2017, as they needed time to digest everything. They were going to just award the top spot to La La Land, but at the last second decided not to.

A few guests who also talk about their number one movie of last year join them this week.

Gilles Leblanc- Rogue One

Sierra Nutkevitch- Moana

Sean Chin- Arrival

Mehek Seyid- Moonlight

Rachel Gordon’s top 10 list:

10. Don’t Think Twice

9. Little Men

8. Sing Street

7. 10 Cloverfield Land

6. Kubo and the Two Strings

5. I, Daniel Blake

4. 20th Century Women

3. Arrival

2. Hunt for the Wilderpeople

1. Moonlight

Dakota Arsenault’s top 10 list:

10. Sing Street

9. The Salesman

8. The Handmaiden

7. Hunt for the Wilderpeople

6. The Lobster

5. Arrival

4. O.J.: Made in America

3. Moonlight

2. Hail, Caesar

1. Hell or High Water

Check out Dakota’s entire 2016 list on Letterboxd.

What was your favourite movie of the year?

The post 42: Top 10 Films of 2016 appeared first on LIVE IN LIMBO.

After all the craziness of the Oscars Dakota Arsenault and Mehek Seyid needed to talk about what transpired. 

– La La Land was accidentally named Best Picture because of an envelope mixup

– Jimmy Kimmel making fun of non-white names isn’t cool

– John Legend performed both La La Land songs

– Mahershala Ali was the first Muslim actor to win an Oscar

– Damien Chazelle is the youngest Best Director winner ever

– Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them won the first Oscar for a Potter-verse film

– All five directors of the Best Foreign Language Film signed a note deriding Trump’s Travel Ban 

Based on the guesses Dakota, Rachel Gordon and Mehek made during the two part predictions episode Dakota ended up with 16 right, Rachel with 9 and Mehek with 14. 

Follow Dakota @Dgapa and follow the show @ContraZoomPod on Twitter.

The post 41: Post Oscars Recap 2017 appeared first on LIVE IN LIMBO.

Just in time for your last minute Oscar pool’s Dakota Arsenault and Rachel Gordon host the second annual Contra Zoom Oscar Extravaganza! Your hosts are joined by film buff and Capsule co-host Mehek Seyid. Here are the final predictions for Part 2 of the two-part special. If you missed Part 1, listen HERE. There will be a recap episode after the Oscars.

Best Documentary 

Dakota- O.J.: Made in America

Rachel- O.J.: Made in America

Mehek- O.J.: Made in America

Best Foreign Language Film 

Dakota- The Salesman

Rachel- Toni Erdmann

Mehek- The Salesman

Best Animated Feature 

Dakota- Zootopia

Rachel- Kubo and the Two Strings

Mehek- Zootopia

Best Adapted Screenplay

Dakota- Moonlight

Rachel- Moonlight

Mehek- Moonlight

Best Original Screenplay

Dakota- Manchester By the Sea

Rachel- La La Land 

Mehek- La La Land

Best Supporting Actor

Dakota- Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

Rachel- Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

Mehek- Mahershala Ali (Moonlight) 

Best Supporting Actress

Dakota- Naomie Harris (Moonlight)

Rachel- Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea)

Mehek- Viola Davis (Fences)

Best Actor

Dakota- Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)

Rachel- Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)

Mehek- Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)

Best Actress

Dakota- Emma Stone (La La Land)

Rachel- Natalie Portman (Jackie)

Mehek- Emma Stone (La La Land)

Best Director

Dakota- Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Rachel- Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Mehek- Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Best Picture

Dakota- Moonlight

Rachel- La La Land

Mehek- La La Land

Follow Dakota @Dgapa and follow the show @ContraZoomPod on Twitter.

The post 40: Oscar Predictions 2017 Part 2 appeared first on LIVE IN LIMBO.

Just in time for your last minute Oscar pool’s Dakota Arsenault and Rachel Gordon host the second annual Contra Zoom Oscar Extravaganza! Your hosts are joined by film buff and Capsule co-host Mehek Seyid. Here are the final predictions for Part 1 of the two part special. 

Best Live Action Short Film

Best Documentary Short Film

Best Animated Short Film

Best Sound Mixing

Best Sound Editing

Best Original Score

Best Original Song

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Best Editing

Best Costume Design

Best Production Design

Best Visual Effects

Best Cinematography

Stay tuned to part two coming on Thursday with the rest of the predictions. Special thanks to Mehek Seyid for joining Rachel and Dakota on this episode.

Follow Dakota @Dgapa and follow the show @ContraZoomPod on Twitter.

The post 39: Oscar Predictions 2017 Part 1 appeared first on LIVE IN LIMBO.