Contra Zoom Pod

On this episode Dakota Arsenault and Stephanie Prior talk about the movies that are the early frontrunners to be nominated and potentially win big at this year's Oscar's. First they run through films they have seen like Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, My Name is Dolemite and Parasite, then later they talk about movies either not out yet or just ones they haven't seen like Marriage Story, The Irishman and 1917.

Also in the show Dakota chats with Colin Mercer, the creator and show runner for Game Time a new sketch comedy show. The two discuss how to mine dark subject matter for laughs, male nudity being funny and the creative process of writing short sketches. You can watch 5 sketches on YouTube right now. Make sure you follow Game Time for updates on future sketches. 

Time Stamps:

00:35-39:00 Early Oscar Predictions for Movies Seen

39:30-1.00:40 Interview with Colin Mercer of Game Time

1.01:10-1.31:00 Early Oscar Predictions for Unseen Movies

Listen to Contra Zoom on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic, Podcast Addict and more on the way!

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 or send an email to [email protected].

Contra Zoom is proudly presented by Aesthetic Magazine.

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 Gilles Mimouni's 1996 film L'Appartement and Paul McGuigan's 2004 remake Wicker Park. Both films tell the story of a young man who thinks he see's his ex-girlfriend and starts to follow her to find out why their relationship had ended years earlier, but along the way suspicious things keep popping up in this romantic thriller. Joining Dakota this week is Stephanie Prior to talk about the two films.   

Listen to Contra Zoom on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic, Podcast Addict and more on the way!

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 or send an email to [email protected].

Contra Zoom is proudly presented by Aesthetic Magazine.

The new streaming service Disney+ launches in Canada, the United States and the Netherlands on November 12th. With the release just days away Sammy Feilchenfeld comes on the show to talk about how the platform will work, which titles are available, pricing and more. They then discuss some anticipated shows and movies on the platform including The Mandalorian, The World According to Jeff Goldblum and Monsters at Work. 

For a discussion of the Marvel offerings, listen to the All Things MCU episode from September. 

Listen to Contra Zoom on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic, Podcast Addict and more on the way!

Thank you Eric and Kevin Smale for creating the awesome theme music and Stephanie Prior for designing the logo.

Follow the show on Twitter and Instagram or send an email to [email protected].

Contra Zoom is proudly presented by Aesthetic Magazine.

Wrapping up our Toronto International Film Festival 2019 coverage, I got a chance to speak with film composers David Wingo (The Report), Joel P West (Just Mercy) and Trevor Gureckis (The Goldfinch). All three conversations involve where they get inspiration from, how they collaborate with their directors and what their creative process is like. 

The Report, directed by Scott Z Burns, comes out on Amazon Prime on November 15th.

Just Mercy, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, comes out in theatres on December 25th.

The Goldfinch, directed by John Corwley, is out in theatres now.

If you haven't listened to the other TIFF episodes I recap what I saw at the festival and interview Carol Nguyen and Craig Prater about their experiences.

Listen to Contra Zoom on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic, Podcast Addict and more on the way!

Thank you Eric and Kevin Smale for creating the awesome theme music and Stephanie Prior for designing the logo.

Follow the show on Twitter and Instagram or send an email to [email protected].

Contra Zoom is proudly presented by Aesthetic Magazine.

We here at Contra Zoom Pod got a chance to check out some films that played at the Toronto International Film Festival this year. Listen to us talk about Jojo Rabbit, The Laundromat, Harriet, There's Something in the Water and No Crying at the Dinner Table. We also talk about Digital releases not receiving press screenings, Oscar hopefuls and the People's Choice winning films. 

If you haven't listened to the last episode where I interview Carol Nguyen and Craig Prater about their TIFF experiences. 

Netflix, Amazon Movies Barred From Toronto International Film Fest's Industry Screening Venue.

Jojo Rabbit captures TIFF People's Choice Award.

Listen to Contra Zoom on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic, Podcast Addict and more on the way!

Thank you Eric and Kevin Smale for creating the awesome theme music and Stephanie Prior for designing the logo.

Follow the show on Twitter and Instagram or send an email to [email protected].

Contra Zoom is proudly presented by Aesthetic Magazine.

On this special episode of Contra Zoom, we have two interviews in this packed episode. First off I speak with Carol Nguyen, a Toronto filmmaker who is having her latest short film No Crying at the Dinner Table premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. We talk about dealing with family trauma, representation in cinema and getting to screen her film in front of family and friends.

The second interview is with Craig Prater, President of Heartland Film, a non-profit organization who has previously screened Carol's films. Craig talks about his passion for short films and their filmmakers, how his organization selects films to screen at their own festival and what does visiting a film festival look like business wise. 

Check out the Facebook page for No Crying at the Dinner Table to learn more. 

Listen to Contra Zoom on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic, Podcast Addict and more on the way!

Thank you Eric and Kevin Smale for creating the awesome theme music and Stephanie Prior for designing the logo.

Follow the show on Twitter and Instagram or send an email to [email protected].

Contra Zoom is proudly presented by Aesthetic Magazine.

In this episode, Dakota is joined by Sammy Feilchenfeld to discuss everything Marvel. Starting with the announced MCU films and going into the Disney/Sony Spider-Man standoff, the new Disney+ streaming site and finally the Marvel TV shows that will air on D+.

Films discussed include Black Widow, The Eternals, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder. TV shows discussed include The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, WandaVision, What If...? and Moon Knight.

Listen to Contra Zoom on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic, Podcast Addict and more on the way!

Thank you Eric and Kevin Smale for creating the awesome theme music and Stephanie Prior for designing the logo.

Follow the show on Twitter and Instagram or send an email to [email protected].

Contra Zoom is proudly presented by Aesthetic Magazine.

Continuing the long running (and long dormant) series chronicling every Best Picture winner and ranking them decade by decade, Dakota is joined by Stephanie Prior to break down the winners from 1988-1997. At the end of the top ten, the duo reveals their Best Actor’s, Best Supporting Actors and Best Picture’s from the crop.

Here is how it turned out:

10. Driving Miss Daisy

9. Forrest Gump

8. Rain Man

7. The English Patient

6. Braveheart

5. Unforgiven

4. Dances With Wolves

3. Titanic

2. Schindler’s List

1. Silence of the Lambs

Listen to Contra Zoom on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic, Podcast Addict and more on the way!

Thank you Eric and Kevin Smale for creating the awesome theme music and Stephanie Prior for designing the logo.

Follow the show on Twitter and Instagram or send an email to [email protected]. 

Contra Zoom is proudly presented by Aesthetic Magazine.

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 Park Chan-wook's 2003 movie Oldboy and Spike Lee's 2013 version with the same name. Joining Dakota on this episode is Gemma Mastroianni and the two try to avoid spoilers, so if you haven't seen these films you are probably good to still listen!

Listen to Contra Zoom on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic, Podcast Addict and more on the way!

Thank you Eric and Kevin Smale for creating the awesome theme music and Stephanie Prior for designing the logo.

Follow the show on Twitter and Instagram or send an email to [email protected]. 

Contra Zoom is proudly presented by Aesthetic Magazine.