Contra Zoom Pod

Dakota Arsenault is proud to announce that Rachel Gordon will join Contra Zoom as the permanent co-host along with her new role as Associate Film Editor!

– You can check out Andreas Babiolakis’ Top 25 Films of 2016 and Top 25 Performances of 2016.

– You can find the top grossing films of 2016 HERE. 

– Dakota’s thoughts on trends: Great child acting this year (Sing Street, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, etc), DC movies suck but Marvel movies are still great, obsession with Letterboxd (Dakota’s profile), Jeff Nichols dominates 2016 with Midnight Special and Loving. 

Rachel’s thoughts on trends: Hidden Fences mistakes at The Golden Globes, adult superhero films (Deadpool, Logan), Netflix series are better than movies.

– Read Dakota’s review of Patriots Day if you want a good laugh.

– Movie watching goals for 2017: Dakota wants to watch more female directed films and Rachel is starting a personal film journal.

– Old movies that Dakota watched for the time and loved included The Killing, The Asphalt Jungle and Frankenstein while Rachel loved The Long Good Friday.

– Most disappointing films of 2016 for Dakota it was Triple 9 and American Pastoral for Rachel it was The Bad Batch.

– Movies we are excited for in 2017 (click for trailers)

Dakota: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Thor: Ragnarok, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Blade Runner 2049, War for the Planet of the Apes, Baby Driver (no trailer or teaser)

Rachel: Get Out, Wonder Woman, Logan, The Dark Tower (no trailer or teaser)

Follow Dakota @Dgapa on Twitter and Rachel on Instagram.

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Episode was originally posted on January 22, 2017

On this mini-episode Dakota Arsenault talks to the lovely and talented Divine Brown, who is most well known for her music career but she is about to star in the musical Passing Strange. 

Passing Strange is having its Toronto premiere later this month and it is a rock and roll epic that features a live band on stage accompanying the actors. It is being produced by Acting Up Stage Productions and Obsidian Theatre Company and it will be performed at The Opera House.

The show runs from January 24th-February 5th tickets can be purchased HERE.

Check out Divine Brown’s latest single Love Alibi.

Special thanks to penelopePR for setting the interview up and everyone at Acting Up and Obsidian.

Follow Dakota @Dgapa on Twitter.

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Episode was originally posted on January 13, 2017

This week Dakota is joined by Rachel Gordon to talk about the passing of TIFF founder Bill Marshall, who sadly passed away at the age of 77 on January 1st, 2017. 

Dakota and Rachel share some great quotes and stories that emerged in a fantastic obituary from TIFF, which include stories from the people who knew him best. 

TIFF while a massive film festival also celebrates Canadian film like no other including every ten years naming the best Canadian made films of all time. 

The People’s Choice Award has also gone to 5 eventual Best Picture Winners and an additional 9 nominees showing that Toronto is the first spot in awards contention.

Follow Dakota @Dgapa on Twitter and Rachel on Instagram.

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Episode was original posted on January 5, 2017

On this episode the guys start talk about the forth edition of their Best Picture Winners revisits. The years are 1968-1977 (the 40th-49th Oscar winners).

In Part One the guys reveal their bottom five of the decade.

10. Oliver! 

9. Rocky 

8. Patton 

7. The French Connection 

6. One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest 

Here are the top five pictures in our rankings. Dakota’s ratings come first and Andreas’ second next to each film.

5. The Sting 8.2/10 9/10

4. Midnight Cowboy 8.5/10 9/10

3. Annie Hall 8.7/10 10/10

2. The Godfather Part 2 9/10 10/10

1. The Godfather Part 1 9.5/10 10/10

As usual we award the best performances and film with our own version of the Oscar’s!

Best Picture- The Godfather Part 1 for Dakota 

The Godfather Part 2 for Andreas

Best Actor- Jon Voight (Midnight Cowboy) for Dakota 

Al Pacino (The Godfather Part 2) for Andreas

Best Actress- Louise Fletcher (One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest) is both Dakota and Andreas’ pick

Best Supporting Actor- Brad Dourif (One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest) is Dakota’s pick

Robert de Nero (The Godfather Part 2) is Andreas’ pick

Best Supporting Actress- Talia Shire (The Godfather Part 2) is Dakota’s pick

Talia Shire (The Godfather) is Andreas’ pick

Music from this week’s episode comes from Silas Fiction an indie pop duo from Indiana. We had premiered their song Bad Company back in July. Their newest album Pairs, which came out on September 27th with a pay what you can formula from Bandcamp where all the proceeds are going to the fantastic organization Teach for America. You can also find the album on Spotify, Tidal and iTunes and where every else you get your music from.

Follow Dakota @Dgapa and Andreas @AndreasBabs on Twitter.

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Episode original post date was November 11, 2016

This week Dakota Arsenault is joined by special guest Rachel Gordon as they talk about their favourite movies you should watch during the Halloween season! 

New Horror (1980’s on)- 

Classic Horror-

Comedy Horror-

Family Friendly-

Thrillers-

Follow Dakota @Dgapa on Twitter.

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Episode original post date was October 26, 2016

Mehek Seyid joins Dakota and Andreas this week as they discuss the Toronto International Film Festival including the big winners and some other must sees.

Links:

– La La Land was the big winner taking home the People’s Choice award and both Andreas and Mehek are in sync lavishing even more praise on the Oscar front runner.

– Jackie was another film both Mehek and Andreas saw with Natalie Portman getting some serious Oscar buzz for a Best Actress win.

– Lion was the only film that made Mehek actually cry in the theatre, it’s that powerful!

– Moonlight is a film that might sneak up on you and during awards seasons. 

– Birth of a Nation gets some talk, minus the controversy aspect.

– Loving is a film Andreas hopes gets more attention.

– Nocturnal Animals is Tom Ford’s second film and is poised to be an attention grabber. 

Music on this week’s episode is from The Alpacas and their song The Artifact. 

Follow Mehek at @WhatTheMehek and listen to her on the Capsule Podcast. 

Follow Dakota @Dgapa and Andreas @AndreasBabs on Twitter.

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Episode original post date was October 1, 2016

On this episode the guys start talk about the forth edition of their Best Picture Winners revisits. The years are 1968-1977 (the 40th-49th Oscar winners).

Our photographer Katrina Lat joins us to talk about her favourite movies.

– Down With Love

– Singin’ In The Rain

– Big Fish

Here are the bottom five pictures in our rankings. Dakota’s ratings come first and Andreas’ second next to each film.

10. Oliver! 6/10 5/10

9. Rocky 6.5/10 6/10

8. Patton 7.5/10 8/10

7. The French Connection 8/10 9/10

6. One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest 8.3/10 8/10

Music from this week’s episode comes from Silas Fiction an indie pop duo from Indiana. We had premiered their song Bad Company back in July. Their newest album Pairs, which comes out on September 27th with a pay what you can formula from Bandcamp where all the proceeds are going to the fantastic organization Teach for America. You can also find the album on Spotify, Tidal and iTunes and where every else you get your music from.

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

 Ways to Subscribe to Contra Zoom Podcast:

Episode original post date September 15, 2016

Even though Dakota Arsenault and Andreas Babiolakis are currently prepping for their proper return to Contra Zoom, it is only fitting for them to have a tribute to one of the greatest comedic actors ever in Gene Wilder. The guys talk about their favourite Wilder movies, moments and what made him so special. 

Enjoy some great clips from some of his movies.

– Puttin’ On the Ritz from Young Frankenstein

– The Waco Kid introduction from Blazing Saddles

– Pure Imagination from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

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

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Episode original post date September 2, 2016

Dakota Arsenault and Andreas Babiolakis review the new film X-Men: Apocalypse. In the end the guys think the film is good, but not great and nowhere near the super negative reviews some critics have been giving it.

– Andreas spoke with Canadian actress Carolina Bartczak who plays Magneto’s wife, Magda, in the new summer blockbuster film X-Men: Apocalypse. Carolina talks about meeting Jennifer Lawrence for the first time and what a great actor Michael Fassbender is work with.

– Dakota’s old acting teacher, John Bourgeois at Humber College has a small part in the movie as a General in the war room.

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

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Episode original post date was June 30, 2016

This is the third year in a row that Live in Limbo has attended the Toronto Screenwriting Conference and the second year that Contra Zoom has done a pod and interviews on the great weekend. Here you can listen to last year’s episode, which features interviews with David S Goyer and Mara Brock Akil.

Links:

This is Part Two of our TSC coverage at Contra Zoom. On Part One there were interviews with Glen Mazzara and Stephen Falk.

Make sure you read the recap of the weekend, Day 1 done by Andreas Babiolakis and Day 2 done by our special guest Nathaniel Roizen.

Andreas got the chance to interview two of the amazing speakers in this episode.

– Emily Andras is the creator of Wynonna Earp, a producer and writer for both Lost Girl and Killjoys.

– Moira Walley-Beckett was an Executive Producer and writer for Breaking Bad and Creator of Flesh and Bone.

Follow Dakota @Dgapa, Andreas @AndreasBabs and Nathaniel@RathanielNoizen and follow the show @ContraZoomPod on Twitter.

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Episode was originally posted on May 26, 2016