Contra Zoom Pod

In the latest edition of make/remake Dakota Arsenault and Stephanie Prior talk about George Orwell’s novel 1984 and two different cinematic adaptations of it.

In 1949, George Orwell published his landmark novel detailing what the future might look like if we allow our civil liberties to be eroded and for extreme ideologies to take hold so strongly that the very fabric of society would crumble...

Dakota Arsenault and Sammy Feilchenfeld decide to revisit Sydney Lumet’s landmark debut film, 1957’s 12 Angry Men starring Henry Fonda. 

The idea for this episode stems from Dakota and Sammy who requested a list of their favourite movies for a friend. Dakota mentioned 12 Angry Men as one of his favourite films and called it a drama/thriller, which Sammy had initially rebuked...

I’m often asking for movie recommendations both from fellow movie buffs and from people who want to expand their knowledge about cinema. After having a friend ask for a list of important films to watch I decided to put together a curriculum of great films that every budding cinephile should watch. This list is a starting off point for people who want to have a base understanding of cinema’s greatest achievements...

I’m often asking for movie recommendations both from fellow movie buffs and from people who want to expand their knowledge about cinema. After having a friend ask for a list of important films to watch I decided to put together a curriculum of great films that every budding cinephile should watch. This list is a starting off point for people who want to have a base understanding of cinema’s greatest achievements...

On this week’s episode Dakota Arsenault is joined by Zach Sokol, host of Radio Camp Half Blood a Percy Jackson read-a long podcast. The two talk about director Alfred Hitchcock one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. They talk about his legacy on cinema history and their favourite works by him.

If you were to recommend a Hitchcock film to introduce someone to his work the guys have a few options. Zach rec’s The Birds or Psycho while Dakota suggests Rear Window...

The Academy Awards are changing the way their ceremony will be run in three drastic ways over the next two years. Dakota goes over the pros and cons for each of these changes.

First- The date of the ceremony will be changed from the end of February to the beginning of February starting in 2020. What this means for when nominations are announced to what other awards shows will do is still up in the air, but this impact will be felt across the industry...

According to the Toronto Star’s preview this year’s Toronto International Film Festival features 21 world premieres, seven international premieres, eight North American premieres and 11 Canadian premieres, including 13 features directed by women. It all kicks off with Netflix’s own Outlaw King starring Chris Pine that is sure to make waves across the industry...

In this edition of Make/Remake Dakota and Stephanie look at a unique pair of films… the exact same film cut two ways. In 1953 Italian Neorealist director Vittorio de Dica paired with David O. Selznick to make an American film his way. He cast American actors Montgomery Clift and Jennifer Jones and plopped them in Rome to tell the story of an American wife having an affair while in Europe and deciding she wants to go back home to her family...

Mehek Seyid joins us again to talk about the films she saw at TIFF 2018 and gave some great insight into what the landscape for the rest of this year will look like. A few weeks ago Mehek and I previewed the fest by talking about the big name films that were coming to Toronto. You can catch up on the episode HERE.

This is a list of what Mehek saw: Assassination Nation, Boy Erased, Can You Ever Forgive Me, Destroyer, Driven, Emu Runner, EXT...

With the release of the Oscar nominations for the 91st Academy Awards Dakota Arsenault and Sammy Feilchenfeld discuss their first reactions to the crop of films. They also get into the debate about the merit of Black Panther being a Best Picture nominee along with surprise nominations and snubs. 

The Hollywood Reporter looks at the favourites of each category. 

Variety lists the biggest surprises and snubs...