All Posts - Contra Zoom Pod

256: VIFF Interviews – Wild Goat Surf and I Used To Be Funny

October 17, 2023

We wrap up our Vancouver International Film Festival coverage with two excellent interviews from Wild Goat Surf⁠ and I Used To Be Funny⁠.

Guest Appearance: Technically a Conversation Episode 119 – Michelle Remembers & The 80’s Satanic Panic

October 16, 2023

Episode 119! Anyone who grew up in the 80’s remembers the Satanic Panic as a phenomenon that couldn’t be escaped. The news and talk…

Reviews: The Boy and the Heron from New York Film Festival 2023

October 14, 2023

Beyond the surface level through lines that Ghibli fans will recognize though, Miyazaki leaves a message for his grandson about grief, death and moving on.

Reviews: The Zone of Interest from New York Film Festival 2023

October 13, 2023

The chilling juxtaposition of the evils of Nazism against the humdrum of household life is at the core of Johathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest.

Reviews: Evil Does Not Exist from New York Film Festival 2023

October 11, 2023

While not as long as his most recent film Drive My Car, Evil Does Not Exist still has a gripping pace and beautiful and creatively minimalist cinematography.

255: 2023 VIFF Wrap Up

October 10, 2023

The 2023 Vancouver International Film Festival just concluded and we wrap up some of the films we saw.

254: Celebrating Filipino Cinema

October 3, 2023

October is ⁠Filipino American Heritage Month⁠ and to celebrate we are looking at the contributions that The Philippines have made to cinema.

Reviews: The Royal Hotel from VIFF 2023

October 2, 2023

Kitty Green is back with another searing indictment on the hostility that men bring into the world and the danger, both real and imagined, that women must contend with on a day to day basis.

Reviews: Only The River Flows from VIFF 2023

September 29, 2023

To be a truly dedicated detective you must not only question everything you are finding, but you must also be constantly questioning yourself. Only The River Flows is the latest film from Beijing filmmaker Shujun Wei that causes you to second guess every discovery made.

Reviews: Mr. Dress-Up The Magic of Make-Believe from VIFF 2023

September 27, 2023

Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe, directed by Robert McCallum, is a new documentary that tells the history of the Mr. Dressup character and program along with details about Coombs’ life and family. Along the way we get plenty of celebrity interviews that extolled the virtues of the program for them and their children growing up.