All Posts - Contra Zoom Pod

252: 2023 TIFF Wrap Up

September 19, 2023

We wrap up this year’s Toronto International Film Festival by talking about the big hits and misses, our favourite films and the award winners. Joining the show to help us break it all down is Jeff Bulmer, one half of the Classic Movies. Jeff also contributed some festival movie reviews to Contra Zoom.

Reviews: Working Class Goes To Hell from TIFF 2023

September 15, 2023

The new Serbian film Working Class Goes To Hell, directed by Mladen Djordjevic, is billed as a satirical horror film. It is about the ends that class consciousness can go to and to ensure our capitalist overlords stop taking advantage of the common man.

Reviews: Seagrass from TIFF 2023

September 14, 2023

Seagrass is a semi-autobiographical movie from director Meredith Hama-Brown. Judith, a Japanese-Canadian woman (played by Ally Maki), brings her family to group therapy camp so she can work on her strained relationship with her Caucasian husband Steve (Luke Roberts).

Reviews: Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person From TIFF 2023

September 12, 2023

Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person is nothing if not ambitious. The feature directing debut of Ariane Louis-Seize, Humanist Vampire juggles multiple genres while exploring themes of
trauma, parenting, and depression. Unfortunately, Humanist Vampire stumbles as often as it works,
resulting in a fun, but shallow experience.

Bonus: Better Know a Contributor – Bil Antoniou

September 12, 2023

In lieu of a full episode this week, we bring you the ninth in our series of bonus episodes, ⁠⁠Better Know a Contributor⁠⁠, where we ask frequent guests of the show 10 Contra Zoom Pod movie questions so you can learn more about your favourite voices.

Reviews: Tautuktavuk (What We See) from TIFF 2023

September 11, 2023

Tautuktavuk (What We See), plays out like an Italian Neorealist film, something that is akin to the works of Vittorio de Sica and Roberto Rossellini. The film is set up as two elder sisters, Saqpinak played by one half of the directors Carol Kunnuk, and Uyarak played by the other director Lucy Tulugarjuk, separated in different parts of the country during the initial wave of COVID-19 lockdowns.

Reviews: I Don’t Know Who You Are from TIFF 2023

September 8, 2023

After he is sexually assaulted, musician Benjamin spends the weekend trying to get money for HIV-preventative treatment. Embarrassed, confused, and with his pride and life both on the line and at odds with each other, Benjamin turns to extra work and begging old friends for extra cash.

251: 2023 TIFF Preview

September 5, 2023

The 2023 edition of the ⁠Toronto International Film Festival⁠ will run from September 7-17th and we are here to preview our picks for the movies we are most excited about.

250: A24 Retrospective – Slow West

August 29, 2023

On this episode we are looking at 2015’s ⁠Slow West⁠ directed by John Maclean. The film stars Kodi Smit-McPhee as Jay a teenager from Scotland who comes to the wild west in search of the young girl he’s in love with. Michael Fassbender plays Silas, a mysterious man who agrees to help guide Jay across the plains with questionable motivations.

Guest Appearance: Awesome Friday – Episode 118: Past Lives & Reinventing Elvis

August 28, 2023

This week, Rachel subs in for Simon again, and she and Matthew take on the A24 critical darling Past Lives and the new documentary Reinventing Elvis.