Reviews - Contra Zoom Pod

Reviews: Shepherds (Bergers)

March 11, 2025

Mathyas, a Montreal ad man, has up and left his life to move to France in the hopes of becoming a shepherd in Provence.

Reviews: The Rule of Jenny Pen

March 10, 2025

In some ways James Ashcroft’s The Rule of Jenny Pen holds up a dark, funhouse mirror to recent octogenarian heist film Thelma.

Reviews: Parthenope

February 24, 2025

Final Rating: 3/5 Set primarily in director Paolo Sorrentino’s home city of Naples, A24’s Parthenope follows a girl from her birth in 1950 until…

Reviews: Dark Match

February 17, 2025

Final Rating: 1.5/5 In Dark Match, directed by Lowell Dean, a wrestling company takes a well-paying gig in a small town but they soon…

Reviews: I’m Still Here

February 10, 2025

Final Rating: 4/5 In 1996, Eunice Facciolla Paiva, a Brazilian lawyer and activist, was issued a death certificate for her husband, Rubens Paiva. Rubens,…

Reviews: Universal Language

February 6, 2025

Final Rating: 3/5 Ed. note: read out original review of Universal Language by Jeff Bulmer from TIFF 2024. Universal Language, director/star/co-writer Matthew Rankin’s homage…

Reviews: Blue Rodeo: Lost Together

February 3, 2025

Final Rating: 3/5 In 2025 the Canadian band Blue Rodeo is celebrating their 40th anniversary and director Dale Heslip was given access to make…

Reviews: Hard Truths

January 30, 2025

Final Rating: 3.5/5 Director Mike Leigh’s poignant family drama, Hard Truths, revolves around mental health, the value of family, and all the pain and…

New York Film Festival Diaries – Part 3

January 20, 2025

Hello Contra Zoom readers. After many overdue months dealing with some issues on my end both at work and in my personal life, I…

New York Film Festival Diaries – Part 2

January 16, 2025

Hello Contra Zoom readers. After many overdue months dealing with some issues on my end both at work and in my personal life, I…