Reviews - Contra Zoom Pod

Reviews: DOCNYC Diary

December 4, 2023

The DOCNYC film festival recently wrapped up and we have reviews for five of the films that screened including Beyond Utopia, 20 Days in Mariupol and more.

Reviews: Gran Turismo

November 29, 2023

The highlight of Gran Turismo are the racing scenes, which are skillfully shot and edited, the film’s pace keeping up with the cars.

Reviews: Bad CGI Gator

November 22, 2023

A group of teens being chased by a clearly computer-animated alligator is a great premise for a joke. And then it keeps trying to do it again with diminishing returns.

Review: The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

November 20, 2023

Nearly 10 after The Hunger Games saga concluded with Mockingjay, director Francis Lawrence returns with an adaptation of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

Reviews: Hey Viktor! from ImagineNATIVE 2023

November 3, 2023

In Cody Lightning’s debut film Hey Viktor!, Lightning plays a lightly fictionalized version of himself attempting to revitalize his failing career with a spiritual successor to his most famous film. Named for a notable line in Smoke Signals, Lightning’s 1998 acting debut, Hey Viktor! is a wildly funny look at minor fame that packs a surprising amount of heart.

Reviews: The Delinquents

November 2, 2023

When you work at a bank, it’s fraught with temptation knowing a lifetime of freedom lingers at your fingertips. This is essentially the premise of the argument that Morán, a bank employee in Buenos Aires puts forth in The Delinquents.

Reviews: Late Night With The Devil from Toronto After Dark Film Festival

October 25, 2023

Presented as the original master tapes from the most scandalous episode of a fictional TV talk show, Late Night is a slow-burn psychological horror that’s as funny as it is terrifying and as gripping as it is kitschy.

Reviews: Fancy Dance from ImagineNATIVE 2023

October 23, 2023

Centred around the coming-of-age of a young Seneca-Cayuga girl on a road trip with her aunt, Fancy Dance deftly weaves in themes of cultural assimilation, missing and murdered indigenous women, and apathy towards crime against Native Americans.

Reviews: Joan Baez I Am a Noise

October 19, 2023

This story is as much about Joan Baez’s legendary career as her own struggles with mental health issues, and the film weaves together old home movie footage from her childhood, and animates her teenage journals, which help enrich the narrative, ultimately painting a picture of a tortured soul.

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.