New review! For the 30th anniversary of Trainspotting it is getting a 4K restoration. The film which deals with drug addicts living in Scotland was Danny Boyle's breakthrough film and features an all star up and coming cast. Click to read Pedro Lima's ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review. contrazoompod.com/reviews-trai...

New review! Groove is a film from 2000 that is getting a 4K upgrade. It follows a group of organizers and attendees of an underground rave in San Francisco over the course of one night. Click to read Matt Sheardown's ⭐️⭐️⭐️ review! contrazoompod.com/reviews-groo...

The 2026 Canadian Screen Awards concluded their week-long celebration. On @contrazoompod.bsky.social, they discuss the big winners, losers and snubs. thatshelf.com/contra-zoom-...

New review! Power Ballad is the latest John Carney musical film and this one is about a washed up rock star who gets a song stolen from him by a washed up pop star which reignites his career. Click to read Jeff Bulmer's ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 review. contrazoompod.com/reviews-powe...

New episode! The 2026 Canadian Screen Awards concluded their week long celebration. Matthew Simpson joins the show as we discuss the big winners, losers and snubs. Click link to listen. open.spotify.com/episode/5LXa...

New reviews! Elysia Brenner looks at seven different shorts that played during the Hot Docs film festival dealing with themes such as self preservation, thriving with disabilities and much more. Click to read them all. contrazoompod.com/reviews-2026...

New episode! Jeff Bulmer interviews Tommy Avallone, the director of the new MySpace documentary. They discuss picking the right guests, not having Tom Andersons involved much more! Click to watch! open.spotify.com/episode/6pFK...

New review! Moneyball tells the story of Billy Beane, the General Manager of the Oakland Athletics and how he revolutionized the game. The film has just received a 4K release, click to read Dakota Arsenault’s ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review. contrazoompod.com/reviews-mone...

New review! Best Boy deals with the aftermath of a family when their patriarch dies and in his will forces his now adult children into one more humiliating contest to see who is most deserving of his inheritance. Click to read Brodie Cotnam’s ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 review. contrazoompod.com/reviews-best...

New reviews! Elysia Brenner looks at four films that centre around the theme of democracy and personal freedoms. Click to read her reviews on The Seoul Guardians, Parasisi, Aanikoobijigan and Truck Mama. contrazoompod.com/reviews-2026...

The 2026 Hot Docs film festival, celebrating the best in documentary cinema from around the world, has come to a close. @contrazoompod.bsky.social discusses eight films that played! thatshelf.com/contra-zoom-...

New review! Gimme Truth takes an unflinching eye to the world of conspiracy theorists and new age grifters allowing them to tell their own stories as we watch on in horror. Click to read Dakota's ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review. contrazoompod.com/reviews-gimm...

New episode! The 2026 Hot Docs film festival, celebrating the best in documentary cinema from around the world has come to a close. We discuss 8 films that played including ⁠The Seoul Guardians⁠, Gimme Truth⁠, ⁠The Ballad of Judas Priest and more! Click to listen. open.spotify.com/episode/15jL...

New reviews! Elysia Brenner looks at five films that center around children who are or did grow up in war zones and the trauma they carry. Click to read about American Doctor, Paikar, A Fix Under A Pink Moon, Birds Of War and Saigon Story. contrazoompod.com/reviews-2026...

New review! This Above All: The Theatrical Life of Antoni Cimolino looks at the career of the man who is the outgoing artistic director of the Stratford Festival, the largest theatrical fest in North America. Click to read Dakota's ⭐️⭐️ review. contrazoompod.com/reviews-this...

New review! The CN Tower opening in 1976 and has defined the skyline of Toronto ever since. The Tower That Built a City looks at the construction of it and how it’s looming presence makes a statement. Click to read Jeff Bulmer’s ⭐️⭐️ review. contrazoompod.com/reviews-the-...

New review! Omaha follows a single dad and his two young children as they take an impromptu road trip that feels a lot more serious for the family's situation as the film goes on. Click to read @plexsty.bsky.social's ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review. contrazoompod.com/reviews-omaha/

New review! Remember your top 8's and customizing the song that played on your wall? MySpace looks at the rise and eventual fall of the once mighty social media platform. Click to read Dakota's ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review! contrazoompod.com/reviews-mysp...

New review! Steal This Story, Please! tells the life and career of journalist Amy Goodman from her beginnings through the current presidential administration and work with Democracy Now! Click to read Jeff Bulmer's ⭐️⭐️⭐️ review. contrazoompod.com/reviews-stea...

New reviews! In our first Hot Docs review round up Rach Epstein reviews two short films, My Body Goes To Work and 0004NGEL. Both films deal with sex work and how it is evolving in the digital times. Click to read them. contrazoompod.com/reviews-hot-...

New review! Whispers in May is a coming of age story about a young teen in China who upon getting her period for the first time struggles with balancing expectations of becoming an adult but wanting to still be a child. Click to read Pedro Lima's ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 review! contrazoompod.com/reviews-whis...

New review! Hunting Matthew Nichols is mockumentary horror film that starts out as a true crime documentary but morphs into a found footage horror. Click to read Rach Epstein's ⭐️⭐️.5 review. contrazoompod.com/reviews-hunt...

New review! The Ballad of Judas Priest looks back at the founding and legacy of heavy metal pioneers Judas Priest featuring interviews from the band and notable super fans. Click to read Jeff Bulmer's ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 review! @hotdocs.bsky.social contrazoompod.com/reviews-the-...

New review! House of Hope documents the destruction of Palestine through the lens of a school as it struggles to maintain continuity with so much despair. Click to read Pedro Lima's ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 review. @hotdocs.bsky.social contrazoompod.com/reviews-hous...

New review! My Foreign Land is a Brazilian doc broken into two separate parts, one is focused on the presidential candidate Almir and the other on the indigenous activist Txaí Suruí and how they are trying to shape the country. Read Pedro Lima’s ⭐️⭐️⭐️ review. contrazoompod.com/reviews-my-f...

New review! A Distant Call tells the story of Eka, a member of the bissu, one of the 5 gender groups of the Bugis people in South Sulawesi and the issues they encounter in a growing militant view of gender around the world. Read Jeff Bulmer’s ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. contrazoompod.com/reviews-a-di...

"Through copious deleted scenes, we get a sense of how [John] Singleton stitched his films together. Each deleted scene is revealing of this artist’s process and rewarding for any aspiring director to witness." - @812filmreviews.com on the Criterion "hood trilogy." www.rogerebert.com/dvd-blu-ray/...

New review! The Sandbox is a doc that tracks the rise of surveillance in a post 9/11 world as it relates to immigration policy and the dehumanization of people leaving unstable regions. Click to read Pedro Lima’s ⭐️⭐️.5 review. @hotdocs.bsky.social contrazoompod.com/reviews-the-...

New review! Our Hero Balthazar is a satire that sees a wannabe social media personality befriending a potential school shooter where they both realize the faults in each other. Click to read Jeff Bulmer's ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review. contrazoompod.com/reviews-our-...

New review! We kick off our Hot Docs coverage with the film Black Zombie, which traces the original Voudou mythology with how zombies are now portrayed in media. Click to read @elysiacb.bsky.social's ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review. contrazoompod.com/reviews-blac...

New review! I Understand Your Displeasure is a German film about a manager of a cleaning service company who is struggling to keep the business afloat as she deals with migrant workers. Click to read Jeff Bulmer’s ⭐️⭐️.5 review. contrazoompod.com/reviews-i-un...

New review! Two Women tells the story of neighbours who bond over the frustrations with their marriages. Together they set out on a path of self redemption. Click to read Brodie Cotnam’s ⭐️⭐️⭐️ review. contrazoompod.com/reviews-two-...

New episode! We interview Amalie Atkins the director of the new documentary Agatha’s Almanac, which is about her grandmother who runs a 64 acre farm! Perfect listening for National Canadian Film Day! Click to listen. open.spotify.com/episode/1pNF...

Favourite film from the year I turned 18

New review! Hamlet is the latest adaptation of the story about a young prince who is trying to avenge his father’s death. Riz Ahmed stars as the titular prince, where the story now takes place in London’s South Asian community. Read Elysia Brenner’s ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 review. contrazoompod.com/reviews-haml...

New review! For Worse is a film written, directed and starring Amy Landecker as a women in her 50s trying to navigate life post divorce which includes new friendships and potential new relationships. Click to read Jeff Bulmer’s ⭐️⭐️⭐️ review. contrazoompod.com/reviews-for-...

New review! The Eyes of Ghana is a documentary looking at the history of the country through the lens of a cinematographer who documented many of the countries most pivotal moments. Click to read Brodie Cotnam’s ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 review. contrazoompod.com/reviews-the-...

New review! Tea and Sympathy from 1956 was one of the first films to deal with homosexual subject matter as a teen attends a boarding school and doesn't quite fit in with his male classmates, directed by Vincente Minnelli. Read Matt Sheardown's ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 review! contrazoompod.com/reviews-tea-...

Now that Oscar season has come and gone, it is finally time for @contrazoompod.bsky.social to put a bow on the films from 2025. We rank our top 10 films of the year. thatshelf.com/contra-zoom-...

New episode! It's finally that time of year as we share our top 10 films of 2025! @smatthew.bsky.social joins as we talk about Black Bag, Train Dreams, Sentimental Value and much more! Plus friends of the show chimed with their picks too! Click to listen. open.spotify.com/episode/191Q...

New review! Meteors is about two young French Canadian men who must confront their additions after getting caught stealing a prize cat as they struggle to get clean and obey their probations. Click to read Brodie Cotnam’s ⭐️⭐️⭐️. contrazoompod.com/reviews-mete...

New review! Mile End Kicks takes us back to the indie music heyday of 2011 where a music journalist in Montreal falls in love with two members of the same band. Click to read Brodie Cotnam's ⭐️⭐️.5 review. contrazoompod.com/reviews-mile...

New review! Fantasy Life sees an out of work paralegal who ends up getting hired to be an au pair for a struggling actress and along the way he slowly comes out of his shell and grows as a person. Click to read @plexsty.bsky.social's ⭐️⭐️⭐️ review. contrazoompod.com/reviews-fant...

The nominations for the Canadian Screen Awards⁠ have been released. @contrazoompod.bsky.social discusses the new rule changes, our favourite nominated films and more. thatshelf.com/contra-zoom-...

New review! My Salinger Year is an early film from Margaret Qualley where she is hired on as a litery agents assistant and one of her tasks is to handle fan mail for the reclusive JD Salinger. Click to read Brodie Cotnam's ⭐️⭐️⭐️ review. contrazoompod.com/reviews-my-s...

New episode! The nominations for the 14th annual Canadian Screen awards are out and films such as 40 Acres, Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie and Mile End Kicks headline the nominees! @smatthew.bsky.social and Jeff Bulmer join. open.spotify.com/episode/1r0F...

New review! Montreal, Ma Belle is the story of a women who late in life understands her own queerness as she falls in love with a woman for the first time. Click to read Brodie Cotnam's ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review. contrazoompod.com/reviews-mont...

Jeff Bulmer of @contrazoompod.bsky.social had the chance to interview Alireza Khatami the director of the new film ⁠The Things You Kill⁠. thatshelf.com/contra-zoom-...

New review! A Magnificent Life is an animated film that chronicles the life of legendary French director Marcel Pagnol and his love of cinema. Click to read @plexsty.bsky.social's ⭐️⭐️⭐️ review! contrazoompod.com/reviews-a-ma...

New review! 1000 Women In Horror is a new talking heads style documentary that highlights the immense contributions that women have provided to the horror genre, from writing, directing, starring and more. Click to read Rach Epstein's ⭐️⭐️⭐️ review. contrazoompod.com/reviews-1000...