The Next Best Picture Podcast

"Hot Spot" is a 2026 independent science fiction thriller film directed by Agnieszka Smoczyńska. Set in a near-future society ruled by sentient A.I., a private eye (Andrzej Konopka) investigates a murder case only to discover a rebel group capable of undermining the digital overlord. As the detective's identity slowly unravels, his world spirals into a hypnotic meltdown. It also stars Noomi Rapace...

"Tony" is a 2026 American biographical comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Matt Johnson. The plot is based on Anthony Bourdain's early years working in Provincetown, Massachusetts, stories from which were featured in his 2000 memoir "Kitchen Confidential." The film stars Dominic Sessa as Bourdain, alongside Emilia Jones, Dagmara Domińczyk, Rich Sommer, Stavros Halkias, Leo Woodall, and An...

"The Pitt" is an American medical drama television series created by R. Scott Gemmill and executive-produced by John Wells and Noah Wyle. It stars Wyle, Tracy Ifeachor, Patrick Ball, Katherine LaNasa, Supriya Ganesh, Fiona Dourif, Taylor Dearden, Isa Briones, Gerran Howell, Shabana Azeez, and Sepideh Moafi. Each season of the series follows emergency department staff as they work through the chall...

"Union County" is an American independent drama film written and directed by Adam Meeks. It tells the story of Cody Parsons (Will Poulter), a young man assigned to a county-mandated drug court program toward recovery amidst the opioid epidemic in rural Ohio. The film also stars Noah Centineo, Elise Kibler, Emily Meade, and Annette Deao. The film premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film F...

Following our 505th episode of The Next Best Picture Podcast, we're back with a new episode of Mailbag Monday. Lauren LaMagna, Dan Bayer, Larry Fried & Tom O’Brien join me in this new series dedicated entirely to answering your fan-submitted questions from the NBP Film Community. Covering everything from the latest movie news, awards season, and Oscar predictions to f...

For Episode 505 of the Next Best Picture Podcast, I am joined by Lauren LaMagna, Dan Bayer, Larry Fried & Tom O'Brien. This week, we're discussing the Spotlight section of the 64th New York Film Festival (NYFF), the final additions to the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) lineup, and the overall schedule. For this week's NBP&nbsp...

"DTF St. Louis" is an American dark comedy television miniseries created by Steven Conrad for HBO that follows a love triangle among three adults played by Jason Bateman, Linda Cardellini, and David Harbour, as they experience middle-aged malaise that leads to one of them dying. The limited series premiered earlier this year to great acclaim and has received 13 nominations at the 78th Primetime Em...

For this week's main podcast review, Katie Johnson, Josh Parham, Nadia Dalimonte, Cody Dericks, and Daniel Howat join me to review and discuss the latest film from David Robert Mitchell, "The End of Oak Street," starring Anne Hathaway, Ewan McGregor, Maisy Stella & Christian Convery. Bringing audiences an original sci-fi dinosaur film that harkens back to the Amblin Entertainment films of old, Dav...

The Next Best Series Podcast is back as Amy Kim, Giovanni Lago, and Megan Lachinski join me to discuss the latest series we've been watching on television, but more importantly, for this free episode we're advocating for who we believe should win an Emmy at the 78th annual Primetime Emmy Awards (including some from the Creative Arts Emmy Awards). Final-round voting begins on Au...

"The Rivals Of Amziah King" is an American neo-Western crime thriller film written and directed by Andrew Patterson ("The Vast Of Night") and produced by Black Bear Pictures and Heyday Films. It stars Angelina LookingGlass as Kateri, whose life takes a tragic turn as she loses her mother and leaves foster care. Reuniting with her former foster parent, Amziah (Matthew McConaughey), changes everythi...

THIS IS A PREVIEW PODCAST. NOT THE FULL REVIEW. Please check out the full podcast review on our Patreon Page by subscribing over at - https://www.patreon.com/NextBestPicture Our 2008 retrospective is coming to an end this month, and our second-to-last podcast review is for David Fincher's epic romantic fantasy drama, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji...

"The Wrong Girls" is an upcoming American stoner comedy film written and directed by Dylan Meyer in her directorial debut. It stars Kristen Stewart and Alia Shawkat as two codependent best friends living paycheck to paycheck and bong rip to bong rip get caught in a case of mistaken identity that throws their lives into chaos. The film also stars LaKeith Stanfield, Tony Hale, Zack Fox, Seth Rogen,...

"Late Fame" is an American drama film directed by Kent Jones, written by Samy Burch, and based on the posthumously published novella by Arthur Schnitzler. It stars Willem Dafoe as a legendary New York poet who rediscovers his artistic passion after befriending an eccentric group of young creatives played by Greta Lee and Edmund Donovan. The film had its world premiere in the Orizzonti section of t...

Following our 504th episode of The Next Best Picture Podcast, we're back with a new episode of Mailbag Monday. Katie Johnson, Josh Parham, and Giovanni Lago join me in this new series dedicated entirely to answering your fan-submitted questions from the NBP Film Community. Covering everything from the latest movie news, awards season, and Oscar predictions to filmmaking, industry trends,...

For Episode 504 of the Next Best Picture Podcast, I am joined by Katie Johnson, Josh Parham, and Giovanni Lago. For this week's main topic, we're discussing the 64th New York Film Festival (NYFF) Main Slate, including the Spotlight Gala announcement for the world premiere of "Godzilla Minus Zero," and what we think will be announced for the Spotlight section this week. We also discuss th...

For this week's main podcast review, Ema Sasic, Dan Bayer, Megan Lachinski, and Will Mavity join me to review and discuss the sex purge romantic comedy film "One Night Only," starring Monica Barbaro, Callum Turner, Maya Hawke, Julia Fox, King Princess, Ziwe, Ben Marshall, Ella Loudon, Molly Ringwald & Levar Burton. The film follows two attractive single people on the...

"The Last House" is a 2026 American science fiction thriller film directed by Louis Leterrier and written by Matthew Robinson. It stars Greta Lee and Wagner Moura as the heads of the Delgado family who are inexplicably sealed inside their home by an invisible force during a torrential, never-ending downpour. As the days stretch into years, the...

THIS IS A PREVIEW PODCAST. NOT THE FULL REVIEW. Please check out the full podcast review on our Patreon Page by subscribing over at - https://www.patreon.com/NextBestPicture "Hadestown: The Musical" is a 2026 musical film presenting a live stage recording of the Tony Award-winning musical of the same name. It tells two versions of the ancient Greek myths, Orpheus and Eurydice and Hades and Perseph...

“Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” is a 2026 horror comedy film written and directed by Jane Schoenbrun, following the success of their previous film, “I Saw the TV Glow.” Starring Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson, the film combines a mind-bending structure and meta storytelling with Schoenbrun’s signature exploration of pop culture and identity. However, unlike nearly everything the film...

THIS IS A PREVIEW PODCAST. NOT THE FULL EPISODE. Please check out the full podcast episode on our Patreon Page by subscribing over at - https://www.patreon.com/NextBestPicture The Next Best Series Podcast is back as Amy Kim, Giovanni Lago, Megan Lachinski, and Alyssa Christian join me to discuss the latest in television, such as the new Hulu series "Furious," the latest ep...

"One Night Only" is a 2026 American romantic comedy film starring Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner, directed and produced by Will Gluck, based on a script by Travis Braun. It tells the fictional story of two New Yorkers who search for love on the one night of the year when sex is legal. Screenwriter Travis Braun was kind enough to spend some time talking with us about his work and experience makin...

"Cookie Queens" is a 2026 documentary film that follows four young women striving to become their own "Cookie Queen" and top sellers of Girl Scout Cookies, exploring the joys, pains, and pressures of the Girl Scout Cookie season. The film had its world premiere at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, where it received positive reviews. Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex serve...

"The Samurai And The Prisoner" is a 2026 Japanese historical drama mystery film written and directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa and based on the novel of the same name by Honobu Yonezawa. It stars Masahiro Motoki, Masaki Suda, Yuriko Yoshitaka, Munetaka Aoki, and Ryota Miyadate. Set in 16th-century Japan, the film follows Lord Murashige Araki (Motoki), who, besieged in his castle, confronts mysterious cr...

Following our 503rd episode of The Next Best Picture Podcast, we're back with a new episode of Mailbag Monday. Josh Parham and Dan Bayer join me in this new series dedicated entirely to answering your fan-submitted questions from the NBP Film Community. Covering everything from the latest movie news, awards season, and Oscar predictions to filmmaking, industry trends,...

For Episode 503 of the Next Best Picture Podcast, I am joined by Josh Parham, and Dan Bayer. For this week's main topic, we're discussing the NYFF Centerpiece film (the world premiere of Tony Gilroy's "Behemoth!") and giving our predictions for what we believe will be announced this week for the Main Slate. We also discuss the recent resurgence of the box office in 2026 that has continued thr...