The Next Best Picture Podcast

For this week's main podcast review, Lauren LaMagna, Josh Parham, Giovanni Lago, Cody Dericks, and Brendan Hodges join me to discuss the latest film from Academy Award-winning filmmaker James Cameron, "Avatar: Fire And Ash" starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Oona Chaplin, Stephen Lang, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Winslet, Jack Chapmion & Britain Dalton. The third film in the multi-billion dollar gr...

"Avatar: Fire And Ash" is the third entry in the "Avatar" franchise from Academy Award-winning director James Cameron, that continues the story of Jake Sully, Neytiri and their children as they continue to face opposition from Quaritch and the RDA on Pandora. The film utilizes state of the art technology, visual effects and performance capture to bring the world and its characters to life in a way...

"Cover-Up" is an American documentary film produced and directed by Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus. It explores the investigative journalism career of Seymour Hersh, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who covered the U.S. Army torture scandals during the Vietnam War and the Iraq War. The film had its world premiere out of competition at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival and later scree...

"Is This Thing On?" is a 2025 American comedy-drama film directed by Bradley Cooper, from a screenplay he co-wrote with Will Arnett and Mark Chappell, loosely inspired by the life of British comedian John Bishop. It stars Arnett and Laura Dern as a middle-aged married couple facing an impending divorce when Alex (Arnett) finds new purpose in the New York comedy scene, while his wife, Tess (Dern),...

"Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere" is an American biographical musical drama film starring Jeremy Allen White as Bruce Springsteen. Written and directed by Scott Cooper, and based on the 2023 book "Deliver Me from Nowhere" by Warren Zanes, as well as some elements from Springsteen's autobiography "Born to Run," it chronicles Springsteen's personal and professional struggles during the concepti...

"Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery" had its world premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, where it received just as strong reviews as the first two entries in the franchise, "Knives Out" and "Glass Onion," with praise directed at Rian Johnson's direction, writing, and the performances of the cast. Johnson, along with members of the cast and crew, were all kind enough to spen...

For Episode 470, Nadia Dalimonte, Giovanni Lago, Lauren LaMagna, and Megan Lachinski join me for another packed episode of awards season news and madness. This week, we go over the Golden Globe Award nominations, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) winners, and the Costume Designer Guild (CDG) nominations. We also briefly look over the 2026 Sundance Film Festival lineup announcement a...

For this week's main podcast review, Katie Johnson, Dan Bayer, Daniel Howat, and Brendan Hodges join me to discuss the latest film from Academy Award-nominee Rian Johnson in the "Knives Out" franchise "Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery," starring Daniel Craig, Josh O'Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, an...

"Dust Bunny" is an American horror-thriller film written and directed by Bryan Fuller in his feature directorial debut, starring Mads Mikkelsen, Sophie Sloan, Sheila Atim, David Dastmalchian, and Sigourney Weaver. It tells the story of an eight-year-old girl who asks her hitman neighbor to kill the monster under her bed. The film premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival and receiv...

"Goodbye June" is a 2025 Christmas family drama film directed by Kate Winslet in her directorial debut, from a screenplay written by her son Joe Anders. It stars an ensemble cast that includes Toni Collette, Johnny Flynn, Andrea Riseborough, Timothy Spall, Helen Mirren, and Winslet herself. The film is set during Christmas, when the characters gather around their dying mother and confront themes o...

"The Tale Of Silyan" is a Macedonian documentary film produced, written and directed by Tamara Kotevska. It follows Macedonian farmer Nikola Conev and his family against the backdrop of the country's economic instability. While Conev forms a bond with an injured white stork, his daughter and wife move to Germany in search of a better life. The film had its world premiere out of competition at the...

"The Long Walk" is an American dystopian survival thriller film directed and produced by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by JT Mollner, based on the 1979 novel of the same name by Stephen King. The film stars Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Roman Griffin Davis, Josh Hamilton, Judy Greer, and Mark Hamill and has been awarded the Robert Altman...

"Resurrection" is a science fiction drama film written and directed by Bi Gan. It follows Miss Shu (Shu Qi) in a future where most of humanity has lost the capacity to dream, who discovers that one inhuman creature (Jackson Yee) is still able to experience them. She enters the monster's dreams, using her ability to perceive illusions to determine the truth in its visions of Chinese history. The fi...

"Come See Me In The Good Light" is a 2025 American documentary film directed by Ryan White, following poet/activist Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley as they navigate an examination of love and mortality after Gibson is diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer. Singer-songwriters Sara Bareilles and Brandi Carlile serve as among the executive producers; they co-wrote a song for the documentary, "Salt Th...

"Highest 2 Lowest" is an American crime thriller film directed by Spike Lee from a screenplay by Alan Fox. It is an English-language remake of Akira Kurosawa's 1963 Japanese film "High and Low," itself based on Ed McBain's 1959 novel "King's Ransom." The film stars Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, ASAP Rocky, John Douglas Thompson, Dean Winters, LaChanze, Princess Nokia, and Ice...

"Materialists" is an American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Celine Song, starring Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal. Set against the backdrop of New York City's luxury-driven dating culture, it follows a love triangle among a matchmaker, her ex-boyfriend, an aspiring actor, and a charming millionaire. Released over the summer by A24, it received generally positive...

"The Secret Agent" is a historical political thriller film written and directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho that follows Armando (NYFCC Best Actor winner Wagner Moura), a former professor caught in the political turmoil of the final years of the Brazilian military dictatorship, attempting to flee persecution and resist an authoritarian, deceitful regime. The film had its world premiere at the main co...

"No Other Choice" is a 2025 South Korean satirical black comedy thriller film co-written, produced, and directed by Park Chan-wook and based on "The Ax" by Donald Westlake. The film stars Lee Byung-hun as a desperate paper industry expert who decides to kill his competitors to secure the job he seeks and maintain his way of life. The film had its world premiere in the main competition of the 82nd...

"The Chronology Of Water" is a biographical psychological drama film written for the screen, co-produced, and directed by Kristen Stewart in her feature film directorial debut, based on the 2011 book of the same name by Lidia Yuknavitch. It stars Imogen Poots as Yuknavitch, along with Thora Birch, Susannah Flood, Tom Sturridge, Kim Gordon, Michael Epp, Earl Cave, Esmé Creed-Miles, and Jim Belushi...

For Episode 469, Josh Parham, Giovanni Lago, Daniel Howat, and Tom O'Brien join me for what is one of the biggest episodes of the year. We knew heading into this week we would have to discuss the Gotham, NYFCC, and NBR winners, the AFI Top 10 films of the year, the CCA and Spirit Award nominations, and briefly touch on the Golden Globe Award nominations before they're announced. But then the indus...

For this week's main podcast review, Megan Lachinski, Josh Parham, Dan Bayer, and Brendan Hodges join me to discuss the latest film from Academy Award-winner Chloé Zhao, "Hamnet," starring Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Emily Watson, Joe Alwyn, Jacobi Jupe, and Noah Jupe. The historical drama film co-written by Maggie O'Farrell, the author of the title novel this film is based on is a largely fictio...

"Jay Kelly" had its world premiere at the 2025 Venice International Film Festival and later screened at the Telluride Film Festival, the New York Film Festival, and the AFI Film Festival. It received positive reviews for its casting and performances, particularly from George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Laura Dern, and Billy Crudup; the direction and writing by Noah Baumbach (co-written with Emily Morti...

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 For this week's second podcast review, Josh Parham, Dan Bayer, Daniel Howat, and Will Mavity join me to review and discuss the latest film from Noah Baumbach, "Jay Kelly," starring George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Laura Dern, Bil...

"Fackham Hall" is a period parody comedy film set in 1930s England that crosses "Downton Abbey" with "Airplane!" and "Monty Python." It is directed by Jim O'Hanlon and written by comedian Jimmy Carr (in his screenwriting feature debut) with Patrick Carr and The Dawson Brothers. It stars Damian Lewis, Thomasin McKenzie, Ben Radcliffe, Katherine Waterston, Tom Felton, and Jimmy Carr. It follows love...

"La Grazia" is an Italian drama film written and directed by Paolo Sorrentino. It stars Toni Servillo as the President of Italy, Mariano De Santis, a staunch Catholic and experienced jurist, who is conflicted about whether he should sign into law a bill legalizing euthanasia, and at the same time has to consider the pardon petitions of two individuals who murdered their partners. The film had its...