The Next Best Picture Podcast

"A House Of Dynamite" is an American apocalyptic political thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Noah Oppenheim. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Anthony Ramos, Moses Ingram, Jonah Hauer-King, Greta Lee, and Jason Clarke playing members of the U.S. government as they navigate an official resp...

"Shelby Oaks" is a supernatural horror mystery film produced, written, and directed by former YouTuber turned filmmaker Chris Stuckmann in his feature directorial debut, with Mike Flanagan as an executive producer. It stars Camille Sullivan, Brendan Sexton III, Keith David, Sarah Durn, Robin Bartlett, and Michael Beach. Expanding upon an online found-footage series centered on a paranormal investi...

"Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere" is a 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, it chronicles Springsteen's personal and professional struggles during the conception of his 1982 album Nebraska. The film had its world premiere at the Telluride Film...

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 third podcast review, Josh Parham and Giovanni Lago join me to review and discuss the latest film from Kathryn Bigelow, "A House Of Dynamite," starring Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris,...

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, Nadia Dalimonte, Dan Bayer, Brendan Hodges, and Will Mavity join me to review and discuss the latest film from Guillermo del Toro, "Frankenstein," starring Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia...

"Hal & Harper" is an American comedy drama television series created, written, and directed by Cooper Raiff and starring Raiff, Lili Reinhart, Betty Gilpin, and Mark Ruffalo. The series had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival where it received positive reviews for its writing, performances and decision to use the older actors to play their younger selves in flashbacks. Raiff was...

For Episode 462, Dan Bayer, Will Mavity, and I are here to preview the 2025 AFI Fest in Los Angeles, including the world premieres of "Song Sung Blue" and "The SpongeBob Movie: Search For Squarepants," and discuss the 2025 Critics' Choice Documentary Award (CCDA) nominations. For this week's poll, for the release of "Frankenstein" in theaters this weekend, we're asking, "Which Is Your Favorite Gui...

For this week's main podcast review, Katie Johnson, Dan Bayer, Lauren LaMagna, Giovanni Lago, and Joselyn Safadi join me to discuss the latest film from Luca Guadagnino, "After The Hunt," starring Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, Andrew Garfield, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Chloë Sevigny. After having its world premiere out of competition at the 2025 Venice Film Festival, the psychological thriller (generou...

"It Was Just An Accident" is a thriller film written and directed by legendary Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi. The film is a co-production between Iran, Luxembourg, and France, the latter selecting it as the country's official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards. The film explores political repression in Iran and morality as a group of former political prisone...

"After The Hunt" is a psychological thriller film directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Nora Garrett that premiered at the 2025 Venice International Film Festival out of competition and opened the 63rd New York Film Festival. Starring Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, Andrew Garfield, Michael Stuhlbarg and Chloë Sevigny, it contains a number of powerhouse performances from big and small names. In o...

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 third podcast review, Nadia Dalimonte, Dan Bayer, Katie Johnson, and Giovanni Lago join me to review and discuss the latest film from Mary Bronstein, "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You," starring Rose Byrne, Conan O'B...

"Blue Moon" is an American biographical comedy-drama film directed by Richard Linklater and written by Robert Kaplow. The film follows songwriter Lorenz Hart (Ethan Hawke) as he reflects on himself and his work on the opening night of "Oklahoma!," the iconic musical by his former colleague Richard Rodgers (Andrew Scott). It also stars Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale, and Jonah Lees. The film had...

"The Smashing Machine" is a biographical sports drama film written, directed, produced, and edited by Benny Safdie. It stars Dwayne Johnson as former amateur wrestler and MMA fighter Mark Kerr, alongside Emily Blunt as Kerr's girlfriend Dawn Staples, with Ryan Bader, Bas Rutten, and Oleksandr Usyk in supporting roles. The film had its world premiere in the main competition of the 82nd Venice Inter...

"John Candy: I Like Me" is a celebrity biopic documentary film directed by Colin Hanks about Canadian actor John Candy. The documentary premiered as the opening night film of the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, where it received positive reviews. Hanks, who also produced the film, along with film participants and Co-Executive Producers Chris Candy & Jennifer Candy-Sullivan, were all kind...

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, Ema Sasic, Josh Parham, Lauren LaMagna, Dan Bayer, and Cody Dericks join me to review and discuss the latest film from Bill Condon, "Kiss Of The Spider Woman," starring Diego Luna, Tonati...

"Urchin" is a British independent drama film written and directed by Harris Dickinson, in his feature-length directorial debut, that stars Frank Dillane as a homeless young man in London, struggling with addiction and poverty. The film had its world premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section, where Dickinson won the FIPRESCI Prize and Dillane won the section's Best...

"The Woman In Cabin 10" is a psychological thriller film directed by Simon Stone, who co-wrote the screenplay with Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse. It is based on the 2016 novel by Ruth Ware. The film stars Keira Knightley, Guy Pearce, David Ajala, Art Malik, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Kaya Scodelario, David Morrissey, Daniel Ings, and Hannah Waddingham. Filmmaker Stone was kind enough to spend some time s...

For Episode 461, Lauren LaMagna, Giovanni Lago, Alyssa Christian, Tom O'Brien, and I are here to talk about the end of the 2025 New York Film Festival (NYFF63), including the "secret screening" world premiere of Josh Safdie's "Marty Supreme," the Closing Night world premiere of Bradley Cooper's "Is This Thing On?." For this week's poll, for the release of "After The Hunt" this weekend, we're askin...

For this week's main podcast review, Katie Johnson, Dan Bayer, Sara Clements, Daniel Howat, and Tom O'Brien join me to review and discuss the latest film from Derek Cianfrance, "Roofman," starring Channing Tatum, Kirsten Dunst, Ben Mendelsohn, LaKeith Stanfield, Juno Temple, Melonie Diaz, Uzo Aduba, Lily Collias, Jimmy O. Yang, and Peter Dinklage. Based on the real-life story of robber Jeffrey Man...

"Mussolini: Son of the Century" is a biographical historical drama television series directed by Joe Wright, based on the 2018 novel "M: Son of the Century" by Antonio Scurati. Starring Luca Marinelli as Benito Mussolini, the series centers on Mussolini's early political career in the 1920s. It premiered at the 81st Venice International Film Festival to positive reviews for its direction, score, a...

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 and Dan Bayer join me to review and discuss the directorial debut of Ronan Day-Lewis, "Anemone," starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Sean Bean, and Samantha Morton. Co-written with his...

"If I Had Legs I'd Kick You" is an independent psychological comedy-drama film, written and directed by Mary Bronstein. It stars Rose Byrne, Conan O'Brien, Danielle Macdonald, Christian Slater, and ASAP Rocky. The film had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, where it received positive reviews for Byrne's performance (for which she won the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance...

"Kiss Of The Spider Woman" is an American musical drama film written and directed by Bill Condon. Based on the stage musical by Terrence McNally, John Kander, and Fred Ebb, it is the second film adaptation of the 1976 novel by Argentine author Manuel Puig, following the Oscar-winning 1985 film. Jennifer Lopez stars in the titular role, alongside Diego Luna and Tonatiuh. The film premiered at the S...

"The Perfect Neighbor" is an American documentary film, directed and produced by Geeta Gandbhir, that follows the killing of Ajike Owens, primarily told through bodycam footage, exploring several suburban disputes that led to the murder. It had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, where it received positive reviews for its direction, editing, and harrowing true story, which serve...

"Roofman" is an American biographical crime comedy film directed by Derek Cianfrance starring Channing Tatum, Kirsten Dunst, Ben Mendelsohn, LaKeith Stanfield, Juno Temple, Melonie Diaz, Uzo Aduba, Lily Collias, Jimmy O. Yang, and Peter Dinklage. The film chronicles the exploits of convicted spree robber Jeffrey Manchester, portrayed by Tatum, and the single mother and Toys "R" Us employee he fall...