The Next Best Picture Podcast

"Went Up The Hill" is a thriller drama film directed by Samuel Van Grinsven starring Dacre Montgomery as Jack, a man returning to his native New Zealand to attend the funeral of his birth mother, from whom he was taken away and placed into foster care; he meets his mother's widow Jill (Vicky Krieps) for the first time, only for his mother to return in spirit form and inhabit both Jack and Jill, us...

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 2009 retrospective is almost over. For our second-to-last review, we're taking a look at the year's Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film, "The Secret In Their Eyes" starring Ricardo Darín, Soledad Villamil,...

"The Knife" is an American psychological drama film produced and directed by Nnamdi Asomugha (in his directorial debut) and co-written by Asomugha and Mark Duplass. The film stars Asomugha, Melissa Leo, Aja Naomi King, and Manny Jacinto as it follows a family throughout one night after an intruder breaks into their home, leading to a tense, mind-twisting investigation. The film premiered in compet...

"East of Wall" is an American indie drama film, written and directed by Kate Beecroft in her directorial debut, starring Tabatha Zimiga, Porshia Zimiga, Scoot McNairy, and Jennifer Ehle. It tells the story of a horse trainer who wrestles with financial issues and unresolved grief, while hosting a group of wayward teenagers on her ranch. The film premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, receiv...

"Nobody 2" is an American action thriller film directed by Timo Tjahjanto and written by Derek Kolstad and Aaron Rabin, from a story and characters by Kolstad. It is a sequel to "Nobody" (2021) and stars Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, RZA, Michael Ironside, Colin Salmon, Billy MacLellan, Gage Munroe, Paisley Cadorath, and Christopher Lloyd, who reprise their roles from the first film, while Colin H...

"Americana" is an American crime thriller film written and directed by Tony Tost that premiered at South by Southwest in 2023 and stars Sydney Sweeney, Paul Walter Hauser, Halsey, Eric Dane, Zahn McClarnon, and Simon Rex. The film received positive reviews from critics for its story and depiction of the modern West through the lens of the Neo-noir western. Tost and Hauser were both kind enough to...

For Episode 454, I am joined by Lauren LaMagna, Josh Parham, Dan Bayer & Giovanni Lago for this week's episode to discuss the New York Film Festival (NYFF) Main Slate announcement and the latest Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) additions. We reveal the winner of last week's poll for TIFF50, where we asked, "Which World Premiere From The 2025 Toronto International Film Festival Are You Mo...

For this week's main podcast review, Ema Sasic, Dan Bayer, Katie Johnson, Cody Dericks & Brendan Hodges join me to review the latest film from filmmaker Zach Cregger, "Weapons," starring Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Cary Christopher, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Benedict Wong & Amy Madigan. Following the success of his previous horror film "Barbarian," anticipation has been high to see how the f...

"Rebel Ridge" is a 2024 American action thriller film written, produced, directed, and edited by "Blue Ruin" and "Green Room" filmmaker Jeremy Saulnier. The film stars Aaron Pierre as Terry Richmond, a former Marine, who has the funds needed to post bail for his cousin, unjustly seized via civil forfeiture by a small town's corrupt police force. Netflix released the film to positive critical revie...

"Deaf President Now!" had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, where it received positive reviews for its telling of the 1988 student protest at Gallaudet University, when a hearing candidate was elected over other deaf candidates. Directors and producers Nyle DiMarco and Davis Guggenheim were kind enough to spend a few minutes speaking with us about their experience making the film,...

"My Mother's Wedding" is a comedy-drama film directed by Kristin Scott Thomas from a screenplay she co-wrote with John Micklethwait. It stars Scott Thomas alongside Scarlett Johansson, Sienna Miller, Emily Beecham, Freida Pinto, and Thibault de Montalembert. It tells the story of three sisters who return to their family home to attend the wedding of their twice-widowed mother. Scott Thomas was kin...

"Sketch" had its world premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), where it received positive reviews for its premise, visual effects, and performances from the cast. It tells the story of a widowed father (Tony Hale) of two who is struggling to help his children Jack (Kue Lawrence) and Amber (Bianca Belle) come to terms with the death of their mother; however, one day the ske...

"Alien: Earth" is an upcoming science fiction horror television series created by Noah Hawley ("Fargo" & "Legion"), based on the "Alien" franchise. It serves as a prequel set two years before the events of the original 1979 film "Alien." Creator, Executive Producer, Writer (Episodes 1-8) & Director (Episodes 1 &5), Noah Hawley, Executive Producer David W. Zucker, and cast members Sydney Chandler (...

"The Penguin" is one of the most Emmy-award nominated television shows of the year, receiving an incredible 24 Emmy Award nominations, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, Outstanding Lead Actor, Actress, and Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, and Deirdre O'Connell, respectively and Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Ant...

"Final Destination Bloodlines" is the sixth installment in the "Final Destination" series and was released in theaters fourteen years after "Final Destination 5." It was met with the best reviews and box office the franchise has ever seen, with a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes and $285.3 million at the worldwide box office. Directors Zach Lipovsky & Adam Stein were kind enough to spend a few minutes speak...

For Episode 453, no members of Next Best Picture were available today to join me for this week's episode so I looked in my contacts and called the one very special person who I felt would be most suitable to guest and discuss the announcement of the Closing Night film for the New York Film Festival (NYFF), Bradley Cooper's "Is This Thing On?," and what we believe will be announced for the Main Sla...

For this week's main podcast review, Josh Parham, Joselyn Safadie & Giovanni Lago join me to review the latest film from Lonely Island member Akiva Schaffer, "The Naked Gun," starring Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, Kevin Durand & Danny Huston. The fourth film in the "The Naked Gun" franchise, the outrageously silly comedy, produced by Seth MacFarlane, is a legacy sequel to "Nake...

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 join me to review and discuss Michael Shanks' "Together," starring Dave Franco, Alison Brie & Damon Herriman. The perfect date night horror film had its world prem...

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 2009 retrospective continues with Jason Reitman's Best Picture nominee "Up In The Air," starring George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Danny McBride, Jason Bateman, Amy Morton, J. K. Simmons, Melanie Lynskey, Zach G...

"The Penguin" is one of the most nominated television shows of the year, receiving an astounding 24 Emmy Award nominations, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series and Outstanding Lead Actor, Actress, and Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, and Deirdre O'Connell, respectively. O'Connell was kind enough to spend some time before...

"The Naked Gun" serves as a legacy sequel to "Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult" (1994) and is the fourth film in the "The Naked Gun" franchise. Starring Liam Neeson as Lt. Frank Drebin Jr., the film has been brought to the screen by director, co-writer and Lonely Island member Akiva Schaffer ("Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping") with a reverence for the kind of clever comedy style that pays homage...

"Weapons" is the latest horror film from director and writer Zach Cregger, whose feature directorial debut, "Barbarian," was a huge success when it was released in 2022. His follow-up has been greatly anticipated since then, and Warner Bros. has done an incredible job marketing the film to get audiences super interested in what the horror filmmaker has up his sleeve for his latest. Working with an...

For Episode 452, Josh Parham, Dan Bayer, and I recap and break down this massive week of film festival announcements including the full lineup for the 2025 Venice Film Festival, a majority of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) lineup, the Opening and Centerpiece announcements for the New York Film Festival, and what this all means for the Telluride Film Festival. For this week's poll,...

For this week's main podcast review, Katie Johnson, Josh Parham, Ema Sasic, Sara Clements & Joselyn Safadie join me to review the latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), "The Fantastic Four: First Steps," starring Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Joseph Quinn, Julia Garner, Ralph Ineson, Natasha Lyonne, Paul Walter Hauser & Sarah Niles. Directed by Matt Shakman, this is...

"2000 Meters To Andriivka" had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, where it received a strong, positive reception, with critics praising it as a worthy follow-up to Mstyslav Chernov's Academy Award-winning film, "20 Days In Mariupol." The film follows Chernov and journalist Alex Babenko as they follow a Ukrainian platoon on a mission to liberate the Russian-occupied village of A...