The Next Best Picture Podcast

"Oh, Hi!" had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, where it received positive reviews for its story about a situationship by filmmaker Sophie Brooks, involving a new couple (Molly Gordon and Logan Lerman) who go on a weekend road trip that takes an unexpected turn. Both Gordon & Lerman were kind enough to spend some time speaking with us about their work and experiences making th...

"The Fantastic Four: First Steps" is the latest attempt to bring Marvel's first family, the Fantastic Four, to the big screen, following the 2005 and 2015 films. It is the 37th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and stars Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn as the titular team, alongside Julia Garner, Sarah Niles, Mark Gatiss, Natasha Lyonne, Paul Walter Haus...

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, Dan Bayer, Giovanni Lago, Daniel Howat & Brendan Hodges, join me to review and discuss the latest film from Ari Aster, "Eddington," starring Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Luke Grimes, De...

"Together" is a new supernatural body horror film written and directed by Michael Shanks, making his directorial debut. The film stars real-life married actors Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple who move to the countryside but find themselves encountering a mysterious force that horrifically causes changes in their bodies. Shanks was kind enough to speak with us about his work and experience...

For Episode 451, Megan Lachinski, Josh Parham, Will Mavity, and I are here to predict what films we specifically feel will be announced to have their world premieres at the 2025 Venice Film Festival this week on Tuesday and the Toronto International Film Festival throughout the week. For this week's poll, with the fall film festival announcements about to come in full force with expected announcem...

For this week's main podcast review, Katie Johnson and Dan Bayer join me along with returning guest Ryan C. Showers, to review "I Know What You Did Last Summer" starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr., Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, Jonah Hauer-King, Tyriq Withers, Sarah Pidgeon, Billy Campbell & Austin Nichols. A legacyquel to the 1997 original and its 1998 sequel, the film brings to...

"Eddington" had its world premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival where it received mixed reviews for its story of the fictional town of Eddington, New Mexico, set during 2020, where a rivalry between Sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix) and Mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal) reaches a combustible state of political and social turmoil caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Director and writer, Ari Aster,...

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 another Best Picture nominee, "Precious: Based On The Novel 'Push' By Sapphire" starring Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey & Lenny Kravitz. Directed by Oscar-nominee Le...

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 For Episode 53 of the Next Best Series Podcast, Daniel Howat takes over hosting duties and, along with Nadia Dalimonte, Megan Lachinski & Tom O'Brien, they give their reactions to the 77th Emmy Award Nominations. They discus...

"Apocalypse In The Tropics" is a 2024 documentary film directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Petra Costa, serving as a spiritual sequel to her 2020 Oscar-nominated documentary, "The Edge of Democracy." Her latest film examines the influence of evangelical Christianity on far-right politics in Brazil. The film premiered out of competition at the 81st Venice International Film Festival to po...

For Episode 450, Lauren LaMagna, Josh Parham, Giovanni Lago, Tom O'Brien, and I are here to predict where each of the major upcoming Oscar contenders will premiere and screen at each of the fall film festivals (Venice, Telluride, TIFF & NYFF). For the release of "Eddington," this week's poll asks, "Which Is Your Favorite Film Set Against The Backdrop Of The COVID-19 Pandemic?" And for last week's ...

Look! It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's our main podcast review for this week for James Gunn's "Superman" starring David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Edi Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan, Nathan Fillion & Isabela Merced. Joining me for this review are Sara Clements, Josh Parham, Cody Dericks, Giovanni Lago & Brendan Hodges. There's a lot to discuss as Gunn gives us not only a new standa...

"Abraham's Boys: A Dracula Story" is a gothic horror drama written and directed by Natasha Kermani, adapted from Joe Hill's short story of the same name, starring Titus Welliver, Brady Hepner, Judah Mackey & Jocelin Donahue. Set in 1915 rural California, years after the events of "Dracula," the film follows Abraham Van Helsing (Welliver) as he relocates his family, including his wife, Mina (Donahu...

"Don't Let's Go To The Dogs Tonight" is a South African drama film written and directed by Embeth Davidtz in her feature directorial debut. The film is based on Alexandra Fuller's 2001 memoir, which recounts the experiences of her White Zimbabwean family following the Rhodesian Bush War. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and received positive reviews for its writing, direction and...

The Next Best Series Podcast is back to discuss the latest television shows, including "Poker Face" and the season finales of "The Bear" Season 4 & "Squid Game" Season 3. We also reveal our final Emmy Nomination Predictions ahead of the nominations announcement next week on July 15th. Please tune in as Megan Lachinski, Nadia Dalimonte, and Alyssa Christian join me to discuss these topics, shows, a...

"Sovereign" had its world premiere at the 2025 Tribeca Festival, where it received positive reviews for its performances from Nick Offerman, Jacob Tremblay, and Dennis Quaid, as well as Christian Swegal's writing and direction. Based on real events, the story follows a father and son (Offerman and Tremblay) who identify as Sovereign Citizens, a group of anti-government extremists, as they venture...

For Episode 449, Katie Johnson, Dan Bayer, Cody Dericks, and I are here to discuss our first Oscar Predictions of the year in the above-the-line categories. We tie this conversation into last week's poll results, as we asked, "Which Possible Oscar Contenders Are You Most Looking Forward To For The Rest Of 2025?" For the release of James Gunn's "Superman," for this week's poll, we ask, "Which is Yo...

For this week's main podcast review, Ema Sasic, Josh Parham & Lauren LaMagna join me to review and discuss the newest entry in the "Jurassic World/Park" franchise, "Jurassic World Rebirth," starring Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo & Ed Skrein. With a whole new cast, Gareth Edwards directing, and mutated dinosaurs, the franchise is receiving a...

"This Is Spinal Tap" (1984), also known as "This Is Spın̈al Tap: A Rockumentary by Martin Di Bergi," is a mockumentary comedy directed by the legendary Rob Reiner in his feature debut and co-written with stars Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer, who play members of the fictional heavy metal band Spinal Tap, hilariously dubbed "one of England's loudest bands." Satirizing rock star...

"The Old Guard 2" is a sequel to 2020's "The Old Guard" starring Charlize Theron, KiKi Layne, Matthias Schoenaerts, Marwan Kenzari, Luca Marinelli, Veronica Ngô, and Chiwetel Ejiofor reprising their roles from the first film while Henry Golding and Uma Thurman join the cast. Director Victoria Mahoney was kind enough to speak with us about her work and experience making the film, which you can list...

"Jurassic World Rebirth" is a standalone sequel to "Jurassic World Dominion" (2022), the fourth "Jurassic World" film and the seventh installment overall in the "Jurassic Park franchise." With a whole new cast and shot on 35mm using anamorphic lenses, the film from director Gareth Edwards is an attempt to harken back to what thrilled audiences most about the original movie. Before the film's world...

"40 Acres" had its world premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, where it received positive reviews for Danielle Deadwyler's performance, the tension and action created by R.T. Thorne, and the supporting performances by the rest of the cast, including Michael Greyeyes. The film follows a family of African American descendants who settled in rural Canada in 1875, after the America...

"Heads Of State" is the new action-comedy from director Ilya Naishuller ("Hardcore Henry" and "Nobody"), starring John Cena and Idris Elba, two world leaders who must set aside their rivalry to thwart a global conspiracy after becoming targets of a ruthless foreign adversary. Co-starring Priyanka Chopra, Jack Quaid, Paddy Considine, Stephen Root, and Carla Gugino, the film features numerous laughs...

For Episode 448, Nadia Dalimonte, Sara Clements, Alyssa Christian, Will Mavity, and I are here to discuss our Midyear Oscar Winners and our most anticipated Oscar contenders from the second half of 2025. We tie this conversation into this week's poll as we ask, "Which Possible Oscar Contenders Are You Most Looking Forward To For The Rest Of 2025?" We also reveal the winner of last week's poll, whe...

For this week's main podcast review, Katie Johnson, Giovanni Lago, Joselyn Safadi, Brendan Hodges & Will Mavity join me to review and discuss the newest film from Joseph Kosinski, "F1" (Or "F1 The Movie" depending on who you ask) starring Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Tobias Menzies & Javier Bardem. Set in the world of Formula One racing, Kosinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer aim to del...