The Next Best Picture Podcast

"The Wild Robot" had its world premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, where it received enthusiastic reviews, with many claiming it was not only the best-animated film of the year but that it was one of the best-animated films ever made by Dreamworks Animation. Director/Writer Chris Sanders and Academy Award-winning star Lupita Nyong'o were both kind enough to spend a few moment...

"His Three Daughters" had its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, where it received solid reviews for its three performances from Carrie Coon, Elizabeth Olsen, and Natasha Lyonne, and director/writer Azazel Jacobs' theatrical play-like direction and screenplay. Jacobs was kind enough to spend some time with us to discuss his work on the film, which you can listen to bel...

"Omni Loop" had its world premiere at the 2024 SXSW Film Festival, where it received positive reviews for its sci-fi premise from director/writer Bernardo Britto and the chemistry between its two stars, Emmy Award-winners Mary-Louise Parker and Ayo Edebiri. All three of them were kind enough to spend some time with us to discuss their work on the film, which you can listen to below. Please be sure...

For this week's third podcast review, I am joined by Nadia Dalimonte, Lauren LaMagna, Alyssa Christian & Dan Bayer to review and discuss the newest film from Coralie Fargeat, "The Substance," starring Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley & Dennis Quaid. After its world premiere at Cannes, where it won the festival's Best Screenplay prize, many have been anxiously awaiting to experience what is considered...

"A Different Man" had its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it received some of the best reviews of the festival, with many praising the performances of Sebastian Stan and Adam Pearson and lauding writer/director Aaron Schimberg's vision for this dark comedy on self-image. Stan, Pearson, and Schimberg were kind enough to spend some time talking with us about their work on th...

For this week's second podcast review, I am joined by Dan Bayer & Brendan Hodges to review and discuss "His Three Daughters" starring Carrie Coon, Elizabeth Olsen, Natasha Lyonne & Jovan Adepo. Directed and written by Azazel Jacobs, the Netflix film boasts three exceptional performances and insightful writing about the passing of a loved one and the bonding siblings share over such an experience....

"The Substance" had its world premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it shocked and stunned the festival audience, ultimately earning the Best Screenplay prize for Director/Writer Coralie Fargeat. It would go on to play in the Midnight Madness section at the Toronto International Film Festival where it would go on to win the People's Choice Award for the special section of the film festi...

For Episode 409, Josh Parham, Tom O'Brien, and I are here to deliver our preview of the 2024 New York Film Festival (NYFF) and go over the additions to the 2024 AFI Film Festival. We go over the winners of last week's poll, asking, "Which World Premieres From The 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Are You Most Looking Forward To?" ask this week's poll question, "Which Films Are You Mo...

For this week's main podcast review, I am joined by Daniel Howat, Brendan Hodges & Giovanni Lago to review and discuss "Transformers One" starring Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, Laurence Fishburne & Jon Hamm. Directed by Academy Award-winner Josh Cooley ("Toy Story 4"), the film tells an origin story for the beloved Hasbro characters Opti...

"Transformers One" is the second animated feature film directed by Academy Award-winner Josh Cooley, following the success of "Toy Story 4." While that film came with its own level of pre-expectations, so too does Cooley's origin story of how Orion Pax and D-16 became Optimus Prime and Megatron, respectively. With an all-star cast and talented animators, the film has received positive reviews for...

"The Thicket" is a new American Western based on the 2013 novel by Joe R. Lansdale, starring Peter Dinklage, Juliette Lewis, Esmé Creed-Miles, Levon Hawke, Andrew Schulz, James Hetfield, Leslie Grace & Gbenga Akinnagbe. Dinklage and Lewis were both kind enough to spend some time talking with us about their latest film, the making of it, and what they have brewing next in their careers. Please be s...

"The Wasp" had its world premiere at the 2024 Tribeca Festival, where it received positive reviews for the performances from its two stars, Naomie Harris and Natalie Dormer, the film's adaptation by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm from her own 2015 play, and Guillem Morales' taut direction. Harris and Dormer were both kind enough to spend some time with us during the Tribeca Festival discussing their work on...

"My Old Ass" had its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it received positive reviews for Megan Park's writing, direction, and the breakthrough lead performance from Maisy Stella, playing a young woman who her future self has advised not to fall in love a specific boy in her life. Park and Stella were both kind enough to spend some time talking with us about their work on the...

"My First Film" had its world premiere at CPH: DOX on March 19th, 2024, and was praised for director/writer Zia Anger's meta-story about a young filmmaker making her first film and Odessa Young's performance. After a limited release on August 30th, the film is now available for streaming on MUBI. Young graciously shared her thoughts about the film with us and her experience making it, which you ca...

"Small Things Like These" had its world premiere earlier this year at the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival and received positive reviews for its writing, direction, and performances from Academy Award-winner Cillian Murphy and Academy Award-nominee Emily Watson. The film will be released later this year in the U.S. by Lionsgate, but we were lucky enough to chat with Murphy early to discuss...

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 76th annual Primetime Emmy Awards were held last night, our second Emmy Awards show this year! I was joined by Daniel Howat and Giovanni Lago moments following the show to discuss the winners from last night's ceremony. ...

For Episode 408, Ema Sasic, Dan Bayer, Nadia Dalimonte & Giovanni Lago, and I are back to deliver our final recap of the 81st Venice Film Festival and our massive, probably too extensive recap of the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. We have a ton of movies to get through, so we won't be reacting to trailers for this week, but hopefully, when you're finished listening, you have a complete...

For this week's main podcast review, I am joined by Josh Parham & Cody Dericks to review and discuss the American remake of the 2022 Danish film "Speak No Evil," also titled "Speak No Evil" starring James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Scoot McNairy, Aisling Franciosi, Alix West Lefler, Dan Hough, Kris Hichen & Motaz Mulhees. Written and directed by James Watkins, this Blumhouse-produced remake is highl...

For Episode 46 of The Next Best Series Podcast, I'm joined by Giovanni Lago & Daniel Howat. It feels like yesterday when we discussed our final winner predictions for the 75th annual Primetime Emmy Awards, handed out on January 15th. Now, we are back again so soon to discuss who we think will win at the 76th annual Primetime Emmy Awards, which h are scheduled to take place on September 15th. The C...

For this week's main podcast review, Josh Parham, Dan Bayer, and Giovanni Lago (with additional thoughts from Ema Sasic at the Venice Film Festival where the film had its world premiere) are reviewing the latest feature film from "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice," starring Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Jenna Ortega & Willem Dafoe. A return to form for Bur...

And that's a wrap on the 2024 Telluride Film Festival. Following our preview podcast from our hotel room the other day, Will Mavity, J Don Birnam, and I sat in the park on the final day of the festival during the Labor Day Picnic (sorry for all of the background noise) to give you our rundown of the films we saw at the film festival if they were worth checking out, and if we feel any of them are O...

As we did with our Telluride Film Festival podcast the other day, I called Ema Sasic over at the Venice International Film Festival to talk about her experience so far, what movies she's seen, and if she has seen any Oscar contenders. Tune in as we discuss "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice," "Maria," "The Brutalist," "Babygirl," and many other world premieres taking part at the festival. We will be back to...

We thought we'd do something different this year. Traditionally, we do one single episode discussing the Telluride Film Festival lineup as we drive over, and then there are some conversations regarding Venice and TIFF before we have our final Telluride recap conversation on the drive to the airport. This year, we're breaking things up into pieces for you all to digest as the Labor weekend goes on....

"1992" chronicles the first night of the 1992 Los Angeles riots and is directed by Ariel Vromen ("The Iceman"). The film stars Tyrese Gibson, Scott Eastwood, and Ray Liotta in his last on-screen role before his untimely death. Gibson and Eastwood were both kind enough to spend some time talking with me about their work on the film, which you can listen to below. Please be sure to check out the fil...

"Slingshot" is a new sci-fi drama starring Casey Affleck, Laurence Fishburne, Emily Beecham, Tomer Capone, David Morrissey & Mark Ebulué. The film, directed by Swedish filmmaker Mikael Håfström, known for his diverse filmography, including the Oscar-nominated "Evil," "Derailed," "1408," "The Rite," and "Escape Plan," Is a unique blend of psychological drama and space thriller. With its psychologic...