The Next Best Picture Podcast

For this week's second podcast review, I am joined by Josh Parham, Dan Bayer & Tom O'Brien. Today, we are reviewing the newest film from director Jonathan Glazer, "The Zone Of Interest," starring Christian Friedel and Sandra Hüller. Already hailed as a masterpiece since its world premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, the film is the British entry for Best International Feature Film at the 96t...

For this week's second podcast review, I am joined by Josh Parham, Dan Bayer & Cody Dericks. Today, we are reviewing the feature directorial debut from Cord Jefferson, "American Fiction," starring Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae & Sterling K. Brown. What do we think of the story, the writing, performances, and widespread tone of the satire-comedy and how it balances the familial drama...

"The Monk And The Gun" had its world premiere at the 2023 Telluride Film Festival, where it received strong reviews for its visuals and tone and look back on Bhutan's transition to democracy in 2006. Following up on the Oscar-nominated "Lunana: A Yak In The Classroom," director, writer, and producer Pawo Choyning Dorji has established himself as a force on the international filmmaking scene with t...

One of 2023's most thrilling films, "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One," finds director Christopher McQuarrie, Tom Cruise, and their collaborators continually pushing the franchise higher, harder, and faster than it has ever gone before, dazzling audiences in the process. Visual effects supervisor Alex Wuttke and editor Eddie Hamilton were kind enough to spend time speaking with us abo...

"The After" is a short film from filmmaker Misan Harriman that looks at grief profoundly and movingly, with a powerful leading performance from David Oyelowo. In 18 short minutes, Harriman and Oyelowo take audiences through a man's tortured past trauma, and the result is a live-action short with all the ingredients to be a contender for Best Live-Action Short at this year's Academy Awards. Harrima...

"The Zone Of Interest" had its world premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Grand Prix and FIPRESCI Prizes, receiving some of the best reviews of the year, with many proclaiming it to be the best film of 2023. Stars Christian Friedel and Sandra Hüller were kind enough to spend some time talking with us about their experience working with filmmaker Jonathan Glazer on such a uni...

"American Symphony" had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, where it received positive reviews for exploring the life of Grammy Award-winning musical artist Jon Batiste at a time when his professional life was at an all-time high while his personal life was at an all-time low. Director Matthew Heineman peels back the curtain and the layers of man to reveal a powerful portrait that i...

"Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves" had its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival, where it received strong reviews, possibly kickstarting a new franchise for Paramount Pictures in the process. The fantasy film features a wide array of creatures, props, sets, and visual effects, all used to immerse audiences in the world-building and get as lost in the movie as millions have in the tablet...

"The Taste Of Things" had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or and won the Best Director prize for Trần Anh Hùng. Starring Academy Award-winner Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel in two moving performances, few films have ever captured the love of cooking and what cooking can mean for love as exceptionally as this film has. Binoche and Anh Hùng were...

For Episode 373, I am joined by Lauren LaMagna,  Josh Parham, Giovanni Lago & Tom O'Brien. This week, we're discussing the Critics Choice Award & Golden Globe nominations, giving our predictions for what we feel will make it onto the 2023 Oscar Shortlist and more as awards season continues through the end of the year. We also go over the polls, give our reactions to the trailers for "Civil War," "...

"Society Of The Snow" had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival, where it received enthusiastic reviews for its powerful telling of the true story of the Uruguayan 1972 Andes flight disaster. Harrowing, immersive, powerful, and inspiring, it's a moving story that director J.A. Bayona was determined to tell correctly. He and Academy Award-winning composer Michael Giacchino we...

"Past Lives" had its world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, where it instantly garnered universal acclaim, with many calling it the best of the festival. It has now gone on to be regarded as one of the year's best films overall, including winning the Gotham Award for Best Film and receiving nominations from the Critics Choice and Golden Globes for Best Picture. Composers Christopher Be...

"The Peasants" had its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival after many years of hard work from directors DK Welchman and Hugh Welchman, who had a massive task in front of them to live up to expectations following the Oscar-nominated success of "Loving Vincent." Told with the same meticulous hand-painted techniques as that film, this adaptation of Władysław Reymont's Nobel...

"Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse" exceeded most people's expectations, surpassing the heights set by the previous film, "Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse," and set audiences on a path for what promises to be a thrilling concluding chapter with the upcoming "Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse." Composer Daniel Pemberton has recently been nominated for a Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award f...

For this week's main podcast review, I am joined by Nadia Dalimonte & Josh Parham. Today, we are reviewing the latest film from director Paul King and screenwriter Simon Farnab, "Wonka," starring Timothée Chalamet, Calah Lane, Keegan-Michael Key, Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas, Mathew Baynton, Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Jim Carter, Tom Davis, Olivia Colman & Hugh Grant. What do we think of the st...

"The Super Mario Bros. Movie" was one of the most successful films of 2023, making over $1 billion at the box office and giving us the song "Peaches," which became a chart-placing song and another musical hit for actor Jack Black, who has always balanced his acting with his musical pursuits in his band Tenacious D. The Golden Globe-nominated actor was kind enough to come on the podcast and talk ab...

One of the most acclaimed animated films of 2023, "Suzume" is the latest film from master Japanese animator, filmmaker, author, and manga artist Makoto Shinkai. On one of his journeys to Los Angeles, he was kind enough to sit down with us and discuss his newest film, which tells the story of a 17-year-old girl who teams up with a stranger to prevent a series of disasters across Japan by sealing su...

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem" released over the summer to some of the best reviews the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" franchise had ever received. Since its theatrical release, it's already had a well-received life on Paramount+, and the 4K UHD Blu Ray just released this week. Director and writer Jeff Rowe was kind enough to spend some time talking with us about the film's unique a...

"Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget" had its world premiere at the 2023 London Film Festival, where it received strong reviews for its stop-motion animation, comedy, and warm heart. Releasing twenty-three years after the original Aardman animated film came out and received critical acclaim, the film had a tough hill to climb. Director Sam Fell was kind enough to talk with us and take us through the p...

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 month's first throwback podcast review, I am joined by Josh Parham and guest Kathia Woods to discuss Steven Spielberg's 1985 adaptation of Alice Walker's Pulitzer prize-winning novel "The Color Purple" starring Whoop...

"Flora And Son" had its world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, where it continued director John Carney's stellar streak of receiving critical acclaim for his heartwarming, music-based films. Stars Eve Hewson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt were kind enough to spend a few minutes each talking about their experience working on the film, which is now available to stream on Apple TV+. Please chec...

"The Promised Land" (or "Bastarden" in Denmark) had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival, where it competed for the Golden Lion and received just as strong reviews as director Nikolaj Arcel and star Mads Mikkelsen's previous collaboration on the Oscar-nominated 2012 film "A Royal Affair." The film has now won Best Actor for Mads Mikkelsen at the European Film Awards and two...

For this week's second podcast review, I am joined by Brendan Hodges & Giovanni Lago. Today, we are reviewing the newest film from iconic director Hayao Miyazaki, "The Boy And The Heron," starring Soma Santoki, Masaki Suda, Aimyon, Yoshino Kimura, Shōhei Hino, Ko Shibasaki, Takuya Kimura and on the English dub, Luca Padovan, Robert Pattinson, Karen Fukuhara, Gemma Chan, Christian Bale, Mark Hamill...

"Tótem" had its world premiere at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival, where it received strong reviews but mostly flew under the radar all year until it was selected as Mexico's entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards. Now, it has become the little movie that could this awards season, scoring Gotham and Independent Spirit Award nominations. Director/Writer...

"The Boy And The Heron" had its North American premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, where it was 2nd runner-up to the People's Choice Award. The new Hayao Miyazaki film has garnered strong reviews, winning Best Animated Feature from the New York and Los Angeles Film Critics and has now been nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Score...