The Next Best Picture Podcast

Academy Award-winner Javier Bardem had a tremendous 2021, starring in one of the biggest blockbusters of the year with "Dune," playing Desi Arnaz in Aaron Sorkin's "Being The Ricardos," which he recently received a SAG Nomination for Best Actor from his peers and playing the lead in the Spanish submission for Best International Feature Film, "The Good Boss." Javier was kind enough to spend some ti...

Pedro Almodóvar's "Parallel Mothers" had its world premiere at last year's Venice Film Festival, where it won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress for the film's star, Academy Award-winner Penélope Cruz. She has since gone on to win other Best Actress prizes from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the National Society Of Film Critics. This is Cruz's seventh film with Almodóvar, and it's clear...

"The Harder They Fall" is a Black revisionist Western which has lit the world on fire and put Hollywood on notice with its all talented Black cast, genre-defying elements, and hip-hop-influenced soundtrack. Writer, director, and composer Jeymes Samuel was kind enough to chat with me about his inspiration for the project, how he chose to approach it compared to his music endeavors, and how his film...

Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson's directorial debut, "Summer Of Soul," had its world premiere at last year's Sundance Film Festival, where it went on to win the Grand Jury and Audience prizes for Best Documentary. The accolades did not stop there. The film has garnered more wins than any other documentary film in the awards race this year, including a record-breaking six wins from the Critics Choice Aw...

"In The Heights" may have come out earlier in the year and got knocked down due to its poor box office performance. Still, the film received positive reviews, eventually found an audience on HBO Max, and has recently given its star Anthony Ramos a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy. We conducted several interviews about the film with its director Jon M. Chu (by Dan Bayer...

For Episode 278, we have a massive show for you! This week, I was joined by Nicole Ackman, Josh Parham, Dan Bayer, Cody Dericks & NBP's newest member, Amy Smith. Because we'll be taking next week off due to Sundance, we left no stone unturned as we went into detail on numerous races for this year's Oscars post-Golden Globe winners, SAG nominations, and the announced BAFTA longlists. We also go ove...

For our main podcast review this week, Josh Parham, Dan Bayer, Daniel Howat, Danilo Castro & guest Ryan C. Showers joined me to discuss "Scream," or "Scream 5," or "Scream 2022," whatever you want to call it, it's the fifth film in the beloved, popular horror franchise with a new cast which consists of Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Jack Quaid, and a few others, plus the original turning trio of N...

Anyone who has seen Joel Coen's adaptation of William Shakespeare's "The Tragedy of Macbeth" knows what a scrumptious feast it is for the eyes and ears. The film had its world premiere at last year's New York Film Festival, and now, audiences can stream it on AppleTV+ to take in its meticulous design and powerhouse performance, led by Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand. Two previous Coen Brot...

Denis Villeneuve's "Dune" is a high artistic achievement not just for 2021 but in the annals of cinematic history. It was a massive undertaking to adapt Frank Herbert's classic sci-fi novel for the big-screen (and this is only the first half of the story), but it paid off with solid box office results, tons of awards season buzz, critical acclaim & the announcement from Warner Bros. that "Dune Par...

For our second review this week, Josh Parham & Dan Bayer joined me to discuss the newest film from Academy Award-winner George Clooney. "The Tender Bar" is a sweet coming-of-age film now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, starring Ben Affleck, Tye Sheridan, Lily Rabe, Christopher Lloyd, and newcomer Daniel Ranieri. Based on a memoir by JR Moehringer, the film is filled with familiar, grounded, and n...

For Episode 277, we decided to do things a little differently. I was joined by Lauren LaMagna, Josh Parham, ​Ema Sasic, Dan Bayer, Zoe Rose Bryant & Will Mavity. Together, we decided to have a laid-back, fun party as The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced their winners live on social media while we recorded last night for the 79th annual Golden Globe Awards. As the show went on (and mor...

For our main podcast review this week, Amy Smith & Dan Bayer joined me to discuss "The 355," starring Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong'o, Penélope Cruz, Diane Kruger, Bingbing Fan, Sebastian Stan & Édgar Ramírez. This is Simon Kinberg's second directed feature-length film after teaming with Jessica Chastain on "Dark Phoenix." Free of the "X-Men" franchise, is this the start of a new action franchise...

"Tick, Tick...Boom!" had its world premiere at this year's AFI Film Festival and was shortly available to stream on Netflix afterward. It has since gone on to receive Golden Globe and Critics Choice nominations for Best Picture and Best Actor for Andrew Garfield. We compiled a few interviews together, taking you deep into Lin-Manuel Miranda's feature directorial debut about the life of Jonathan La...

Academy Award-winner Halle Berry's feature directorial debut "Bruised" debuted at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival and was later picked up by Netflix and re-surfaced a year later with a premiere at the 2021 AFI Film Festival. The film is now streaming on Netflix and has received a tremendous response for Berry's lead performance in the film. Demanding both physically and emotionally, B...

For our second review this week, Lauren LaMagna, Ema Sasic, Zoe Rose Bryant, Sara Clements & Casey Lee Clark join me to review the feature directorial debut from Maggie Gyllenhaal, "The Lost Daughter" starring Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson & Ed Harris. An adaptation of the novel of the same name by Elena Ferrante, the film raises taboo topics which we don't see often discussed rega...

Happy New Year, everyone! For Episode 276, I am being joined by Josh Parham, Eve O'Dea & Will Mavity. This week, we're giving our predictions for the 79th annual Golden Globe Awards and discussing our most anticipated films of 2022. We have no new trailers to talk about this week, but we will still be going over the polls, answering your fan-submitted fan questions, and more! We hope you enjoy it!...

Happy New Year! For our main podcast review this week, Eve O'Dea, Dan Bayer & Josh Parham joined me to discuss "The Tragedy Of Macbeth," starring Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Corey Hawkins, Brendan Gleeson, Harry Melling, Kathryn Hunter, Moses Ingram & Alex Hassell. The first film to be directed by Joel Coen without involvement from his brother Ethan, the black-and-white film is an adapta...

Wes Anderson's "The French Dispatch" was meant to premiere at last year's Cannes Film Festival but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It finally premiered at this year's Cannes Film Festival, then made its way to the Telluride and New York Film Festivals before coming to theaters, and is now available to watch at home on digital and Blu Ray. The film is a visual feast which isn't surprising...

Disney Pixar's latest film "Luca" has been nominated for both a Critics Choice and a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature and is now listed as one of the films eligible for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. One of the reasons why the film has resonated with so many people is through Dan Romer's soaring, gentle and beautiful score. Dan was kind enough to spend some time talking w...

"Jockey" premiered nearly a year ago at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and gave character actor Clifton Collins Jr. a leading showcase role worthy of his talents. The directorial debut from Clint Bentley tells the story of an aging jockey who is aiming for one final shot at glory while balancing his personal life. The film is now playing in limited release and has been nominated for three Film In...

For our second review this week, Josh Parham, Dan Bayer & Ema Sasic joined me to discuss the newest film from Academy Award-winner Adam McKay. "Don't Look Up" contains the largest ensemble of big Hollywood name actors this year, with Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Rob Morgan, Jonah Hill, Mark Rylance, Tyler Perry, Timothée Chalamet, Ron Perlman, Ariana Grande, Scott Mescudi, Cate Blanchett...

Costume Designer Mark Bridges has been working with director Paul Thomas Anderson since the beginning of his career with "Hard Eight" and on every single one of his films since earning an Oscar nomination for "Inherent Vice" and a win in 2017 for "Phantom Thread." Their latest collaboration was for "Licorice Pizza," which faithfully re-created the style and fashion of the San Fernando Valley in 19...

For Episode 275, I am being joined by Josh Parham, Dan Bayer & Tom O'Brien. This week, we are discussing the end of 2021, our favorite films, performances, scenes, etc. We also discuss the shortlists announced for the 94th Academy Awards, the current state of the industry as we head into uncertain times regarding the pandemic, go over the polls, give our reactions to the trailers for "Uncharted,"...

Happy Holidays everyone! This week, Lauren LaMagna, Dan Bayer, Josh Parham & Daniel Howat joined our main podcast review to discuss "The Matrix Resurrections," starring Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra Jonas & Jada Pinkett Smith. The fourth installment in the "Matrix" franchise nearly twenty years since "Re...

"The Tender Bar" is the latest film by George Clooney, which tells the simple but inspiring story of J.R. Moehringer (whose memoir the film is based on), who dealt with struggles related to his absent father and class. Production Designer Kalina Ivanov was responsible for not only crafting period sets during the pandemic but environments that would subliminally inform the audience about the charac...