The Next Best Picture Podcast

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 This is a big one for me..."The Lord Of The Rings" trilogy from Academy Award-winner Peter Jackson had a massive influence on me and is the main reason why I fell in love with movies. Now, for its 20th anniversary, I was fortu...

Guillermo del Toro's "Nightmare Alley" is his follow-up film to his Best Picture-winning "The Shape Of Water," and it's one of the most technically astounding films of 2021. I, Will Mavity, and Daniel Howat were given the opportunity to conduct several interviews with the creative talent behind the scenes to provide you with this in-depth look at the film. First up, we have my interviews with cine...

For our second review this week, Nicole Ackman, Dan Bayer, Ema Sasic, Zoe Rose Bryant & Casey Lee Clark joined me to discuss the newest film from Academy Award-winner Guillermo del Toro, "Nightmare Alley," starring Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Toni Collette & Richard Jenkins. Adapted from the 1946 novel of the same name, the film is a dark modern-day noir with incredible craftsmans...

"The Novice" quietly had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival this past June, where it won the Best U.S. Narrative Feature Film prize. It was later picked up for distribution by IFC Films and has now garnered five Film Independent Spirit Award nominations, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actress for the incredibly committed Isabelle Fuhrman. The film's director and writer,...

For Episode 274, I am being joined by Josh Parham, Dan Bayer & Cody Dericks. This week, we are discussing the nominations for the Golden Globe, Critics Choice, and Spirit Awards, plus the rise of "Drive My Car" in the precursors. We also go over the polls, give our reactions to the trailers for "The Lost City," "The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent," "Everything Everywhere All At Once," answer...

This week, Cody Dericks & Danilo Castro joined our main podcast review to discuss the third installment in Jon Watts' stand-alone Spider-Man trilogy between Sony and Marvel with "Spider-Man: No Way Home" starring Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina & Jamie Foxx. It's an ambitious film, even for Marvel, as it attempts to wrap up several storylines, introduce a fe...

"Swan Song" (not to be confused with the indie film starring Udo Kier released earlier this year) is the first narrative feature from Oscar-winning director Benjamin Cleary (Best Live Action Short for "Stutterer") and also the first leading role for the film's star, 2-time Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali. The film is a thinking person's sci-fi with an emotional core allowing for some deep ques...

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 It cannot be overstated just how groundbreaking Lana and Lilly Wachowski's 1999 sci-fi action masterpiece "The Matrix" was at the time of its release and how influential it has been in the years since. Its popularity has spurr...

"Being The Ricardos" is the third feature film directed by Academy Award-winning writer Aaron Sorkin after "Molly's Game" and "The Trial Of The Chicago 7." The film has garnered praise for its performances from Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem, who both received Golden Globe nominations for their work recently, while Sorkin received Critics Choice and Golden Globe nominations for his screenplay. De...

"Encounter" premiered earlier this year at the Telluride Film Festival, where its leading star, Academy Award-nominee Riz Ahmed, received a special tribute. The film went on to play at the Toronto International Film Festival and is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Many have praised the work of Ahmed as a veteran looking to save his sons from an unknown threat, but another element that has been...

For our second review this week, Josh Parham, Dan Bayer & Lauren LaMagna joined me to discuss the latest film from Academy Award-winner Aaron Sorkin, "Being The Ricardos," starring Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem. The two actors are playing Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz behind the camera and Lucy and Ricky Ricardo in front of the camera from the famous television show "I Love Lucy." There has been s...

"The Hand Of God" premiered earlier this year at the Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize, and its breakout star, Filippo Scotti, won the Marcello Mastroianni Award. Based on the early life of its writer and director, Paolo Sorrentino, the film is a personal re-telling of growing up in Italy, with beautiful cinematography and naturalistic performances, especially f...

For Episode 273, I am being joined by Josh Parham & Tom O'Brien. This week, we are discussing the AFI Top 10 films of the year, previewing the Golden Globe, Critics Choice, and Indie Spirit Award nominations, going over the polls, giving our reactions to the trailers for Guy Ritchie's "Operation Fortune: Ruse De Guerre" and "Sonic The Hedgehog 2," answering your fan-submitted fan questions, and so...

This week, Josh Parham, Dan Bayer, Eve O'Dea, Cody Dericks & Daniel Howat joined our main podcast review to discuss Steven Spielberg's "West Side Story," starring Rachel Zegler, Ansel Elgort, Ariana DeBose, David Alvarez, Mike Faist & Rita Moreno. Based on the 1957 stage musical of the same name, which was later made into a Best Picture Oscar-winning film, the film has been adapted by Tony Kushner...

"Red Rocket" premiered at this year's Cannes Film Festival and went on to screen at the Telluride and New York Film Festivals before opening in limited release this weekend. Writer/Director Sean Baker is following up his previous film, the acclaimed "The Florida Project," with an outrageous, vivid, and particular character study. With a career-best performance from Simon Rex, a powerhouse turn fro...

THIS IS A PREVIEW PODCAST. NOT THE FULL TRACK. Please check out the full commentary track on our Patreon Page by subscribing over at - https://www.patreon.com/NextBestPicture Our "Twilight" marathon (finally) ends with the fifth installment in the franchise, "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2," once again, directed by Bill Condon. With the release of "Spencer," we went back to visit the fi...

THIS IS A PREVIEW PODCAST. NOT THE FULL TRACK. Please check out the full commentary track on our Patreon Page by subscribing over at - https://www.patreon.com/NextBestPicture Our "Twilight" marathon continues with the fourth installment in the franchise, "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1," directed by Bill Condon. With the release of "Spencer," we're going back to visit the film franchise...

"Wolf" is the feature directorial debut of Nathalie Biancheri, and with her first film, she wanted to explore a topic which hasn't been shown much in cinema or even widely discussed in the world quite frankly, and that is pieces dysphoria, which is the experience believing one's body is that of the wrong species. The film is currently playing in theaters from Focus Features and contains another im...

"Flee" had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and has been one of the films to most consistently play at various film festivals throughout the year, including Telluride, Toronto, and New York. A recent winner of the Gotham Award for Best Documentary Feature, the film is now finally playing in theaters for the world to see from NEON. And when the world does see it, we think they'...

"The Power Of The Dog" is one of 2021's very best films. Under the careful direction of Jane Campion, the film has spawned a ton of conversation since its premiere at the Venice International Film Festival for its themes, acting, and craftsmanship. We were very fortunate to get the opportunity to interview a few people involved with the making of the film, including cinematographer Ari Wegner, edi...

For Episode 272, I am being joined by Josh Parham, Dan Bayer & Cody Dericks. This week, we have no trailers to talk about, but we have a lot of precursor winners to dive into as awards season kicked off with the Gotham Award winners (GOTHAM), followed by the National Board of Review (NBR) and New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) winners! There's a lot to get into, along with the Hollywood Critics...

This week, Josh Parham & guest Nathaniel Rogers from The Film Experience joined our main podcast review to discuss the latest feature film from Academy Award-winner Jane Campion, titled "The Power Of The Dog," starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Kodi Smit-McPhee & Jesse Plemons. Based on the novel of the same name by Thomas Savage, the film is packed with literary symbolism, metaphors, a...

"Citizen Ashe" had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, where it received positive reviews for telling the life story of professional tennis player Arthur Ashe who broke new ground for Black professional athletes in the world of tennis, making him one of the most prominent figures in the history of sports. Co-directors Sam Pollard ("MLK/FBI") and Rex Miller ("Althea") were kind enoug...

In a move similar to 2019's "I Lost My Body," the French-language animated film based on the Japanese manga series of the same name by Jiro Taniguchi called "The Summit Of The Gods," premiered at this year's Cannes Film Festival and was later acquired by Netflix. It's a gorgeously animated film filled with intense drama and universal themes. The writer and director, Patrick Imbert, was kind enough...

THIS IS A PREVIEW PODCAST. NOT THE FULL TRACK. Please check out the full commentary track on our Patreon Page by subscribing over at - https://www.patreon.com/NextBestPicture Our "Twilight" marathon continues with the third installment in the franchise, "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," directed by David Slade. With the release of "Spencer," we're going back to visit the film franchise that made Krist...