The Next Best Picture Podcast

"The Ugly Stepsister" is a 2025 satirical black comedy, body horror film written and directed by Emilie Blichfeldt in her directorial debut. Drawing on the fairy tale "Cinderella," it retells a twisted tale of Elvira, who competes with her beautiful stepsister in a bloody battle for beauty. The film had its world premiere as the opening film of the Midnight section of the 2025 Sundance Film Festiv...

"Wicked: For Good" is a musical fantasy sequel directed by Jon M. Chu that adapts the second act of the "Wicked" stage musical, itself inspired by Gregory Maguire's reimagining of "The Wizard of Oz." Starring returning cast members Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, and others, the film follows Elphaba and Glinda as they embrace their identities as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glin...

"Song Sung Blue" is an American biographical musical drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Craig Brewer. It is based on the 2008 documentary film of the same name by Greg Kohs and stars Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson as Mike and Claire Sardina, who performed as the Neil Diamond tribute band Lightning & Thunder. The film had its world premiere at the AFI Film Festival, where it received po...

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 Following the airing of the 3rd annual Golden Globe Awards on CBS, Daniel Howat, Ema Sasic & Dan Bayer hopped on the podcast to deliver their immediate reactions to the winners from the evening, celebrating the best in film...

For Episode 474, Katie Johnson, Cody Dericks, Megan Lachinski, and Tom O'Brien join me for this exciting episode to discuss the Critics' Choice Award winners, give our predictions for the Golden Globe Awards, and discuss the fallout of the Actor/PGA/DGA nominations and the BAFTA Longlists as we get closer to the Oscar nominations. For last week's poll, we asked "Which Film Are You Most Looking For...

For this week's main podcast review, Dan Bayer, Giovanni Lago, and Tom O'Brien join me to discuss the killer monkey horror movie "Primate," starring Johnny Sequoyah, Jessica Alexander, and Academy Award winner Troy Kotsur. Directed by Johannes Roberts, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Ernest Riera, the film had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest 2025, where it received positive reviews for...

"The Voice Of Hind Rajab" is a docudrama film written and directed by Kaouther Ben Hania. It follows the Red Crescent response to the killing of Hind Rajab, a five-year-old Palestinian girl, by the Israel Defense Forces during the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip. It stars Saja Kilani, Motaz Malhees, Amer Hlehel, and Clara Khoury. The film had its world premiere in the main competition of the 82...

"Familiar Touch" is an independent drama film, written and directed by Sarah Friedland, that stars Kathleen Chalfant as an octogenarian woman transitioning to assisted living, contending with her relationship to herself and her caregivers as she navigates cognitive decline. Billed as a coming of (old) age film, it had its world premiere at the 81st Venice International Film Festival in 2024, where...

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's been many years since our last review for "Stranger Things" on the Next Best Picture Podcast. Our Season 4 review went up on July 6th, 2022, and we are here now, all these years later, to discuss the entirety of the final...

For Episode 473, Cody Dericks, Lauren LaMagna, and Dan Bayer join me for this very quick episode on the morning of the Critics' Choice Awards, to give our predictions for what we feel is going to win at tonight's awards ceremony, and what will be nominated for the SAG/PGA/DGA awards this week. We also discuss our most anticipated films of 2026, which is this week's poll: "Which Film Are You Most L...

For this week's main podcast review, Sara Clements, Josh Parham, and Cody Dericks join me to discuss the feature directorial debut from Charlie Polinger, "The Plague" starring Everett Blunck, Kayo Martin, Kenny Rasmussen & Joel Edgerton. The film follows a socially anxious 12-year-old boy, who is pulled into a cruel tradition at an all-boys water polo camp. The film had its world premiere in the U...

"We Bury The Dead" is a zombie-survival thriller written and directed by Zak Hilditch, starring Daisy Ridley as a desperate woman searching for her husband in the aftermath of a catastrophic military experiment. Hoping to find him alive, Ava joins a "body retrieval unit," but her search takes a chilling turn when the corpses she's burying start showing signs of life. The film had its world premier...

Mike Flanagan knows horror. Any fan of the genre will tell you that he's one of the most exciting directors working today, creating haunting and uniquely terrifying films like "Oculus," "Gerald's Game," and "Doctor Sleep," not to mention his many Netflix series, including "The Haunting of Hill House" and "The Fall of the House of Usher." His latest film, "The Life of Chuck," may therefore seem lik...

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, Ema Sasic and Dan Bayer join me to discuss the latest film from Craig Brewer, "Song Sung Blue" starring Hugh Jackman, Kate Hudson, Michael Imperioli, Ella Anderson, Fisher Stevens, Jim Be...

"The Smashing Machine" is a biographical sports drama film written, directed, produced, and edited by Benny Safdie, starring Golden Globe nominee Dwayne Johnson as former amateur wrestler and MMA fighter Mark Kerr, alongside Academy Award nominee Emily Blunt as Kerr's girlfriend Dawn Staples. The film had its world premiere in the main competition of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, wh...

For Episode 472, Nadia Dalimonte, Josh Parham, and Dan Bayer join me to say goodbye to the year 2025 at the movies as we discuss our favorite films, performances, moments, scenes, and experiences in this special recap episode ahead of the New Year. For this week's poll, for the end of the year, we're asking everyone: "Which Is Your Favorite Film Of 2025?" We also reveal the winner of last week's p...

For this week's main podcast review, Katie Johnson, Dan Bayer, and Giovanni Lago join me to discuss the latest film from Josh Safdie, "Marty Supreme" starring Timothée Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A'zion, Kevin O'Leary, Tyler Okonma, Abel Ferrara & Fran Drescher. His first solo directing effort since his debut with "The Pleasure of Being Robbed," Josh Safdie delivers a true American sports co...

"Marty Supreme" is an American sports comedy-drama film that had its world premiere at the 2025 New York Film Festival as a surprise screening, where it received widespread critical acclaim for its direction, screenplay, performances, casting, score, production design, and editing. Ever since then, the Next Best Picture team has been conducting a series of interviews with nearly everyone associate...

"The Choral" is a British historical drama film co-produced and directed by Nicholas Hytner and written by Alan Bennett. Set in 1916, during World War I, in the fictional town of Ramsden, Yorkshire, the film follows the members of the local choral society, which recruits a group of teenage boys and girls for a performance of Edward Elgar's "The Dream of Gerontius," a work chosen because a German d...

"The Plague" is a psychological drama-thriller film written and directed by Charlie Polinger in his directorial debut, starring Everett Blunck, Kayo Martin, Kenny Rasmussen, and Joel Edgerton, who is also a producer. The film follows a socially anxious 12-year-old boy who is pulled into a cruel tradition at an all-boys water polo camp. The film had its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard secti...

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, Ema Sasic, Josh Parham, and Dan Bayer join me to discuss the latest film from Academy Award-nominee Bradley Cooper, "Is This Thing On?" starring Will Arnett, Laura Dern, Andra Day, Amy Se...

Jim Belushi is an American actor and comedian who has been working in show business since the late 1970's, with many acclaimed roles and projects, and this year may be his proudest yet, as he landed supporting roles in Craig Brewer's "Song Sung Blue" and Kristen Stewart's "The Chronology Of Water." Both films have been seen by festival audiences, with Stewart's film now playing in limited release...

"Avatar: Fire And Ash" is, like the previous two, an incredible technical accomplishment from the sound, visuals, and score; the amazingly talented men and women behind the scenes have once again transported audiences back to Pandora through James Cameron's epic vision. The Next Best Picture team was lucky enough to spend time with a few key people in charge of bringing that vision to life. First...

"Pillion" is a romantic comedy drama film written and directed by Harry Lighton, based on the 2020 novel Box Hill by Adam Mars-Jones. The film stars Harry Melling as a timid gay man and Alexander Skarsgård as an enigmatic biker who starts a BDSM relationship. The film had its premiere in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the section's Best Screenplay priz...

For Episode 471, Nadia Dalimonte, Josh Parham, and Tom O'Brien join me for another packed episode of awards season news and developments. This week, we go over the Oscar Shortlists, the USC Scripter Award Nominations, and the major news of the Oscars moving away from ABC and over to YouTube, starting with the 101st ceremony. We also briefly touch upon the tragic passing of legendary filmmaker Rob...