By Dan Bayer 

Last week, we saw the release of "The Curse of La Llorona", the latest film in The Conjuring Universe. In large part thanks to the success of the low-fi, restrained, artfully done "The Conjuring" in 2013, the horror genre has been enjoying something of a renaissance in recent years, with lots of indie art house successes ("The Witch", "Under the Shadow", "Hereditary", and this year's "The Wind") making a dent in the culture and critics' lists. As a big fan of ghost stories in any form - from campground stories told by the light of the fire to episodes of "The Twilight Zone" to movies viewed at a slumber party where you can scream along with friends - I thought it would be fun to take a look at what this decade has had to offer on the front of silvery specters and shivery spirits. Join me on this haunted journey through the haunted houses, hotels, and tech of the 2010s.

By Matt Neglia 

​Next Best Picture has partnered with Allied Global Marketing and Lionsgate to give away free passes to see "Long Shot" starring Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron in New York City on Monday, April 29th 2019 a few days before its actual release in theaters on May 3rd 2019.

​Click below for a chance to get passes while supplies last.

By Matt Neglia 

It's hard to believe but with only 6 episodes, we are now a third of the way through this final season of "Game Of Thrones." After laying the foundation in the premiere episode titled "Winterfell," director David Nutter and writer Bryan Cogman decided to slow thins down this week and give us a very character heavy episode that reminded us why we love these characters so much before next week's epic battle which is sure to take a lot of them away from us. If you are a fan of how "Game Of Thrones" used to be before it became so huge in scale and yearn for more of those intimate character moments then "A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms" was for you. But what did we think of it? Join Jacey Aldredge, Josh Williams and I as we take a detailed dive into the episode scene by scene.

This is a preview of the podcast, the full version of which is only available to those who subscribe to us on Patreon. For the small price of $1 a month, you can receive this review along with other exclusive podcast content, so be sure to subscribe here.
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Thank you so much for listening. You can subscribe to the Next Best Picture Podcast on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, GooglePlay, Tunein, PlayerFM, Acast & Castbox or you can listen down below. Please take a moment to review us on Apple Podcasts here. ​​

​​By Josh Williams 

​Marvel has seemingly strived to capture the magic behind the idea of the shared universe. Each installation of their films falls under the umbrella of the "Marvel Cinematic Universe" or MCU for short. These films take place in the same general location, at the same general time, and with the same general characters. Now, while this seems like something that would be particularly easy to produce, other studios have unfortunately found out that it is not that simple. Marvel has found a massive amount of success in something that competing studios just cannot seem to get their hands on. But what happens when over the course of ten years, the story that you have been building towards finally prepares to see its end? With the release of last year’s "Avengers: Infinity War" and now "Avengers: Endgame", the overarching story that Marvel has been building towards is finally coming to a dramatic close.

By Matt Neglia 

For Episode 139, Cody Dericks, Tom O'Brien, & myself discuss the recently announced 2019 Cannes lineup, preview "Avengers: Endgame," give our reaction to the trailer for "Child's Play," go over the polls, answer fan questions and more!

Thank you so much for listening. You can subscribe to the Next Best Picture Podcast on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, GooglePlay, Tunein, PlayerFM, Acast & Castbox or you can listen down below. Please take a moment to review us on Apple Podcasts here. And if you're feeling generous and you enjoy what you hear and want more, please help to support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month and you'll receive some exclusive podcast content.

By Matt Neglia

For this week's main podcast review, Josh Parham, Beatrice Loayza, Cody Dericks, Danilo Castro dive deep into David Robert Mitchell's follow up to "It Follows" titled "Under The Silver Lake" starring Andrew Garfield. There is a lot to talk about with this one so catch the movie, give us a listen and decide for yourselves if David Robert Mitchell made a masterpiece or a disaster.

Thank you so much for listening. You can subscribe to the Next Best Picture Podcast on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify,Stitcher, GooglePlay, Tunein, PlayerFM, Acast & Castbox or you can listen down below. Please take a moment to review us on Apple Podcasts here. And if you're feeling generous and you enjoy what you hear and want more, please help to support us onPatreon for as little as $1 a month and you'll receive some exclusive podcast content.

By Edward Douglas 

​​Few filmmakers are as beloved by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as Mike Leigh.  Mr. Leigh has been nominated for seven Oscars, either for writing or directing films of his going back to 1997’s “Secrets and Lies” – shockingly, he has yet to actually win an Oscar. Leigh’s latest, “Peterloo,” is another foray into the past. Set in the early 19th Century, it explores the unrest in Northern England by citizens who want to be represented in the British Parliament. Their hopes lie in renowned orator Henry Hunt (Rory Kinnear) being that representative, as Hunt travels up to the poverty-stricken region to give a speech to thousands of locals in St. Peter’s Square in Manchester, some who walked for miles to get there. What starts out as a peaceful community gathering turns deadly when the military is sent to break up the gathering, injuring and killing the weaponless citizens.

“Peterloo” is an amazing achievement, even compared to Leigh’s previous historical films “Mr. Turner” (about the landscape artist) and “Topsy-Turvy” (about musical maestros Gilbert and Sullivan). It spends a good two hours introducing many characters, some more important than others, and allowing the story to develop organically before the enormous gathering, which is bigger than anything seen previously in any of Leigh films.

NextBestPicture got on the phone with Mr. Leigh a few weeks back, a call that had a few technical issues. He seemed undaunted by the problems, though, as he helped debunk a few of the myths surrounding his filmmaking techniques. (For instance, I was convinced that Leigh would never use CG to create the amazing finale with thousands of people congregating on Manchester’s St. Peter’s Square).

By Danilo Castro ​

While the concept of a shared universe has been popularized by superheroes and sorcerers, filmmaker James Wan has quietly applied this model to the horror genre. The “Conjuring” series, also known as the “Conjuring” universe, is a series of interconnected films that follow demonic spirits and the mortal victims who encounter them.

While the time periods and protagonists of each film change, Wan makes sure there are enough references and easter eggs to reward loyal viewers. And with the latest installment, “The Curse of La Llorona”, hitting theaters, we decided to rank each of the films in the “Conjuring” universe from worst to best.

By Cody Dericks 

The recent release of the French slasher movie “Knife+Heart” is notable for more than the fact that it’s a great thriller--it’s also one of the rare horror films that is unabashedly queer in both its content and its characters. Set in the world of 1970s gay porn, every single main character in the film is queer. Sexuality is uninhibited without being excessive, and even the “villain” of the film is an embodiment of both societal and internalized homophobia. While its existence is to be celebrated on its own, it cannot be ignored that it is filling a void in the horror landscape that has been mostly empty for a long, long time. In the mainstream, we have yet to see a scary movie that is willing to engage with queerness with the same overtness as “Knife+Heart." If a horror movie features such themes, it is either a very small independent film, or it is a mainstream film with subtextual queerness or queer characters and plots that are far from the main storyline. For the purposes of this piece, I will be discussing horror films that are American and saw a wide release to help illustrate my point that mainstream horror has yet to tackle queerness in a real way. Also, I will be using the word “queer” as a blanket term to refer to anything not heterosexual and/or cisgender.​

​By Josh Parham 

When “Twilight” burst onto screens in the fall of 2008, I admit to not being part of that fervent fandom. Mind you, I had no ill will toward those that sought enjoyment out of the film, but an eighteen-year-old film snob just wasn’t interested. As the films increased and the popularity grew, I stayed mostly on the sidelines of the franchise and resigned myself to simply not engage. Years later, when I finally watched the films, I was not terribly impressed but did feel they improved upon each new entry. Even still, the acting was never something I considered praiseworthy, particularly from the central leads.

​By Edward Douglas  

Back in 2014, New York filmmaker Alex Ross Perry cast Elisabeth Moss in his third feature “Listen Up Phillip.” Moss had already been nominated for multiple Emmys for her work on “Mad Men” at that point, but it would precede her Golden Globe-winning work on “Top of the Lake” and her current Hulu series “The Handmaid’s Tale.” 

That partnership led to Perry featuring Moss’ talents in his next feature “Queen of Earth,” and now the two are back together again with “Her Smell.” In the movie, Moss plays Becky Something, the leader of an iconic all-girl punk band who has been at the top of their game but are starting to falter due to Becky’s erratic behavior and drug addiction. 

“Her Smell” documents Becky and her band as things start to fall apart, and then cuts forward in time when Becky is trying to get her life together and make amends for all the people she hurt during her various flame-outs including her bandmates (Agyness Deyn, Gayle Rankin), ex-husband (Dan Stevens), her manager (Eric Stolz), mother (Virginia Madsen) and young daughter. 

Next Best Picture got on the phone with Perry last week to talk about his third collaboration with Moss for what might be her best performance yet. Perry also talked to us about the casting and building sets on a soundstage for his movie for the first time.

By Matt Neglia 

We're finally here. After 595 days of waiting since the conclusion Season 7, HBO finally released the first episode of Season 8 of "Game Of Thrones" titled "Winterfell." Here to talk with me about the shocking revelations, political intrigue, reunions and dragon riding are Will Mavity, Celia Schelekewey & Dan Bayer.

This is a preview of the podcast, the full version of which is only available to those who subscribe to us on Patreon. For the small price of $1 a month, you can receive this review along with other exclusive podcast content, so be sure to subscribe here.
​
Thank you so much for listening. You can subscribe to the Next Best Picture Podcast on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, GooglePlay, Tunein, PlayerFM, Acast & Castbox or you can listen down below. Please take a moment to review us on Apple Podcasts here. ​​

By Casey Lee Clark 

​I loved FilmStruck. I loved that there was a place on the internet that felt like it was tailor-made for film fanatics. The combination of Turner Classic Movies and the Criterion Collection (brands that started and have continued to influence my love of cinema) was a match made in heaven. So, I was utterly devastated when it was announced that FilmStruck would be shutting down in November of last year. Twitter was ablaze with outrage over its cancellation and pleads for it to return, from casual film fans to critics, all the way up to major filmmakers like Guillermo del Toro.
 
The Criterion Collection decided to take matters into their own hands and start their own independent streaming service, and on April 8th the Criterion Channel was launched. Since browsing the site and watching some films, I definitely have some thoughts on the service, mainly how it compares to FilmStruck and what it brings to the ever-growing market of streaming services available.

By Matt Neglia 

For Episode 138, Michael Schwartz, Nicole Ackman, Josh Parham, Casey Lee Clark, Dan Bayer & myself go over the trailers for "Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise Of Skywalker" & "Stuber." We also preview what we think will show up at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival Lineup and weigh in on all of the new streaming service news this week which I'm officially calling the #CinematicStreamingWar. We also go over the polls, answer fan questions and more!
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Thank you so much for listening. You can subscribe to the Next Best Picture Podcast on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, GooglePlay, Tunein, PlayerFM, Acast & Castbox or you can listen down below. Please take a moment to review us on Apple Podcasts here. And if you're feeling generous and you enjoy what you hear and want more, please help to support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month and you'll receive some exclusive podcast content.

By Matt Neglia

For this week's main podcast review, Josh Parham and I put ourselves through hell and endured the 2019 reboot of "Hellboy" starring David Harbour. In what is undoubtedly one of the worst films of the year, Josh and I try our hardest to find a single positive thing worth saying in our podcast review. Take a listen below to hear.

Thank you so much for listening. You can subscribe to the Next Best Picture Podcast on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, GooglePlay, Tunein, PlayerFM, Acast & Castbox or you can listen down below. Please take a moment to review us on Apple Podcasts here. And if you're feeling generous and you enjoy what you hear and want more, please help to support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month and you'll receive some exclusive podcast content.