By Matt Neglia 

In 2014, Jennifer Kent came on the scene with the indie horror film "The Babadook," which won her a tremendous amount of critical acclaim and is regarded today as a horror masterpiece. Now, 5 year later, she is back with "The Nightingale," an equally horrifying film that explores themes of brutality, compassion, history and more! Jennifer was kind enough to chat with us about her latest film, why you should still seek it out despite the buzz around the film's violence and its awe-inspiring performances.

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 

Adapted from J.C. Lee's play to the screen by director Julius Onah and J.C. Lee himself, "Luce" made its debut at this year's Sundance Film Festival where I had the pleasure of seeing it and being completely blown away by its tension, drama, themes and characters. I have seen it two more times since then and cannot wait to revisit what is surely one of the most riveting films of the year. Julius and J.C. were kind enough to chat with me about the film ahead of its release date on August 2nd.

*Apologies about the audio during this recording, as the conditions on my end were not the most ideal*

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 Michael Schwartz 

The 2019 Tony Awards are behind us, which means the Next Best Theatre team is back to reviewing individual shows for your enjoyment. This time, the focus is on the 2016 revival of "Falsettos" which was nominated for Best Revival of a Musical. The whole team is on board for this one including Nicole Ackman, Dan Bayer, Cody Dericks, Casey Lee Clark and myself.

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 Theatre 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 Will Mavity 

Every time a film about Hollywood or movies, in general, enters the Oscar race, Oscar pundits love to throw out the old “AMPAS can’t resist movies about itself” cliché. We’ve heard that line so much that at some point most viewers have accepted it as a scientific fact.

With Quentin Tarantino’s latest, “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” out, which is itself a love letter to Hollywood, pundits are once again saying “well obviously the Academy won’t be able to resist this.” The question is, how much does the Academy really love movies about movies? The answer is quite a bit, but not as much as you might think. We’ve had three Best Picture winners this century that revolve around the film industry, but before that, no “movie about movies” had ever won Best Picture. Also, there have been dozens of well-received ‘movies about movies’ like “Get Shorty” and “State and Main,” that presumably would have gotten some Oscar love if the Academy really couldn’t resist any opportunity to navel-gaze.  Instead, they were shut out entirely. Hell, even “Singin’ The Rain,” considered one of the best films ever made by many, only snagged two nominations. The truth is, fewer than 90 ‘movies about movies’ have been nominated in *any* category. And only 12 have been nominated for Best Picture. Admittedly, that averages out to almost one movie about movies nominated every year. But, given how entrenched the belief about Hollywood’s love for movies about itself is, one could be forgiven for expecting more.

So, will “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” be the 13th film to be nominated for Best Picture? Maybe. Who knows. Chances are, it won’t be entirely shut out at the very least.

By Matt Neglia 

For Episode 153, Michael Schwartz, Casey Lee Clark, Cody Dericks & myself discuss the Toronto International and Venice Film Festival lineups, the trailers for "A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood," "Harriet" & "Jojo Rabbit," the polls, answer your submitted 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, Dan Bayer, Kt Schaefer and myself travel back to Hollywood in 1969 for Quentin Tarantino's 9th feature film "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood" starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and a bunch of others. It's a Tarantino film so naturally, there is a lot to talk about. Good, bad, absurd, perplexing and filled with opinions that incite interesting discussions...What did we think? Find out in our review below.

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 Danilo Castro ​

​Quentin Tarantino has pioneered the notion of the director as DJ. He’s made a career of taking his favorite movies and sampling them, or remixing them, to suit his own storytelling needs. Like a Dr. Dre or J Dilla, however, Tarantino has the taste and artistry to take these samples and sculpt them into something altogether new. It’s this self-aware, postmodern approach that’s made him one of the most studied filmmakers of all time. 

Tarantino’s latest release, “Once Upon a Time In Hollywood,” proves that he is still king when it comes to capturing America’s insatiable love for violence and pop culture. With that in mind, we’ve decided to kick our feet up, order a Big Kahuna Burger, and rank Tarantino’s nine feature films from worst to best. 

By Bianca Garner ​

On the 8th of August 1969, the swinging sixties and all that was associated with this decade of free love and anti-establishment came to an abrupt end. On the instruction from their deranged cult leader (Charles Mason), Charles ‘Tex’ Watson along with Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Linda Kasabian broke into 10050 Cielo Drive and in a frenzied killing spree took the lives of five people: Sharon Tate, Wojciech Frykowski, Abigail Folger, Jay Sebring and Steven Parent. Upon arrival at the murder scene, police officer Bob Burbridge described it as ‘one of the most horrific things I have ever seen. Nothing compares to it.’

The family also took the lives of grocery store owner Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary the following night. The murders sent shock waves throughout the Los Angeles area. As novelist Joan Didion would go on to write, “Many people I know in Los Angeles believe that the Sixties ended abruptly on August 9, 1969. Ended at the exact moment when word of the murders on Cielo Drive traveled like brushfire through the community, and in a sense this is true.” Those who were responsible for the murders were all convicted and tried, but the wounds of what happened have never really healed.  

By Beatrice Loayza ​
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Ahead of the release of “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood,” we thought it timely to take a look back at Quentin Tarantino’s best female characters. Considering the post-Cannes discourse surrounding Tarantino’s portrayal of women, and the controversy surrounding Margot Robbie’s lack of dialogue, it's worth considering what his movies have offered actresses in the past. 

While Tarantino doesn’t always write women in a flattering light, they are shown in their vulnerability so much as their strength; often difficult, messy, and morally ambiguous. They are feminist not in the sense of being upright female role models, but they do feel raw and jagged and real, not just mere victims or things to be saved. Though Tarantino himself might not be a good example of a feminist ally, perhaps the question of if his films are feminist ones is still up for debate. Below we consider some of his greatest female roles.

By Dan Bayer ​

I have never attended a film festival before. I’ve always watched them from afar, interested in what is playing and what gets distribution afterward, fascinated by how the narrative about certain films shift between their festival premieres and when they are released to the public. This year, all that changes: I will be attending the Toronto International Film Festival for Next Best Picture. Naturally, I’ve been eagerly anticipating the festival lineup announcement, and on Tuesday, we got our first glance at what will be playing as TIFF announced this year’s Galas and Special Presentations. This is where you will generally find the most high-profile releases of the festival, the ones with glitzy red carpet premieres and the like. But even among this group, some titles fill me with excitement more than most. Now that I’ve finally calmed down and lived with these titles for a couple of days, here is a baker’s dozen of the ones I’m most looking forward to getting on my schedule.

By Matt Neglia 

For this year's Oscar off-season, we are taking a look back on the 2015 film year which was right before Next Best Picture launched. We asked the NBP Film Community to vote on 5 films nominated for Best Picture and 5 films nominated for Oscars other than Best Picture from that year to be reviewed on the podcast, exclusively for our Patreon subscribers. We already reviewed "Brooklyn," "Sicario," "Ex Machina," "Room," "Spotlight," "Inside Out," and now, we are reviewing the film which almost won Best Picture..."The Revenant."

A highly divisive film in every sense of the word, Alejandro G. Iñárritu's brutal yet beautiful story of survival amongst the chilliest and harshest of conditions finally won overdue actor Leonardo DiCaprio an Academy Award for Best Actor in 2015 along with a third win in a row for cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki and a back to back director win for Iñárritu. But how has the film held up? What does the NBP team think of it and its awards season run? Joining me for this 2015 retrospective review I have Josh Parham, Daniel Bayer, and Patreon contributors Josh Bluemankranz & Micah Simmonds. One of our most anticipated reviews of the season, click below to find out.
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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 Matt Neglia 

A few days after the Toronto International Film Festival announced their lineup for this year's festival, now we have received the same announcement from the Venice Film Festival. Both lineups mark the beginning of Phase 1 of the awards season, as we look ahead to the films which may or may not be in contention for the Oscars.

Click below to see the lineups for both festivals.

By Matt Neglia 

For this week's second podcast review, Beatrice Loayza, Celia Schlekewey, Tom O' Brien and myself discuss the A24 independent film from writer/director Lulu Wang, "The Farwell" starring Awkwafina. Premiering at this year's Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim and riding a wave of positive buzz to its record setting per theater average opening for 2019, this one has a lot of people talking. So what did we think when we came together to talk about Lulu Wang's second feature film? Tune in below to find out.

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 Josh Williams ​​

* WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS SPOILERS PERTAINING TO AVENGERS: ENDGAME*

​The end of Tony Stark, or rather, Robert Downey Jr. playing Tony Stark along with the end of Chris Evans playing Captain America, is quite the hallmark for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Killing off a beloved and major character and aging another so there is no chance of him taking up the shield again, is quite a big decision. With "Spider-Man: Far From Home" guiding us into a post "Avengers: Endgame" world, countless possibilities are now open for the MCU. Thanos and the Infinity Stones were a great storyline to thread all of the previous films together, culminating in one colossal climax. But with the Tony Stark and Steve Rogers we once knew now gone along with Marvel's established big baddie, where do they go now?

By Matt Neglia 

Last time we were here, we reviewed Episodes 1-4 from HBO's second season of "Big Little Lies." Now, Michael Schwartz, DeAnn Knighton, Ryan C. Showers & myself are back this time to talk about the final three episodes, the explosive finale and possibly the very end of "Big Little Lies."

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 DeAnn Knighton 

​It is the time of year when the conversation for the upcoming Oscar season begins. Best Adapted Screenplay is a nuanced category with much to consider as it relates to the source material: Who is doing the adapting and what is the film’s overall performance in the race? We focused this evaluation on the film years of 2010-2018 resulting in a data set of 45 films that will help create an understanding of recent precedent and trends in this important category and, most importantly, what it means for the 92nd Academy Awards.

By Matt Neglia 

For Episode 152, Michael Schwartz, Nicole Ackman, Casey Lee Clark, Josh Parham, Lauren LaMagna, Tom O'Brien & myself discuss Quentin Tarantino in anticipation for his latest film "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood." he is also the subject of this week's poll. We also have a lot to talk about in regards to San Diego Comic-Con, trailers for "Top Gun: Maverick" and Tom Hooper's adaptation of "Cats." We also answer your submitted 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, Cody Dericks and myself discuss the latest Disney live-action remake. This one is probably their most beloved animated film, "The Lion King." Directed by Jon Favreau ("The Jungle Book"), and starring an all-star cast of voice talent including Daniel Glover, Beyonce, John Oliver, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Billy Eichner, Seth Rogen and a returning James Earl Jones, how does this "photo-relaistic" animated film stack up to the original? Find out our spoiler filled thoughts below.

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 Ryan C. Showers ​​

In an age where superhero movies drive the film industry, where a new Marvel or D.C. Comics movie ambushes the box office of any given weekend, it’s hard to believe so much time has passed since Christopher Nolan changed the landscape of cinema with his Batman franchise. The majority of critics and fans consider “The Dark Knight” to be his masterpiece, a movie for the ages that was equally brilliant in its technical construction and narrative heft. The movie had so much of an impact that it made the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences change the way they do business, shifting from five Best Picture nominees to ten, after “The Dark Knight” was infamously snubbed in the category. Back in the day, many of us thought the concluding chapter of Nolan’s Batman trilogy would make the inroads at the Academy Awards that “The Dark Knight” could not because of the way dynamics shifted.

By Daniel Howat 

Disney’s 1994 smash hit “The Lion King” remains one of the most beloved films in their expansive canon, and one of the most acclaimed animated films of all time. Naturally, it was time to remake it. Jon Favreau’s 2019 remake of “The Lion King” takes the appearance of a live-action film, though it’s of course completely animated. Reviews have been less-than-stellar. While there’s unanimous praise for the incredible visuals, most critics feel the film pales in comparison to the original. Still, it’s worth asking the question: how would an animated film that appears live-action qualify for Oscars?

By Edward Douglas 

When it comes to independent filmmaking, Lynn Shelton has been at the forefront of a wave of filmmakers that has helped keep it going over the last decade, first getting attention at Sunday for her 2009 film “Humpday,” followed by “You Sister’s Sister” a year later. In recent years, Shelton’s film output has dwindled slightly as she focused on directing television shows like Netflix’s “GLOW,” ABC’s “Fresh Off the Boat” and most recently, adapting Celeste Ng’s 2017 novel “Little Fires Everywhere” for streaming service Hulu.

Shelton’s new movie “Sword of Trust” is a lot more comedic than some of her other movies, starring Marc Maron from “GLOW” as Mel, owner of a pawn shop in Birmingham, Alabama who is constantly dealing with the area’s oddball irregulars as well as his aggravatingly-naive assistant Nathaniel (Jon Bass). One day, two women, Mary, and Cynthia (Michaela Watkins, Jillian Bell), come into his shop with a Civil War sword that may offer new answers to the way that war ended. Being in the South, they have a lot of potential buyers, mostly white supremacists with some being scarier than others. But yes, it is very much a very timely comedy.

By Lauren LaMagna 
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Disney’s live-action remakes have caused massive debates, especially when a ‘new’ film gets released (See our latest podcast episode where we talked about this topic at great length). On one side, audience members are excited to see a live version of their favorite Disney films that might add to the original material, while others believe there is no point to remake untouchable films, except for a few hundred million dollars at the box office. Through this new age, there have been shot by shot remakes that just transition the film from 2-D animation to live-action, as well as updated films that could be enjoyed in a modern era. One of the pioneers of this new wave of storytelling is Jon Favreau who directed 2016’s live-action “The Jungle Book,” which went on to make $364 million at the US box office. The success of his completely animated jungle resulted in him landing the job to recreate Africa’s savannah in "The Lion King." But has Disney and Favreau’s technology become too advanced for the medium?

By Celia Schelekewey 

​I am quite literally showing my age here, but I saw “(500) Days of Summer” when I was 13 years old. I was not a scholar; I was not a cinephile; I'm sure I was still watching Disney Channel Original Movies at least once a week and denying it if anyone asked. So I did not know the names of the tropes this film had set its sights on, but I did understand its essence. Children absorb our pop culture landscape just like adults do, except instead of analyzing, they take it as truth. This was the headspace I had when I walked into the theater that day, and I walked out loving it.

By Matt Neglia 

For this week's second podcast review, Josh Parham and myself review the Sam Raimi produced giant alligator horror film "Crawl" starring Kaya Scodelario and Barry Pepper. Every now and then, we need a film like this: a no-nonsense b-level genre thrills movie but does this one deliver? Find out in our short but sweet review below.

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 Ryan C. Showers ​​​

The 71st Primetime Emmy Award nominations were announced today. It was HBO’s day in the spotlight, leading any other network or platform with 137 nominations overall. Netflix accrued the second most nominations with 117. A week ago, Next Best Picture recorded a podcast with our predictions which you can listen to here.

Here are the big highlights to take away from today’s Emmy nominations...