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...

By Matt Neglia 

​The nominations for the 71st Emmy Awards have been announced and in its final season "Game Of Thrones" leads the way with a record breaking 32 nominations for a single season.

Click below to see the nominations and be on the lookout for our podcast discussing the nominations and predicting the winners.

By Matt Neglia 

"Stranger Things" is one of the most popular shows in the world. In its third year on Netflix, we are finally taking some time to talk about the series as a part of our Next Best Series Podcast. What did we think of Season 3? How does it compare to the first two seasons? Where does the show go from here? Join Josh Parham, Lauren LaMagna and myself as we give our spoiler filled thoughts down below.

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 Michael Schwartz 

After diving into predictions for Comedy, Drama, and Limited Series races (and giving our final predictions for tomorrow's nominations on the podcast), Next Best Picture breaks down Emmy contenders for the Variety Talk Series category. The category was born when the former Variety Series category split to allow more space for talk series and sketch series to thrive in their own corners. When The Daily Show with Jon Stewart won for ten consecutive years in a row, it made sense to provide breathing room. Since then, we’ve seen repeat showings from one series. But this upcoming Emmy cycle may just be the one to break the chain. Let’s dive in.

By Matt Neglia 

For Episode 151, Will Mavity, Michael Schwartz, Casey Lee Clark, Dan Bayer, Bianca Garner & myself discuss the reaction to the latest Disney live-action remake "The Lion King," the company's plans for the future, which live-action remakes we would like to see from them (if we have to). We also go over the polls and discuss the trailer for Disney's newest live-action remake "Mulan," 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, Kt Schaefer, Dan Bayer and myself discuss the action-comedy film "Stuber" starring Kumail Nanjiani and Dave Bautista. What did we think of the pairing of these two stars? The film's action? Its comedy, tone and commentary on toxic masculinity? Find out 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 Nicole Ackman ​​

​It’s easy to see why people of all ages are drawn to the latest Spider-Man actor, Tom Holland. The 23-year-old British actor is refreshingly humble, close with his family, and has dance skills that shock many. His sweet relationships with his older costars like Robert Downey Jr. and Jake Gyllenhaal make for amusing interviews on press tours and red carpets. He’s famous for accidentally spoiling the movies he’s in – to the point that he is now always accompanied by another actor for his interviews.

Yet, Holland’s casting as Spider-Man seemingly came out of nowhere. Unlike previous Spider-Man actors and other Marvel leads, he only had a handful of credits to his name when he was chosen to play the iconic role. He is also significantly younger than most superhero leads and a large part of his background lies in theatre and dance, rather than film. Despite this, his talent and charisma have earned him copious amounts of praise for his performances as Peter Parker and some even consider him to be the best iteration of the character.

By Matt Neglia 
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Emmy Nominations are only a few days away (July 16th to be exact) so Michael Schwartz, Ryan C. Showers, Tom O'Brien and myself naturally have thoughts on what we feel will be nominated and why. Be sure to check out our predictions on the podcast below and be on the lookout for our next episode where we will be discussing the nominations and give our predictions for the winners.

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 David Opie 

In recent years, directors like Kim Jee-woon and Park Chan-wook have raised the profile of South Korean cinema to unprecedented heights, winning countless awards and international acclaim from all quarters. Well, almost all quarters. 

Since 1962, South Korea has submitted thirty films for consideration at the Oscars, but so far, only one has made the final shortlist, and that was last year’s “Burning.” Unfortunately, Lee Chang-dong’s masterpiece still failed to secure a nomination even then. 

Don’t count South Korea out just yet though. Following Cannes, there’s already a lot of buzz surrounding “Parasite,” the latest film by Bong Joon-ho, and that’s not the only Korean film you should keep an eye out for in 2019. 

This year marks the 23rd edition of The Fantasia International Film Festival and once again, Korean cinema has a typically strong presence in the lineup. From queer indies and offbeat zombie flicks to gangster murder mysteries, join us as we hone in on some of the best picks from South Korea that will soon hit Fantasia 2019 and maybe a cinema near you.