By Matt Neglia 

For Episode 305, I am joined by Josh Parham & ​Tom O'Brien. What a week! We're discussing the official lineup for the 79th annual Venice International Film Festival, plus the Gala and Special Presentations lineup for the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). We also go over other various film festival and movie news within the industry, give our reactions to the trailers for "TÁR," "Till," "Pinocchio," and "Pearl," go over the polls, and answer your fan-submitted questions. But that's not all! We also reveal the 2012 NBP Film Community Nominations as a part of our retrospective. There's a lot of ground to cover, and we hope you enjoy it. Please take a listen or subscribe to us on your favorite podcast app using the links below. Thank you!

Thank you so much for listening. The Next Best Picture Podcast is proud to be a part of the Evergreen Podcasts Network. You can subscribe to us on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, GooglePlay, Tunein, Player FM, 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, you enjoy what you hear and want to hear more, please help 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, I am joined by Josh Parham & Dan Bayer. Together, we're reviewing the latest film from director Ron Howard, "Thirteen Lives," starring Viggo Mortensen, Colin Farrell, and Joel Edgerton. A narrative feature re-telling of the miraculous 2018 Tham Luang cave rescue, the film is being released by Amazon (it will be streaming Prime Video next week) a year after the release of the well-received documentary "The Rescue." How do the two films compare? What did we think of the performances, writing, and crafts? We discuss all of these points and more in our review, which you can listen to down below. Thank you, and enjoy!
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Thank you so much for listening. The Next Best Picture Podcast is proud to be a part of the Evergreen Podcasts Network. You can subscribe to us on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, GooglePlay, Tunein, Player FM, 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, you enjoy what you hear and want to hear more, please help support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month and you'll receive some exclusive podcast content.

By Ron Meyer

​Calls for "Marcel The Shell With Shoes On" to be campaigned for Best Animated Feature at this year's Oscars has created a taxonomic quagmire: "What does it mean for something to be 'animated,' anyway?" Oscar pundits are asking themselves. Stirring a small but passionate discourse online, the conversation echoes the one we had in 2019 about Jon Favreau's remake of "The Lion King." Some of the film's fans argue that its life-affirming themes (as well as the shell's affability) ought to wrangle A24 an awards campaign for Best Animated Feature. Still, that line of reasoning doesn't address the broader question at hand and implies the category's purpose is to evaluate an animated project's friendliness rather than how successfully it uses the medium. Worse, it suggests that a good animated film is intrinsically family oriented. Disney and Dreamworks will always have the edge over innovative, genre-bending alternatives like "Anomalisa," "Waltz With Bashir," "Flee," and "Persepolis" if such a standard is embraced.

By Dan Bayer 

"A Love Song" premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival and played again at the Berlin and Tribeca Film Festivals. It received near-universal praise for its subdued but beautiful direction, writing, and performances from Dale Dickey and Wes Studi. Director and writer Max Walker-Silverman was kind enough to discuss his feature directorial debut with us, where he went into detail on the challenges of making his first film, working with two screen-acting experts, how the Colorado Mountains setting played an essential role in the story and more. Please take a few minutes to listen to the conversation below and be sure to check out the film now playing in limited release from Bleecker Street. Thank you, and enjoy!

Thank you so much for listening. The Next Best Picture Podcast is proud to be a part of the Evergreen Podcasts Network. You can subscribe to us on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, GooglePlay, Tunein, Player FM, 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, you enjoy what you hear and want to hear more, please help support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month and you'll receive some exclusive podcast content.

By Matt Neglia

​While we await the full official lineup for the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival (supposedly dropping next week), the festival announced a massive dump of films earlier this morning for their Gala and Special Presentations.

Click below to see which films will be a part of this year's festival.

By Matt Neglia 

Our 2012 retrospective continues with And Lee's "Life Of Pi," starring Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Rafe Spall & Adil Hussain. The film premiered at the 2012 New York Film Festival and was seen as a breakthrough in 3D and visual effects filmmaking, garnering 11 Oscar nominations and winning 4, including a second win for And Lee in Best Director. How do we feel about the film's visual effects, story, and themes a decade later? Tune in below as we discuss these points and more in our review. Joining me for this review I have Josh Parham & Dan Bayer. You can also check out all of our previous 2012 retrospective reviews for "Zero Dark Thirty," "Skyfall," "Amour," "Beasts Of The Southern Wild," "Django Unchained" & "Silver Linings Playbook" if you have not done so already. Also, voting for the 2012 NBP Film Community Nominations is underway until July 29th. Thank you. We hope you enjoy it!
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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. The Next Best Picture Podcast is proud to be a part of the Evergreen Podcasts Network. You can subscribe to us on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, GooglePlay, Tunein, Player FM, Acast & Castbox or you can listen down below. Please take a moment to review us on Apple Podcasts here.

By Eve O'Dea ​

​The Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, or Venice Film Festival, if you prefer, is the world’s oldest film festival. Founded in the summer of 1932 by Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party (yes, that Mussolini), the festival is a part of the Venice Biennale, an international exhibition of various forms of fine and performing arts that itself has existed since 1893. In the 1930s, more of the Italian populace's money went towards filmgoing than any other cultural or sporting event. As most of the films screened in Italy were American, the Nationalist government sought an outlet to promote Italian culture and its fascist ideology in the widely attended cinemas. One of the festival's founders, Giuseppe Volpi, who also served as the festival's first president, was an ardent fascist and Mussolini's minister of finance. His name is still used as the title of the festival's best actor and actress awards, the Volpi Cup. Mussolini's name was saved for the two (now retired) Mussolini Cups, the festival's awards for best Italian film and best foreign film. That's how it all started, but what does the world-renowned festival mean today, specifically when it comes to awards season?

By Matt Neglia 

"Vengeance" marks the feature directorial debut of television's "The Office" star, writer, and director B.J. Novak. The film premiered earlier this year at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City and is being released this weekend by Focus Features. Novak was kind enough to spend a few minutes talking with me about making the transition from directing on television to film, his thoughts on Whataburger compared to other fast food burger restaurants, the themes of his screenplay, and more. Please take a listen down below, enjoy and be sure to check out the film! Thank you.

Thank you so much for listening. The Next Best Picture Podcast is proud to be a part of the Evergreen Podcasts Network. You can subscribe to us on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, GooglePlay, Tunein, Player FM, 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, you enjoy what you hear and want to hear more, please help support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month and you'll receive some exclusive podcast content.

By Matt Neglia 

​TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey announced today that the World Premiere of "The Swimmers" will be the Opening Night Gala Presentation for the 47th Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday, September 8th, at Roy Thomson Hall. From Working Title and Netflix, the film is directed and written by Sally El Hosaini and co-written by multi-award-winner Jack Thorne.
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​Click below to read more.

By Matt Neglia 
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Netflix has released the trailer for Guillermo del Toro & Mark Gustafson's "Pinocchio" starring the voice talents of Gregory Mann, Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Tim Blake Nelson, Burn Gorman, Christoph Waltz & Tilda Swinton. The film will will be released in theaters in December, 2022.
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​Click below to see the trailer.

By Matt Neglia 
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NEON has released the trailer for the David Bowie documentary "Moonage Daydream," directed by Brett Morgen. The film had its world premiere earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival and will be opening in theaters exclusively in IMAX on September 16th, 2022.
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​Click below to see the trailer.

By Tom O'Brien ​

​This morning's announcement of the lineup for the 79th annual Venice International Film Festival surely brought excited smiles to the faces of movie lovers around the world with its collection of so many of the year's most anticipated titles in one place. Indeed, the number of world-class filmmakers bringing their latest work to the Biennale this year is arguably as concentrated as in any festival lineup in recent memory. If there is one striking similarity that a number of these directors have in common is that so many have been away from cinema for far too long. For Darren Aronofsky ("The Whale") and Martin McDonagh ("The Banshees of Inisherin"), for example, it's been five years since they last made a feature film. For Alejandro González Iñárritu ("Bando"), it's been seven, and for Todd Field ("TÁR"), it's been a long 16 years since his last feature film. But they'll all be here in Venice.

By Lauren LaMagna 

​The San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) has become the juggernaut for all things genre. It is a place where artists and fans can congregate together and celebrate all vacuums of science-fiction, fantasy, action-adventure, superheroes, and more. It is also the location where several studios provide updates on their future installments. From Amazon to Marvel Studios, this year's SDCC was eventful in more ways than one, as it offered an insight into the future of genre-related content.

​Let's break down the most eventful news. ​

By Matt Neglia

Earlier this morning, artistic director of the Venice Film Festival Alberto Barbera announced the official lineup for the festival's 79th edition. Our very own Tom O'Brien will be attending this year on behalf of Next Best Picture. The festival runs from August 31st - September 10th, 2022.

​Click below to see the official lineup.

By Matt Neglia

After its trailer was released earlier today on the late Emmett Till's 81st birthday, it's now been announced that director Chinonye Chukwu's feature film "Till" will make its world premiere at the 60th New York Film Festival on opening weekend. The 60th New York Film Festival, presented by Film at Lincoln Center, will take place from September 30th to October 16th

By Matt Neglia 
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United Artists Releasing and Orion Pictures have released the trailer for Chinonye Chukwu's "Till" starring Danielle Deadwyler, Jalyn Hall, Frankie Faison, Haley Bennett & Whoopi Goldberg. The film will open in limited release on October 14th, before expanding on October 28th, 2022.
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​Click below to see the trailer.

By Matt Neglia 

Composer Michael Abels has had a fruitful collaboration with Academy Award-winner Jordan Peele, having created the scores for all three of his films, "Get Out," "Us," and now, "Nope." Each has been released to critical acclaim, but "Nope" may be the composer's most ambitious work yet, combining elements from the horror, sci-fi, and western genres to create a soundscape that is unshakable as it leaves a lasting impact on you as you walk out of the theater. Michael was kind enough to return to the podcast (we previously interviewed him for "Us") to talk about his work on the film, working with Peele, what he has coming up next (an opera!?), and more! Please take a listen down below and enjoy! Thank you.

Thank you so much for listening. The Next Best Picture Podcast is proud to be a part of the Evergreen Podcasts Network. You can subscribe to us on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, GooglePlay, Tunein, Player FM, 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, you enjoy what you hear and want to hear more, please help support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month and you'll receive some exclusive podcast content.

By Matt Neglia 
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Focus Features has released the trailer for Todd Field's "TÁR" starring Cate Blanchett, Nina Hoss, Noémie Merlant, Mark Strong, Sophie Kauer & Julian Glover. The film will will be released in theaters on October 7th, 2022.
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​Click below to see the trailer.

By Matt Neglia 

After being told it wouldn't be ready in time for the fall film festivals, Noah Baumbach's upcoming "White Noise" will indeed be the first fall film festival movie screened, as it was announced earlier this morning that it would open the 79th annual Venice International Film Festival in competition. The film stars Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, Don Cheadle, Raffey Cassidy, Sam Nivola, May Nivola, Jodie Turner-Smith, André L. Benjamin & Lars Edinger. This marks Baumbach's return to the festival following the successful premiere of his Oscar-winning film "Marriage Story" (also a Netflix film) in 2019.

By Matt Neglia 

For Episode 304, I am joined by Josh Parham. Last week we did a deep-dive preview into what we thought would be announced for TIFF this week, but that announcement was moved to early August (except for one shockingly big addition to the lineup this week). So, today, we're doing one final preview for Venezia 79, discussing what went down at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC), including a ton of trailers shown at the event. Those trailer reactions include "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," "Halloween Ends," "Shazam! Fury Of The Gods," "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves," "John Wick: Chapter 4" & "Breaking." We also go over the polls, answer your fan-submitted questions, and more! We hope you enjoy this week's show. Please take a listen or subscribe to us on your favorite podcast app using the links below. Thank you!

Thank you so much for listening. The Next Best Picture Podcast is proud to be a part of the Evergreen Podcasts Network. You can subscribe to us on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, GooglePlay, Tunein, Player FM, 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, you enjoy what you hear and want to hear more, please help support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month and you'll receive some exclusive podcast content.

By Matt Neglia 
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Marvel Studios has released the trailer for Ryan Coogler's "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" starring Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Dominique Thorne & Michaela Coel. The film is set to open in theaters on November 11th, 2022.
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​Click below to see the trailer

By Matt Neglia 

For this week's main podcast review, I am joined by Josh Parham, Eve O'Dea, Daniel Howat & guest Destiny Jackson. Together, we're reviewing the latest film from Jordan Peele, "Nope," starring Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun, Brandon Perea & Michael Wincott. Following the success of his last two films, "Get Out" and "Us," Academy Award-winner Jordan Peele is now setting his sight towards the sky for a big-screen spectacle you have to experience with the largest screen and most immersive sound you can find. While Peele's ability to tell original stories in the horror genre on this kind of scale is welcome, what did we think of the characters and story? Tune in below as we discuss the humor, scares, and thrills of his latest in our SPOILER-FILLED review. Thank you. Enjoy!
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Thank you so much for listening. The Next Best Picture Podcast is proud to be a part of the Evergreen Podcasts Network. You can subscribe to us on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, GooglePlay, Tunein, Player FM, 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, you enjoy what you hear and want to hear more, please help support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month and you'll receive some exclusive podcast content.

By Danilo Castro ​

Hollywood has always loved high-concept films, and few concepts are higher (metaphorically and literally) than aliens. It brings with it the fear of annihilation, the excitement of discovery, and the faith that we as a species can unite with (or against) our extraterrestrial visitors. How's that for drama?

Jordan Peele's "Nope" is now in theaters, and it's the latest release to mine these topics for mind-bending entertainment. The director has been transparent about his influences and desire to pay homage to the science fiction of the past, so we felt it only proper to apply our tinfoil hats and revisit the best alien invasion films of all time.

By Eve O'Dea ​

​Back in the old days, that is, in the earliest decades of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, one could predict the winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture by simply taking into account the top 10 highest-grossing films of a respective year. For much of the Academy's history, there was an almost guaranteed correlation between the year's Best Picture winner and its financial success at the box office, indicating a more significant overlap in the attitudes of audiences and Academy members than today. Granted, times have changed. There are more movies for people to see today, with a broader range of genres and more access to see them than ever before. However, the change is still worth considering as we continue asking the question every year if box office matters to the Best Picture Oscar race anymore.​

By Cody Dericks ​

​Occasionally, film directors who work in horror stay firmly planted in the genre for their entire careers. Legends like John Carpenter, Wes Craven, and James Wan have crafted some of the greatest scary movies of all time. And with only occasional deviations, most of their artistic output is intended to frighten audiences. On the flip side, horror films can occasionally come from the most unexpected of creative sources. Notably, Jordan Peele went from being renowned as one of the most entertaining comedy voices on television in the sketch show "Key and Peele" to a reliable and consistent horror director. From his Academy Award-winning "Get Out" to the iconic "Us," few names excite audiences for original horror stories like Jordan Peele. But he is not the first director to pivot from an unexpected background to the realm of scary movies. With the release of "Nope," the latest film in Peele's already-legendary thriller canon, let's look at some other horror films from directors who made a surprising shift into the genre.