By Matt Neglia

As 2018 comes to an end, it has given me a chance to reflect back on the 149 films I saw this year and think about the themes of the year, from Netflix's continuous rise through the industry, to what exactly is a "popular film" and why do some bold and daring stories told by filmmakers with vision and care get disregarded by mainstream audiences still? All that's left now are the films which I found were the most impactful to me, that resonated with my on a deeper level, that horrified me, that made me laugh, made me cry. For my final post of the year, these are my Top 10 films of 2018.

Some honorable mentions that just missed the list include "Assassination Nation," "Can You Ever Forgive Me?," "First Reformed," "Three Identical Strangers" & "Vice" (Yup...I'm not sorry).

By Nicole Ackman ​​

This year was a great one for period pieces with everything from medieval historical epics to indie biopics. There was the stunning foreign film “Cold War,” the movie musical with glorious 1970s flashbacks “Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again,” and horror movies like “Lizzie” and “Suspiria.”

In addition to the more typical period films, this year featured many women’s and LGBT+ stories. Often forgotten parts of history were brought to the screen. These are my picks for the best period pieces of 2018. This list focuses on design and storytelling, attempting to pick the best period pieces, rather than simply the best films that happen to be historically-based.

So with that said, here are my personal picks for the 10 best period pieces of 2018.

By Josh Williams ​

It's obvious that superhero films dominated a good portion of 2018. However, this year felt much different than the past several. Marvel has been dominating the circuit with DC quietly looming in the background. Whether it be live-action or animated, superhero films have been at their peak for the past decade. But it all seemed to culminate in 2018 with not only the box office smash hit but critical and award darling, "Black Panther," to the climax of everything Marvel has been working towards the past ten years with "Avengers: Infinity War," to the groundbreaking "Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse," there has been a little bit for everyone this year when it came to superhero films. So we here at Next Best Picture decided to narrow down an expansive list of greatness to the ten boldest, baddest, strongest and most powerful superhero films of the year.

So without further ado, here are the ten best superhero films of 2018!

By Matt Neglia 

For Episode 123, Michael Schwartz, Josh Parham, guest Valerie Complex and myself bring you our 2018 recap episode where we go through different aspects of the year ranging from general themes, best trailers, posters, scenes and more! We also go over the polls and discuss the trailer for Jordan Peele's upcoming horror film "Us."

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 

The Columbus Film Critics Association (COFCA) have announced their nominees representing the best in film for 2018. The winners will be announced January 3rd 2019.

​Click below to see the nominees.

By Matt Neglia 

For this week's review on the Next Best Picture Podcast, I am joined by Celia Schlekewey, Danilo Castro​, Josh Williams, Tom O'Brien & our guest from InSession Film, JD Duran. The movie is Adam McKay's follow up to "The Big Short" called "Vice" and it stars Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell & Sam Rockwell. It's proving to be one of the most divisive films of 2018 and we still don't know how it will perform on Oscar night. Tune in to hear our wide ranging thoughts on one of the last films of 2018.

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 Cody Dericks 

​Every year, I hear the same refrain from both well-established critics and #FilmTwitter contributors alike: Was this a good year for horror films? I consider myself a bit of an expert in the genre (I have a weekly horror movie podcast which you can check out here), and having seen all of the major horror releases of the year, I feel I can definitively say that yes, 2018 was a good year for horror films, both in terms of quality and variety.

​Follow along with me as I go through what I believe to be the 5 most important horror movies of the year!

By Matt Neglia 

The Oklahoma Film Critics Circle (OFCC) have announced their winners representing the best in film for 2018.

​Click below to see the winners.

By Nicole Ackman ​

For weeks there has been a debate over how much of "The Favourite's" much awarded (and Oscar hopeful) production design was actual production design and how much of it was simply very good location scouting. Here to put the debate to rest is production designer Fiona Crombie who's previous credits include 2016's "Macbeth" and the hit show "Top Of The Lake." Fiona was kind enough to give us a few minutes of her time to talk about the lush, detailed and vast work on Yorgos Lanthimos' new film.

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 

The Greater Western New York Film Critics Association (GWNYFCA) have announced their winners for the best in film for 2018.
​
Click below to see the winners.

By Matt Neglia 

The Austin Film Critics Association (AFCA) have announced their nominees representing the best in film for 2018. The winners will be announced January 7th 2019.

​Click below to see the nominees.

By Danilo Castro 

2018 has been a watershed year for Netflix when it comes to original content. What was once considered a hub for pre-existing films and TV has become one of the most exciting distributors in the medium, whether it be through cutting documentaries or delightful romantic comedies. 

Given the quality and range of entertainment that Netflix released this year in what is sure to go down as a banner year for them, we’ve decided to put together a list of the best feature-length films that you can currently check out from the comfort of your living room. 

Here are the ten best Netflix original films of 2018.

By Matt Neglia 

The Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) have announced their nominations representing the best in film for 2018. The winners will be announced January 2nd 2019.

​Click below to see the nominations.

By Matt Neglia 

For this week's second podcast film review, myself, Jacey Aldredge & Danilo Castro review another entry in the DC Extended Universe. After being introduced in the critically and financially disappointing "Justice League," director James Wan now takes the mantle and directs Jason Momoa in "Aquaman." How does this standalone film compare to "Wonder Woman?" How are the visual effects? Is the DCEU back on track with this latest outing? We explore all of this and more in our review!

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 

The North Carolina Film Critics Association (NCFCA) have announced their nominations representing the best in film for 2018. The winners will be announced January 2nd 2019.

​Click below to see the nominations.

By Nicole Ackman 

Earlier this year, Josh Williams brought you the Next Best Picture team’s top 15 favorite horror movies of all time for Halloween and Cody Dericks put together a list of the best movies to watch on Thanksgiving. So of course, we had to put together our top Christmas films to share with you as well. We asked each member of Next Best Picture to rank their favorite Christmas movies of all time. We took everyone's list to bring you a definitive Top 15. We have a wide variety of favorites and some runner ups included classic Christmas movies like "The Santa Clause" and "The Polar Express" to less traditional ones such as "Meet Me in St. Louis" and "The Lion In Winter."

However, as great as those films are, we could only share 15 movies so here are the Next Best Picture team’s Top 15 Christmas movies of all time!

By Matt Neglia 

For Episode 122, myself, Will Mavity, Michael Schwartz, Ryan C. Showers, DeAnn Knighton & Jacey Aldredge bring you our 2018 Holiday episode where we discuss the Academy's shortlists, the trailers for "Greta" and "Where'd You Go, Bernadette," the polls, answer your 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 podcast film review, myself,  Michael Schwartz, Ryan C. Showers & Josh Parham review the much anticipated sequel to the beloved 1964 film "Mary Poppins," directed by Rob Marshall and starring Emily Blunt in the title role, this is "Mary Poppins Returns." How does it compare to the original? Is it for children or for adults? How will it perform at the Oscars? We explore all of this and more in our review!

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

The Music City Film Critics Association (MCFCA) - based in Nashville - have announced their nominees representing the best in film for 2018. The winners will be announced on January 10th 2019.

​Click below to see the nominations.

​By Ryan C. Showers ​

​Last week, the Screen Actors Guild announced their nominations for the 2018-19 film awards season. The fundamental fact about predicting the acting winners at the Oscars is understanding the weight of SAG. If an actor misses a SAG nomination, it’s unlikely they will win the Oscar. Period, end of story. There have been only two instances in Academy/SAG history where an actor has won the Oscar without a SAG nomination: Marcia Gay Harden for "Pollock" (2000) and Christoph Waltz for "Django Unchained" (2012). If they win SAG, their chances of winning the Oscar increase but are not written in stone. But if they lose SAG, it’s not a complete death nail in terms of winning, as long as they are included in the lineup and are on the radar of the acting branch.