By Celia Schelekewey 

​Full transparency, I did not watch “Superbad” until last year. There was something inherently off-putting to me about it, something about the types of men and boys around me who loved it a little bit too much and for the wrong reasons. When I finally did get around to watching it, I was pleasantly surprised by its perspective on masculinity and male friendships. Since then, I have been more and more often caught saying “it’s like ‘Superbad’ for women!” anytime I run into a young female-led comedy, which has become more plentiful in recent years. Finally, I thought, there are comedies out there that make girls feel like people and not just love interests.

By DeAnn Knighton 

With the upcoming theatrical release of the 2019 version of Disney's "Aladdin" and the recent trailer reveal for "Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil," I thought now would be a good time to revisit a film which has divided people since its release in 2014. Like many girls of the eighties and beyond, I learned quickly to aspire to Disney princess status. These animated characters were an early stage setter for my view of the world and a large part of my initial grasp on good and evil.  At the time I did not realize how much the themes were telling me about my own womanhood, but nevertheless, as I aged I quickly came to terms with the pitfalls of holding out for the "happy ending” as a solution for all.  However, there is a lesson I learned much later, specifically as I was in the theater viewing 2014 live-action story of “Maleficent”, that hit me by surprise and led to my adoration of this film. ​

By Matt Neglia 

Tomorrow, the biggest television show of our lives will come to an end. The untitled series finale of HBO's cultural phenomenon "Game Of Thrones" will bring about the close of 73 episodes of epic storytelling (sometimes great, sometimes good and sometimes not so good...but we don't like to dwell on that) and also the end of an era for the communal viewing experience for some. At least, for me, it will be the end. I'm sure there will be other television shows in the future which will unite us around our HD television screens in large numbers with eager anticipation, waiting to see what happens on the latest episode. But for now, this is it for me. I don't normally tell personal stories here but this was one I felt I needed to get off my chest. In order to come to grips with the end of "Game Of Thrones" (I still haven't fully processed that this is the end), I thought it would be best to tell my story with the show, the book series and what it has all meant to me over the last near decade.

By Dan Bayer 

On Monday, September 13, the world lost one of the last remaining legends of Hollywood’s Golden Age: Doris Day. The former Doris Mary Kappelhoff was America’s reigning sweetheart throughout the twenty years she spent in the movies, her apple-cheeked beauty and appealing screen presence making her one of the top box office earners of all time. She was a multiple Golden Globe nominee and was honored by the HFPA with the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1989, but received only one Oscar nomination, for 1959’s romantic comedy “Pillow Talk”.

By Danilo Castro 

Keanu Reeves is a Hollywood anomaly. He doesn’t have much range as an actor. He never really transforms to play a character, and as anyone who’s seen “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” can tell you, he’s not exactly a pro when it comes to accents. He has cons that would derail most of his peers, and yet, they only serve to strengthen his universal appeal. That’s because Reeves is one of the cinema’s true underdogs. Over the course of his career, few actors have proven more adept at playing ordinary men who rise to face extraordinary circumstances.

By Jacey Aldredge ​​

​***WARNING***

The following contains spoilers about "Game of Thrones" Season 8 Episode 3.

​​It’s done. Whatever predictions fans may have had for the Battle at Winterfell have come and gone, and for many of us, the 82-minute battle left us shell-shocked, out of breath, and reeling in our seats (or jumping out of them). For better or worse, the Night King is dealt with, and by Maisie Williams’ character Arya no less. Now that we’re halfway through with the final season of “Game of Thrones,” this third episode begs the question: did “Game of Thrones” just secure a Supporting Actress win for the September 22nd Emmys? And, more specifically, did Maisie Williams secure that win? ​

By Nicole Ackman ​​​

​The big day is here: we finally know who and what will be competing for the 2019 Tony Awards. This morning, Brandon Victor Dixon and Bebe Neuwirth revealed this year’s nomination on a live Facebook stream. The Tonys themselves will be hosted by James Corden on Sunday, June 9th. 

The other day, the Next Best Theatre team made their nominations predictions and while we did fairly well, there were definitely some snubs and some exciting recognition that we didn’t see coming. But we’re surely not the only ones who couldn’t have predicted that Glenda Jackson wouldn’t get a nomination for playing the titular role in "King Lear" and it’s unclear whether anyone guessed the entire Featured Actor in a Musical correctly.

By Michael Schwartz 

The other day, we took a look at comedy series that are in contention for Emmy success. While many of those titles are returning champions, the limited series race brings in a fresh crop. With The Twilight Zone and American Horror Story competing as drama series, the limited series race seems to be as open as ever.

Let’s break down the top contenders.

By Michael Schwartz 

With the 71st Emmy Awards just around the corner, now seems as good a time as ever to take a deep dive into the current crop of contenders. Over the next couple of months, Next Best Picture will break down top contenders across the comedy, drama, and movie/limited series races. Today we will begin with comedy series contenders. Many of these shows are returning entries, while a few new additions will be competing for first-time Emmy favor.

​Let’s take a look at my predicted seven nominees.

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 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 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 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.