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 Lauren LaMagna 
​
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 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 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 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.

By Bianca Garner 

1999 saw the release of numerous classic films which initially flopped, films like “Fight Club”, “Bringing Out The Dead” and “The Iron Giant.” Twenty years have passed, and now these films have finally received the attention that they so rightly deserved upon their release. However, there is one flop that still manages to retain its disastrous reputation. This is the Will Smith-led vehicle, “Wild Wild West” which failed to make its return. In fact, “Wild Wild West” only made $222.1 million worldwide. This may sound like an impressive sum, but the film’s production and marketing costs were close to $300 million, therefore it resulted in a nearly $100 million loss for the film’s studio, Warner Bros. 

Smith has been so traumatized by the experience that he is still apologizing for his involvement in the film to this day. It should be worth noting that he passed on “The Matrix’’ in order to star in the aforementioned flick, and in a surprising turn of events Keanu Reeves has gone on the record as expressing his liking for “Wild Wild West.” Truth be told, there are many reasons why “Wild Wild West” ended up being an embarrassing stain on the careers of actors Will Smith, Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh, and Salma Hayek. It almost seems like delving into these reasons becomes a far more interesting and rewarding experience than actually forcing yourself to watch the film. 

By Kt Schaefer ​​

Ari Aster’s first film “Hereditary” explored some incredibly dark themes, the strongest of which was grief and the effects of mental health issues on a family. With the announcement of the release of his sophomore effort “Midsommar” it was a question as to what he would focus on this time around. In a brief interview Aster revealed that while “Midsommar” is something of a companion piece to “Hereditary” in how it deals with grief, he also branched out into something new with his focus on codependency. While the term has a specific meaning in the psychiatric world, which is “A pervasive and excessive need to be taken care of that leads to submissive and clinging behavior and fears of separation”  (further info at the link here), it is generally understood to be a clingy partner. Aster fulfills the basic requirement with his film, but also goes to extreme lengths to fulfill literally every criterion of the diagnosis and uses it as the underlying theme for his film.

​By Will Mavity 

“Toy Story 4” recently opened to strong reviews and a solid box office haul. In addition, the Academy seems to adore Pixar, and tends to reward even some of its lesser efforts (looking at you, “Brave.”) However, as we saw with last year’s “Incredibles 2,” Pixar is not the Oscar ‘sure thing’ that it once was. Sure, “Inside Out” swept the awards circuit four years ago, and "Coco" cleaned house in 2017, but in general, Pixar’s post-Best Picture Nominated “Toy Story 3” output has been spotty, both with critics and with awards. Sequels especially have run into Oscar trouble, with “Finding Dory,” “Monster’s University” and both “Cars” sequels having missed out on so much as a nomination, while the massively successful “Incredibles 2” was unable to best “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” for a win.

This year, “Toy Story 4” seems secure to win yet another Oscar for Pixar. It is the latest installment in arguably the studio’s most Oscar-friendly franchise (it has been nominated for a total of 9 Oscars including 2 wins as well as a special achievement award), and the acclaim seems to be there. More importantly, none of the other animated contenders released so far this year have proved to be a viable threat. Still, this time last year, few were expecting "Incredibles 2” to go home as the animated bridesmaid.

Although a repeat of last year seems unlikely, let’s take a look at what could possibly challenge “Toy Story 4” for the gold this year.

By Matt Neglia 

​As heard on yesterday's podcast episode, the Next Best Picture team all revealed their Top 10 films of 2019 so far (only films which have received a proper theatrical release in the States this year qualified). We have taken everyon'e individual lists and put them all together to formulate this collective Top 10 which represents the whole team. Films which scored highly with the team but did not make the cut include "Long Shot, " "How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World," "John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum," "Yesterday" and more!

​Click below to read the list and bring on the rest of 2019.

By Casey Lee Clark 

​​As the first half of 2019 is winding down, there appears to be plenty of discussion on what some of the best films and performances of the year have been so far; what performances make people’s personal line-ups, what has actual Oscar chances, etc. While some have described this as a weak year so far, I have noticed an overwhelming amount of acclaimed lead female performances, and by extension great female-led films. More often than not and across all genres, 2019 has churned out a plethora of fantastic and critically lauded films with strong female lead performances.

​By Danilo Castro 

​When it comes to popular culture, there’s the Beatles and then there’s everyone else. To merely call them influential would be to downplay the ways in which they’ve shaped our current world. Their innovative approach to songwriting and recording changed the way we listen to music, while their dry wit and willingness to challenge social norms ushered in the era of the postmodern celebrity.

It doesn’t stop there. In between their droll press conferences and chart-topping singles, the Beatles also found time to innovate on film. They starred in five releases between 1964 and 1970, and with each, they managed to break down cinematic barriers, create entire subgenres, and co-opt techniques that would later become industry standard. Danny Boyle’s new film “Yesterday” shows us a world where the Beatles’ music never existed; but as the group’s resume proves, a world without their film work would be just as bleak. ​

By Dan Bayer 
​
There was a moment, back in the mid-90s, where it seemed like gay cinema was going places. After years of LGBTQ stories being relegated to independent and foreign films that only played art houses, there seemed to be a turning point. In 1995, “To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar” was the number one film in the country for two weeks, earning the equivalent of $61 million in today’s dollars. Then the very next year, Mike Nichols’ “The Birdcage” was the number one film in the country for three weeks, eventually earning the equivalent of $202.5 million in today’s dollars. And then the very next year, the Kevin Kline-starrer “In & Out” also opened at the top of the box office charts and earned the equivalent of $101.9 million in today’s dollars. Just to put those numbers in further context, “The Birdcage” would have been last year’s 15th highest-grossing film, placing above hits like “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” “A Quiet Place,” “Halloween” and “Mary Poppins Returns.” “In & Out” would have been the 32nd highest grossing film of last year, and “To Wong Foo…” would have been the 47th highest. The point being: These films made money.

By Daniel Howat

We’re pretty much halfway through 2019, and we’ve seen plenty of great films so far. In four out of the last five years, we saw a major Oscar contender release in the first half of the year. Have we seen any Best Picture nominees yet? Let’s dive into the potential contenders of 2019 so far.