By Danilo Castro 

​Tom McCarthy is a filmmaker tough to pin down. He was a successful character actor on television, but never to the extent that he could land a starring gig. He landed an Oscar nomination for co-writing "Up" (2009) with Bob Peterson and Pete Docter, but the latter two dominated the awards coverage. He's cultivated a rich body of work as a writer/director, but he remains a largely unknown figure to casual audiences. There is no distinct auteur style, no boisterous persona, or even any controversies to rally behind/against. 

In truth, the only way to learn about Tom McCarthy is to watch his films. His career-long fascination with outsiders looking for acceptance taps into a universality that transcends race or background. He's a humanist filmmaker at heart, and given that his latest release, "Stillwater," is now in theaters, we thought it best to journey off the beaten path and rank all of his films from worst to best.

By Cody Dericks 
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M. Night Shyamalan is one of the few directors whose name is still recognizable by even the most casual of moviegoers. Unfortunately, that's owing as much to his bad movies as it is to his good ones. A robust early run of blockbuster thrillers quickly gave way to a distressingly awful period in his career before he bounced back in a way that is pretty much unheard of in an industry that is reluctant to give second chances. Still, I am such a fan of his early work that I always find myself sticking up for him, and I frankly can't wait to hear what everyone has to say about his newest movie - "Old." In honor of the film's release this weekend, I thought it would be fun to rank and explore all of the films he's directed. In terms of quality, he truly has one of the most varied filmographies I've ever seen.

By Cameron Lee 

2021 has become a banner year for music documentaries. From Edger Wright's love letter "The Sparks Brothers" to Questlove's "Summer of Soul," not to mention the upcoming "Velvet Underground" by Todd Haynes and Peter Jackson's recently extended "Let It Be" documentary series. So, in honor of this, I have put together a list of ten powerful music documentaries that will hopefully give context to some of the best artists of then and now.​

By Matt Neglia & Dan Bayer
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The 2021 Tribeca Film Festival ended a few days ago in New York and it was indeed a memorable if a bit of an odd experience. While the outdoor screenings all over the city were a pleasure (when Dan Bayer and I could attend), the virtual portal was where we did most of our viewing. The two of us took some time to compile our thoughts on the films we saw from the festival and have provided capsule reviews down below. Some of these films have already been released and some are still to come. Take a look as we look back on our experience with this year's film festival.

By Matt Neglia 

We're halfway through 2021. As such, it is time to reveal NBP's rankings of the best films of the year so far. But what do we see as the year 2021? Considering last year's Oscars had the eligibility window for qualifying films extended two extra months from January 1st - February 28th, there is an argument to be made that films released during that time such as "Judas And The Black Messiah" or "The Father" should qualify. Not so fast. Because we're an awards website, first and foremost, we're only counting films released March 1st - June 30th for our own internal team ranking of the best films of 2021 so far. I asked everyone on the team to provide their top 5 films released in that eligibility window, and we came up with the ranking shown down below based on how many times a film showed up on team members' lists and how high. We urge you to check out these films either in a theater or on streaming (whichever you're most comfortable with).

Without any further adieu, here are our top 20 films of 2021 so far...

By Danilo Castro 

​​"Fast & Furious" is one of Hollywood's greatest underdog stories. It's the little racecar that could, defying industry notions about diversity and longevity and cranking out some of the most ridiculously fun action films of the 21st century. What makes these films so much fun is their cartoonish set pieces and their willingness to laugh at themselves and evolve with the times by embracing spinoffs and new cast members.
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Vin Diesel is the franchise's Tom Cruise, an actor/producer who knows what the fans want and will give it to them, regardless of how ludicrous it may be. Driving off a cliff? Sure. Scaling a submarine? Ok. Launching into outer space? Why the hell not? The absurdity is balanced out by the anchoring theme of family, which extends to the franchise's stellar roster of actors (Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and Jason Statham, just to name a few).

​​The franchise's latest installment, "F9," is now in theaters, and to commemorate its release, we decided to bust out the NOS and rank the "Fast & Furious" films from worst to best. The road might be dangerous, but we'll be good as long as we take it a quarter-mile at a time.

By Matt Neglia & Dan Bayer 
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Tomorrow marks the return of the Tribeca Film Festival in New York after the festival was forced to be canceled last year due to COVID-19. There will be both a combination of in-person and virtual screenings this year and Dan Bayer and I will be covering on behalf of Next Best Picture. 

Below you can find the list of the 20 films we are most looking forward to seeing at this year's festival.

By Danilo Castro 
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It's been said that marriage is a partnership. It is a bond between two people that requires complete trust in order to get through life's various setbacks. The same can be said for the relationship between the director and actor, which often has to contend with power plays, external changes, and differences of opinion. The effort these different partnerships demand is what makes it so damned impressive when people can do both.

There have been countless examples of spouses who have worked together as director and actor. They can sometimes result in disaster (Guy Ritchie and Madonna's "Swept Away" comes to mind), but these collaborations yield great results more often than not. "A Quiet Place Part II" is now in theaters, and since real-life couple John Krasinski (co-writer/director) and Emily Blunt (star) are the faces of the franchise, we felt it time to revisit the best director/actor partners who also happened to be married.

For clarity's sake, we will not be including directors and actors who were unmarried at the time of their collaboration(s). They must already be spouses, which leaves out notable pairs like James Cameron and Linda Hamilton ("The Terminator" & "T2: Judgement Day") or Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw ("Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom").

By Zach Gilbert 
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At the 93rd Academy Awards, "Nomadland's" Chloé Zhao made history when she won the Oscar for Best Director, as only the second woman - and the first woman of color - to achieve such a feat - eleven long years after Kathryn Bigelow trounced her competitors in the category for her work on 2009's "The Hurt Locker." While Zhao's win is absolutely worth celebrating, new questions now arise; will we have to wait over a decade for another female recipient of the Best Director Oscar? Thankfully, even though this year's race is chock-full of contenders from male auteurs (Paul Thomas Anderson's "Soggy Bottom," Wes Anderson's "The French Dispatch," Guillermo Del Toro's "Nightmare Alley," Steven Spielberg's "West Side Story," etc.), the ladies are ready to represent as well. Below, we outline ten female filmmakers who could follow in Chloé Zhao's footsteps this awards season to earn a Best Director nomination - and maybe even secure that statue, too.

By Hunter Friesen

Often considered the most prestigious film festival globally, the Cannes Film Festival is your one-stop shop for some of the greatest works in international cinema. For the first time since 1968, the festival was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year's edition has the potential to be one of the best as dozens of projects from the world's greatest filmmakers jockey for the opportunity to be awarded the coveted first place Palme d'Or, which will be decided by a Spike Lee led jury.

Twenty films will be selected for the Official Competition, with several others being placed in one of the festival's many sidebar sections. And quite a few unlucky films will have to set their sights somewhere else. Cannes also has its place in the Oscar race. To use a sports analogy, it is the preseason to the fall festivals regular season. Films such as "Pulp Fiction," "The Tree of Life," "Amour" and "Parasite" started their Oscar path at the festival. 

In this article, I will detail the films that have the potential to premiere at the festival. They are sorted into three categories based on their likelihood, which stemming from a combination of factors that are explained in each summary.

The festival will announce the lineup for all sections on June 3rd. 

By Cody Dericks 
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It's not controversial to say that Amy Adams is one of the most respected film actresses working today. She's a household name who can command attention in small indies and huge blockbusters alike. Perhaps the most quantifiable evidence of her veneration is her impressive haul of Oscar nominations. Across the past 15 years, she's managed to scoop up a whopping six nominations. And she's also given plenty of acclaimed performances that didn't land a nomination, such as in "Arrival" and "Enchanted." She shows no sign of slowing down (As evidenced by her performance in this year's "The Woman In The Window" and the upcoming "Dear Evan Hansen"), and at only 46 years old, she'll have plenty of opportunities ahead to rack up even more nominations (and hopefully a win or two).

That being said, the curious thing about her six nominations is that, anecdotally, there is no clear consensus amongst Oscar watchers and film fans that she was "robbed" any time that she's lost. I wouldn't personally give her my vote for any of her nominations if I were an Oscar voter. Still, her six nominations represent a vast and varied career, so I thought it would be fun to look back upon and rank her nominations.

Spoiler alert: They're all excellent performances!

By Ryan C. Showers 
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Guys, 2020 was weird. The COVID-19 pandemic may have up-ended dozens of theatrical releases, altered the entertainment industry's fabric forever, and exposed both the normalization and power of streaming services. Through the ups and downs of this eventful year, there was breathing room in the market for smaller films to bubble up to the surface and have a real chance for the spotlight. Some may look back and regard this year as a weaker year for cinema. However, I dissent. Film and awards season kept me going in 2020, through the shutdowns, social distancing, and time spent at home. And I loved that smaller art films took center stage. Any year in cinema is what you make of it.

By Tom O'Brien 

​In my previous "Best of 2020" blog post, I looked back on films that I ranked number 11 through 20, movies that ranged from a time-loop comedy to an investigative documentary to a touching same-sex love story, each of which helped to raise the bar on the quality among 2020 films. Now let's turn to ten films that went above and beyond, providing moments for me that helped me to see films (or life, for that matter) in a slightly different way.

I now give you my top 10 of 2020...

By Tom O'Brien 

​When the expected big guns of the 2020 Oscar race ("Dune," "The French Dispatch," & "West Side Story," just to name a few) were hustled off to late 2021 so that they could have a splashy post-COVID run in theaters, these words began to appear from #FilmTwitter about the films that remained duking it out in the race for the 2020 Oscars: 

"...scraps..."
"...leftovers..."
"...the B-team..."

Well, honey, if the films of 2020 are the "B-team," I'll gladly take these "scraps" and "leftovers" any day of the week. In fact, there were so many standout films onscreen this year that I couldn't limit my list to simply ten titles, so I'd like to offer a "20 Best of 2020" with these first ten titles serving as more-than-worthy runners-up to the Top 10. And just look at the variety of subjects that these 20 films tackled: From a Korean-American family in Arkansas to life among American nomads on the road, and from stellar film adaptations of three celebrated plays to an unexpected thriller with an ending that no one saw coming. Perhaps most surprising of all, seven of these Top 20 films were made by first-time directors, an impressive number that bodes well for outstanding work from them in years to come. So let's get started...

By Dan Bayer 

2020, true to form, threw me for a real loop in terms of list-making. So many films that I saw feel like they weren't even released, two of my favorites of the year got pushed back well into 2021 (I'll miss you, "Nine Days" and "Shiva Baby"), some opened within the Oscar eligibility window but clearly weren't either 2020 or 2021 ("Barb & Star Go To Vista Del Mar"), and plenty of foreign films did their usual thing of being eligible for 2020 Oscars but not officially opening until after nominations were announced in the next year. With the mess of the extended Oscar eligibility window, it became increasingly difficult to determine which films belonged in which year. After many, many weeks of agonizing over it, I decided that it would be on mine if it were on Oscar's eligibility list for 2020. The films that weren't would have to wait until whenever they actually open. What made this even more difficult is that there were a lot of good movies this year! No matter what your eligibility window, there were plentiful moments of cinematic greatness in 2020. You just had to look farther afield than usual to find them. From the tiniest of micro-indies to the festival sensations, to the traditional big "Oscar Bait" films - and with much love to "Hamilton" and "Lovers Rock," especially in a year when the line between film and television grew even blurrier than usual - here are the ten that kept my soul fed throughout this crazy year.

By Cody Dericks 

Because of obvious circumstances in this weird, awful year, the most noteworthy movies of 2020 were mostly small, grounded stories that focused on humanity's shared experiences. Beyond the films I'm about to list, I have to give a special mention to "Hamilton" and Steve McQueen's "Education" and "Lovers Rock" which, even with the ever-blending definitions of television and film, I'm not including here even though they were some of the best pieces of filmed media I saw all year. Also, unlike the Academy with their expanded year, I'm only including films in my top 10 that actually came out in the calendar year of 2020. So, let's look back on some of the few bright spots of this blight of a year.

By Casey Lee Clark 

It's no secret that 2020 was a weird year, particularly in the world of film. However, I think it has allowed for more attention to be given to smaller films and a greater variety in terms of who is telling these stories. For one, I saw more films outside my comfort zone or even films that, in a different year, I probably would not have seen and ended up really enjoying them. I was also fortunate enough at the beginning of 2020 to be able to attend Sundance, where I saw several films that had an impact on my best-of list. It might seem a bit late to be making a top film of 2020 list, but I typically hold off on making mine until the end of January the following year anyways to devote that whole month to catch-up. There were a lot of films that I loved this year and it was nice to be able to see more as well as revisit and reevaluate the films I had seen throughout the year.

Narrowing it down to a top ten was quite difficult, so I have some honorable mentions that I would like to shout out: "And Then We Danced," "Crip Camp," "Da 5 Bloods," "First Cow," "Kajillionaire," "Let Them All Talk," "Mangrove," "Mank," "Soul" and "Sound of Metal."

By Tom O'Brien 

No need to be reminded of the steaming pile of a year that has just passed, with its staggering death toll and calamitous effects, both on the nation's health and its economy. Though probably way down on the priority list, one missing entity that has been important to many is the absence of performing arts in any venue other than virtual -- the gathering together of an audience in a theater or a concert hall is a joy of which we have been deprived for nearly a year. For filmgoers, of course, the fact that shuttered cinemas have cost us (for now) the latest works by names such as Wes Anderson, Steven Spielberg and Denis Villeneuve, whose films have been postponed into 2021, is particularly frustrating.

On the other hand, those venues that could show films, such as drive-ins and streaming websites, still needed products. Enter the rise of the independent film in 2020, a development that has presented us with a wide range of stories, from a time-loop rom-com to a look of deafness through the journey of a rock drummer, and from Black icons cooped up in a Miami hotel room to a female-led vengeance thriller with a dozy of an ending. Not only are each of these films among the year's best, but in every case, they marked the first time that their directors had ever made a feature film.

On March 9, the Directors Guild will announce their five directing nominees for a first-time feature film, and I have a suspicion that their honorees will come from these ten distinguished directorial debuts in 2020.

By Matt Neglia & Cody Dericks 

​The 2021 Sundance Film Festival officially kicks off tomorrow evening. One of the year's biggest festivals, it has been the un-official start of the movie year as many films make their premieres at the festival which will then get released throughout the next 12 months (and sometimes even into the following year). A celebration of independent film and new voices, you never know what you're going to get at the festival when you sit down to watch something and this year, despite not being up in the mountains of Utah due to the pandemic, is no different. Cody Dericks and I will be covering the festival this year for Next Best Picture and we have listed below in alphabetical order, the ten films we are most looking forward to at this year's festival.

​Click below to check it out.

By Josh Parham 

You know it and I know it: 2020 was a year full of challenges. I am not the first person to make this observation, and I guarantee I will not be the last. With such hardships felt throughout all these long months, the great escape is often fleeing into the diverse world of cinema. Of course, that presented its own difficulties when a majority of theaters closed due to safety concerns. It seemed hopeless for some time as release dates got pushed back and highly anticipated titles vanished. However, that was never an invitation to stop seeking out great storytelling being presented, and while this year may have looked very different, there was no shortage of great works to enjoy. You've already seen others give their top ten lists of 2020, and now I'd like to present you mine.
 
Here are a few honorable mentions: "Black Bear," "Miss Juneteenth," "Promising Young Woman," "Soul" and "The Lodge."

By Daniel Howat 

This is where I write the obligatory opening paragraph about how weird and terrible 2020 was. Well, it's true. It was a long, stressful, and bizarre year without the release of seeing movies in theaters (for the most part). And yet, this year was still full of phenomenal films, even without those that were postponed. Watching so many films exclusively at home has its pros and cons, but there was still a great hole in my heart for the theatrical experience. I only went to the movie theater 12 times this year and none of those films made it into my top ten. So many movies this year took on new meaning, perhaps even unintended, as they released into a year so full of chaos, injustice, and unrest. This was a landmark year for the film industry and myself personally in many ways, and I think this list of my ten favorite films of 2020 reflects that. For the record, I’ll be using the Academy’s eligibility rules, accepting films from January 1st, 2020 to March 31st, 2021.

Honorable mentions include: "I Carry You With Me," "The Mauritanian," "First Cow," and "Minari."

By Will Mavity 

​​Long Takes, aka. "One-takes." They're very difficult to accomplish and typically very cool to look at. We entered 2020 watching "1917," a film comprised entirely of long-takes, so perhaps it was fitting that 2020 was a year featuring more films with long-takes in films than almost any I can remember. Some are more essential to the story than others. Some are more dynamic than others. They nearly all stop the film in its tracks, making you wonder, "Wow...I wonder how many takes it took them to do that?" Based on a combination of factors - impact on the film, difficulty of execution, how cool it is to look at, etc.

Here is my ranking of all of 2020's "long-takes" I've seen.

By Amanda Spears ​

If you're like me, then you're surviving COVID-19 in a city where going to the movie theater is not an option – making television more crucial than ever. Below is my list of the top 10 television series of 2020. To iron out some ground rules, the series must have aired to make the list in its entirety during 2020. For example, this disqualified "The Good Place."

By Kaiya Shunyata 

​While 2020 has been scarcer than usual regarding the year's film slate, there still have been films that have impacted viewers, whether in theaters when things were still normal or at home when the COVID-19 pandemic arose. Along with these films comes the music that is paired with them. From thunderous synths to a brand new Mitski track, the films of 2020 had some memorable music moments: here are ten of them.

By Danilo Castro ​

​New Year's Eve is a time of change. It's a time of reflection, frustration, and correction. This can be a good thing and a bad thing. Good because it shakes us out of our routine and emboldens us to voice how we truly feel, and bad because it may lead to moments that can be awkward to live down the following day. The best New Year's movies capture this electric feeling. Whether they be tawdry or tragic, the movies that incorporate New Year's into the plot are tapping into an intensity that the rest of the year can't really match.

So, with 2020 firmly in our rearview, we thought it'd be the perfect time to forget all acquaintances and highlight these ten special films. We excluded films that are only tangentially related to New Year's, so gems like "Phantom Thread" (2017) and "The Apartment" (1960) did not crack the list. 

Here are the 10 best New Year's Eve films...