The Next Best Picture Podcast

THIS IS A PREVIEW PODCAST. NOT THE FULL REVIEW. Please check out the full podcast review on our Patreon Page by subscribing over at - https://www.patreon.com/NextBestPicture

We recently reviewed Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight," a film that many feel should've been part of the Best Picture lineup in 2008. So, it only makes sense that, as Nolan is once again getting his revenge with another new film in theaters, we revisit the film that was widely seen as the one that took his masterpiece out of the lineup, and that's "The Reader," starring Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, David Kross, Lena Olin & Bruno Ganz. Directed by Stephen Daldry and written by David Hare based on the novel "Der Vorleser" by Bernhard Schlink, this Holocaust drama has become the poster child for the term "Oscar bait" in the years since its release (and was widely seen as such then) as it saw Winslet in another awards magnet performance that the Academy finally decided to give her an Oscar for, produced and pushed by Harvey Weinstein at the height of his powers, the film has not aged well to say the least, certainly compared to the other films it beat out that Oscar season for major nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Adapted Screenplay. What did we think of it? Please tune in as Nadia Dalimonte, Dan Bayer, Amy Kim, Will Mavity, and I talk about the film's screenplay, Winslet's performance, Daldry's direction, the score, the cinematography, its awards season run, and more in our SPOILER-FILLED review. Please check out our past reviews for "Frost/Nixon," "Doubt," "Changeling," "Revolutionary Road," "WALL-E, "Milk," and "The Dark Knight." We appreciate your support and hope you enjoy our review!

https://youtu.be/mZmWKG8JSFg

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After a hiatus of over a decade, legendary indie filmmaker Gregg Araki is back in movie theaters with his latest piece of visual provocation, “I Want Your Sex.” The film made a splash at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, thanks to Araki’s trademark eye-tickling visuals and equally trademark envelope-pushing substance. Here, Gen Z is the target of Araki’s aim, with his film (and specifically Olivia Wilde’s sensational character, the avant-garde sex-obsessed artist Erika Tracy) skewering the prudishness of the latest batch of young adults. But as always with Araki, answers don’t come easy and messages aren’t neat and tidy. One of the masters of queer indie filmmaking, Araki was kind enough to spend some time speaking with us about his latest film, which you can listen to below. In our conversation, he touched on what he thinks of Gen Z’s tendency toward sex negativity, how a film centering around a male-female pairing can still touch on queer themes, and what it was like to debut his film at the final Sundance Film Festival hosted in Park City, Utah. Please be sure to check out the film, which will open in theaters on July 31st from Magnolia Pictures. Thank you, and enjoy!

https://youtu.be/z3kWcH5mqhM

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Following our 502nd episode of The Next Best Picture Podcast, we're back with a new episode of Mailbag Monday. Katie Johnson, Nadia Dalimonte, and Tom O’Brien join me in this new series dedicated entirely to answering your fan-submitted questions from the NBP Film Community. Covering everything from the latest movie news, awards season, and Oscar predictions to filmmaking, industry trends, and whatever else is on your mind, Mailbag Monday allows us to engage more directly with all of you every week. Thank you to everyone who submitted questions for this episode, whether on our X account or on our Discord (Patreon members get a private link to chat with other members of NBP and me). If you'd like to be featured on a future edition of Mailbag Monday, be sure to leave your questions in the comments or submit them through our social media channels every Sunday morning when prompted on our X account. We hope you'll join us every Monday as we continue the conversation beyond our weekly Sunday podcast. Thank you, as always, for listening, subscribing, and supporting Next Best Picture, and helping us build such an incredible film community. Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/oQDMOnZ11-A

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Apple Podcasts - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/negs-best-film-podcast/id1087678387?mt=2

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7IMIzpYehTqeUa1d9EC4jT

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWA7KiotcWmHiYYy6wJqwOw

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For Episode 502 of the Next Best Picture Podcast, I am joined by Katie Johnson, Nadia Dalimonte, Lauren LaMagna, and Tom O'Brien. For this week's main topic, we're going over the official full lineup from the Venice Film Festival, the Special Presentations and Galas announcement from TIFF, and the NYFF Closing Night Film. For this week's NBP poll question, tying into the Venice lineup, we're asking everyone, "Which Films Are You Most Looking Forward To From The 2026 Venice Film Festival?" and we reveal the winner of last week's NBP poll, for the release of "The Odyssey," where we asked everyone, "Which Is Your Favorite Matt Damon Performance?" We also share our reactions to the trailers for "Avengers: Doomsday," "Other Mommy," "Clayface," "It Ends," "Misty Green," "Matchbox: The Movie," and "Ebenezor." We are still answering your fan-submitted questions, but our answers will now be released separately the day after, in a new show called Mailbag Monday! So stay tuned for that and many other updates from Next Best Picture as this year's awards season continues. Thank you all for listening, subscribing, and supporting us. Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/NPmeyxQEhCs

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Please subscribe on...

Apple Podcasts - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/negs-best-film-podcast/id1087678387?mt=2

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7IMIzpYehTqeUa1d9EC4jT

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWA7KiotcWmHiYYy6wJqwOw

And be sure to help support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month at https://www.patreon.com/NextBestPicture and listen to this podcast ad-free
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For this week's main podcast review, Josh Parham, Dan Bayer, Giovanni Lago, and Larry Fried join me to review and discuss the first feature film from Nicolas Winding Refn in a decade, "Her Private Hell," starring Sophie Thatcher, Charles Melton, Havana Rose Liu, Kristine Froseth, Shioli Kutsuna, Aoi Yamada, Dougray Scott, Diego Calva, and Hidetoshi Nishijima. Premiering out of competition at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, the film caused more walkouts than any other film at the festival and has gained quite a divisive reaction from critics and audiences. What did we think of it? Please tune in either on video or audio only as we debate the merits of its convoluted story, its strange performances, the neon-lit cinematography, Pino Donaggio's gorgeous score, its awards season chances, and more in our SPOILER-FILLED review. Thank you for listening, and enjoy!

https://youtu.be/ILY8KuEJ_5Y

Check out more on NextBestPicture.com

Please subscribe on...

Apple Podcasts - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/negs-best-film-podcast/id1087678387?mt=2

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7IMIzpYehTqeUa1d9EC4jT

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWA7KiotcWmHiYYy6wJqwOw

And be sure to help support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month at https://www.patreon.com/NextBestPicture and listen to this podcast ad-free
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