The Next Best Picture Podcast

For Episode 491, on the day I leave for Cannes, I am joined by Lauren LaMagna, Dan Bayer, and Megan Lachinski to deliver a final preview of the 79th edition of the world's largest film festival. For this week's poll question, to tie into the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, we're asking everyone: "Which Films From The 2026 Cannes Film Festival Are You Most Looking Forward To?" and reveal the winner of last week's poll, for the announcement of the new Oscar rules, where we asked, "Which Film Festival Prize Winner From The Last Decade Would You Have Nominated For The Oscar Under The New Best International Feature Rules?" We also share our reactions to the trailers for "Tony," "Evil Dead Burn," answer your fan-submitted questions, and more! We hope you enjoy this week's episode. We'll be back midway through the Cannes Film Festival to give you an update on the films Cody Dericks, Nadia Dalimonte, and I have been seeing, and then we'll be fully back in two weeks with our final rundown of the festival. Until then! Thank you all for listening, subscribing, and supporting us. Au revoir!

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For this week's main podcast review, Josh Parham, Cody Dericks, and Will Mavity join me to review and discuss "Mortal Kombat II" starring Karl Urban, Adeline Rudolph, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Ludi Lin, Mehcad Brooks, Tati Gabrielle, Lewis Tan, Damon Herriman, Chin Han, Tadanobu Asano, Joe Taslim & Hiroyuki Sanada. A sequel to "Mortal Kombat" (2021), it is the fourth installment in the "Mortal Kombat" film series. It introduces Karl Urban's Johnny Cage as he joins his fellow Earthrealm fighters in an inter-dimensional tournament against the Outworld warriors to stop the tyrannical emperor Shao Kahn, with the help of Edenian princess Kitana. What did we think of this sequel? Please tune in as we discuss the action, bloody kills, the acting, story, and more in our SPOILER-FILLED review. Thank you for listening, and enjoy!

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"Silent Friend" is a 2025 historical drama film written and directed by Ildikó Enyedi, starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Léa Seydoux, Luna Wedler, Sylvester Groth, and Martin Wuttke. It follows a single ginkgo tree through three loosely connected stories spanning different eras: 1908, 1972, and 2020, set in the old university town of Marburg, Germany. The film had its world premiere in the main competition of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, where it won the FIPRESCI Prize and the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Wedler. Enyedi and Leung were both kind enough to spend some time talking with us about their work and experiences making the film, which you can listen to below. Please be sure to check out the film, which is now playing in theaters from 1-2 Special. Thank you, and enjoy!

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

The nominations for the 79th annual Tony Awards were announced yesterday and were led by "The Lost Boys" and "Schmigadoon!" with 12 nominations each. "Ragtime" received 11 nominations, while "Cats: The Jellicle Ball," "Death of a Salesman," and "Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show" each received 9 nominations. What did Cody Dericks, Lauren LaMagna & Dan Bayer think of this year's nominees? Which nominations surprised them, made them happy, and left them feeling the most disappointed? Please tune in below to listen to their thoughts and find out. NBT will return with a winner predictions episode shortly before the 2026 Tony Awards on June 7th. Thank you for all of your support. Enjoy!

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"Blue Film" is a 2025 indie drama film written and directed by Elliot Tuttle, starring Kieron Moore as a camboy who agrees to spend the night with an anonymous client (Reed Birney), only to discover a shocking tie to his past. It had its world premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival last year and received positive reviews for Tuttle's screenplay and the performances from Moore and Birney. Tuttle, Moore, and Birney were all kind enough to spend some time talking with us about their work and experiences making the film, which you can listen to below. Please be sure to check out the film, which will be released in select theaters on May 8th from Obscured Releasing. Thank you, and enjoy!

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

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

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