Because all movies are more interesting in context. More at patreon.com/NextPictureShow. Next up: Documentarians who put themselves in the picture, in Albert Brooks' REAL LIFE and Nathan Fielder's YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING.https://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.social/post/3mzehlchqjc2fNone of us liked Aaron Sorkin's THE SOCIAL RECKONING much. It's bland, plodding, and overstuffed with weird, distracting trivia. But discussing it alongside THE SOCIAL NETWORK brought up compelling thoughts about directorial vision and different kinds of storytelling. https://omny.fm/shows/filmspotting/zuck-dynasty-pt-2-the-social-reckoning02 Nov 2026 23:20 +0000at://did:plc:nncictsue4o7bqoosrxaxbtj/app.bsky.feed.post/3mzehlchqjc2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.social/post/3mydiopsdvs23New ep! 2010's THE SOCIAL NETWORK and Aaron Sorkin's 2026 "companion piece" THE SOCIAL RECKONING offer different takes on Mark Zuckerberg, during different stages of Facebook. This week, we go into SOCIAL NETWORK's storytelling, impact, and relationship with the truth. https://omny.fm/shows/filmspotting/zuck-dynasty-pt-1-the-social-network20 Oct 2026 20:41 +0000at://did:plc:nncictsue4o7bqoosrxaxbtj/app.bsky.feed.post/3mydiopsdvs23https://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.social/post/3mxfffu6ufc2cThis week: Lance Oppenheim's Chris Hansen portrait PRIMETIME has us looking back at a classic movie covering similar ground around ethics in infotainment and creating "truth" by editing reality. Tony Curtis plays sharply against type in 1957's terrific SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS: https://omny.fm/shows/filmspotting/trial-by-media-pt-1-sweet-smell-of-success08 Oct 2026 21:23 +0000at://did:plc:nncictsue4o7bqoosrxaxbtj/app.bsky.feed.post/3mxfffu6ufc2chttps://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.social/post/3mxfdolmjtk2cLast week: @roxana-hadadi.bsky.social joins us to analyze Padraic McKinley's period quest movie THE WEIGHT, and how it weighs up to an obvious companion piece, William Friedkin's 1977 trauma classic SORCERER. Both feature desperate men on dangerous missions: https://omny.fm/shows/filmspotting/hazard-pay-pt-2-the-weight08 Oct 2026 20:52 +0000at://did:plc:nncictsue4o7bqoosrxaxbtj/app.bsky.feed.post/3mxfdolmjtk2chttps://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.social/post/3mw566qsrvs23New ep! Part 1 of our pairing with THE WEIGHT examines another story of desperate men transporting lethal cargo. William Friedkin's SORCERER follows four criminals in South America moving unstable dynamite under terrifying conditions — which Friedkin shot in terrifying ways. https://omny.fm/shows/filmspotting/hazard-pay-pt-1-sorcerer?in_playlist=the-next-picture-show!podcast22 Sep 2026 21:27 +0000at://did:plc:nncictsue4o7bqoosrxaxbtj/app.bsky.feed.post/3mw566qsrvs23https://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.social/post/3mvqhsonopc2tNew ep! Last week, we discussed Andrei Tarkovsky's SOLARIS and the philosophy of being trapped in an eternal, unchanging world. This week, we look at a tighter, more horror-inflected version of the same idea in Alexander Ullom's taut, smart, surprising new movie IT ENDS. https://omny.fm/shows/filmspotting/existential-zones-pt-2-it-ends?in_playlist=the-next-picture-show!podcast17 Sep 2026 20:15 +0000at://did:plc:nncictsue4o7bqoosrxaxbtj/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvqhsonopc2thttps://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.social/post/3mv4lv7z4dk2zNew ep: The existential, eternal dread of IT ENDS reminded us of similar beats in Andrei Tarkovsky's SOLARIS. So we looked back at that movie's complicated, opaque symbolism, its misguided rep as "the anti-2001," and whether it really is "Tarkovsky's most accessible movie." https://omny.fm/shows/filmspotting/539-existential-zones-pt-1-solaris-1972?in_playlist=the-next-picture-show!podcast09 Sep 2026 22:35 +0000at://did:plc:nncictsue4o7bqoosrxaxbtj/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv4lv7z4dk2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.social/post/3muksj627ok2hIn part 2 of our double feature of END OF OAK STREET and Steven Spielberg's 2005 WAR OF THE WORLDS, we discuss how similar the central families are, right down to their sibling relationships and marital feuds. We also get into their remarkably similar finale copouts. https://omny.fm/shows/filmspotting/the-family-that-s-prey-together-pt-2-the-end-of-oak-street?in_playlist=the-next-picture-show!podcast02 Sep 2026 20:45 +0000at://did:plc:nncictsue4o7bqoosrxaxbtj/app.bsky.feed.post/3muksj627ok2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.social/post/3mu5r5ivlos2uOver on the Patreon, we've got an exclusive episode for supporters, where we talk through Dolly Parton's biggest theatrical movies. Film was never her focus, but when she appeared in films, they were usually focused on her persona above anything else. https://www.patreon.com/NextPictureShow/posts/lets-talk-about-16788698828 Aug 2026 16:16 +0000at://did:plc:nncictsue4o7bqoosrxaxbtj/app.bsky.feed.post/3mu5r5ivlos2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.social/post/3mu47qmmr5s2wNew ep! THE END OF OAK STREET has us looking back at Steven Spielberg's 2005 take on WAR OF THE WORLDS, a similar story about a collapsing suburban family suddenly united when an outside threat wants to eat them. Featuring Tom Cruise as the Top Gun of New Jersey stevedores! https://omny.fm/shows/filmspotting/the-family-thats-prey-together-pt-2-war-of-the-worlds-2005?in_playlist=the-next-picture-show!podcast28 Aug 2026 01:32 +0000at://did:plc:nncictsue4o7bqoosrxaxbtj/app.bsky.feed.post/3mu47qmmr5s2whttps://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.social/post/3mnfzktyt5k23New ep: @mattsinger.bsky.social joins us for the second half of our MANDALORIAN AND GROGU / SHOGUN ASSASSIN pairing, as we look into why the latest Star Wars movie left us unsatisfied, and how many story moments this movie took directly from Kazuo Koike's Lone Wolf and Cub. https://omny.fm/shows/filmspotting/baby-on-board-pt-2-the-mandalorian-and-grogu03 Jun 2026 21:12 +0000at://did:plc:nncictsue4o7bqoosrxaxbtj/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnfzktyt5k23https://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.social/post/3mmronds7l22rNew ep! THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU is a perfect excuse to look back on the story it's reimagining: the LONE WOLF AND CUB manga and movies. This week we consider the strange history and cultural impact of SHOGUN ASSASSIN, with @mattsinger.bsky.social playing sidekick. https://open.spotify.com/episode/1CaF0FOTnrHkmt119sK4rT?si=1bed6e68673048e526 May 2026 19:03 +0000at://did:plc:nncictsue4o7bqoosrxaxbtj/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmronds7l22rhttps://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.social/post/3miehog4etk2hThis week, PROJECT HAIL MARY took us back to a 1972 science fiction movie about a lone astronaut navigating ecological collapse, and finding his most human connection in non-human companions: SILENT RUNNING, starring Bruce Dern as an unlovable, unloved would-be hero. https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2375047009?selected=FILM564041227931 Mar 2026 15:13 +0000at://did:plc:nncictsue4o7bqoosrxaxbtj/app.bsky.feed.post/3miehog4etk2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.social/post/3mdlwnwokzk2nDEAD MAN'S WIRE takes some clear scene-for-scene inspiration from Sidney Lumet's DOG DAY AFTERNOON — but then, they're both based-on-a-true-crime thrillers about ordinary people taking hostages and winning unlikely fandoms. We compare and contrast this week: https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2375047009?selected=FILM285882936829 Jan 2026 23:24 +0000at://did:plc:nncictsue4o7bqoosrxaxbtj/app.bsky.feed.post/3mdlwnwokzk2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.social/post/3mcxmvgyql22jNew ep! Gus Van Sant's DEAD MAN'S WIRE has us looking back to a previous true-story crime drama about a hostage crisis set off by ordinary people. Sidney Lumet's tremendous DOG DAY AFTERNOON has a thousand moving parts, and we unpack them layer by layer. https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2375047009?selected=FILM613788112221 Jan 2026 21:36 +0000at://did:plc:nncictsue4o7bqoosrxaxbtj/app.bsky.feed.post/3mcxmvgyql22jhttps://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.social/post/3mbrnus3jos2jTimothée Chalamet in MARTY SUPREME: Lovable rascal? Irredeemable asshole? Just a twerp? We had different takes on the character, the film, and the UNCUT GEMS BUT WITH PING-PONG experience. Plus, we compare it to Robert Rossen's 1961 sports-brat movie THE HUSTLER. https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2375047009?selected=FILM682505751906 Jan 2026 19:12 +0000at://did:plc:nncictsue4o7bqoosrxaxbtj/app.bsky.feed.post/3mbrnus3jos2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.social/post/3maeh4borl224This week, we look at the underrated (and maybe too weird for the mainstream?) 2025 fantasy-comedy ETERNITY, and consider how its oppressive afterlife bureau, hard postmortem choices, and big emotions compare to the ones in Hirozaku Kore-eda's lyrical AFTER LIFE. https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2375047009?selected=FILM564474784619 Dec 2025 19:41 +0000at://did:plc:nncictsue4o7bqoosrxaxbtj/app.bsky.feed.post/3maeh4borl224https://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.social/post/3m7lf4iljus2vThis week, the new rom-com ETERNITY inspired a look back at a different film about an afterlife bureaucracy forcing people to make sense of their lives via difficult, personal choices after death: Hirozaku Kore-eda's dreamy, earnest 1998 movie AFTER LIFE. https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2375047009?selected=FILM297266504009 Dec 2025 20:29 +0000at://did:plc:nncictsue4o7bqoosrxaxbtj/app.bsky.feed.post/3m7lf4iljus2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.social/post/3m6wzvicbgs2zIn our latest ep, Netflix's TRAIN DREAMS reminded us of Terrence Malick's 1978 movie DAYS OF HEAVEN, featuring a young Richard Gere as a man more in touch with the natural world than his own emotions. Let's discuss Linda Manz's voiceover and what it really means! https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2375047009?selected=FILM505250144201 Dec 2025 18:15 +0000at://did:plc:nncictsue4o7bqoosrxaxbtj/app.bsky.feed.post/3m6wzvicbgs2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.social/post/3m63tqqx3us2hIt's our 10th anniversary and 500th episode, so we celebrated by breaking format: This week, we discuss the movie we're named for, Peter Bogdanovich's forlorn, star-packed 1971 drama THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, then revive the ol' Barnyard Buzzers for an NPS trivia game. https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2375047009?selected=FILM913123712120 Nov 2025 22:43 +0000at://did:plc:nncictsue4o7bqoosrxaxbtj/app.bsky.feed.post/3m63tqqx3us2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.social/post/3m4tbvxatdk2fNew ep! Radu Jude's latest wild provocation, DRACULA, inspired a look back at a previous surreal story about a filmmaker fumbling for ideas: Federico Fellini's startlingly meta 1963 movie 8 1/2, with a thinly veiled Fellini trying to define the movie as you watch it. https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2375047009?selected=FILM485376160104 Nov 2025 19:37 +0000at://did:plc:nncictsue4o7bqoosrxaxbtj/app.bsky.feed.post/3m4tbvxatdk2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.social/post/3m4bebprezk2rThe second episode of our FAIL-SAFE/A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE pairing, with special guest @jasondashbailey.com, is posted. Come celebrate 60 years of plausible, sleep-robbing nuclear scenarios with us! megaphone.link/FILM2925391917 https://megaphone.link/FILM292539191728 Oct 2025 16:32 +0000at://did:plc:nncictsue4o7bqoosrxaxbtj/app.bsky.feed.post/3m4bebprezk2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.social/post/3lzevjfimbs2gThis week we're comparing Akira Kurosawa's HIGH AND LOW with Spike Lee's reimagining HIGHEST 2 LOWEST. The new film tells the same story, plus a lot of modern wrinkles and familiar Lee touches, and a battle-rap the original is notably missing. https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2375047009?selected=FILM750967980621 Sep 2025 22:03 +0000at://did:plc:nncictsue4o7bqoosrxaxbtj/app.bsky.feed.post/3lzevjfimbs2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.social/post/3lyghmjlwpc2rNew ep! Spike Lee's HIGHEST 2 LOWEST, now on Apple TV Plus, prompted us to look back at the original adaptation of Ed McBain's KING'S RANSOM: Akira Kurosawa's stunning morality play, police procedural, and class drama HIGH AND LOW, still an absolute stunner. https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2375047009?selected=FILM227258731109 Sep 2025 19:34 +0000at://did:plc:nncictsue4o7bqoosrxaxbtj/app.bsky.feed.post/3lyghmjlwpc2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.social/post/3lwf7gijcfs25This week: In honor of the 2025 NAKED GUN, we look back at the 1988 OG movie, talking about what distinguishes ZAZ comedies from Mel Brooks or more modern SCARY MOVIE-type send-ups, and breaking down what makes some gags timeless, while others age like dead fish. https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2375047009?selected=FILM216326787314 Aug 2025 20:45 +0000at://did:plc:nncictsue4o7bqoosrxaxbtj/app.bsky.feed.post/3lwf7gijcfs25https://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.social/post/3luli5qen722yNew ep! Chris Klimek (ctklimek.bsky.social) joins us to talk Superman, this week starting with our favorite on-screen Supersmen, then taking a deep dive into Richard Donner's 1978 movie, with its classic choices and its extreme ones. Can you read our miiinds? https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2375047009?selected=FILM177887821722 Jul 2025 21:46 +0000at://did:plc:nncictsue4o7bqoosrxaxbtj/app.bsky.feed.post/3luli5qen722yhttps://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.social/post/3lrglend6pk27New ep! Inspired by PAVEMENTS, we're talking about movies that prioritize conveying a musician's essence over covering biographical fact. @noelmu.bsky.social joins us this week as we start with Todd Haynes' freewheelin’ approach to Bob Dylan in I'M NOT THERE. https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2375047009?selected=FILM733714427312 Jun 2025 18:45 +0000at://did:plc:nncictsue4o7bqoosrxaxbtj/app.bsky.feed.post/3lrglend6pk27https://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.social/post/3lqsavba6ys2lThis week, we consider the terrifying worlds Tim Robinson characters create just by existing. And we consider how the writhing discomfort comedy of FRIENDSHIP works as a double feature with PT Anderson's THE MASTER, also about a squirmy mentorship/friendship. https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2375047009?selected=FILM601911106704 Jun 2025 16:44 +0000at://did:plc:nncictsue4o7bqoosrxaxbtj/app.bsky.feed.post/3lqsavba6ys2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.social/post/3lq6pad47xs2oThis week, inspired by the thorny tragicomic Tim Robinson/Paul Rudd mentorship in FRIENDSHIP, we worked on unpacking the fraught, complicated, endlessly mysterious Joaquin Phoenix/Philip Seymour Hoffman mentorship in Paul Thomas Anderson's THE MASTER: https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2375047009?selected=FILM835889388727 May 2025 22:08 +0000at://did:plc:nncictsue4o7bqoosrxaxbtj/app.bsky.feed.post/3lq6pad47xs2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/thenextpictureshow.bsky.social/post/3lppnkcaj422uLast week, we revisited 1999's MYSTERY MEN, about a group of inept amateur superheroes operating in the shadow of a more popular, powerful hero. This week, we turn to Marvel's THUNDERBOLTS*. These films have a lot more specific, surprising parallels than we expected. https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2375047009?selected=FILM559240672421 May 2025 22:27 +0000at://did:plc:nncictsue4o7bqoosrxaxbtj/app.bsky.feed.post/3lppnkcaj422u