The Next Best Picture Podcast

"My Undesirable Friends: Part II - Exile" is a 2026 American documentary film produced and directed by Julia Loktev. A sequel to the 2024 film "My Undesirable Friends: Part I - Last Air in Moscow," it follows several independent Russian journalists as they flee the country into exile, following Vladimir Putin government's repression of free speech. The film had its world premiere out of competition at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, where it received positive reviews. Loktev was kind enough to spend some time talking with us about her work and experience making the film, which you can watch or listen to below. Please be sure to check out the film, which will open in New York at Film Forum on October 9th from MUBI. Thank you, and enjoy!

https://youtu.be/OxvEEqzo2ug

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"East of Eden" is a 2026 American historical drama limited television series created by Zoe Kazan and starring Florence Pugh as Cathy Ames. It is adapted from John Steinbeck's 1952 novel of the same name and premiered on Netflix on October 1st to positive reviews for its adaptation, direction by Davis (episodes 1-4) and Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre (episodes 5-7), and performances from Pugh and Hoon Lee as Lee, Adam Trask's (Christopher Abbott) servant. Davis and Lee were both kind enough to spend some time talking with us about their work and experiences making the series, which you can watch or listen to below. Please be sure to check out the series, which is now available to stream on Netflix. Thank you, and enjoy!

https://youtu.be/jww4-fhY8wk

https://youtu.be/XT2KjH8Ibmc

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Following our 510th episode of The Next Best Picture Podcast, we're back with a new episode of Mailbag Monday. Ema Sasic, Nadia Dalimonte, Sara Clements, 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/S4nNwGoOHTw

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For Episode 510 of the Next Best Picture Podcast, I am joined by Ema Sasic, Giovanni Lago, Nadia Dalimonte, Sara Clements, and Tom O'Brien. This week, we're discussing the continuation of the New York Film Festival (NYFF), including the world premieres of "Behemoth!" and "A Statement," as well as high-profile screenings for "You Can See Everything," "All Of A Sudden," "Club Kid," "Tender Loving Care," and more! For this week's NBP poll question, for the merger of Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures into Skydance, we're asking everyone, "Which Is Your Favorite Warner Bros. Best Picture Nominee?" And we reveal the winner of last week's NBP poll, where we asked everyone for the release of "Digger," "Which is Your Favorite Alejandro González Iñárritu Film?" We also share our reactions to the trailers for "Elsinore," "La Bola Negra," "Rose," and "Clarissa." We are still answering your fan-submitted questions, but we'll now release our answers separately the next day 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/dfGJi4fTGZE

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For this week's main podcast review, Megan Lachinski, Josh Parham, Cody Dericks, and Tom O'Brien join me to review and discuss the latest film from four-time Academy Award winner Alejandro González Iñárritu, "Digger," starring Tom Cruise, Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg & Jesse Plemons. The final film released by Warner Bros. after 103 years as an independent studio, Iñárritu's latest may also be his and the studio's most timely, given where we are heading as a society, and it certainly isn't short on bold storytelling from a filmmaker unafraid to take risks. That risk comes with split opinions, as this environmental comedy has divided audiences and critics, with recent marketing asking everyone to decide for themselves whether this is a misfire from Iñárritu or a banger that will stand the test of time. Where do we fall on it? Please tune in, either on video or audio only, as we discuss the story, its shocking twist, the performances, most notably from Tom Cruise, Iñárritu's direction, the craft of the cinematography by three-time Oscar winner Emmanuel Lubezki, the creative production design, and more in our SPOILER-FILLED review. What's the truth? You decide. Thank you for listening, and enjoy!

https://youtu.be/Q9MvLv67l-Y

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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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