The Next Best Picture Podcast

Following our 513th episode of The Next Best Picture Podcast, we're back with a new episode of Mailbag Monday. Dan Bayer and Tom O’Brien join me for this new series, dedicated 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. Thanks 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 NBP members 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!

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For Episode 513 of the Next Best Picture Podcast, I am joined by Dan Bayer and Tom O'Brien. This week, we're discussing the films playing at AFI Film Festival (AFI), including "The Mosquito Bowl," "Wildwood," "Behemoth!," "Elsinore," "I Play Rocky," "The Face Of Horror," "Tangles," and many more! We also preview what we think will be nominated for the Gotham Awards this week. For this week's NBP poll question for the release of "The Only Pickpocket In New York," we're asking everyone, "Which Is Your Favorite Film John Turturro Performance?" And we reveal the winner of last week's NBP poll, where we asked everyone, for the release of "Wildwood," "Which Is Your Favorite Film Featuring Stop-Motion Animation?" We also share our reactions to the trailers for "Slayground," "Above The Below," "Bunker," "In Waves," "Look Back," and "Coward." 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!

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For this week's main podcast review, Katie Johnson, Cody Dericks, Lauren LaMagna, and Will Mavity join me to discuss James Gunn's latest DC film, "Clayface," starring Tom Rhys Harries, Naomi Ackie, David Dencik, Max Minghella, and Eddie Marsan. Directed by James Watkins (The American remake of "Speak No Evil") and co-written by Mike Flanagan ("Doctor Sleep") and Hossein Amini ("The Snowman"), it is the third film in the DC Universe (DCU) that follows an actor who turns to a scientist to restore his body to his former look after becoming disfigured by a mobster. A standalone villain origin story that leans into body horror on a smaller budget than other DC films, many were excited to catch it over the Halloween spooky season. What did we think of it though? Please tune in, either on video or audio only, as we discuss the story, performances, makeup and gore effects, visual effects, its Oscar prospects, and more in our SPOILER-FILLED review. Thank you for listening, and enjoy!

https://youtu.be/4J8uC29GZqQ

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"The Only Living Pickpocket In New York" is an American crime thriller film written and directed by Noah Segan. It stars John Turturro as an old-school thief trying to survive in a modern, cashless city while scrambling to fix a high-stakes mistake. The film also stars Giancarlo Esposito, Will Price, Tatiana Maslany, and Steve Buscemi. It had its world premiere at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival and made its international premiere out of competition at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival. It has since screened at the Telluride, Toronto, and New York Film Festivals, where critics have widely praised the film, particularly Turturro's performance and Segan's writing and direction. Segan was kind enough to spend some time talking with us about his work and experience making the film, which you can watch or listen to below. Please be sure to check out the film, which is now playing in theaters from Sony Pictures Classics. Thank you, and enjoy!

https://youtu.be/qYicC0F7hus

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"Wildwood" is a 2026 stop-motion animated fantasy film directed by Travis Knight from a screenplay by Chris Butler. Based on Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis’s 2011 novel, it follows Prue, a teenage girl who ventures into an enchanted forest with her classmate Curtis to find her infant brother, abducted by a mysterious woman named Alexandra. Along the way, they discover a fantastical world filled with magical creatures and warring factions. The film features the voices of Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, Awkwafina, Angela Bassett, Jake Johnson, Charlie Day, Amandla Stenberg, Jemaine Clement, Len Cariou, Maya Erskine, Tantoo Cardinal, Tom Waits, and Richard E. Grant. Stars Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, Awkwafina, Jake Johnson, author Colin Meloy, and illustrator Carson Ellis were all kind enough to spend some time speaking with me about their work and experiences making the film, which you can watch or listen to below. Please be sure to check out the film, which is now playing in theaters from Fathom Entertainment. Thank you, and enjoy!

https://youtu.be/nXJ4hiK5Y64

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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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