The Next Picture Show

Considering The Odyssey is one of the most famous and influential stories of all time, there had been relatively few attempts to directly translate Homer’s epic poem to the big screen until Christopher Nolan came along to do it at a blockbuster scale. It’s been more common for filmmakers, such as Joel and Ethan Coen, to use it as the loose framework for a flawed hero’s journey home, such as the one undertaken by Ulysses Everett McGill in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, a Depression-era musical comedy that maps on to Homer’s version only in the broadest of strokes. But revisiting O Brother through the lens of its stated source material, as we’re doing this week, is a revealing lesson in the malleability of adaptation, as well as the Coens’ ability to make even one of the most familiar tales in all of storytelling uniquely theirs. Then in Feedback, we finally break our silence on the indie-horror phenomenon that is Obsession. Please share your thoughts about O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Odyssey, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. This episode is presented by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Regal Unlimited⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/join/NextPictureShowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A good chunk of Supergirl’s DNA can be traced back to True Grit by way of the comics miniseries the film is adapting, which is why we paired it with Joel and Ethan Coen’s 2010 version of that story. But as our discussion of Craig Gillespie’s new entry in James Gunn’s revamped DC Universe details, Supergirl often feels less indebted to its space-western source material than to several other superhero films that preceded it, including some of Gunn’s. That makes it tough to balance a film we all consider okay-at-best against a stone-cold Coens classic, but we attempt to anyway in Connections as we consider these two films’ shared interest in vengeance, western tropes, and really, really bad guys with murky motivations. Then in Your Next Picture Show, we honorTrue Grit’s star-making performance with a recommendation for another Hailee Steinfeld film that’s a favorite of this podcast, The Edge of Seventeen. Please share your thoughts about True Grit, Supergirl, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Next Pairing: Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey and The Coen Brothers’ (yes, again) O Brother, Where Art Thou? This episode is presented by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Regal Unlimited⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/join/NextPictureShowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The new Supergirl isn’t an outright adaptation of the comic-book miniseries Woman of Tomorrow, but it retains enough of its shape that it evokes that comic’s own source of inspiration, True Grit. Either of the two film adaptations of Charles Portis’ 1968 Western novel about a young girl enlisting a reluctant, drunken hero to help her enact revenge would have provided plenty of connections to Supergirl, but we opted for Joel and Ethan Coen’s 2010 version starring Hailee Steinfeld and Jeff Bridges. So this week we’re discussing what distinguishes True Grit as both a Coens movie and a Western, the film’s overlapping notions of vengeance and justice, and how it utilizes two frequently abused elements — sincerity and voiceover narration — sparingly and effectively. Then in Feedback, we respond to a listener’s misgivings about accepting Disclosure Day’s premise at a time when conspiracy theories don’t feel as harmless as they once did. Please share your thoughts about True Grit, Supergirl, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. This episode is presented by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Regal Unlimited⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/join/NextPictureShowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Forty-four years after his science-fiction classic about the deep connection between a 10-year-old human boy and an alien visitor stranded on earth, Steven Spielberg is once again considering humanity’s capacity to accept and understand extraterrestrial life with his latest, Disclosure Day. So after sharing our reactions to Disclosure Day, including an ending that’s arguably effective despite — or maybe because of — its corniness, we bring E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial back in for Connections to discuss how these two films literalize the concept of empathy, elevate chase scenes into world-building moments, and center the idea of “home” in very different ways. Then for Your Next Picture Show, we give a taste of what this episode might have been like had we paired Disclosure Day with another, non-Spielbergian, reference point we considered, 1951’s The Day the Earth Stood Still. (#530) Please share your thoughts about E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Disclosure Day, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Next Pairing: Craig Gillespie’s Supergirl and Joel and Ethan Coen’s True Grit This episode is presented by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Regal Unlimited⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/join/NextPictureShowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Disclosure Day is not Steven Spielberg’s first film about the confirmation of alien life, nor is it the first such Spielberg film we’ve discussed on this podcast — that would be Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which we covered a decade ago. But Spielberg’s latest is specifically concerned with whether humanity possesses the empathy to process such a revelation, a question that led us directly to his 1982 classic E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, about the empathetic link between a 10-year-old boy and an orphaned alien that crash-lands in the forest outside his suburban home. So this week we’re revisiting E.T. to consider how Spielberg, with a crucial assist from Melissa Mathison’s screenplay, navigates the sentimentality of a story that’s all about feelings. Then in Feedback, our recent episode on Babe: Pig in the City prompted a listener to share their own recommendation for an unusually dark kids’ movie. (#529) Please share your thoughts about E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Disclosure Day, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. This episode is presented by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Regal Unlimited⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/join/NextPictureShowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Backrooms’ journey to the big screen — from anonymous 4chan post to viral creepypasta to mega-popular YouTube series to A24-backed box-office smash — is as unique and unexpected as the film itself. 20-year-old Kane Parsons’ liminal horror hit feels unlike everything else currently happening in the genre, which is partly what inspired us to pair it with the similarly expectation-defying 1979 cult hit Phantasm, but also makes Backrooms fascinating to discuss on its own. Which is what we do, in mostly spoiler-free terms, before shifting over to Connections to look at how Backrooms and Phantasm compare as low-budget horror phenomena that use unsettling repeating spaces, dream logic, and heroes with no sense of self-preservation to maximum effect. And if Backrooms has you craving more video-game-influenced liminal spaces, we’ve got you covered with a Your Next Picture Show recommendation for the recent Japanese horror-mystery Exit 8. Please share your thoughts about Phantasm, Backrooms, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Works Cited: • The 5 essential Backrooms videos to watch on YouTube after the movie, by Tasha Robinson (polygon.com) • Backrooms director Kane Parsons answers three very specific questions about the movie, by Tasha Robinson (polygon.com) • Backrooms’s Ending Cleverly Subverts One of Horror’s Biggest Clichés, by Tasha Robinson (vulture.com) • The Indoor Generation, by Carol Grant • A Feud in Wolf-Kink Erotica Raises a Deep Legal Question, by Alexandra Alter (nytimes.com) Next Pairing: Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day and E.T. The Extraterrestrial This episode is presented by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Regal Unlimited⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/join/NextPictureShowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

20-year-old Kane Parsons is now the youngest director to ever hit No. 1 at the box office thanks to his A24-backed horror film Backrooms, which made back its budget several times over in the first week of release and is already inviting talk of sequels. All of that offscreen context makes it a natural pairing with 1979’s series-spawning cult hit Phantasm, but it has plenty of onscreen connective tissue to Don Coscarelli’s super-indie horror adventure as well. So this week we do our best to make sense of Phantasm, a movie that emerged out of a dream and often feels like it, and discuss some of the memorable moments that smacked us in the face and drilled into our brains like a Sentinel Sphere. Then in Feedback, we answer some criticism of our own criticisms of The Mandalorian and Grogu. Please share your thoughts about Phantasm, Backrooms, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. This episode is presented by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Regal Unlimited⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/join/NextPictureShowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Mandalorian and Grogu plays like a few stitched-together episodes of The Mandalorian, which makes it a particularly apt pairing with the 1980 Lone Wolf and Cub assemblage Shogun Assassin — but whether the first new Star Wars feature film since 2019 manages to distinguish itself from its television counterpart is another question. We’re joined again by Filmspotting: SVU co-host Matt Singer to talk through a movie that aims to appeal to both a new generation of Star Wars fans and an older one, and often misses both marks. Then we bring Shogun Assassin back in for Connections, to discuss how The Mandalorian and Grogu honors its forebear in big, structural ways — lethally capable father figures roaming a dangerous landscape alongside the young charges they’re protecting/endangering — and in moments of beat-for-beat homage. And for Your Next Picture Show we offer a preview of what lies ahead for those who decide to continue their cinematic journey down the Lone Wolf and Cub path. Please share your thoughts about Shogun Assassin, The Mandalorian and Grogu, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Next Pairing: Kane Parsons’ Backrooms and Don Coscarelli’s Phantasm This episode is presented by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Regal Unlimited⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/join/NextPictureShowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Mandalorian and Grogu gives the feature-film treatment to a streaming series whose premise — an outcast warrior lives by a code of honor while traveling in the company of an adorable small companion — owes no small debt to the Japanese multimedia franchise Lone Wolf and Cub. But rather than comb through the six installments comprising that film series for a good match, we’re looking at another attempt to translate Lone Wolf and Cub to Western audiences via the 1980 compilation Shogun Assassin. Joined this week by Filmspotting SVU’s Matt Singer, we discuss how Shogun Assassin’s “just the hits” approach to combining the first two films in the series simplifies the plot and amplifies the action, and how this franchise’s comic-book origins come through in the film’s use of heightened violence, dynamic editing, and narration. Then in Feedback we hear from a couple of listeners about one very recent episode, and one very old one. Please share your thoughts about Shogun Assassin, The Mandalorian and Grogu, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. This episode is presented by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Regal Unlimited⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/join/NextPictureShowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kyle Balda’s new family film The Sheep Detectives pulls off a move George Miller was dissuaded from including in his 1998 sequel Babe: Pig in the City — killing off its human farmer figure — but that premise-setting death aside, it’s generally a warmer and gentler take on talking animals venturing beyond their green pastures and into the big, scary human world. The Sheep Detectives may take the shape of a murder mystery, but as our discussion highlights, it taps into big ideas about memory, grief, and empathy, all while maintaining a sly sense of humor. It’s a tonal balancing act of a different sort than Pig in the City, which we bring back in for Connections to discuss these two films’ respective approaches to animal endangerment, interspecies communication, and making non-verbal creatures talk. Then in Your Next Picture Show we offer a sampler of recommendations for ostensible children’s entertainment that is darker than it initially appears. This episode is presented by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Regal Unlimited⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off. Please share your thoughts about Babe: Pig in the City, The Sheep Detectives, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Next Pairing: Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian and Grogu and Kenji Misumi and Robert Houston’s Shogun AssassinSupport the show: https://www.patreon.com/join/NextPictureShowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Sheep Detectives is about as short on pigs as Babe: Pig In the City is short on sheep, but Kyle Balda's new family film still reminded us of the 1998 box-office-bomb-turned-cult-classic in its tale of talking animals venturing beyond their idyllic pastures and into a dangerous corner of the human world. George Miller's  poorly received sequel to Babe may technically have a lower body count than the murder mystery of Sheep Detectives — not for Miller's lack of trying — but its combination of fable-like whimsy with tragedy and trauma strikes a deeply odd and at times unsettling chord that turned off audiences charmed by its predecessor. It also gives us much to discuss in this week's revisitation of Pig in the City, as we attempt to locate the emotional core lurking beneath the slapstick antics and kinetic chase scenes, and consider what Miller was trying to say about humanity via a bunch of down-on-their-luck animals. Then in Feedback we return to a point of contention from our recent Fargo episode, and port over a question from the Patreon regarding the critical response to the new biopic Michael.  Please share your thoughts about Babe: Pig in the City, The Sheep Detectives, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. This episode is presented by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Regal Unlimited⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Despite the snowy setting, law-enforcement-officer protagonist, and pointed poking at the idea of "Minnesota Nice," Ben Wheatley's new Bob Odenkirk-starring shoot-'em-up Nowhere is in many ways the anti-Fargo. Is it fair to compare this scrappy (some might even say sloppy) genre effort to a film as revered as the Coen brothers' comedic crime classic? Maybe not, but that's what we do here at The Next Picture Show, so after a spirited debate over which parts of Nowhere we found the most enervating, we turn to Connections to consider how the two films' many overlapping elements can play out in such different ways. Then we keep the Fargo talk going in Your Next Picture Show via a general recommendation for its FX television offshoot, and a specific recommendation for which of its five anthology seasons to start with. Please share your thoughts about Fargo, Normal, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Next Pairing: Kyle Balda's The Sheep Detectives and George Miller's Babe: Pig in the City This episode is presented by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Regal Unlimited⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a comedic crime thriller set in snowy Minnesota and featuring a sheriff protagonist, it would be pretty tough for the new Bob Odenkirk-starring shoot-em-up Normal to avoid comparisons to Fargo, and since we will never pass up an opportunity to discuss the Coen Brothers' 1996 classic, that's precisely what we will be comparing it to next week. But first we'll spend this week discussing why Fargo remains so discussable even after multiple viewings, what makes Marge Gunderson — or maybe Jerry Lundegaard — such an effective protagonist, and how the film's unusual structure and tonal shifts can take even the most seasoned viewer by surprise. Then in Feedback, we keep The Drama going with an encore presentation of our disagreement about that film's ending. Please share your thoughts about Fargo, Normal, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. This episode is presented by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Regal Unlimited⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kristoffer Borgli's provocative new The Drama turns on the revelation of a secret past that is more of an abstraction than the one in the other half of this pairing, making the resulting relationship rift between Zendaya and Robert Pattinson's characters both frustrating and fascinating to parse. After talking through our responses to the film's button-pushing, and our vastly different takes on its ending, we bring A History of Violence back in for Connections to see how two films with very different agendas court our sympathy for both the secret-keepers and the secret-kept, and explore the intertwined questions of how much a person can change and how much punishment they deserve for their past. Then in Your Next Picture Show we recommend a couple other films that would make a good The Drama double feature, Sleeping Dogs Lie and The Celebration. Please share your thoughts about A History of Violence, The Drama, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Next Pairing: Bet Wheatley's Normal and Joel & Ethan Coen's Fargo. This episode is presented by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Regal Unlimited⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kristoffer Borgli's The Drama uses the revelation of one character's dark secret as a provocative “twist,” but also as the basis for an exploration of whether a romantic relationship can survive such dramatic upheaval, a premise that calls to mind 2005's A History of Violence. The central couple of David Cronenberg's thriller, played by Viggo Mortensen and Maria Bello, is much further along in their marriage than the altar-bound pair in The Drama, which lends fascinating nuance to their attempts to reckon with the husband's violent past — particularly for a bunch of podcasters who are decades into their own long-term relationships. So this week we do our own reckoning with the film's ideas about how violence can shape a person and redefine a marriage, and what makes A History of Violence stand out among both action thrillers and Cronenberg films. Then in Feedback, we welcome some constructive criticism regarding Project Hail Mary as well as our choice of film to pair it with.  Please share your thoughts about A History of Violence, The Drama, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. This episode is presented by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Regal Unlimited⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller's Project Hail Mary is an exceptionally audience-friendly adaptation of Andy Weir's novel of the same name, offsetting the story's doomsday scenario with lots of jokes, a charismatic lead, and most especially the buddy dynamic between Ryan Gosling's human protagonist and an alien engineer named Rocky. The film's light touch has made it a hit, but it also left some of your Next Picture Show hosts wanting more, as we break down in our discussion of the new film before turning to Connections and a companion film that's as prickly as Project Hail Mary is cuddly: Douglas Trumbull's 1972 directorial feature debut, Silent Running. Sure, both films explore the idea of a lonely man finding human connection in a non-human companion, the threat of worldwide ecological collapse, and the question of what we owe the Earth and what causes are worth dying for, but each takes a very different approach, to very different effect... as do the several other films we considered pairing with PHM, which we collectively recommend in Your Next Picture Show. Please share your thoughts about Silent Running, Project Hail Mary, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Next Pairing: Kristoffer Borgli's The Drama and David Cronenberg's A History of Violence This episode is presented by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Regal Unlimited⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Already the biggest blockbuster of the year so far, Project Hail Mary has proven itself about as audience-friendly as a story about looming worldwide ecological collapse can be. That makes it an interesting point of contrast with 1972's Silent Running, which approaches many of the same basic narrative beats — a man in space on a solo mission that threatens his sanity, who finds his most human connection in a non-human companion — with a melancholic tone and deeply unpleasant protagonist. So this week we're looking back at one of just two movies made by pioneering special-effects artist Douglas Trumbull to consider how Silent Running functions today as both an environmental parable and a counterculture story about fighting The Man, how it tests our sympathies for its supposed hero, and whether that supposed hero knows anything about growing plants, in space or otherwise. Then in Feedback, a listener prompt inspires us to revisit some of our most memorable interruptions to the theatrical experience.  Please share your thoughts about Silent Running, Project Hail Mary, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. This episode is presented by⁠ ⁠⁠Regal Unlimited⁠⁠⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Bride! is already a certified box-office flop, but does Maggie Gyllenhaal's ambitious but deeply flawed sophomore feature as a writer-director have potential for a second life as a cult film? We consider that possibility as we run through the highs and lows, both intentional and unintentional, of a movie that, if nothing else, offers a lot to talk about. It also offers the opportunity to revisit an unambiguous classic via Gyllenhaal's stated inspiration point of 1967's Bonnie and Clyde, which we bring back in for Connections to consider how The Bride! stacks up, in both conception and execution, in its ideas about lovers on the lam, outlaw media sensations, and empowered women empowering women. Then for Your Next Picture Show, we offer a recommendation for another film about coupled-up criminals that predates Bonnie and Clyde, the 1950 noir Gun Crazy.  Please share your thoughts about Bonnie and Clyde, The Bride!, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Next pairing: Phil Lord & Chris Miller's Project Hail Mary and Douglas Trumbull's Silent Running. This episode is presented by⁠ ⁠Regal Unlimited⁠⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The obvious point of comparison for The Bride! is apparent in the title, but Maggie Gyllenhaal's new revivification of The Bride of Frankenstein finds its animating spirit in a different film, with her protagonist couple spending a good portion of the movie on the run from the law in the 1930s in scenes that openly evoke Bonnie and Clyde. Whether The Bride! manages to rise anywhere close to the level of its inspiration is a question for next week's episode; this week, we're revisiting Arthur Penn's "lovers on the lam" classic to consider why it hit the way it did in 1967 and what remains striking about it to this day. Then in Feedback, we tackle a couple of listener questions concerning our recent discussions of Send Help and Wuthering Heights. Please share your thoughts about Bonnie and Clyde, The Bride!, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. This episode is presented by⁠ ⁠Regal Unlimited⁠⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the 98th Academy Awards around the corner, we are breaking format this week to register the Next Picture Show's recommendations to the Academy of who should take home Oscar gold. Join us as three critics with competing tastes attempt to find consensus for this podcast's official endorsement for a single winner in all the major categories. Please share your thoughts about this year's Oscar nominees, winners, ceremony, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Next Pairing: Maggie Gyllenhaal's THE BRIDE! and Arthur Penn's BONNIE AND CLYDE This episode is presented by⁠ Regal Unlimited⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emerald Fennell's new Wuthering Heights is full of stylistic provocations — skin walls, bed eggs, and light BDSM among them — but whether they are in service of, or distractions from, a bigger idea about the source material is up for debate this week. The divided reactions to Fennell's contemporized take on an oft-adapted classic are reminiscent of the love-it-or-hate it response that greeted Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet back in 1996, which we bring back in for Connections to examine the core romantic notions driving these two tales of doomed (and frequently soaking wet) love and/or lust. And in Your Next Picture Show we continue the Wuthering Heights adaptation discussion with a couple of recommendations that illustrate some of the different tonal directions this material can take. Please share your thoughts about Romeo + Juliet, Wuthering Heights, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With its bold stylization, pop soundtrack, and provocative sensibility, Emerald Fennell's new Wuthering Heights appeals to a contemporary audience so openly it can't help but call to mind Baz Luhrmann's 1996 adaptation of another literary classic about doomed lovers, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet. Fennell citing it as a reference point for her film prompted us to revisit what made Lurhmann's approach so enticing and/or annoying at the time, and consider how its maximalist mix of reverence and irreverence toward the source material — not to mention an ascendant Leonardo DiCaprio in peak heartthrob mode — has turned it into a generation's formative Romeo and Juliet.  Please share your thoughts about William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, Wuthering Heights, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sam Raimi's new survival thriller Send Help is more overtly comedic and cartoonishly violent than the other film in this week's pairing of dueling castaway duos, but those qualities are both rooted in complimentary ideas about class, gender, and power. They're also both rooted in a baseline cynicism toward humanity that informs a lot of Raimi's work, as well as our discussion of Send Help, for which we are once again joined by cultural critic and friend of the show Charles Bramesco. Then in Connections we bring 1974's Swept Away back into the discussion to see how its sexual fantasy aligns with Send Help's revenge fantasy, and how both are shaped by these films' desert (or is it deserted?) island setting. Please share your thoughts about Swept Away, Send Help, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Next Pairing: Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights and Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What happens when two people on opposite sides of a power imbalance end up stranded together on a deserted island? Before that was the premise of Sam Raimi's new comedic thriller Send Help, it was the setup for Lina Wertmüller's 1974 romantic farce Swept Away, only with the genders reversed and the sexual and political provocation turned way up. So this week we're joined by critic, friend of the show, and Wertmüller aficionado Charles Bramesco to sort through Swept Away's overlapping layers of satire, metaphor, and titillation, in an attempt to pinpoint what the film is actually trying to say about gender and class relations. Please share your thoughts about Swept Away, Send Help, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Even without Al Pacino's name in its cast list, the new Dead Man's Wire would invite comparisons to Dog Day Afternoon in its dramatization of a real-life 1970s hostage situation turned public spectacle. Whether it benefits from comparisons to Sidney Lumet's 1975 crime classic is another question, one we take up in our discussion of Gus Van Sant's first new feature in eight years. After that, we bring Dog Day Afternoon back in for Connections, to consider how these two films about volatile, narcissistic men and their ostensibly populist schemes fit into the proud tradition of amateur-hour crime movies, and whether a modern film depicting Indianapolis half a century ago has any hope of evoking its setting the way Lumet captured contemporary 1970s New York. Please share your thoughts about Dog Day Afternoon, Dead Man's Wire, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Next pairing: Sam Raimi's Send Help and Lina Wurtmuller's Swept Away. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In adapting the true story about a '70s hostage crisis that played out on television and in the public eye, Gus Van Sant's new Dead Man's Wire is just asking to be compared to 1975's Dog Day Afternoon — and who are we to resist an invitation to talk about yet another Sidney Lumet classic? So this week we revisit a film we have all previously seen and admired, but still has the ability to surprise with its unconventional approach to a bank robbery gone wrong, from its persistent sense of humor to its shifting perspective on Al Pacino's criminal protagonist. Then in Feedback, we continue the conversation about our podcast's namesake film, and answer a recurring question about our archives. Please share your thoughts about Dog Day Afternoon, Dead Man's Wire, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're kicking off the new year with our old tradition of looking back on the film year that was, as Scott, Keith, and Tasha gather to talk through their top films of 2025. After touching on some of last year's broader filmgoing trends and blitzing through the bottom half of their top 10 lists, they talk through their respective top fives, which include several Next Picture Show selections from the last year, as well as a few curveball picks that appear on no other lists. Next Pairing: Gus Van Sant's Dead Man's Wire and Sidney Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Due to the confluence of holiday and flu seasons, our Best of 2025 episode is delayed a week, so in its place we're sharing a recent episode of The Lobby, our Patreon-exclusive series focusing on movies we don't cover on the main feed. If you'd like to become a Patreon supporter and get ad-free versions of the show, as well as more bonus content like this, you can head over to patreon.com/nextpictureshow to sign up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Whether he's playing billiards or table tennis, a successful hustler requires no small amount of charisma, something Timothée Chalamet's ping-pong pro undeniably has in Marty Supreme, though it's of a decidedly different flavor than that of Paul Newman in The Hustler. Whether that charisma translates to a character we want to root for as he makes a mess of his own life, as well as those of the people (and one unfortunate dog) around him, is up for debate in our discussion of Josh Safdie's new anxiety attack in movie form. Then we pit Marty's game against Fast Eddie's as we move into Connections to discuss the magic and morality of hustling, charismatic liars and the women who are drawn to them — even when they can see right through them — and whether these men chasing victory on their own terms, and at the cost of everything else, is inspirational or pitiful. Then in Your Next Picture Show, Scott sticks up for The Color of Money, Scorsese's Hustler sequel that can't quite best its predecessor, but still has plenty of swagger all its own.  Please share your thoughts about The Hustler, Marty Supreme, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The new Marty Supreme follows a table-tennis phenom with the talent necessary to beat the best players in the world, if only he can keep his self-destructive tendencies from getting in the way. Swap out “table tennis” for “pool” in that description and you more or less have Robert Rossen's 1961 drama The Hustler, which we revisit this week not only to bask in the incomparable onscreen charisma of Paul Newman, but also to consider the film's ideas about what makes a winner — and a loser — and its noir-adjacent portrait of the gambling underworld. Then, in place of Feedback this week, we're reflecting on the late Rob Reiner's legacy on screens both big and small, and within an industry he helped shape in countless ways.  Please share your thoughts about The Hustler, Marty Supreme, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Freyne's new Eternity shoves a thematically rich afterlife scenario into a romcom-shaped container, resulting in an above-average example of the genre that nonetheless feels like it's only scratching the surface of its narrative potential. That leaves us with a lot of logistical questions to mull in our discussion of the film — several of which Tasha addressed in her pair of conversations with Freyne over at Polygon — and also a lot of points of contrast when we bring Hirokazu Kore-eda's After Life back in for Connections. After Life and Eternity look and feel very different as they navigate the ins and outs of their respective postmortem bureaucracies, but both are ultimately concerned with characters being forced to make a single choice that will define their afterlives, what that choice says about what truly matters, and what the things we most value say about us.  Those ideas pop up again in Your Next Picture Show, where Tasha offers an enthusiastic recommendation for the 2020 Edson Oda film Nine Days as an unofficial companion piece to After Life. Please share your thoughts about After Life, Eternity, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Next Pairing: Josh Safdie's Marty Supreme and Robert Rossen's The Hustler Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The new fantasy romcom Eternity turns on a scenario familiar from any number of films that imagine life after death as a bureaucratic process, but its focus on characters forced to make big, symbolic choices for big, symbolic reasons is particularly reminiscent of After Life, Hirokazu Kore-eda's 1998 movie in which the recently departed are given one week to select a memory to take with them into the great beyond. While the functional logistics of After Life's post-life waystation are ultimately secondary to its heady ideas about memory and filmmaking, that doesn't stop us from talking through the ways this specific setting informs those ideas, and the various questions that arise from it. Then in Feedback, we tackle a listener's consternation with some of the choices Train Dreams makes in adapting its source material.  Please share your thoughts about After Life, Eternity, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Clint Bentley's Train Dreams uses gorgeous imagery of the natural world, combined with an omniscient narrator quoting from the Denis Johnson novella the film adapts, to speak for a taciturn protagonist who struggles to understand, much less articulate, his place in the world. That approach has earned it the Terrence Malick comparisons that informed this pairing, but Train Dreams uses its own distinct lens to contemplate the ineffable and ephemeral nature of human existence. So after talking through our responses to the film's big-picture ideas and small, telling details, we place Train Dreams alongside Days of Heaven to discuss the two films' contrasting approaches to their overlapping elements, from persistent voiceover and big beautiful vistas, to man's presumed dominion over nature and the biblical infernos that suggest otherwise. Then for Your Next Picture Show, Keith offers a Days of Heaven-inspired recommendation for very different film featuring a similarly memorable performance from Linda Manz, 1980's Out of the Blue Please share your thoughts about Days of Heaven, Train Dreams, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Clint Bentley's new Train Dreams uses the vast canvas of the natural world to frame a relatively tiny story of a single human life, a juxtaposition of story and visuals that's reminiscent of the work of Terrence Malick, in particular 1978's Days of Heaven. Set, like Train Dreams, in the midst of America's Industrial Revolution, Days of Heaven takes an elliptical approach to a fairly straightforward narrative that is pure Malick, leaving us with much to discuss in terms of whose story this is, and what the film's sparse dialogue and unusual narration leaves unsaid. Then in Feedback, we share some quick reactions to a handful on new releases we won't be covering on the show, and address a listener suggestion for an alternate One Battle After Another pairing.  Please share your thoughts about Days of Heaven, Train Dreams, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Don't be alarmed by the title of this week's movie selection, this is not our final episode — in fact, it's our 500th, a milestone none of us expected to hit when we started this podcast a decade ago. So in honor of all our past pairings, we're devoting this one-off episode to a film we've never managed to find an excuse to cover on this show, despite naming ourselves after it: THE LAST PICTURE SHOW. You may think it counterintuitive, even perverse, to devote our anniversary celebration to a somber film about a dying town whose only movie theater shuts down — even one as great as Peter Bogdanovich's 1971 coming-of-age drama — but as our discussion reveals, there are deeper connections between the film and this podcast than just a name. After that, we lighten the mood considerably with a very special game devoted to this podcast's history and our collective inability to remember it, especially when points are on the line. Please share your thoughts about THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, The Next Picture Show, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Intro: 00:00:00-00:07:48 The Last Picture Show Keynote: 00:07:48-00:13:04 The Last Picture Show Discussion: 00:13:04 - 00:44:02 The Next Picture Quiz Show: 00:44:02-01:22:07 Next episode announcement and goodbyes: 01:22:07-end Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From its nearly three-hour runtime to its deployment of some of the most deranged CGI you've ever seen committed to screen, Radu Jude's DRACULA often feels like an extended act of trolling, but is it art? The answer to that question is inextricable from the film's presentation of AI-derived art as grotesque, inhuman, and unsatisfying, and it makes DRACULA arguably more entertaining to discuss than it is to watch. So after attempting to pull some meaning out of what the critic in 8 1/2 might describe as DRACULA's “series of gratuitous episodes,” we move into Connections for a study in contrasts between Fellini's portrait of an artist struggling to make a personal work, and Jude's evisceration of a charlatan trying to outsource artistry to a machine. Then in Your Next Picture Show, we discuss another film we considered as a DRACULA pairing that may not be quite as celebrated as 8 1/2, but we nonetheless recommend as another depiction of a filmmaker in creative crisis: Christopher Guest's debut feature, THE BIG PICTURE. Please share your thoughts about 8 1/2, DRACULA, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Next episode: A celebration of Peter Bogdanovich's THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, and 500 episodes of a niche film podcast named after it. Intro: 00:00:00-00:01:57 Dracula discussion: 00:01:57 - 00:27:20 Dracula/8 1/2 Connections: 00:27:20 - 00: 48:11 Your Next Picture Show and goodbyes: 00:48:11-end Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Radu Jude's DRACULA is, technically speaking, yet another movie about one of the most depicted antagonists in all of cinema, but in actuality it's about a different beast that has fascinated filmmakers for nearly as long: filmmaking. Within the grand tradition of “movies about moviemaking,” DRACULA's surreal humor, combined with its focus on a struggling filmmaker fantasizing about the film he might make, gave us an excuse to revisit an all-time classic of the form, Federico Fellini's 8 1/2. So this week we search for meaning within 8 1/2's reveries of a blocked creative mind, interrogate the “semi” part of Fellini's semi-autobiographical approach, and touch on some of the other films that exist in the shadow of this one. Then in Feedback, our recent pairing of RUNNING ON EMPTY and ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER inspires a supplementary-listening suggestion for the former, and a head canon explanation for one of our questions about the latter.Please share your thoughts about 8 1/2, DRACULA, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.Intro: 00:00:00-00:05:128 1/2 Keynote: 00:05:12-00:11:398 1/2 Discussion: 00:11:39-48:26Feedback/outro: 00:48:26-end Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE is built on an undeniably hooky premise — a nuclear missile originating from an unknown source is heading right for us — but is that premise enough to support a successful movie? We're joined once again by critic and author Jason Bailey to unpack that question, particularly as it applies to the film's triptych structure and nervy ending gambit. That ending comes back into play when we reintroduce 1964's FAIL SAFE for Connections, to see how Sidney Lumet's Cold War thriller compares to Kathryn Bigelow's modern-day nuclear scenario in their respective depictions of human connection — personal, professional, and adversarial —amid humanity-threatening catastrophe. Then we keep it in the nuclear family for Your Next Picture Show, with a recommendation for the 1983 TV movie THE DAY AFTER, as well as some of its pop-cultural fallout. Please share your thoughts about FAIL SAFE, A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Next Pairing: Radu Jude's DRACULA and Federico Fellini's 8 1/2 Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:33 A House of Dynamite discussion: 00:02:33 - 00:24:41 A House of Dynamite/Fail Safe Connections: 00:24:41-47:56 Your Next Picture Show and goodbyes: 00:47:56-end Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kathryn Bigelow's new A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE games out a scenario that filmmakers have been grappling with since the mid-20th century, in particular the year 1964, which saw the release of two very different classics of the nuclear-catastrophe genre: DR. STRANGELOVE, followed a few months later by the other half of this week's pairing, FAIL SAFE. If the bleak realism of Sidney Lumet's nuclear thriller made it a tougher sell to audiences back then, though, it also makes FAIL SAFE feel like a more fitting companion to Bigelow's film than its satirical predecessor. We're joined this week by critic and author Jason Bailey to discuss why FAIL SAFE still feels so immediately chilling decades removed from its Cold War context, and how Lumet makes a story that plays out mainly in a series of small rooms feel both grand in scope and human in focus. Then, in honor of our second Lumet feature in a row on this show, we turn Feedback over to a discussion of some of the prolific filmmaker's lesser-known works. Please share your thoughts about FAIL SAFE, A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE, or anything else in the world of film by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Intro: 00:00:00-00:03:56 Fail Safe Keynote: 00:03:56-00:08:47 Fail Safe Discussion: 00:08:47-00:44:03 Feedback/outro: 00:44:03-end Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Paul Thomas Anderson's ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER is a very different film in form and function than the other half of this pairing, RUNNING ON EMPTY, but it's built on the same foundational questions as Sidney Lumet's 1988 family drama: what does it mean to lead a revolutionary life, and how does one generation's fight get handed off to the next? After talking through how ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER engages with those questions, as well as its more action-movie-oriented thrills (and hills), we bring in RUNNING ON EMPTY to compare how the two films depict coming of age while on the run from the feds, and parents attempting to safeguard their children from an unknown future. Then in Your Next Picture Show, we discuss some of the other films Anderson chose, alongside RUNNING ON EMPTY, for a recent TCM guest-programming selection inspired by ONE BATTLE. Please share your thoughts about RUNNING ON EMPTY, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Next Pairing: Kathryn Bigelow's A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE and Sidney Lumet's FAIL-SAFE Intro: 00:00:00-00:01:40 One Battle After Another discussion: 00:01:40 - 00:32:37 One Battle After Another/Running on Empty Connections: 00:32:37-00:59:38 Your Next Picture Show and goodbyes: 00:59:38-end Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Paul Thomas Anderson himself cited 1988's RUNNING ON EMPTY as a direct influence on the new ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER, and it's not difficult to see the rhymes between these two films about former revolutionaries trying to protect their kids from the consequences of their parents' past. We'll get into those rhymes more next week, but first we devote some time to Sidney Lumet's 1988 film, which is less cat-and-mouse chase than coming-of-age family drama, anchored by a remarkable River Phoenix as the teenage son of former anti-war protesters on the run from the law. Unlike with PTA's film, there are no real bad guys in RUNNING ON EMPTY, only problems to negotiate within a rich family dynamic that is both delightful in its specificity and heartbreaking in its fragility. After that, we field some Feedback from listeners about our recent episodes on HIGHEST 2 LOWEST and THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY? Please share your thoughts about RUNNING ON EMPTY, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Intro: 00:00:00-00:04:58 Running on Empty Keynote: 00:04:58-00:09:39 Running on Empty Discussion: 00:09:39-00:44:26 Feedback/outro: 00:44:26-end Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It took decades in development hell for an adaptation of Stephen King's THE LONG WALK to trudge its way into theaters, and now that it has, we're of split opinions on how Francis Lawrence's film goes about distinguishing itself from its source material, particularly in its graphic depiction of violence. There's also the matter of the film's very different ending, which we dig into once we move into Connections to compare how THE LONG WALK's endurance contest compares to the one in Sydney Pollack's THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY?, in terms of how voluntary they actually are, what spectators get out of watching participants suffer, and what passes for victory in a contest where no one really wins. Then, in Your Next Picture Show, we devote a little time to revisiting a film franchise that came up repeatedly in our discussions of both these films: THE HUNGER GAMES. Please share your thoughts about THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY?, THE LONG WALK, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Next Pairing: Paul Thomas Anderson's ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER and Sidney Lumet's RUNNING ON EMPTY Intro: 00:00:00-00:01:59 The Long Walk discussion: 00:01:59 - 00:30:14 The Long Walk / They Shoot Horses Connections: 00:30:14-01:01:49 Your Next Picture Show and goodbyes: 01:01:49-end Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It took decades for THE LONG WALK to make it to the big screen, in part because the Stephen King novel on which it's based is so unrelentingly grim — but as we discovered this week, it may actually be less so than the other half of this pairing, THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY. Set during the Great Depression and featuring a protagonist who is greatly depressed, Sydney Pollack's 1969 drama about a marathon dance contest has little room for uplift, but it's nonetheless full of interesting characters and performances, evocative filmmaking choices, and one of cinema's all-time downer endings. After that discussion, we pick ourselves back up off the floor with the help of some feel-good Feedback from a long-time listener as we approach this podcast's ten-year anniversary.  Please share your thoughts about THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY, THE LONG WALK, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Intro: 00:00:00-00:04:32 They Shoot Horses, Don't They Keynote: 00:04:32-00:09:38 They Shoot Horses, Don't They Discussion: 00:09:38-00:50:10 Feedback/outro: 00:52:06-end Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Spike Lee's HIGHEST 2 LOWEST is built on the rock-solid narrative foundation of HIGH AND LOW, but the “interpretation” of Akira Kurosawa's 1963 crime-thriller classic he builds atop it can be shaky at times. We're all in agreement that HIGHEST 2 LOWEST has flaws, but whether those flaws add up to ruin or simply provide texture to a singular filmmaker's singular film is up for discussion in the first part of this week's episode. Then we move into Connections to see where Lee and Kurosawa's films align and diverge when it comes to high-low metaphor and imagery, the intersection of media and public opinion, and the value of police work. And in Your Next Picture Show, Scott recommends an earlier collaboration between Lee and HIGHEST 2 LOWEST star Denzel Washington that has only grown in his estimation since its 1998 release.  Please share your thoughts about HIGH AND LOW, HIGHEST 2 LOWEST, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Next Pairing: Francis Lawrence's THE LONG WALK and Sydney Pollack's THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY? Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:02 Highest 2 Lowest discussion: 00:02:02 - 00:30:51 Highest 2 Lowest / High and Low Connections: 00:30:51-01:12:02 Your Next Picture Show and goodbyes: 01:12:02-end Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The new HIGHEST 2 LOWEST includes an onscreen credit for “the master” Akira Kurosawa as inspiration for a film that has the same basic shape and mistaken-identity kidnapping premise of 1963's HIGH AND LOW, but is still unmistakably a Spike Lee joint. So in order to better evaluate Lee's modernization of a crime classic, we're returning to the master's version to see how Kurosawa himself reshaped HIGH AND LOW from its pulp-novel origins, utilizing a bifurcated structure and leading man Toshirō Mifune to challenge viewers' assumed sympathies towards a villain and a victim on opposite sides of the class divide. Then in Feedback, a letter from a listener underlines a point about storytelling that HIGH AND LOW handily illustrates: the necessity of a three-act structure has been greatly exaggerated. Please share your thoughts about HIGH AND LOW, HIGHEST 2 LOWEST, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Intro: 00:00:00-00:06:18 High and Low Keynote: 00:06:18-00:13:10 High and Low Discussion: 00:13:10-00:52:06 Feedback/outro: 00:52:06-end Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Zach Cregger's WEAPONS overlaps with Atom Egoyan's THE SWEET HEREAFTER in both its broad narrative setup — a town grapples with the sudden disappearance of a group of children — and its non-traditional structure, but diverges considerably in its tone. Then again, WEAPONS diverges considerably from its own tone as it goes on, artfully shifting gears as it makes its way through a story that prioritizes entertainment value over horror allegory. We're joined once again by Vulture movie critic Alison Willmore to talk about why that approach worked so well on us, and less so on the film's detractors, before bringing THE SWEET HEREAFTER back in to discuss how each film's broken timeline serves to reveal the intricacies of a community shattered by grief and anger. Then in Your Next Picture Show, we offer two recommendations for follow-up viewing, one for each half of this pairing. Please share your thoughts about THE SWEET HEREAFTER, WEAPONS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Next Pairing: Spike Lee's HIGHEST 2 LOWEST and Akira Kurosawa's HIGH AND LOW. Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:14 Weapons discussion: 00:02:14 - 00:36:00 Weapons/The Sweet Hereafter Connections: 00:36:00-00:58:58 Your Next Picture Show and goodbyes: 00:58:58-end Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a story about a community shattered by the disappearance of its children, Zach Cregger's WEAPONS lured us, Pied Piper-like, toward Atom Egoyan's 1997 film THE SWEET HEREAFTER, which doesn't have quite as many jump scares as Cregger's film, but makes up for it in enveloping sadness as it explores the far-reaching effects of a school bus crash on a small Canadian town. So this week we're revisiting Egoyan's film with the help of Vulture movie critic Alison Willmore, to discuss how telling this story out of order shapes both the narrative and the characterization, where certain performances help fill in blanks left by the dialogue, and what we're meant to take from the film's ending. Then, in lieu of Feedback, we're acknowledging a tough loss for the Chicago film criticism community by celebrating some of the critics and editors who helped shape it, and us. Please share your thoughts about THE SWEET HEREAFTER, WEAPONS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:44 The Sweet Hereafter Keynote: 00:02:44-00:08:09 The Sweet Hereafter Discussion: 00:08:09-00:59:15 Feedback/outro: 00:59:15-end Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Akiva Schaffer's new take on THE NAKED GUN sends up both the cop-story cliches that inspired the 1988 Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker original and the modern action tropes littering the filmography of star Liam Neeson, but at heart it's less a genre parody than a spoof of nostalgia reboots like, well, this one. That meta layer is a major distinction between Schaffer's film and the original, but it's not the only one, so in between rehashing some of our favorite bits we attempt to determine where the new film's ZAZ homage ends and its specific comedic sensibility begins. Then in Connections we use the many elements these two films share — bumbling cops and femmes fatale, a blend of timely and timeless humor, guns — to further distinguish between their approaches to satire, spoofery, and slapstick. And in Your Next Picture Show, our resident Quaid offers a recommendation for Schaffer's podcast with his Lonely Island compatriots and Seth Meyers. Please share your thoughts about any and all NAKED GUNs, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Next Pairing: Zach Cregger's WEAPONS and Atom Egoyan's THE SWEET HEREAFTER Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:10 The Naked Gun 2025 discussion: 00:02:10 - 00:28:04 The Naked Gun 1988/2025 Connections: 00:28:04 - 00:55:54 Your Next Picture Show and goodbyes: 00:55:54-end Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While technically a sequel, Akiva Schaffer's new THE NAKED GUN is more accurately a reboot of the 1988 Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker cop-show spoof, which was itself a sequel-slash-reboot of their TV series POLICE SQUAD and would go on to spawn two sequels of its own. As circuitous as this IP has become over the years, though, THE NAKED GUN remains simple in both its approach and its appeal, which are essentially the same: lots and lots and lots of jokes. The original NAKED GUN was not unique in that approach, particularly within the spoof genre, but it is uniquely successful at it, so this week we're parsing how it balances small comedic one-offs with drawn-out set pieces, contemporary references with timeless silliness, and broad mugging with underplayed straight-facedness. Then, in Feedback, a listener helps fill in some knowledge gaps from our recent F1 episode. Please share your thoughts about any and all NAKED GUNs, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Intro: 00:00:00-00:03:59 Naked Gun Keynote: 00:03:59-00:10:01 Naked Gun Discussion: 00:10:01-00:45:29 Feedback/outro: 00:45:29-end Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New pairing launching Tuesday, August 12th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By skipping the origin story and dropping viewers right into the action, James Gunn's SUPERMAN avoids feeling like the franchise reset it is, and allows the director to get to work creating the sort of busy, quick-paced onscreen universe at which he excels. We're joined once again by writer, podcaster, and Superman aficionado Chris Klimek to break exactly down why it works so well, as well as a few places where it doesn't, before returning to the film that helped facilitate this shorthand approach, 1978's SUPERMAN, to see how these different iterations of the title character — not to mention the familiar ensemble surrounding him — play in close proximity to each other. Can Superman be too corny? Is Lois Lane a good or terrible journalist? Why is Lex Luthor obsessed with land grabs, and what does his associate Eve Teschmacher actually add to these movies? We dig into all of that, then offer some options for Super-lementary viewing and reading in Your Next Picture Show. Please share your thoughts about either and all versions of SUPERMAN, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. 00:00:00. Intro 00:03:58. Superman 2025 discussion 00:30:12. Superman 1978/2025 Connections 01:00:12. Your Next Picture Show and goodbyes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices