iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

New 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. omny.fm/shows/filmsp...

A man sits on a ragged, disintegrating rope-and-plank bridge during an intense thunderstorm, guiding a rusty old truck that's tipping dramatically to one side, about to fall into the swollen river below. A screenshot from William Friedkin's 1977 film SORCERER.

052

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

New 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. omny.fm/shows/filmsp...

A photo collage of images from IT ENDS and SOLARIS, with a group of people on a forest road getting into a Jeep above and a man walking through a futuristic hallway lined with mainframe computers below.

051

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

New 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." omny.fm/shows/filmsp...

A human figure is dwarfed by a round, futuristic tunnel lined with red 70s mainframe computers in 1972's SOLARIS

041

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

In 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. omny.fm/shows/filmsp...

A photo montage of similar images from THE END OF OAK STREET and the 2005 WAR OF THE WORLDS, each featuring its movie's central family driving together in a car, looking unsettled and afraid

061

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Over 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. www.patreon.com/NextPictureS...

A photo montage of Dolly Parton in various movies: In a tight red dress in BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS, at a mic with a cup of coffee in STRAIGHT TALK, looking dubious in 9 TO 5.

0122

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

New 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! omny.fm/shows/filmsp...

Tom Cruise in 2005's WAR OF THE WORLDS, standing in a basement that's being overrun by a stringy, blood-red alien plant. He's holding up one hand in front of his face and examining it like he's just discovered he has fingers, like, whoa.

1103

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

New 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. omny.fm/shows/filmsp...

The Mandalorian, a dude in Boba Fett style armor, and Grogu, aka Baby Yoda, in the movie named for the two of them.

193

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

New 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. open.spotify.com/episode/1CaF...

Tomisaburô Wakayama as Lone Wolf in SHOGUN ASSASSIN. A wild-haired, double-chinned, angry-looking samurai, backlit against a black background, brandishing a katana in his right hand and holding his young son with his left arm.

0162

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

This 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. cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

Bruce Dern, in a shapeless white robe, sits in a garden with two short, boxy robots in SILENT RUNNING.

0104

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

DEAD 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: cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

cms.megaphone.fm

#509: Captive Audiences, Pt. 2 — Dead Man's Wire by The Next Picture Show

Even without the Al Pacino connection, Gus Van Sant's new dramatization of a real-life 1970s hostage situation turned public spectacle was destined for comparisons to Dog Day Afternoon.

194

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

New 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. cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

041

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

Timothée 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. cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

021

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

This 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. cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

031

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

This 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. cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

071

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

In 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! cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

0112

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

It'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. cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

0101

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

New 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. cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

A silhouette of a man in a fedora and suit, seen behind with his arms extended outward , palms up as if he's directing traffic. The man is hovering above a street full of cars, in a black-and-white city.

362

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

The 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

megaphone.link

#497: First Strikes, Pt. 2 — A House of Dynamite by The Next Picture Show

Is Kathryn Bigelow's hooky premise enough to support a successful movie?

093

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

This 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. cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

051

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

New 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. cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

071

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

This 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. cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

051

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

New 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? cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

331

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

New 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. cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

172

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

This 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. cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

052

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

This 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: cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

051

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

Last 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. cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

091

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

Let's get furious! This week, inspired by THUNDERBOLTS*, we look back at MYSTERY MEN, another third-string-superheros movie about an awkward group of street-level types with self-esteem issues and family problems, living in the shadow of a much shinier hero. cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

2101

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

This week, David Cronenberg's THE SHROUDS inspired a look back at his most mainstream movie (and, as we discuss, his last horror film?), 1986's THE FLY. These movies have so many parallels, from terrible possessive exes to obsessions with decay — and "the flesh." cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

062

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

This week, Steven Soderbergh's BLACK BAG prompted a look back at another couple solving a mystery via fancy dinner party, in 1934's THE THIN MAN. This franchise-launcher is notable for many things, but especially Nick & Nora's casual, breezy loyalty and chemistry. cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

072

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

Last week: Paul Verhoeven's STARSHIP TROOPERS mocks fascism. This week: Bong Joon-ho's MICKEY 17 mocks capitalism. Both do it via doofuses at war with space bugs, and via exaggerated, over-the-top satirical rancor. We dig into how they line up and how they diverge. cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

0174

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

We're back! This week, Bong Joon-ho's MICKEY 17 has us looking back at Paul Verhoeven's STARSHIP TROOPERS, another book adaptation where "idiots needlessly go to war with space bugs." We argue about his intended satire of fascism, and whether it lands as intended: cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

2192

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

This week: Inspired by EEPHUS's feature-length subversion of “the big game,” we're joined by pinch-hitter @timgrierson.bsky.social to look back at 1988’s BULL DURHAM and see how what's often cited as one of the best baseball movies ever lives up to that reputation: cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

092

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

This week, we're breaking from the usual pairing format to discuss our top 10 movies of 2024. Some of these picks won't be a surprise if you've followed along with the show. Others… well, we all ended this recording with some new catch-ups added to our watch lists. cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

091

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 26/12/2024

This week: We explore NICKEL BOYS, RaMell Ross’s adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer-winning novel, and compare it with THE DEFIANT ONES (which Ross draws footage from) in terms of themes, perspective, and how to unpack those two pregnant, haunting endings. cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

072

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

This week: NICKEL BOYS' use of footage from Stanley Kramer's 1958 race-relations thriller THE DEFIANT ONES made us curious, so we checked it out to see how the two connect. Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis are tremendous in this message movie about convicts on the run: cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

092

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

This week, we talk WICKED: PART I: the material added to the stage show, the odd treatment of the songs, the audacious approach, the believability of the Elphaba/Glinda friendship. Then we compare it with WIZARD OF OZ's heroic journey, resolutions, and more. cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

072

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

This week, WICKED takes us back to the original WIZARD OF OZ, for a clear-eyed adult look at this classic's strengths, flaws, and oddities — particularly its troubled history, how it got its Kansas framing device, and how it all plays for a deeply familiar audience. cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

082

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

This week: Sean Baker's Palme d'Or winner ANORA has drawn widespread fascination and acclaim with its portrait of a Manhattan sex worker whose quickie romance with a rich Russian kid complicates both their lives. It pairs perfectly with PRETTY WOMAN on many levels: cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

1144

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 14/11/2024

Hello! We're the Next Picture Show podcast. We discuss pairings between a new movie and classic that inspired it, has talent in common, or covers a similar subject. Co-hosted by four team members from The A.V. Club and The Dissolve: Tasha Robinson, Scott Tobias, Genevieve Koski, and Keith Phipps.

0324

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 14/11/2024

This week: Edward Berger's let's-elect-a-pope thriller CONCLAVE feels like a sleek, religious-themed rendition of 1964's THE BEST MAN. We put the two together to see what they each say about politics and purity, conscience and idealism, secrets and mud-slinging. cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

2122

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 31/10/2024

This week: Jason Reitman's divisive Robert Altman scene portrait SATURDAY NIGHT, which mythologizes the chaos behind the scenes at SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE's premiere. We saw similarities with D.A. Pennebaker's once-lost doc ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM: COMPANY. Let's discuss. cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

051

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 15/10/2024

This week: DreamWorks' THE WILD ROBOT adapts a kids' book but also takes major inspiration from Brad Bird's THE IRON GIANT (also based on a book), so we compared the two, digging into how they address surrogate parenthood, machine personhood, and self-sacrAIfice. cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

0133

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 08/10/2024

This week, inspired by THE WILD ROBOT, we're looking back at THE IRON GIANT: a box-office flop abandoned by its studio and rescued via word of mouth and home-video viewings, a Pete Townshend musical project radically reimagined by a Simpsons producer, and a lot more. cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

0113

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 02/10/2024

This week, we compare Azazel Jacobs‘ HIS THREE DAUGHTERS, a Netflix movie none of us fully loved, with Tamara Jenkins' THE SAVAGES, which we all loved. It's two movies about adult siblings navigating a problematic parent's decline, with strong performances in both. cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

030

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 11/09/2024

Lots to discuss this week as we begin pairing REBEL RIDGE with its most obvious inspiration, the franchise kickoff FIRST BLOOD: We dig into the older film's mysteries, narrative approach, and place in movie history, plus what made Sylvester Stallone the perfect star. cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

1132

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 04/09/2024

Like James Cameron in 1986, Fede Álvarez set out to sequelize Ridley Scott's ALIEN. Cameron switched genres for ALIENS; Álvarez reverted to basics with the homage montage ALIEN: ROMULUS. We disagree on their value as a double feature — especially about the CG acid. cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

1123

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 28/08/2024

Game not over, man! We're just getting started. Fede Álvarez's direct ALIEN sequel ALIEN: ROMULUS inspired us to look back at James Cameron's ALIENS, to see how a budding action director handled his own direct ALIEN sequel in 1986. This movie mostly holds up… mostly. cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

071

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 23/08/2024

M. Night Shyamalan's TRAP takes a lot of DNA from Fritz Lang's M, another procedural that privileges the criminal's perspective, with outsiders chasing a serial killer after regular law enforcement fails. We compared these films, and (big twist!) liked one better: cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

082

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 09/08/2024

We wrap our "fragile lady law enforcement agents with unfortunate serial-killer admirers" double feature by looking at LONGLEGS through the lens of one of its major inspirations, THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. These movies have a lot in common, but different agendas. cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

081

The Next Picture Show Podcast @thenextpictureshow.bsky.social · 29/07/2024

Oz Perkins' LONGLEGS takes direct inspiration from SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, so our new pairing jumps back to that 1991 thriller. Charles Bramesco joins us to discuss how Lecter stole the show, but how differently it plays on a rewatch, considering how it frames Clarice. cms.megaphone.fm/channel/FLM2...

1103