"The Naked Gun" serves as a legacy sequel to "Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult" (1994) and is the fourth film in the "The Naked Gun" franchise. Starring Liam Neeson as Lt. Frank Drebin Jr., the film has been brought to the screen by director, co-writer and Lonely Island member Akiva Schaffer ("Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping") with a reverence for the kind of clever comedy style that pays homage to the previous films while carving out a new legacy for itself. Schaffer and producer Erica Huggins were both kind enough to spend some time speaking with us about their work and experiences making the film, which you can listen to below. Please be sure to check out the film, which will open in theaters on August 1st from Paramount Pictures. Thank you, and enjoy!

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"Weapons" is the latest horror film from director and writer Zach Cregger, whose feature directorial debut, "Barbarian," was a huge success when it was released in 2022. His follow-up has been greatly anticipated since then, and Warner Bros. has done an incredible job marketing the film to get audiences super interested in what the horror filmmaker has up his sleeve for his latest. Working with an all-star cast that includes Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Cary Christopher, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Benedict Wong & Amy Madigan, the film follows the case of seventeen kids from the same classroom who mysteriously disappear overnight at the exact same time, with their teacher being the main suspect. Cregger was kind enough to speak with us about his work and experience making the film, which you can listen to below. Please be sure to check out the film, which will be released exclusively in theaters nationwide by Warner Bros. on August 8th. Thank you, and enjoy!

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For Episode 452, Josh Parham, Dan Bayer, and I recap and break down this massive week of film festival announcements including the full lineup for the 2025 Venice Film Festival, a majority of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) lineup, the Opening and Centerpiece announcements for the New York Film Festival, and what this all means for the Telluride Film Festival. For this week's poll, for Venezia 82 (mainly because we at least have the full lineup for this one), we ask, "Which Film From The 2025 Venice Film Festival Are You Most Looking Forward To?" And for last week's poll, for the first time this season, we asked, "Which Film Do You Feel Will Be The Next Best Picture Oscar Winner?" and we reveal your top 10 early results for this almighty important question. We also share our reactions to the trailers for Park Chan-wook's much-anticipated "No Other Choice," Aziz Ansari's "Good Fortune," Clint Bentley's "Train Dreams," Oliver Hermanus' "The History Of Sound," Rob Reiner's "Spinal Tap II: The End Continues," the A24 English dubbed re-release of "Ne Zha 2," reveal the 2009 NBP Film Community Award Nominations, answer your fan-submitted questions, and more! We will post the 2009 NBP Film Community Award nominations on the site for you to vote on tomorrow. Thank you all for listening, supporting, subscribing, and voting. You're all the very best fans we could ever ask for, and we look forward to seeing you all again next week!

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For this week's main podcast review, Katie Johnson, Josh Parham, Ema Sasic, Sara Clements & Joselyn Safadie join me to review the latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), "The Fantastic Four: First Steps," starring Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Joseph Quinn, Julia Garner, Ralph Ineson, Natasha Lyonne, Paul Walter Hauser & Sarah Niles. Directed by Matt Shakman, this is the second reboot of the "Fantastic Four" film series and the first time Marvel's first family has entered the MCU. What did we think of the 1960s-inspired retro-futuristic design, the score, casting, story, and the visual effects? Please tune in as we discuss these elements, its awards season chances, and more in our SPOILER-FILLED review. Thank you for listening, and enjoy!

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"2000 Meters To Andriivka" had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, where it received a strong, positive reception, with critics praising it as a worthy follow-up to Mstyslav Chernov's Academy Award-winning film, "20 Days In Mariupol." The film follows Chernov and journalist Alex Babenko as they follow a Ukrainian platoon on a mission to liberate the Russian-occupied village of Andriivka across 2000 meters of land surrounded by landmines. Chernov was kind enough to return to the podcast and speak with us about his work and experience making the film, which you can listen to below. Please be sure to check out the film, which is now playing theatrically in New York with a national rollout to follow from PBS Distribution, and a broadcast on Frontline scheduled for December. Thank you, and enjoy!

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"Oh, Hi!" had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, where it received positive reviews for its story about a situationship by filmmaker Sophie Brooks, involving a new couple (Molly Gordon and Logan Lerman) who go on a weekend road trip that takes an unexpected turn. Both Gordon & Lerman were kind enough to spend some time speaking with us about their work and experiences making the film, which you can listen to below. Please be sure to check out the film, which will open in theaters on July 25th from Sony Pictures Classics. Thank you, and enjoy!

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"The Fantastic Four: First Steps" is the latest attempt to bring Marvel's first family, the Fantastic Four, to the big screen, following the 2005 and 2015 films. It is the 37th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and stars Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn as the titular team, alongside Julia Garner, Sarah Niles, Mark Gatiss, Natasha Lyonne, Paul Walter Hauser, and Ralph Ineson. Garner, Ineson, and director Matt Shakman were kind enough to spend some time speaking with us about their work and experiences making the film, which you can listen to below. Please be sure to check out the film, which will open in theaters on July 25th from Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Thank you, and enjoy!

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THIS IS A PREVIEW PODCAST. NOT THE FULL REVIEW. Please check out the full podcast review on our Patreon Page by subscribing over at - https://www.patreon.com/NextBestPicture

For this week's second podcast review, Dan Bayer, Giovanni Lago, Daniel Howat & Brendan Hodges, join me to review and discuss the latest film from Ari Aster, "Eddington," starring Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Luke Grimes, Deirdre O'Connell, Micheal Ward, Austin Butler & Emma Stone. After its world premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, much like Aster's other films, his COVID-19 pandemic-set Western has sparked an intense discussion surrounding its themes, execution, and intention. Like the characters in the movie itself, no one can seem to see eye to eye on anything regarding it. What did we think of it? Please tune in as we discuss the story, its themes and style, performances, cinematography, our experiences with the pandemic and how it changed the world, the film's awards season chances, and more in our SPOILER-FILLED review. Thank you super duper very much for listening. We hope you enjoy it!

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"Together" is a new supernatural body horror film written and directed by Michael Shanks, making his directorial debut. The film stars real-life married actors Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple who move to the countryside but find themselves encountering a mysterious force that horrifically causes changes in their bodies. Shanks was kind enough to speak with us about his work and experience making the film, which you can listen to or watch below. Please be sure to check out the film, which will be released in theaters on July 30th from NEON. Thank you, and enjoy!

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For Episode 451, Megan Lachinski, Josh Parham, Will Mavity, and I are here to predict what films we specifically feel will be announced to have their world premieres at the 2025 Venice Film Festival this week on Tuesday and the Toronto International Film Festival throughout the week. For this week's poll, with the fall film festival announcements about to come in full force with expected announcements from the aforementioned Venice, TIFF, and NYFF, and Oscar season quickly approaching, we ask for the first time this year, "Which Film Do You Feel Will Be The Next Best Picture Oscar Winner?" And for last week's poll, for the release of "Eddington," we reveal your top 10 results for "Which Is Your Favorite Film Set Against The Backdrop Of The COVID-19 Pandemic?" We also share our reactions to the trailer for Luca Guadagnino's much-anticipated Oscar contender "After The Hunt," answer your fan-submitted questions, and more! Please be sure to vote on the 2009 NBP Film Community Award Nominations if you have not already done so. Voting ends this week before July 26th. Thank you all for listening, supporting, and subscribing. We look forward to seeing you all again next week!

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