The Next Picture Show

I enjoy this podcast. The varied hosts have a wealth of knowledge about film and offer some interesting interpretations. It’s a joy to listen to intelligent discussion.

Thank you for the deep and interesting conversations. If you want to listen (and think as you listen!) to nuanced, knowledgeable, and complicated analysis- this is the podcast for all cinephiles.

Good commentary overall but good lord, some of the hosts barely seem to pay attention. 😭 Michael B. Jordan’s characters in Sinners did not wear the same hats in different colors and it doesn’t take a “hat expert” to know that, just someone who watched the movie for at least 15 minutes.

This is a unique podcast with an awesome premise. They pair older movies in conversation and connection with new movies, that make for interesting, deep analysis. They come with wide knowledge of film and literature history that make for fun and engaging listening. I have some nits I could pick about how sometimes despite there being four hosts, they can miss plot or psychological details or they themselves can get stuck on something that derails the conversation a bit but I can’t claim I wouldn’t do the same so I don’t have any real qualms there. They’re excellent at what they’re doing, full stop. Where I have a major caveat is they can be quite ungenerous with their listeners. I’ve been listening for about a year and just heard the Conclave episode pairing. They went in on someone who had the audacity to write the podcast was “mostly really good” as he was mainly attempting to suggest the hosts mention getting movies through your local libraries. They were pretty snide and nasty towards this guy and weirdly defensive about how they love libraries (can’t say I’d heard any of them mention using libraries in the year I’ve been listening, but whatever). My main takeaway was, don’t engage. They will be unkind if they feel slighted. It nearly turns me off listening, and I definitely will need a break before I try again. They’re very good. But it was unnecessary and uncomfortable, imagining this listener hearing the way they spoke about them.