The Next Reel Film Podcast
Talk to Me
A cursed hand. A grieving teenager. A party trick that goes terribly, supernaturally wrong. Pete and Andy close out Horror Debuts with the Philippou brothers.
June 25, 2026
For all you proper film enthusiasts who would like to peruse the films of TruStory FM’s entertainment podcasts by release decade. Get ready for a firehose of film history in these here stacks.
A cursed hand. A grieving teenager. A party trick that goes terribly, supernaturally wrong. Pete and Andy close out Horror Debuts with the Philippou brothers.
Spielberg, at 79, finally tells the next part of his aliens-are-real story — and the Film Board can’t agree on whether the old master still has it. Pete, Steve, Tommy, JJ, and Mandy go full-spoiler on “Disclosure Day”: Emily Blunt’s panic attack, the bar nobody understands, the train, and an ending that whispers one word.
We dig into Fede Alvarez’s Alien: Romulus—what the franchise long needed, a course correction—and what the film can’t stop doing to itself. Closing the Alien series.
We close out Thinking Machines with Brian and Charles—a Welsh inventor, a washing machine robot, and a father-son story that splits us right down the middle.
Andy Weir sent Ryan Gosling to space with an alien rock puppet and somehow made the most emotionally devastating buddy movie of the year. The Film Board breaks down why Project Hail Mary works — and whether it’s The Martian in cosplay or something genuinely new.
Kevin Williamson returns to the franchise he created, Neve Campbell returns to the role she built, and Scream 7 opens to franchise-record box office and a 34% on Rotten Tomatoes. Pete Wright, Tommy Metz III, Steve Sarmento, and Mandy Kaplan dig in. Full spoilers. Strong opinions. One and a half stars from Tommy.
Returning to our Rocky series with “Creed III,” we unpack Michael B. Jordan’s directorial debut, anime-inspired fight visuals, and the first Rocky film without Rocky—plus what Majors brings.
Chris Pratt wakes up strapped into a futuristic courtroom chair with 90 minutes to live and an AI judge who looks like Rebecca Ferguson, so naturally the movie turns into Minority Report: Touchpad Edition. Pete Wright, Andy Nelson, Tommy Metz III, and Steve Sarmento argue whether Mercy is a cautionary tale about surveillance and AI… or just a very shiny roller coaster that keeps finding new ways to trip over its own shoelaces.
James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash may be a technical marvel, but does it remember to be a movie? The Film Board breaks down adaptive frame rates, hollow spectacle, and why Pandora keeps getting bigger while the story keeps shrinking.
A knife in a locked church and a mystery that insists certainty is the real sin. The Film Board takes on Wake Up, Dead Man, where Rian Johnson strips the joy out of the whodunit—and somehow makes it hit harder.