The Next Picture Show

There’s a lot to enjoy about The Weight: the tactile 1930s Oregon setting, strong performances from Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe, a premise that allows for multiple suspense sequences. But Padraic McKinley’s directorial debut is arguably lacking in thematic heft and visceral grit, particularly when compared to the other film in this pairing. So after considering how The Weight succeeds and struggles on its own terms, we bring William Friedkin’s 1977 cult classic Sorcerer back in to consider how these two films about desperate men given a deadly opportunity differ in their approach to flawed protagonists, bridge-based action scenes, and lone female characters of consequence, and the one plot hole they have in common. Then our returning guest, Vulture critic Roxana Hadadi, offers a Your Next Picture Show recommendation for another 2026 film involving the transportation of dangerous cargo, The Rivals of Amziah King.
Please share your thoughts about Sorcerer, The Weight, 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: Lance Oppenheim’s Primetime and Alexander Mackendrick’s Sweet Smell of Success
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Padraic McKinley’s The Weight isn’t a remake ofThe Wages of Fear, though it feels deeply indebted to the H.G. Clouzot classic in its thrilling depiction of a group of outlaws on a near-impossible mission across deadly terrain. William Friedkin’s 1977 cult favorite Sorcerer technically isn’t a Wages remake, either — Friedkin insisted it was his own adaptation of the original Georges Arnaud novel — though it’s similarly difficult to watch without thinking about its predecessor. So you’ll forgive us if this week’s revisitation of Sorcerer takes a few detours into Wages as we consider how Friedkin put his own distinctive stamp on this juicy premise, whether the film’s extended prologue works toward or against its narrative momentum, and how much of Sorcerer’s notoriously arduous production comes across on screen. Then in Feedback, a listener provides a recommendation for a recent under-the-radar road movie that follows in the tire tracks of Paris, Texas and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
Please share your thoughts about Sorcerer, The Weight, 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.
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Alexander Ullom's It Ends is a daring little piece of microbudget drama about four friends at transition points in their lives, who find themselves in a place where life and death no longer hold any meaning. Whether it’s a film about despair, about the afterlife, about the human condition, or all of the above, is up for discussion this week, as well as how It Ends fits into this current moment in independent horror cinema. After that, we bring Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris back in for Connections to discuss these two films’ respective existential journeys, the baggage their characters are bringing with them, and how each movie uses its genre premise to explore a big central metaphor. Then for Your Next Picture Show, we take a quick look at how Steven Soderbergh’s 2002 version of Solaris compares to Tarkovsky’s.
Please share your thoughts about Solaris, It Ends, 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: Padraic McKinley’s The Weight and William Friedkin’s Sorcerer
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/NextPictureShow
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Alexander Ullom’s feature debut, It Ends, has been billed as a horror movie, but it’s more of an existential exercise wrapped inside a genre premise. That same description could be applied to Solaris, though Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1972 science-fiction classic takes nearly twice as long to ponder the nature of life in a situation where death has no meaning anymore. So this week we’re discussing whether Solaris’ deliberate pace and opaque symbolism work toward or against its emotional core, its relative accessibility compared to Tarkovsky’s other work, and what about the film invites its reputation as the “anti-2001.” Then in Feedback, a listener brings an alternative reading to our recent discussion of War of the Worlds as a response to 9/11.
Please share your thoughts about Solaris, It Ends, 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.
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The Platt family is barely surviving, and that’s before their neighborhood is inexplicably dropped millions of years into the past and overrun by hungry dinosaurs. The End of Oak Street isn’t nearly as concerned with explaining that premise or exploring its characters as it is with facilitating dino mayhem and nostalgia for the films of writer-director David Robert Mitchell’s youth. That can be to the film’s benefit and detriment, both of which we cover in this week’s discussion, before bringing Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds back in to see how these two family survival narratives compare in their respective ideas about flawed parents, imperiled children, and the universal human desire to not get eaten. Then in Your Next Picture Show we consider a couple of possible alternate pairing for Oak Street, one featuring aliens, one featuring dinosaurs, and both underrated.
Please share your thoughts about War of the Worlds, The End of Oak Street, 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: Alexander Ullom’s It Ends and Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris
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/NextPictureShow
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.