Robert Dougherty

Robert Dougherty

@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

3-time self published Lost recap author, recurring guest writer at Next Best Picture, from Philly https://nextbestpicture.com/author/robertd/ https://letterboxd.com/Robertdoc/

263 followers143 following2.3K posts

Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

"#Wildwood is an example of a true big screen spectacle we used to take for granted – & need to champion so others won’t lose the chance to make more like it someday." #WildwoodMovie review for @letterboxd.social #LaikaStudios #TravisKnight #CareyMulligan: letterboxd.com/robertdoc/fi...

letterboxd.comA ★★★★ review of Wildwood (2026)In the movie animation world, Disney and Pixar’s recent animated films have been hit and miss, Dreamworks has had some noteworthy surprises, Illumination is still Minions and Mario central, and Sony h...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

"Fielder, Holmes, Evans & others have played 'a character I created' for a long time, & this is the almost magical – in the best & maybe most derogatory ways – collision" #YouCanSeeEverything review for @letterboxd.social #NathanFielder #ElizabethHolmes #BillyEvans: letterboxd.com/robertdoc/fi...

letterboxd.comA ★★★★½ review of You Can See Everything (2026)While Elizabeth Holmes was scamming her way to billions with the fraudulent blood tests of Theranos Inc, Nathan Fielder was scamming on behalf of small businesses on Comedy Central’s quasi-documentary...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

#YouCanSeeEverything is less like a documentary & more comparable to the #Borat movies - which show promising and concerning paths for its historic #Oscars campaign ahead #NathanFielder #SashaBaronCohen #ElizabethHolmes #AliG: nextbestpicture.com/the-oscar-ca...

nextbestpicture.comThe Oscar Case for “You Can See Everything” And Why It's Tied To “Borat” - Next Best PictureFor the next two months, every awards conversation about “You Can See Everything” will revolve around how no documentary has ever been nominated for Best Picture. Yet, since “You Can See Everything” i...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

A look at the 6 different tiers in which the roughly 25 films left in the #Oscars race stand after fall festival season: nextbestpicture.com/ranking-the-...

nextbestpicture.comRanking The Strength Of The Best Picture Oscar Contenders After The 2026 Fall Film Festivals - Next Best PictureExcept for major longshots like “The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth,” “Werwulf” and “The Mosquito Bowl,” every potential Best Picture candidate aside from “Dune: Part Three” has now been seen a...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

"Sorkin's not a hack - but #TheSocialReckoning proves he's just trying very, very hard to be." #TheSocialReckoning review for @letterboxd.social #MikeyMadison #JeremyStrong #JeremyAllenWhite: letterboxd.com/robertdoc/fi...

letterboxd.comA ★★ review of The Social Reckoning (2026)The Social Reckoning is meant to highlight exactly when Facebook’s hubris, neglect, lack of understanding of women and the most vulnerable, and quasi-dictatorial management reached a tipping point onl...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

If #TomCruise isn't going to follow in Paul Thomas Anderson, Sean Baker & #ChristopherNolan's footsteps as the #Oscars big overdue winner this year, whos left that can? #DenisVilleneuve #JohnMalkovich #PaulGiamatti #EdwardNorton #MartinMcDonagh #MikeLeigh: nextbestpicture.com/which-long-o...

nextbestpicture.comWhich Long-Overdue Contender Will Win An Oscar This Year? - Next Best PictureThe last several years have been marked by the Oscars finally honoring a long-beloved, long-overdue figure, whether it was Paul Thomas Anderson in 2025, Sean Baker in 2024, Christopher Nolan in 2023, ...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

Those who still think #Digger or #Michael can make Best Picture would argue for them to surpass Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close as the worst reviewed BP nominees of all time - so how can they pull it off just like that movie did? #Oscars #BestPicture: nextbestpicture.com/can-michael-...

nextbestpicture.comCan "Michael" And "Digger" Overcome Their Reviews To Become Best Picture Nominees? - Next Best PictureThe only consolation for “Digger” right now, when it comes to the Oscar race, is that it is somehow not the lowest-reviewed film still considered to have a shot at major nominations. That position sti...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

"#Digger is the “eat the rich” satire to end all “eat the rich” films once and for all, & perhaps an intentional argument that they should end – though that damns the movie as much as it flatters it." #Digger review for @letterboxd.social #TomCruise #RizAhmed: letterboxd.com/robertdoc/fi...

letterboxd.comA ★★½ review of Digger (2026)In all the years of the “eat the rich” genre and its more apocalyptic versions, from Parasite and Triangle of Sadness to Don’t Look Up and Bugonia, the most radical takedown of the rich, their politic...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

#DunePartThree didn't play at any fall fests, yet still won big in festival season as maybe the last threat remaining that can break up a #LaBolaNegra vs #TheOdyssey showdown [& now the last WB film standing?] #Dune #TimotheeChalamet #Zendaya #DenisVilleneuve: nextbestpicture.com/dune-part-th...

nextbestpicture.com“Dune: Part Three” Is Now The Biggest Wild Card In The Best Picture Race - Next Best PictureMore than a few movies were big winners and losers when they played at Venice, Telluride, and Toronto these last couple of weeks. But a potential big winner of the fall film festival season may be one...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

"What would have happened if Pattinson, Gisondo & Wever weren’t here? If they weren’t, the film would have been guilty of much more than it ended up doing otherwise." #Primetime review for @letterboxd.social #ChrisHansen #RobertPattinson #SkylarGisondo #MerrittWever: letterboxd.com/robertdoc/fi...

letterboxd.comA ★★★ review of Primetime (2026)When we look back at what we made famous in the 2000s, we tend to wag our fingers in self-pity and hindsight laden shame – between the likes of the War on Terror, the TMZ-ification of celebrity, badly...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

The big stories of #Venice, #Telluride & #TIFF - #LaBolaNegra making the #Oscars a 2 film race, #WildHorseNine & #TheDebut missing their chance, TIFF birthing new villains, mass studio pecking order chaos & #NYFF64's big opportunity nextbestpicture.com/what-we-lear...

nextbestpicture.comWhat We Learned About The 2026 Oscar Race From Venice, Telluride & TIFF - Next Best PictureFrom Venice opening day to the TIFF awards ceremony morning, the Oscar season received its usual amount of new twists and turns out of Venice, Telluride, and Toronto. In a way, one could argue nothing...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

"Resident Evil may not be up to every standard of game & past movie fans. The rest of us can savor how it hits standards we’ve come to rejoice from Cregger- yet perhaps not the entire way through." #ResidentEvil review for @letterboxd.social #ZachCregger #AustinAbrams: letterboxd.com/robertdoc/fi...

letterboxd.comA ★★★½ review of Resident Evil (2026)So much attention was given to Curry Barker and Kane Parsons as the horror blockbuster voices of the summer, it seemed to make Zach Cregger literally yesterday’s news. Only months earlier, Cregger was...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

#WildHorseNine & #TheDebut now have the exact same possible #Oscars win package combo that can threaten #TheOdyssey- & may be fighting each other all season to get it #JohnMalkovich #JulianneMoore #PaulGiamatti #SamRockwell #MartinMcDonagh #JesseEisenberg: nextbestpicture.com/could-the-de...

nextbestpicture.comCould “The Debut” Or “Wild Horse Nine” Win Best Picture? - Next Best PictureAlthough there are six months until Oscar night and the fall fests have only just started, it’s all too easy to think “The Odyssey” is unbeatable, because it has the strongest and seemingly most unsha...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

The final burning questions that #Venice, #Telluride, #TIFF & #NYFF will hopefully answer these next few weeks #Oscars #BestPicture #Ink #Primetime #WildHorseNine #Elsinore #LaBolaNegra #Fjord #AllOfASudden: nextbestpicture.com/what-are-the...

nextbestpicture.comWhat Are The Burning Questions As We Head Into The 2026 Fall Film Festivals?Although the 2026-27 Oscar season has really been underway for months, thanks to the likes of “The Odyssey,” “Project Hail Mary,” “Obsession,” “The Invite,” and several Cannes films, the fall festival...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

"Coyote vs Acme becomes an art imitating life imitating art again prophecy of the cartoonish, & real, Sisyphean battles of our time– & how the tiniest victories are still meaningful." #CoyotevsAcme review for @letterboxd.social #LooneyTunes #WillForte #JohnCena: letterboxd.com/robertdoc/fi...

letterboxd.comA ★★★★ review of Coyote vs. Acme (2026)In the grand scale of damage David Zaslav has done to Warner Bros, Hollywood and maybe the entire country since 2023, deleting Coyote vs Acme for a tax write off, at bare minimum, is a mere drop in th...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

Will seemingly can't miss fall festival & post fall-fest #Oscars contenders like #WildHorseNine, #TheDebut, #Digger & #DunePartThree go the way of last year's seemingly can't miss fall contenders turned flops? nextbestpicture.com/what-the-202...

nextbestpicture.comWhat The 2025 Oscar Season Can Teach Us About This Year’s Early Best Picture ContendersGoing into the fall and winter, several movies are being projected as Oscar favorites and sure-fire nominees sight unseen, as per usual. But it is also per usual to have a lot of those preseason favor...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

The #Oscars have given a former acting winner yet another win 7 of the last 9 years, which bodes well for Anne Hathaway, Penelope Cruz, Julianne Moore & Sam Rockwell this year - but they still need help from their movies nextbestpicture.com/will-the-aca...

nextbestpicture.comWill The Academy Reward A Past Acting Oscar Winner Again This Year?It’s easy to assume that if an Oscar race comes down between someone who has won before and someone who hasn’t, the Academy would tend to prefer a newer winner. But when it comes to acting races, that...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

"Like TV Glow, Schoenbrun takes an allegory made for audiences that movies usually aren't made for – yet helps the rest of us to find understanding anyway" #TeenageSexandDeathatCampMiasma review for @letterboxd.social #JaneSchoenbrun #HannahEinbinder #GillianAnderson: letterboxd.com/robertdoc/fi...

letterboxd.comA ★★★★ review of Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (2026)Obsession and Backrooms supposedly made this a revolutionary summer for horror, but it was made that way for some demographics above others. If Obsession was in any way from the perspective of its vic...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

Last years #Oscars Best Actress lineup had a past nominee sweep after Telluride, a early season breakout win everything else, a past winner back 2 years later, a comeback actress, & Reinate Reinsve - & now that exact Actress lineup may happen again nextbestpicture.com/could-the-20...

nextbestpicture.comCould The 2026 Best Actress Oscar Race Follow The Exact Same Script As Last Year?Last year the Best Actress race was considered one of the least suspenseful and most predictable of the entire decade, in more ways than one. There was an overwhelming favorite out of Telluride who sw...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

Between #Primetime, #TheDebut, #MistyGreen & #ClubKid, @a24movies.bsky.social will have one of the biggest fall fest lineups of the year So how will its #Oscars pecking order look afterwards, especially with #TheInvite hinging on the outcome? nextbestpicture.com/which-a24-fi...

nextbestpicture.comWhich A24 Film Will Emerge From The Fall Festivals As Their Biggest Oscar Contender?In 2025, A24’s Oscar season strategy for the entire year was basically “Marty Supreme” or absolutely nothing, and it paid off until it lost all nine of its nominations on Oscar night. But in 2026, A24...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

#TheOdyssey will end up being one of the highest grossing Best Picture nominees of all time - so how does its potential #Oscars path compare to theirs? #Barbie #BlackPanther #Titanic #TopGunMaverick #Avatar #ChristopherNolan: nextbestpicture.com/how-the-odys...

nextbestpicture.comHow "The Odyssey" Compares To Other High-Grossing Best Picture NomineesWhile “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” got all the headlines for its box office records this past week, “The Odyssey” also hit its most important milestones to date. It became the 16th movie ever to make o...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

2025 was the first time Searchlight had no #Oscars contenders since 2016, when it then swept the next season with 2 frontrunners - so can #WildHorseNine & #Behemoth become their new Shape of Water/Three Billboards at fall fests? nextbestpicture.com/will-wild-ho...

nextbestpicture.comWill "Wild Horse Nine" And "Behemoth!" Become Searchlight's Next Oscar Powerhouse Pairing?2025 was a historically disappointing year for Searchlight Pictures, without a single Best Picture nomination or even an Oscar nomination in any category at all. It was their first year without a Best...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

"It is somewhat reassuring that Brand New Day is like the other MCU Spider-Mans – where any problems as a whole are drowned out by the most amazing parts." #SpiderManBrandNewDay review for @letterboxd.social #SpiderMan #MCU #TomHolland #Zendaya #SadieSink: letterboxd.com/robertdoc/fi...

letterboxd.comA ★★★½ review of Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026)The end of the MCU’s dominance and legitimacy may not have been Avengers: Endgame in 2019, but Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021. The MCU was still on top with a share of well received movies and shows ...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

#TheOdyssey keeps audiences coming back to see a rather downbeat, despairing movie - the opposite of 'hopecore' from far less cynical big films like #ProjectHailMary & #DisclosureDay But which mood will #Oscars voters embrace from these & other contenders?: nextbestpicture.com/from-project...

nextbestpicture.comFrom "Project Hail Mary" To "Disclosure Day" To "The Odyssey": The Box Office Battle Between Hope & DespairWARNING: Spoilers for “The Odyssey,” “Disclosure Day,” and “Project Hail Mary” Two straight hit weekends for “The Odyssey” that exceeded all expectations at the box office have proved audiences want t...

Robert Dougherty reposted

Adam Aaronson
@adamaaronson.bsky.social

Yes, this is real: LeBron James is joining the Sixers. First of several stories coming today on absolutely stunning news: after two bizarre years, the Sixers suddenly have a five-headed monster and real title aspirations. It actually happened. What now?! www.phillyvoice.com/sixers-news-...

phillyvoice.comReport: LeBron James, the NBA's all-time leading scorer, is signing with the SixersIn a shocking and historic twist, arguably the greatest player in NBA history is joining the Sixers, catapulting the team back into full-blown championship contention.
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

#TheOdyssey is matching the #Oscars path of #Oppenheimer [Nolan's last win], #OneBattleAfterAnother [last year's win] & beating that of The Revenant [last serious contender from a defending champ] - but how can it keep that going? nextbestpicture.com/the-odyssey-...

nextbestpicture.com"The Odyssey” Is The Oscar Frontrunner, But What’s The Path To Another Best Picture Win For Christopher Nolan?The first weekend of “The Odyssey” is over; all the reviews have been tallied on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, and over $124.5 million in box office in America alone has been cashed in. All told, “T...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

I was right - in every way but the final score bsky.app/profile/robe...

Robert Dougherty@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

Though the last time a major sports defending champion, with the projected GOAT, with countless lucky escapes time and time again, went for an historic repeat against an under the radar past recent champion with an historic defense and an actually dominant season.... They were slaughtered

Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

"With The Odyssey, the overall journey is shakier and easier to doubt, until the destination & its complete, collective tragedy – & terrible warning – rewards the long route home" #TheOdyssey review for @letterboxd.social #ChristopherNolan #MattDamon #AnneHathaway: letterboxd.com/robertdoc/fi...

letterboxd.comA ★★★★ review of The Odyssey (2026)In 2023, Christopher Nolan completed a decades-long odyssey of monumental successes with the defining victory of his career in Oppenheimer, leaving nothing left to accomplish and perhaps nowhere to go...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

#ChristopherNolan helped spawn the expanded ballot #Oscars era - & now mere nominations for #TheOdyssey, let alone wins, would bump his resume in that era to heights only Spielberg & Scorsese have reached nextbestpicture.com/christopher-...

nextbestpicture.comChristopher Nolan Is On The Verge Of Another Historic Oscar Milestone With "The Odyssey"Tomorrow, we will know the full scale of reactions and the full review scores for “The Odyssey,” and whether they validate the initial social reactions and Oscar predictions. But even if those turn ou...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

"The real catharsis is emotional instead of physical - & completes a hypnotic, rollercoaster ride that would stand out even in years where such movies were a dime a dozen." #TheInvite review for @letterboxd.social #OliviaWilde #SethRogen #PenelopeCruz #EdwardNorton: letterboxd.com/robertdoc/fi...

letterboxd.comA ★★★★½ review of The Invite (2026)Every movie starring middle aged adults that doesn’t have explosions, isn’t a period piece, or isn’t made for arthouses or Oscar season, is treated these days like the kind of “adult” movie no one mak...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

Every year since 2018 has had at least 1 female-directed movie in Best Picture, & now #TheInvite has the first chance to stake claim to that slot - yet neither it nor any female-directed movie is high on preseason charts anyway #OliviaWilde #BeingHeumann: nextbestpicture.com/why-are-movi...

nextbestpicture.comWhy Are Movies Directed By Women Missing From Early Best Picture Predictions?In the first Best Picture predictions by the Next Best Picture team and most other pundits, something is missing from their collective field of ten – a movie made by a woman. Despite every Best Pictur...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

A breakdown of the narratives, showdowns and potential trends predicted in the first round of Oscar picks from @nextbestpicture.bsky.social and pundits at large - whether they hold up by fall or not #TheOdyssey #WildHorseNine #Digger #LaBolaNegra #DunePartThree: nextbestpicture.com/breaking-dow...

nextbestpicture.comBreaking Down The NBP Team's First Oscar Nomination Predictions For 2026July 1st marked a milestone in coverage of the 2026 Oscar season, as the Next Best Picture team revealed their first predictions of the season. These debut picks don’t usually end up all that accurate...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

In days we will know the first word on #TheOdyssey - but as #ChristopherNolan's first film after winning BP, films like that haven't had the greatest word of mouth or repeat #Oscar success in this era nextbestpicture.com/what-oscar-h...

nextbestpicture.comWhat Oscar History Suggests About "The Odyssey's" Upcoming Awards JourneyAfter the 4th of July weekend, all eyes will be glued to “The Odyssey” as it begins its world premiere screenings on July 6th, leading up to its July 17th wide release. In a matter of days, we will ha...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

"It is an intended gift to the kind of cinephile who’s likely decried the Minions’ influence on cinema – & certainly straddles the line between inspired tribute and outright blasphemy." #MinionsandMonsters review for @letterboxd.social #Minions #Illumination: letterboxd.com/robertdoc/fi...

letterboxd.comA ★★★ review of Minions & Monsters (2026)After two Minions movies that showed how the Minions met young Gru, it seemed the only way to go for a third was a direct prequel to the first Despicable Me movie, to tie the whole cinematic universe ...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

"It all makes Supergirl feel like something done several times before – & that’s not a feeling the second movie of a brand new cinematic universe should inspire for any reason." #Supergirl review for @letterboxd.social #DC #MillyAlcock #JamesGunn #Superman: letterboxd.com/robertdoc/fi...

letterboxd.comA ★★½ review of Supergirl (2026)11 months ago, Superman was treated as a major event and a new beginning for DC, if not superhero movies in general. For that brief window, there seemed a path for DC to beat back superhero and MCU fa...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

The upcoming #Obsession Oscar campaign depends entirely on getting Inde Navarrette a nom of her own - & that may depend entirely on whether Focus Features pushes her in Lead or Supporting #Oscars #IndeNavarrette: nextbestpicture.com/inde-navarre...

nextbestpicture.comInde Navarrette Is The Key To "Obsession's" Awards Success - But Is She Lead Or Supporting?With “Obsession” now over the $200 million box office milestone in America, and with Focus Features all but confirmed to have an awards season campaign in the works, Oscar speculation is no longer lim...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

#Pixar's growing army of 2020s 'weird' girls who wring your heart enough to go "If anything happened to her, I would kill everyone in their world & then my own" to paraphrase Rosa Diaz [aka voice of Disney's 2020s flagship 'weird' girl] #ToyStory5 #TurningRed #InsideOut

Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

"A less than peak #ToyStory remains one that hits something deep inside, for those who’ve ever been, still are or may about to be a Jessie, Bonnie, Blaze or even an Emily." #ToyStory5 review for @letterboxd.social #Jessie #Woody #Buzz #Pixar #ConanOBrien: letterboxd.com/robertdoc/fi...

letterboxd.comA ★★★★ review of Toy Story 5 (2026)Just last week, Steven Spielberg tried to prove there was still a place for his kind of blockbuster storytelling in a more cynical, tech-powered world decades removed from his old classics. Now a week...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

#Pixar is in its longest #Oscars drought in its history - so if it can't break a 5-year losing streak with a #ToyStory film after almost all its predecessors won Oscars, that would say something #ToyStory5: nextbestpicture.com/toy-story-5-...

nextbestpicture.com"Toy Story 5" Faces The Biggest Oscar Test In The Franchise's HistoryThe “Toy Story” franchise is not only considered one of the gold standards of Hollywood history but also has a nearly perfect record at the Oscars. Between “Toy Story” winning a Special Achievement Os...
Robert Dougherty
@robertdoc1984.bsky.social

#DisclosureDay is the decade's 2nd highest opening original/non-horror film since #F1 - another movie made by past Oscar favorites, with lower reviews than their predecessors But can this one sneak into the Oscars in spite of backlash as well? nextbestpicture.com/why-disclosu...

nextbestpicture.comWhy "Disclosure Day" Has A Real Path To A Best Picture Nomination“Disclosure Day’s” $44 million opening may not seem huge compared to mega IP-driven blockbusters. However, it is still one of the highest openings for a completely original film in the last decade. In...