Critically Acclaimed Network

Bibbs and Witney explain where they've been all week and read emails from listeners who want to talk about how Pon farr works in STAR TREK, why OKLAHOMA! wasn't the game-changing musical it gets credit for, the pros and cons and unexpectedly complexities of selling out, and how long we'd set the Enterprise's self-destruct timer for! Email us at letters@criticallyacclaimed.net,  so...

Because you demanded it, CANCELED TOO SOON is back! This is the podcast where William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold review TV shows that lasted only one season or less, and we're kicking off a new wave of episodes with a forgotten EPIX series starring Ben Kingsley, Jacki Weaver, Jimmi Simpson, Luis Guzman, and Terry O'Quinn, which plays like a Coen Brothers crime story that just won't st...

Bibbs and Witney read emails from listeners who want to talk about why cult movies probably wouldn't be better with bigger budgets, why the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director don't necessarily go hand-in-hand, great movies about quarter-life crises, how to interview famous people and why film criticism has some similarities with preaching! Email us at letters@criticallyacclaimed.net...

This week on CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED, film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold review Kenneth Branagh's all-star murder mystery DEATH ON THE NILE, the award-winning international drama COMPARTMENT NUMBER 6, the Jennifer Lopez/Owen Wilson rom-com MARRY ME, Steven Soderbergh's techno-thriller KIMI, and Josephine Decker's YA drama THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE! Plus, Bibbs and Witney look ov...

Bibbs and Witney read emails from listeners who want to talk about what's wrong with using CGI to resurrect dead actors and de-age older actors, bad movies saved by great moments, when a viewer's personal expertise ruins a film, and whether Bibbs and Witney think about character vs. story! Email us at letters@criticallyacclaimed.net,  so we can read your correspondence and answer YOUR ques...

Welcome to CRITICALLY RECLAIMED , where film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold catch up on older movies one or both of them have never seen before, as chosen by YOU, our listeners! This week on  CRITICALLY RECLAIMED , Bibbs and Witney get box seats for Richard Attenborough's  A CHORUS LINE , an Oscar-nominated adaptation of the Tony Award-winning musical, starring Michael Douglas! Do...

This week on CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED, film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold review Roland Emmerich's absurd disaster thriller MOONFALL, Joachim Trier's masterful THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD, the new punk documentary POLY STYRNE: I AM A CLICHE, and the horror movies ALONE WITH YOU and SLAPFACE! Moonfall - 0:59  The Worst Person in the World - 28:32  Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché - 4...

Bibbs and Witney read emails from listeners who want to talk about the importance of celebrating incomplete art, their latest charities, why the words "overrated" and "underrated" are a problem in film criticism, the preponderance of bad photoshop in films, and the revelation that CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED has fans on all seven continents! Email us at letters@criticallyacclaimed.net,  s...

This week on CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED, film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold review the lost 1984 ninja vigilante thriller NEW YORK NINJA, Asghar Farhadi's latest drama A HERO, the Kevin James sports dramedy HOME TEAM, the stop-motion animated anthology THE HOUSE, the animated kids film THE ICE AGE ADVENTURES OF BUCK WILD, the Danish drama A TASTE OF HUNGER, and the HBO Max teen drama T...

Welcome to CRITICALLY RECLAIMED , where film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold catch up on older movies one or both of them have never seen before, as chosen by YOU, our listeners! This week on  CRITICALLY RECLAIMED , Bibbs and Witney explore a public domain film noir that's often taken for granted, but there's a reason why  D.O.A.  (1950) is considered a classic! Its legacy touc...

Bibbs and Witney read emails from listeners who want to talk about the minutiae of stardates in the STAR TREK franchise, the unexpected precursors to TITANE, the greatness of THE LIFE OF BRIAN, and the best characters with little or no dialogue! Email us at letters@criticallyacclaimed.net,  so we can read your correspondence and answer YOUR questions in future episodes! And if you want soap, be su...

Welcome to CRITICALLY RECLAIMED , where film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold catch up on older movies one or both of them have never seen before, as chosen by YOU, our listeners! This week on  CRITICALLY RECLAIMED , Bibbs and Witney introduce you to an invisible 6 foot tall rabbit named HARVEY ! Is he real? Is he imaginary? Is he an elaborate metaphor for Jesus Christ? Let's find o...

Bibbs and Witney read emails from listeners who sent us drinky birds and beautiful watercolors, presented their favorite movie insults, take us to task for all the great movies based on TV shows that we forgot, and want to know all about the Criterion collection! Email us at letters@criticallyacclaimed.net,  so we can read your correspondence and answer YOUR questions in future episodes! And if yo...

Every month on THE IRON LIST, the Patrons of the Critically Acclaimed Network get to pick a topic for a giant-sized episode! This month it's THE BEST MOVIES BASED ON TV SHOWS, an over 2 1/2-hour podcast dedicated to William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold's favorite films that adapt, follow or provide valuable backstory to TV series! Comedies based on classic sitcoms, action movies based on be...

This week on CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED, film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold review the blockbuster slasher "requel" SCREAM, the animated family comedy sequel HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 4: TRANSFORMANIA, and the latest anime from acclaimed director Mamoru Hosoda, BELLE! Scream - 3:50  Hotel Transylvania 4: Transformania - 43:12  Belle - 1:03:46  Review Round-Up - 1:23:43   Subscribe on Patr...

Bibbs and Witney read emails from listeners who ask about what the future film film criticism will look like, outdated cultural references, movies they used to champion (and have since turned on), their favorite workplace comedies and more! Email us at letters@criticallyacclaimed.net,  so we can read your correspondence and answer YOUR questions in future episodes! And if you want soap, be sure to...

Welcome to CRITICALLY RECLAIMED , where film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold catch up on older movies one or both of them have never seen before, as chosen by YOU, our listeners! This week on  CRITICALLY RECLAIMED , Bibbs and Witney take a trip to the mild, mild west with THE APPLE DUMPLING GANG on DISNEY PLUS ! It's a cult classic comedy western starring the original Incredible Hu...

This week on CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED, film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold say goodbye to an astonishing group of entertainers, including comedians Betty White and Bob Saget, iconic actor/director Sidney Poitier, and celebrated filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich. They also review the new all-star spy thriller THE 355, George Clooney's latest drama THE TENDER BAR, the high-concept thriller SE...

Welcome to CRITICALLY RECLAIMED , where film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold catch up on older movies one or both of them have never seen before, as chosen by YOU, our listeners! This week on  CRITICALLY RECLAIMED , Bibbs and Witney return to the maniacal world of William Lustig with MANIAC COP , a surprisingly awesome genre mash-up starring Bruce Campbell, Tom Atkins, Richard Roundtre...

Bibbs and Witney read emails from listeners who ask about their New Year's resolutions, the vitally important (but all-too-rarely discussed) art of editing, films our hosts really hope get made someday, how it feels to go against the critical consensus about a film, and whether the abundance of CGI in fields like Cinematography and Production Design has broken the Oscar category system! Email...

This week on CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED, film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold present their picks for THE BEST FILMS OF 2021, from serious Oscar contenders like THE POWER OF THE DOG and TICK TICK BOOM!, to obscure indies like THE AMUSEMENT PARK and MY SALINGER YEAR, to genre flicks like WEREWOLVES WITHIN and a certain superhero movie everyone seems to have loved! Subscribe on Patreon  at www...

This week on CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED, film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold review Lana Wachowski's sci-fi reboot THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS, Adam McKay's apocalyptic comedy DON'T LOOK UP, Joel Coen's first solo film THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH, Joe Wright's musical romance CYRANO, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul's MEMORIA! The Matrix Resurrections - 12:04  Don't Look Up...

Bibbs and Witney read emails from listeners who sent them Christmas cards (stick around at the end, we got a few more at the last minute!), and give book recommendations for film lovers, compare WEST SIDE STORY on stage and screen, TV shows they were surprised weren't canceled, and much more! Email us at letters@criticallyacclaimed.net,  so we can read your correspondence and answer YOUR quest...

This week on CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED, film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold review SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME, Maggie Gyllenhaal's directorial debut THE LOST DAUGHTER, Lauren Hadaway's directorial debut THE NOVICE, the sci-fi tragedy SWAN SONG, Guillermo Del Toro's film noir remake NIGHTMARE ALLEY, and Ryûsuke Hamaguchi's award-winning DRIVE MY CAR! The Lost Daughter - 8:16  T...

Welcome to CRITICALLY RECLAIMED , where film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold catch up on older movies one or both of them have never seen before, as chosen by YOU, our listeners! This week on  CRITICALLY RECLAIMED , Bibbs and Witney pit their souls against the classic 1958 musical DAMN YANKEES !, starring Tab Hunter, Ray Walston and one of the greatest dancers who ever lived, Gwen Verd...