Critically Acclaimed Network

Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold are working backwards through film history, and in Season 2, they're using THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW as the starting point! This week, Bibbs and Witney are stricken with REEFER MADNESS, the original 1936 exploitation cult classic that told the world that marijuana turns everyone into insane ax murderers! How the heck did this cartoonish prop...

It's an all-new episode of WE'VE GOT MAIL, the podcast where film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold answer YOUR letters! This week, Bibbs and Witney debate whether "Show, Don't Tell" is good advice or not, reveal their favorite films that aren't on home video, pick out the best films of 1994, discuss how satire is supposed to work, and give a serious Spongebob fan...

WHO LIKES MOVIE REVIEWS?! We do, and we're doing them on CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED! This week, William Bibbiani and Witney review the new releases COMING 2 AMERICA, CHAOS WALKING, RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON, BOOGIE, PIXIE, LUCKY, THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SPONGE ON THE RUN, MY SALINGER YEAR, LAZARUS and YES DAY! And also this week, on THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED STREAMING CLUB, Bibbs and Witney review fascin...

Before Steven Spielberg became the biggest director in the world, he was one of the most promising directors on television! This week on CANCELED TOO SOON, film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold unearth the failed pilot for SAVAGE, directed by Steven Spielberg! Martin Landau stars as a TV journalist investigating a conspiracy revolving around a new Supreme Court justice, and the fate of...

It's an all-new episode of WE'VE GOT MAIL, the podcast where film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold answer YOUR letters! This week, Bibbs and Witney share their experiences at film festivals, explain their "hot take" views on Federico Fellini's 8 1/2, debate whether film critics need to consider a film's target demographic or not, ponder the ethical considerations...

Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold are working backwards through film history, and in Season 2, they're using THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW as the starting point! This week, Bibbs and Witney meet THE WOMEN, a 1939 George Cukor film with an astounding ensemble cast of only female actors! Norma Shearer! Joan Crawford! Rosalind Russell! Joan Fontaine! Butterfly McQueen! Hedda Hopper...

It was best of times, it was the maddest of times! Decades before MAD TV became a hit live-action sketch comedy series, the beloved satirical magazine made a pilot episode for an ANIMATED sketch comedy series, which brought the cartoons from the pages to life! It eventually aired as THE MAD MAGAZINE TV SPECIAL, and nobody seemed to notice. Was the original version of MAD TV, made by "The Usual...

William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold are inviting fascinating people to watch MY DINNER WITH ANDRE, a film about fascinating people having a conversation, and have their own conversation about it! This week's guests are CHELSEA SPIRITO and FARRAH DESGRANGE of FROM BEYOND THE BROADCAST , a new scripted web series full of weird and wonderful tales, hosted by our very own WITNEY SEIBOLD! Subscribe...

They fight, they fight, they fight and fight and fight! And they're fighting on CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED! This week, William Bibbiani and Witney review the new releases TOM & JERRY, CHERRY, WRONG TURN and THE UNITED STATES VS. BILLIE HOLIDAY! And also this week, on THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED STREAMING CLUB, Bibbs and Witney review Oscar-nominated John Carpenter sci-fi/romance STARMAN! Tom &...

It's an all-new episode of WE'VE GOT MAIL, the podcast where film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold answer YOUR letters! This week, Bibbs and Witney talk about the history of fan re-edits, more of the best movies ever made about sex, the best Best Picture winners in Oscars history, and whether critics really have the power to ruin movies with bad reviews! Email us at letters@crit...

Alden Ehrenreich from SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY, Hannah John Kamen from Marvel's ANT-MAN AND THE WASP, and even Demi Moore unite for a big budget TV version of Aldous Huxley's dystopian classic BRAVE NEW WORLD, exclusively on Peacock! It had the intrigue, it had the strange setting, it had lots and lots and LOTS of sex, so why was Peacock's attempt at a GAME OF THRONES canceled after one...

Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold are working backwards through film history, and in Season 2, they're using THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW as the starting point! This week, Bibbs and Witney revisit THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, an early sci-fi sensation from future Oscar-winner Robert Wise, about first contact with an alien species, who have a message for humanity about how we...

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 ABOUT SEX! That doesn't necessarily mean the most erotic motion pictures, or the most graphic. It means the films that are about the topic of sexuality and have something interesting and engaging to say about them. Some of them are fun...

It's an all-new episode of WE'VE GOT MAIL, the podcast where film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold answer YOUR letters! This week, Bibbs and Witney talk about the importance of production design in movies, which new categories the Oscars should add to the ceremony, why some critics need to rethink the way they critique romance in movies, why critics need to champion old films no...

AAAAAARGH we're reviewing so many movies this week on CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED! This week, William Bibbiani and Witney review the new releases FLORA AND ULYSSES, THE MAP OF TINY PERFECT THINGS, THE MAURITANIAN, BARB AND STAR GO TO VISTA DEL MAR, AFTER MIDNIGHT, BLITHE SPIRIT and JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH! Also this week, on THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED STREAMING CLUB, Bibbs and Witney review the cel...

Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold are working backwards through film history, and in Season 2, they're using THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW as the starting point! This week, Bibbs and Witney explore one of the greatest documentaries ever made about movies and Hollywood! THE CELLULOID CLOSET (1995) puts the whole of film history - up until 1995 - in context by exploring the way mo...

It's an all-new episode of WE'VE GOT MAIL, the podcast where film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold answer YOUR letters! This week, Bibbs and Witney talk the history of GODZILLA, their favorite unusual entries in popular film franchises, the behind the scenes revelations about Buffy and Angel, why it's okay not to like a filmmaker's filmography, what the fundamental probl...

William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold are inviting fascinating people to watch MY DINNER WITH ANDRE, a film about fascinating people having a conversation, and have their own conversation about it! This week's guests are Paul Preston and Adam Witt from THE MOVIE GUYS , two of the funniest movie commentators in the business, whose video STAR WARS: A PLAY-BY-PLAY COMMENTARY is one of Bibbs's f...

Our Patrons have the power to sponsor an episode of CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED of their choice, and we call it YOUR CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED! This week it's a special double feature of films that aren't well known in America: the Russian superhero blockbuster BLACK LIGHTNING, and the Scottish jukebox musical SUNSHINE ON LEITH, featuring songs by The Proclaimers! Do these films deserve a bigger overs...

It's an all-new episode of WE'VE GOT MAIL, the podcast where film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold answer YOUR letters! This week, Bibbs and Witney talk about why we need to rethink the way talk about art for older demographics, which Muppets they'd like to puppeteer, the difference (if there is one) between "film criticism" and "film reviews," and why maybe...

Our annual SUDDENLY LAST SEASON event continues! William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold are exploring some of the biggest shows that lasted only one season (or less) within the last year on CANCELED TOO SOON! This week, it's UTOPIA! This Amazon Prime series, based on a cult British TV show, tells the story of conspiracy fanatics who track down a rare comic book that predicts the future of viral o...

We're saying goodbye to MORE legends and saying hello to some REALLY mixed bag films on CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED! This week, William Bibbiani and Witney review the new releases MALCOLM AND MARIE, EARWIG AND THE WITCH and A GLITCH IN THE MATRIX! Also this week, on THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED STREAMING CLUB, Bibbs and Witney review Bibbs's favorite movie... SEARCHING FOR BOBBY FISCHER! But first, t...

Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold are working backwards through film history, and in Season 2, they're using THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW as the starting point! This week, Bibbs and Witney get tied up with Alfred Hitchcock's ROPE! The innovative suspense thriller about two young, queer-coded men who decide to commit the perfect murder was filmed to look like one, long, cont...

It's an all-new episode of WE'VE GOT MAIL, the podcast where film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold answer YOUR letters! This week, Bibbs and Witney talk about what film you should watch first if you're just starting out with Alfred Hitchcock, advice for the mid-20s, older movies our listeners discovered for the first time in 2020, the anxiety that comes with realizing you ca...

We're saying goodbye to legends and saying hello to some mixed bag films on CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED! William Bibbiani and Witney are back and reviewing the new releases THE LITTLE THINGS, THE QUEEN OF BLACK MAGIC and PALMER! And this week on THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED STREAMING CLUB, Bibbs and Witney get meta in the Oscar-nominated cult classic THE STUNT MAN! But first, they must say goodbye to som...