Critically Acclaimed Network

Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold are working backwards through film history, using STAR WARS as the starting point! This week on EPISODE ZERO they explore the first film to win the Oscar for Best Picture (kinda), a World War I epic with unbelievable imagery and beautiful melodrama, WINGS! How did it inspire elements of STAR WARS, and large swaths of THE LAST JEDI in particular? We&...

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 writing screenplays, we they'd choose to replace them on the podcast, the best summer movies released in May, where to begin your journey into the films of Werner Herzog, the films of Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu, Guill...

CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED has so many movie reviews this wee, it's ridiculous! Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold review Disney's THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN, the teen romance CHEMICAL HEARTS, the teen mental health drama WORDS ON BATHROOM WALLS, the western/horror hybrid THE PALE DOOR, the bizarre Disney documentary LIVE FROM THE SPACE STAGE: A HALYX STORY, and the new Ethan Hawke biop...

ANIME MONTH continues with a series about an introverted jellyfish enthusiast whose life turns around when she befriends a cross-dressing extrovert!  PRINCESS JELLYFISH is part comedy, part drama, part romance, and it may very well have been... CANCELED TOO SOON! William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold are once again joined by author/illustrator M. Lopes da Silva for an in-depth conversation about ani...

Our Patrons have the power to sponsor an episode of CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED of their choice, and we're calling it YOUR CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED! In this episode, film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold were asked to draft their ultimate summer movie blockbuster schedule, and they each approached the assignment VERY differently! Email us at letters@criticallyacclaimed.net,  so we can read you...

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 their favorite screenplays, old-fashioned film styles we miss, why comedies shouldn't punch downward, the Movie Trivia Schmoedown and - finally! - their favorite popsicles! Email us at letters@criticallyacclaimed.net,...

Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold are working backwards through film history, using STAR WARS as the starting point! This week on EPISODE ZERO they move into Edgar Rice Burroughs' A PRINCESS OF MARS, which inspired STAR WARS, and which was eventually adapted into Andrew Stanton's sci-fi epic JOHN CARTER, which was inspired by STAR WARS!  Subscribe on Patreon  at www.patreon....

CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED is chock full of movies this week! Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold review Netflix's new Joseph Gordon-Levitt/Jamie Foxx superhero movie PROJECT POWER, the Russian sci-fi/monster movie SPUTNIK, the thriller THE BAY OF SILENCE, and the supernatural teen romance ENDLESS! Also this week on THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED STREAMING CLUB, Bibbs revisits the Disney clas...

ANIME MONTH continues with a series about teenagers fighting off the zombie apocalypse using all the ultra-violence at their disposal, and a heck of a lot of fan service!  Was HIGH SCHOOL OF THE DEAD nothing but mindless sex and violence, or is it a clever meta-commentary about western storytelling? And was it... CANCELED TOO SOON? William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold are joined by author/illustrat...

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 Robert Butler III, Sabrina Ramirez, and Andres Cabrera from FIRST CUT and THE MEANING OF podcast! Subscribe to their YouTube Channel and follow them on Twitter at @FirstCutTMO ,...

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 best horror anthologies on television, the legacy of HEAVEN'S GATE, directors whose films got worse over time, what happens when you find out your favorite part of a movie was an accident or a placeholder, our favo...

CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED is overflowing with movies this week! Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold ponder the ramifications of undoing the Paramount decision - potentially opening the door to studios buying movie theaters and developing monopolies - and review the new Seth Rogen comedy AN AMERICAN PICKLE, the latest adaptation of THE SECRET GARDEN, the Netflix dance film WORK IT, the Norw...

Satan has conquered worlds and vanquished armies, but can he sell more fries than anyone else at McDonalds? That's the plot of the anime series THE DEVIL IS A PART-TIMER, the first installment of our long-awaited ANIME MONTH! Was this wacky series, which combines elements of the situational comedy and episodic fantasy... CANCELED TOO SOON? William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold are about to find...

Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold are working backwards through film history, using STAR WARS as the starting point! This week on EPISODE ZERO they move into Fritz Lang's silent masterpiece METROPOLIS, which envisioned an unthinkable future full of class warfare, income disparity, unchecked industrialism, and corrupt capitalists running the government. In addition to its influen...

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 DVD boxed sets that got away from them, movies that have been ruined by bad editing, our worst movie theater experiences, whether classic movies need context to play today, our favorite movie scenes, and the difference...

CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED is bursting with cinema this week! Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold say goodbye to the late, great Wilford Brimley and review Shudder's new supernatural/found footage/COVID-19 horror film HOST, Beyonce's Disney Plus visual concept album BLACK IS KING, the ACLU documentary THE FIGHT, Jessica Swale's World War II drama SUMMERLAND, and Katie Holmes lea...

[Note: This episode was reposted due to a missing audio track, which has been fixed. Also, due to tech issues, the audio quality in this episode is lower than usual.] Our Patrons have the power to sponsor an episode of CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED of their choice, and we're calling it YOUR CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED! In this episode, film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold have been asked to presen...

CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED may not be discovering new elements, but they sure are analyzing a whole lot of elements in new and classic films! Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold are reviewing Dave Franco's new slasher THE RENTAL, Marjane Satrapi's biopic about Marie Curie RADIOACTIVE, and Karen Maine's coming of age teen comedy YES, GOD, YES! But first, they say goodbye to the H...

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 Clay Keller and Ryan Marker, the hosts of the SCREEN DRAFTS podcast! Follow them on Twitter at @ScreenDrafts and check out their Patreon at Patreon.com/ScreenDrafts . Email us a...

When Disney Plus launched it came with a gargantuan bevy of animated Marvel superhero shows from across time and space, and a lot of them were potentially CANCELED TOO SOON!  This week, critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold explore the failed 1979-1980 animated television series SPIDER-WOMAN, a superhero with vaguely spider-like powers who (in the show, not so much the comics) runs a magazin...

Our Patrons have the power to sponsor an episode of CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED of their choice, and we're calling it YOUR CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED! In this episode, film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold have been asked to review A STAR IS BORN, the first (and arguably the second) remake of a classic Hollywood tale about a young rising star who falls in love with an aging mentor, whose alcohol...

Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold are working backwards through film history, using STAR WARS as the starting point! This week on EPISODE ZERO they sneak into Steven Spielberg's JURASSIC PARK, a blockbuster monster movie about genetically-engineered dinosaurs that run amok at eat people! George Lucas cited JURASSIC PARK as the film whose effects proved that his visions for the f...

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 bizarre Brucesploitation genre, movies that actually play better at drive-in theaters, movies that were funnier when they were edited for TV, which public domain movies are worthwhile, and why it's still a good ide...

CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED is playing catch-up this week! Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold dig back into the rest of 2020 and review some of the biggest films they missed the first time around: BAD BOYS FOR LIFE, BAD EDUCATION and ONWARD! They also review the new release THE PAINTED BIRD and explore recently unearthed Paul Bartel movie SHELF LIFE, which is being released for the first ti...

The jetpack-wearing superhero who inspired THE ROCKETEER made the jump from Republic movie serials to serialized television in the 1950s, but was COMMANDO CODY: SKY MARSHAL OF THE UNIVERSE a serial that aired on tv, or a tv show that played in theaters? And most importantly, was this imaginative early sci-fi adventure... CANCELED TOO SOON? William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold strap on their rocket-...