Canceled Too Soon #137: 'John from Cincinnati' (2007)

Not every HBO series is a hit! Some of them are "John from Cincinnati," a philosophically and theologically ambitious drama about a burnout family of professional surfers who encounter miracles, and the mysterious and ambiguous title character, and may - or may not (who knows) - usher in a new wave of enlightenment. Maybe. Or maybe it's just weird.

This week on CANCELED TOO SOON, film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold try to decode this bizarre and short-lived television experiment from the producer of "Deadwood," and figure out if it's brilliant, pretentious or both!

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Critically Acclaimed BONUS: Oscars 2019 - Winners, Losers and Controversies!

Two steps forward, two steps back: The Academy Awards have been announced and it's one of the most exciting, diverse, impressive group of winners in history... except for films like "Green Book" and "Bohemian Rhapsody," which stink and dragged the whole night down. But hey, at least "Black Panther," "BlacKkKlansman" and "Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse" won, right? Right?

Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold delve into one of the most unusual Oscar ceremonies on record, to figure out what worked, what sucked, and which winners the Academy will eventually be proud or ashamed of.

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Critically Acclaimed #68: All the Smokey and the Bandit Movies!

Burt Reynolds was one of the most charismatic movie stars in history, and he was probably never more popular than when he was The Bandit. In the "Smokey and the Bandit" movie series, Reynolds seduced the wonderful Sally Field, evaded comic relief lawmen and wrote a whole new - somewhat problematic - saga about the American South.

In this week's CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED, William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold review every single one of the "Smokey and the Bandit" movies, including the four made-for-tv films that nobody talks/knows/cares about! They also review the brand new releases "How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World" and "Fighting With My Family," and dish about their latest impressive match in "The Movie Trivia Schmoedown!

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Critically Acclaimed #67: Crash and The Glass Shield!

There are some who claim that Paul Haggis's "Crash" is the worst Best Picture winner of all time, and you know what? Maybe. Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold take a look back at one of the most embarrassing chapters in Oscar history, and explain why Charles Burnett's "The Glass Shield" tackles the same issues, ten years earlier, in a smarter and more exciting way!

Also this week, William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold present their predictions for this year's Academy Awards, and review the new releases "Alita: Battle Angel," "Happy Death Day 2U," "Donnybrook" and "Ruben Brandt, Collector!"

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Canceled Too Soon #136: 'Benji, Zax & the Alien Prince' (1983)

The lovable doggie hero Benji got his own TV series! And for some reason it was a mashup of "Star Wars," "The Fugitive" and Harmony Korine's "Gummo!" It was the ongoing saga of a young alien prince hiding out on Earth, as he's chased by intergalactic hunters and repeatedly rescued by a goofy-looking robot and a plucky homeless dog: "Benji, Zax & the Alien Prince!"

It's one of the weirdest shows we've reviewed in a very long time, so buckle up and start listening to film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold as they unearth this bizarre TV artifact from the 1980s, and decide once and for all if it was... CANCELED TOO SOON!

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UPN's Lying Promos to 'Star Trek: Voyager'

[The following article was sponsored and assigned by our Patreon subscriber Canadian Keith. To learn how to sponsor and assign articles to William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold for publication at Critically Acclaimed, visit our Patreon page.]

Trekkies in the 1990s remember UPN quite well. Paramount's wildly unsuccessful network, which lasted for 11 years and lost the studio nearly $800 million, only ever produced a small handful of hits. Over the years, show after show opened and closed on the network, some of them called the worst of all time (UPN was responsible for 1998's “The Secret Diaries of Desmond Pfeifer,” a tasteless sitcom set in the Lincoln White House). By the time of the great Viacom split in 2005, the UPN was a walking corpse, forced to merge with the equally beleaguered WB Network. The resulting network, The CW, was only slightly stronger than the two of them combined.

Witney Seibold Reviews 'Alita: Battle Angel'

“Alita: Battle Angel,” based on a manga by Yukito Kishiro, famously incubated for many years in the nest of James Cameron. Cameron's plans were ambitious, natch; he penned an “Alita” bible, planned multiple sequels, wrote a screenplay with Laeta Kalogridis, and positioned the project as the next revolution in sci-fi special effects. But Cameron eventually became distracted with his multi-film “Avatar” project, and ultimately handed directing duties to Robert Rodriguez.

William Bibbiani Reviews 'Ruben Brandt, Collector'

An art obsessed psychologist enlists his criminal clientele to steal priceless paintings to soothe his own troubled pscyhe in "Ruben Brandt, Collector." This lively animated feature is equally influenced by high art and pulp art, and strives to make a thrilling caper movie classy and unique.

In his review of "Ruben Brandt, Collector" at The Wrap, William Bibbiani praises the film's "alluring, acrobatic" pastiche of influences, but laments that "for a film that evokes masterpieces throughout the centuries, it's frustrating that 'Ruben Brandt, Collector' has no lofty ambition of its own."

Read: William Bibbiani Reviews "Ruben Brandt, Colletor"

Photo Credit: Sony Pictures Classics

William Bibbiani Reviews 'Donnybrook'

Jamie Bell and Frank Grillo play downtrodden criminals on a journey to an illegal, high-stakes, bareknuckle brawl in "Donnybrook," a scuzzy film noir that's about as dour as a film gets.

In his review of "Donnybrook" at The Wrap, William Bibbiani calls the film "a brutal, depressing, filthy motion picture," and even though that's the point, he argues that "the plot and pacing are too aimless to sustain much interest."

Read: William Bibbiani Reviews "Donnybrook" at The Wrap

Photo Credit: IFC

Critically Acclaimed #66: Cimarron and Unforgiven!

"Cimarron" was the first western to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards, but it's also one of the most notoriously boring Best Picture winners of all time! Is it really as bad as you've heard, and why is it the perfect double feature with Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven," the film that tried to end the western genre forever (and almost succeeded)?

You'll find out on this week's CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED! Also this week, film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold review the new releases "The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part," "Cold Pursuit," "High Flying Bird," "The Prodigy," "The Amityville Murders," "The Wild Pear Tree" and all fifteen Academy Award-nominated short films from this year's ceremony!

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William Bibbiani Reviews 'Happy Death Day 2U'

The unexpectedly clever smash hit slasher-comedy-"Groundhog Day" riff "Happy Death Day" has a sequel, and it's even more twisty-and-turny than the original. Jessica Rothe returns as sorority student Tree, who finally escapes a time loop in which every time she got murdered (on her birthday no less) she woke up earlier that morning, and had to live the same day over again. In the sequel she's rocketed back into a similar situation, but under very different circumstances.

In his review of "Happy Death Day 2U" at The Wrap, William Bibbiani calls the film an "ambitious and witty sci-fi treatise on alternate realities and the cinematic significance of personal growth in sequels," and praises writer/director Christopher Landon for defiantly changing the franchise's genre.

Read: William Bibbiani Reviews "Happy Death Day 2U"

Photo Credit: Universal Pictures

The Movie Trivia Schmoedown: Critically Acclaimed vs. The Harris Brothers!

William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold are back and they're taking on their toughest opponents yet: Lon Harris and Jon Harris, a.k.a. The Harris Brothers! Will the Critically Acclaimed knockout streak continue, and will they move on to a championship match with the legendary and undefeated team, The Shirewolves?

Watch the video after the jump, and find out!

Canceled Too Soon #135: 'Evel Knievel' (1975)

Forty-five years before Sam Elliott earned his first Oscar nomination, for "A Star is Born," the perfectly coiffed, deep-voiced movie star played stuntman supreme Evel Knievel in a failed TV pilot!

The year was 1974, and Evel Knievel (in the series) is taking part in a car-jumping Battle of the Sexes, spouting sexist nonsense and dodging explosions and fighting crime. The question isn't whether it's amazing, the question is... was it CANCELED TOO SOON?

Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold take a trip back to heyday of vehicular heroism in the latest episode of the Canceled Too Soon podcast!

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Witney Seibold Reviews 'The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part'

“The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part” faced a challenge perhaps even more daunting than its predecessor. Lord & Miller's “The Lego Movie” took a concept that seemed doomed to remain bogged in its own sticky overcommercialized origins, and turned it into a lively, funny, and – dare I say – intelligent meta-narrative about the importance of childhood play; “Lego” never loses sight of the fact that its central characters and all the sets are merely little hunks of Danish plastic. 

In making a sequel, not only would the filmmakers have to find a way to keep the jokey, ultra-slapstick intact, but they would have to find a way to expand on the original movie's self-aware concepts: What more can be said now that we know that we're watching a story of a young boy playing with his toys?

Critically Acclaimed #65: Around the World in 80 Days and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World!

When people talk about the worst Best Picture winners in history, they usually talk about the airy epic "Around the World in 80 Days," a star-studded globetrotting adventure that someone won the Academy Award over classics like "The King and I," "The Ten Commandments" and "Giant." Is it really as bad as you've heard? And why is it the perfect double feature with the wacky comedy classic "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?"

You'll find out on this week's CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED! Also this week, film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold review the new releases "Velvet Buzzsaw," "Piercing," "Miss Bala" and "Polar!"

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William Bibbiani Reviews 'Ninja III: The Domination'

[The following article was sponsored and assigned by our Patreon subscriber Anthony Peronto. To learn how to sponsor and assign articles to William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold for publication at Critically Acclaimed, visit our Patreon page.]

The 1980s was a decade of many campy, ill-conceived, embarrassing or just plain terrible films. I spent most of my childhood consuming sugar-crazed mania flicks like “The Garbage Pail Kids Movie” and “Howard the Duck.” I love a heck of a lot of those films, but “Ninja III: The Domination” (1984) isn’t one of them. And at first, it was hard to put my finger on why.

On paper, I should love this movie. It’s a film about a golf club murder spree that leads, randomly, to an electrician (and part-time aerobics instructor) getting possessed by a ninja, which sometimes shoots out of her arcade cabinet. She goes on a mission of revenge against the cops who killed said ninja, before coming face to face with another ninja, because - and I’m dead serious about this - in the world of “Ninja III: The Domination,” only a ninja can kill a ninja.

Canceled Too Soon #134: 'Pan Am' (2011-2012)

Before she was an Oscar-nominee, and before she was Harley Quinn, Margot Robbie was a flight attendant trying to find herself in "Pan Am," an ambitious television series about the jet-setting 1960s, from the perspective of the people working in jets. Christina Ricci, Karine Vanasse, Kelli Garner and David Harbour co-star in an international soap opera featuring spies, politics, illicit affairs, secret princes and much, much more.

It was a lot of things, but was "Pan Am" really... CANCELED TOO SOON? Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold take a trip through this unexpectedly strange series to find out, once and for all, in the latest episode of the podcast!

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William Bibbiani Reviews 'Alita: Battle Angel'

Rosa Salazar stars as Alita, a cyborg with a mysterious past in the big budget sci-fi thrill ride "Alita: Battle Angel." Based on the iconic manga series "Battle Angel Alita," directed by Robert Rodriguez and co-written by James Cameron, this effects-heavy film is a sprawling dystopian epic featuring high-tech sporting events, bounty hunting, and interchangeable limbs. Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly and Mahershala Ali co-star.

In his review of "Alita: Battle Angel" at IGN, William Bibbiani calls the film "an astounding-looking motion picture, which crams so much plot into one film that there’s practically no room for the actual point."

Read: William Bibbiani Reviews "Alita: Battle Angel" at IGN

Top Photo: 20th Century Fox