Critically Acclaimed #135 | Olivia de Havilland, John Saxon, The Rental, Radioactive, Yes God Yes, and The Deer Hunter

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 Hollywood legends we lost this week: Olivia de Havilland, the star of THE HEIRESS and THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, and John Saxon, the star of A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET and ENTER THE DRAGON.

Also this week on THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED STREAMING CLUB, Bibbs and Witney finally catch up with one of the most controversial war movies of all time, THE DEER HUNTER! It's the film that changed the way Oscar campaigning worked forever, and introduced the world to one of the deadliest and most irresponsible games ever conceived.

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My Dinner With My Dinner With Andre (with Screen Drafts!)

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.

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Canceled Too Soon #194 | Spider-Woman (1979-1980)

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 magazine and fights monsters and mad scientists and for some reason hangs out almost exclusively with an incompetent and sexist photographer!

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Your Critically Acclaimed | A Star is Born (1954)

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 possibly the second) remake of a classic Hollywood tale about a young rising star who falls in love with an aging mentor, whose alcoholism destroys his career just as her own is taking off.

The 1954 version was directed by George Cukor and stars Judy Garland and James Mason, and it's considered a Hollywood classic, but is it really better than the celebrated Bradley Cooper/Lady Gaga version? 

Let's find out!

Star Wars: Episode Zero - Jurassic Park!

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 future of STAR WARS were possible, and it's also a bona fide classic in its own right.

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We've Got Mail #39 | What's the Point of Buying Physical Media...?

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 idea for people who really love movies to invest in physical media!

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Critically Acclaimed #134 | Shelf Life, Bad Boys for Life, Bad Education, Onward, The Painted Bird, Marathon Man!

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 time EVER after being finished over 25 years ago.

And this week on THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED STREAMING CLUB, Bibbs and Witney try to keep pace with the classic thriller MARATHON MAN! It's a political thriller starring Dustin Hoffman, Roy Scheider, William Devane and Sir Laurence Olivier, about a history student who gets a lot of cardio, who also gets embroiled in a post-WWII conspiracy!

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Canceled Too Soon #193 | Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe (1953 or 1955)

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-boosters and explore the history, the influence, the silliness, and sometimes the sleepy boredoms of COMMANDO CODY: SKY MARSHAL OF THE UNIVERSE, the oldest series we've ever covered on our show!

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The Iron List #9 | The Best 8th Movies in a Franchise!

Every month on THE IRON LIST, the Patrons of the Critically Acclaimed Network get to pick a topic for a giant-sized episode! And this month we're delving deep into the realm of long-running film series, with an episode dedicated to THE BEST 8TH MOVIES IN A FRANCHISE!

Join film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold as they highlight the films that came VERY late in a series and somehow still felt inspired, exciting, brilliant... or at least kinda entertaining!  And there's less overlap between their lists than you might think!

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Your Critically Acclaimed | The Films of John Carpenter!

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 explore the entire filmography of director JOHN CARPENTER, the director who gave us the original HALLOWEEN, in addition to ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, THE THING, THEY LIVE, BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA and many, many more classic (and not so classic) films!

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We've Got Mail #38 | Why Does Social Media Make Movies Feel Like Work?

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 filmmakers they think were wrong about their own movies, when it's okay to set aside a genre you don't like (and why critics don't really have that luxury), how to book guests on your own podcasts, why social media sometimes makes movies feel like work, why Hollywood needs to completely overhaul the way they think about casting, and more!

Email us at letters@criticallyacclaimed.net, so we can read your correspondence and answer YOUR questions in future episodes!

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Critically Acclaimed #133 | Ennio Morricone, Kelly Preston, The Old Guard, Palm Springs, Relic, Greyhound, Home Movie: The Princess Bride, Castle Freak

CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED is stuck in a time loop!

CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED is stuck in a time loop!

CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED is stuck in a time loop! 

This week, William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold say goodbye to composer Ennio Morricone and actor Kelly Preston, and review the new sci-fi action-thriller THE OLD GUARD, the time loop comedy PALM SPRINGS, the slow burn horror movie RELIC, the World War II naval adventure GREYHOUND, and the all-star PRINCESS BRIDE remake!

And this week on THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED STREAMING CLUB, Bibbs and Witney release CASTLE FREAK from the catacombs! It's one of the lesser known films from the late, great horror filmmaker Stuart Gordon, and it's extremely loosely based on an H.P. Lovecraft story, and it's VERY cheap and VERY gory! 

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Star Wars: Episode Zero - The Searchers!

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 take a trek to Monument Valley for John Ford's THE SEARCHERS, starring John Wayne and Jeffrey Hunter as cowboys searching for a lost girl in the American frontier. The film is considered one of the greatest westerns ever made, and it's easy to see why, but its legacy is conflicted and complicated, even though its influence on STAR WARS is clear.

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Canceled Too Soon #192 | My Own Worst Enemy (2008)

[NOTE: We apologize for the lower-quality audio in this episode.]

Christian Slater gets his own television series... and so does Christian Slater! 

MY OWN WORST ENEMY is all about a secret super spy who has a microchip in his brain that activates an alter ego with no memory of saving the world, who has his own completely separate life in suburbia! But when the chip malfunctions and they have to share each other's lives, are either of them up to the task?

MY OWN WORST ENEMY may or may not be the best tv show based on a song by Lit, but was it... CANCELED TOO SOON? William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold explore this short-lived spy series with a twist in the latest episode, and figure out whether it's a great series about middle-aged power fantasies, or a bad series that gets trapped by its own internal logic.

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Your Critically Acclaimed | Galavant!

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 revisit GALAVANT, a cult musical fantasy epic sitcom from Dan Fogelman (THIS IS US) and songwriter Alan Menken (BEAUTY AND THE BEAST), in which heroes and villains alike break into wacky songs, with special guests like "Weird" Al Yankovic, Kylie Minogue, Hugh Bonneville, Ricky Gervais and Nick Frost (to name a few)!

Was GALAVANT a failed TV experiment, a goofball camp oddity, or a legitimate television classic? Let's find out!

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We've Got Mail #37 | Is 'Hamilton' Really a Film...?

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 debate whether the Disney Plus release of HAMILTON qualifies as a 'film,' the oft-overlooked Vansploitation genre, the movies that completely disappointed us, the age-old STAR WARS vs. STAR TREK conflict, and the best college movies that actually reflect what college is like!

Email us at letters@criticallyacclaimed.net, so we can read your correspondence and answer YOUR questions in future episodes!

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Critically Acclaimed #132 | Hamilton, Metamorphosis, The Truth, and Bugsy Malone!

There's a million things that CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED hasn't done, but just you wait! Just you wait! 

This week, William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold explore the brilliance and understandable criticisms of the hit musical HAMILTON, venture into the gory world of the possession thriller METAMORPHOSIS, and ponder the works of Hirokazu Kore-eda with his new French film THE TRUTH!

And this week on THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED STREAMING CLUB, Bibbs and Witney unearth one of the weirdest musicals ever made! BUGSY MALONE launched the career of Alan Parker and Dexter Fletcher, with a story about Prohibition Era gangsters played entirely by kids! Sure, it's got great music by Paul Williams, but is that premise just too danged weird to work?

Give it a listen!

Star Wars: Episode Zero - Radar Men from the Moon!

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 strap on jetpacks and fly around with COMMANDO CODY: SKY MARSHAL OF THE UNIVERSE in his very first cinematic adventure, RADAR MEN FROM THE MOON! It's a serialized action series with lots of fist fights, lots of cheapness, and several connections - direct and indirect - to the STAR WARS series! 

Give it a listen!

My Dinner With My Dinner With Andre (With Grae Drake and Steve Gelder!)

In our new podcast, William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold invite fascinating people to watch MY DINNER WITH ANDRE, a film about fascinating people having a conversation, and have their own conversation about it!

What happens when everyone watches the same film and makes a podcast about it? How do different people view the same film differently? We'll find out in... MY DINNER WITH MY DINNER WITH ANDRE!

This week's guests are illustrious film critic and interviewer Grae Drake, and actor Steve Gelder! Follow them on Twitter and InstaGram at @GraeDrake and @SteveGelder!

Give it a listen!

We've Got Mail #36 | Is TikTok the Future of Cinema...?

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 TikTok may be the future of cinema, how to find the right crossword puzzles, our favorite slice of life anime and the best needle drops in movie history!  

Email us at letters@criticallyacclaimed.net, so we can read your correspondence and answer YOUR questions in future episodes!

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Critically Acclaimed #131 | Carl Reiner, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, My Spy, House of Hummingbird, Yummy, Dummy, Stolen Kisses

CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED is coming at ya with movie reviews aplenty!   

Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold celebrate the life and career of the late, great comedy legend CARL REINER, and review the new releases EUROVISION SONG CONTEST: THE STORY OF FIRE SAGA, MY SPY, HOUSE OF HUMMINGBIRD, YUMMY and DUMMY!  

And this week on THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED STREAMING CLUB, Bibbs and Witney venture into the wonderful world of the Criterion Channel to explore the French New Wave classic STOLEN KISSES, Francois Truffaut's wonderful sequel to the beloved classic THE 400 BLOWS! 

Give it a listen!