William Bibbiani Reviews 'Anna and the Apocalypse'

A sweet little musical about high school kids looking for love and freedom at Christmastime is rudely interrupted by a zombie uprising in "Anna and the Apocalypse," which may very well be the only teen Christmas zombie musical in existence.

In his review of "Anna and the Apocalypse" at IGN, William Bibbiani calls the film "Jolly, gross and pretty darned catchy," praising the film's quirky concept and mostly solid songs, but critiquing the film for sidelining the Christmas theme to the extent that the movie works perfectly well without it.

Read: William Bibbiani Reviews "Anna and the Apocalypse" for IGN

Top Photo: Orion Pictures

William Bibbiani Reviews 'The Possession of Hannah Grace'

A troubled woman takes a job in the graveyard shift at the morgue, but one of the corpses isn't what it appears to be in "The Possession of Hannah Grace." The new supernatural thriller evokes memories of "The Autopsy of Jane Doe," and stars Shay Mitchell, Kirby Johnson and Stana Katic.

In his review at The Wrap, William Bibbiani says "The Possession of Hannah Grace" is "a dreary horror thriller, without any of those pesky thrills," and critiques the film for its slow pacing, perfunctory storytelling and ineffectual score.

Read: William Bibbiani Reviews "The Possession of Hannah Grace" for The Wrap

Top Photo: Sony

William Bibbiani Reviews 'Spider-Man: into the Spider-Verse'

Spider-Man is dead, but there are a half dozen others from parallel dimensions to take his place in "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse," a new animated adventure starring Shameik Moore ("Dope") as Miles Morales, Jake Johnson ("Jurassic World") as Peter Parker, Hailee Steinfeld ("Bumblebee") as Gwen Stacy and Liev Schreiber ("Ray Donovan") as the villainous Kingpin. 

In his review at The Wrap, William Bibbiani says "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" is "easily the best Spider-Man movie since 'Spider-Man 2,'" and praises the film's dynamic visuals, tragic drama, hilarious humor and appreciation for every aspect of comic book lore.

Read: William Bibbiani Reviews "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" at The Wrap

Photo: Sony Animation

Canceled Too Soon #126: 'Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD' (1998)

Samuel L. Jackson wasn't the first live-action Nick Fury. That honor belongs to David Hasselhoff, of "Baywatch" fame, who took on the role in a 1998 tv movie that was also a failed pilot for a television series. 

Originally written David Goyer, who also gave you the movies "Blade" and "Batman Begins," this spy thriller evokes all the campy thrills of its action-packed TV contemporaries "Xena: Warrior Princess" and "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys."

It's also one of Marvel's most notorious misfires! But could it be that "Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD" was actually canceled too soon? Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold explore this infamous dud in the latest episode of the podcast!

Give it a listen!

Critically Acclaimed #55: The 'Home Alone' Movies

Did you know there are five "Home Alone" movies? Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold review them all - and declare one of the lesser known sequels to the be the best in the series! - in the latest episode of Critically Acclaimed!

Plus, new reviews of "Ralph Breaks the Internet," "Robin Hood," "Creed II," "The Favourite," "Shoplifters" and "The Christmas Chronicles!" Hurray!

Give it a listen! 

William Bibbiani Reviews 'Elliot the Littlest Reindeer'

In the animated family film "Elliot the Littlest Reindeer," one of Santa's reindeer has unexpectedly retired and there's only three days left until Christmas! Can a miniature horse voiced by Josh Hutcherson ("The Hunger Games") possibly make it through the reindeer games and become a member of Santa's team? Will his best goat friend, voiced by Samantha Bee ("Full Frontal with Samantha Bee"), be able to help him? And will an elf named Lemondrop, voiced by Martin Short, stand in their way?

In his review of "Elliot the Littlest Reindeer" at The Wrap, William Bibbiani says "audiences might have more fun overanalyzing the mythology than by following the actual plot," and delves deep into the difficult questions the film asks - mostly by accident - about Santa Claus, magic reindeer, and why people who know animals are sentient beings still eat them en masse.

Read: William Bibbiani Reviews "Elliot the Littlest Reindeer" at The Wrap

Photo: Screen Media

Witney Seibold Looks Back at 'Bowfinger,' 19 Years Later

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

Frank Oz's “Bowfinger,” written by Steve Martin, was released in theaters in August of 1999 to a generally positive response, although it was by no means a giant hit. In the 19 years since its release, it has quietly gathered a small cult of affable devotees who hold it up as a great example of broad showbiz satire. 

I sharply recall seeing “Bowfinger” in 1999, and I even wrote an (unpublished) review at the time, which fell in line with popular opinion: I found the film to be approachable, pleasant, slight and more amusing than outright funny. The film's core idea was its best feature: Having no money to make a feature film, an ambitious B-movie director shoots a sci-fi thriller, guerrilla style and in public, around a famous Hollywood star who has no idea he's being included.

19 years later, “Bowfinger” hasn't aged well, nor has it aged poorly. It's just as mildly-funny as it was in 1999, it's just as slight, it's just as pleasant. Now, as then, “Bowfinger” seems afraid to get its claws out.