Critically Acclaimed #64: All the Mummy Movies!

Universal loves their monster movies, but they don't always know what to do with them. So it was a pleasant surprise when their big budget 1999 reboot of "The Mummy" was such an enormous hit that it spawned a sprawling fantasy-adventure franchise that, whether you realize it or not, is still going strong today! We're reviewing all the "Mummy" movies on this week's CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED, and every single film in the lesser known but long-running "Scorpion King" spinoff franchise!

Also this week, film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold talk about all the Oscar nominations, and review the new releases "The Kid Who Would Be King," "Memory: The Origins of Alien," and the utterly BIZARRE new thriller "Serenity," which has to be seen to be believed!

Give it a listen!

William Bibbiani Reviews 'The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part'

"The LEGO Movie 2," the sequel to the smash hit "The LEGO Movie," is an ambitious production, as the imaginations of two children collide, creating a narrative of kidnapping, brainwashing and betrayal. Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks and Will Arnett return, with Stephanie Beatriz and Tiffany Haddish joining the cast as residents of the "Sistar System."

In his review of "The LEGO Movie 2" at IGN, William Bibbiani argues that the original film "raised the bar so high that the sequel can't reach it," praising the new movie's ambitions but arguing that the internal logic of the LEGO universe is so complicated it detracts from the story.

Read: William Bibbiani Reviews "The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part" at IGN

Top Photo: Warner Bros.

Witney Seibold and William Bibbiani Review 'Justice League: The New Frontier'

[The following article was sponsored by our Patreon subscriber Sean Wrinkle, who assigned the same review to both of our critics. To learn how to sponsor and assign articles to William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold for publication at Critically Acclaimed, visit our Patreon page.]

Witney Seibold's Review: 

In 2004, DC comics published a well-regarded and award-winning comic called DC: The New Frontier. Like Marvel Comics' Marvels from 1994, New Frontier was a retro-re-imagining of the company's central superhero characters, looking at their origin stories in an edgy, modern light. 

Although published a decade apart, both books follow the same ethos: To reinterpret the previously corny, fantastical, and boldly morally absolute world of Silver Age superhero comics and set them in a wholly modern and morally ambiguous world. Both books highlight not the glories, but the tragedy, violence, and inner turbulence of their superhero characters; They eschew the bold-faced kid-friendly avatars of our childhoods, replacing them with more mature, complex figures of philosophical ambivalence.

Critically Acclaimed BONUS: Mailbag Episode - January 2019

YOU took the time to write us, and WE need to answer a whole bunch of letters! It's a giant-sized podcast dedicated to your questions, critiques, and deepest thoughts, with film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold!

Give it a listen!

Canceled Too Soon #133: 'Kitchen Confidential' (2005)

Before he was the Oscar-nominated star of "A Star is Born," Bradley Cooper starred in a failed sitcom called "Kitchen Confidential," based on the bestselling nonfiction book by the late Anthony Bourdain. But even though "Kitchen Confidential" had an amazing cast - including John Cho, Frank Langella, Jamie King, John Francis Daley, Bonnie Somerville and Sam Pancake - it was canceled by Fox after only four episodes.

Was "Kitchen Confidential" really... Canceled Too Soon? Film critics William Bibbiani explore what worked about this series, what feels hopelessly mired in the mid-2000s, and what makes us cringe today, in the latest episode of the podcast!

Give it a listen!

Absurdism in Film: An Overview

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

What do a bicycle and a duck have in common?

They both have handlebars, except for the duck.

For the rebellious, for the contrarian, for the playful adolescent punk, absurdism is an appealing philosophy. For those eager to playfully circumvent the status quo – to subvert the dominant paradigm, as the saying goes – absurdism can be wielded as an ideology as well as a category of humor, both intended to confront the listener with a simple philosophical truth: That nothing has any meaning and everything can be deconstructed and reduced down to the point where its base elements appear to have no connection at all.

William Bibbiani Reviews 'Memory: The Origins of Alien'

Alexandre O. Phillippe's new documentary "Memory: The Origins of Alien" takes the audience into the history of one of the scariest movies ever made, revealing where the film's most terrifying ideas and how they were brought to life. It's an in-depth documentary featuring cast, crew and film critics alike sharing stories about "Alien" and what it really means.

In his review of "Memory" at The Wrap, William Bibbiani says the documentary "oversells its thesis — and suffers from glaring omissions — it’s a thoughtful love letter to a fascinating classic."

Read: William Bibbiani Reviews "Memory: The Origins of Alien" at The Wrap

Top Photo: Writer Dan O'Bannon on the Shepperton Studios set of Ridley Scott's 'Alien.' Photo courtesy of The O'Bannon Estate.