Critical Darlings

A Critical Darlings Mailbag

As Richard and Alison are jet-setting across Venice, Europe, and Toronto, North America, we bring to you a special pre-recorded mailbag, featuring your voicemails and que

“Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” And Video Store Nostalgia

Get your dipping sauces ready, it’s Jane Schoenbrun’s Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma! Starring Gillian Anderson and Hannah Einbinder, this meta horror picture goes

“Coyote Vs. Acme” And The Great Ketchup Rescue (With Connor Ratliff)

After an absurd and depressing attempt by David Zaslov to bury Coyote Vs. Acme, it’s finally in theaters. What’s more, it’s great, making WB’s attempts to shelve the movi

“Tony” Or, Bourdain Begins (With Jaya Saxena)

Ey wanna leahn howta shuck an oystah? Jaya Saxena of the new, worker-owned food publication Ravenous, joins us to discuss Tony, the micro-biopic about a pipsqueak version

“The End Of Oak Street” Is Dino-mite (With Matt Singer)

Dinosaurs are back in business this week, with The End of Oak Street, an original blockbuster about shooting dinos in the face while getting chomped by various raptors, d

“One Night Only” Is The Sex Purge (With Josh Gondelman)

In a technofascist parallel reality, singles are only allowed to have sex one night a year: it’s One Night Only, AKA The Sex Purge!  Comedian Josh Gondelman joins us to

“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” Enters The Money-Verse (with Griffin Newman)

Griffin Newman swings back from Spain, Europe, to discuss Spider-Man: Brand New Day! Brand New Day is likely the biggest movie of the year, maybe of all time, depending o

“The Invite” Or, Who’s Afraid Of Olivia Wilde? (With Emily Gould)

Come for the Les Miz karaoke takes, stay for The Invite. New York Magazine’s Emily Gould joins us to discuss Olivia Wilde’s sexy, awkward comedy of domestic manners starr

“The Odyssey” And Christopher Nolan’s Sad Dad Triumph (With Fran Hoepfner)

Daddy, tie us to the mast, we’re off to see The Odyssey! Christopher Nolan’s epic about a dad going out for cigarettes has vanquished all foes, critical, commercial, an

“Moana” Is Between The Rock And A Hard Place (With Ben Hosley)

You’re welcome…again! This week we’re scraping the bottom of the barrel of Disney’s “live-action” remakes, with Moana.  As noted on last week’s episode, Producer Ben F

“Minions And Monsters”, What Minions Taste Like, And Other Questions

The Minions are back with a film designed to pander…to us! On this episode, three Minions neophytes try to make sense of Minions And Monsters, where the round yellow ones

“Supergirl” And The New DCU (With Patrick Willems)

This week we’re Gunn-ing for Supergirl, with filmmaker and video essayist Patrick Willems! Supergirl is the second feature film in the new DC cinematic universe, now hel

“Stop! That! Train!”, “Leviticus”, and Pride At The Movies (With Colin Drucker)

It’s Pride Week on Critical Darlings, and we’re joined by the co-host of the Alright Mary podcast (and Best Supporting Actress expert) Colin Drucker to break down two new

“Disclosure Day” And Ranking Spielberg’s Alien Movies (With Starlee Kine)

It’s Disclosure Week on Critical Darlings, with writer, podcaster, and E.T. super fan Starlee Kine!  Almost five decades after Steven Spielberg reimagined aliens on scre

“Masters of the Universe” And The IP Drought (With Mattie Lubchansky)

By the power of Grayskull, we have cartoonist and co-host of the No Gods No Mayors podcast, Mattie Lubchansky, in studio to discuss Masters of the Universe!  The movie i

"Backrooms" And The Internet Horror Boom (With Ryan Broderick)

This week we’re joined by the very liminal Ryan Broderick, proprietor of the great Garbage Day newsletter and host of the podcast Panic World, to discuss A24’s hit, Backr

“Obsession” And Youtube Creators In Hollywood

This week, it’s springtime for sad boys, with “Obsession!” a horror flick from Blumhouse and director Curry Barker. The movie has exceeded all expectations and is current

Our Favorite Movies Of The Year So Far, And A Summer Blockbusters Preview

Coucou les cheris! As Cannes is underway on the Riviera, we take a break from our usual movie-of-the-week format to look back at the year so far, and look forward to this

“The Sheep Detectives” And Amazon’s Box Office Bets (With Griffin Newman)

Wake up sheeple, it’s The Sheep Detectives! This week we’re joined by our very own executive sheepherder Griffin Newman to discuss the new cozy mystery for families. Afte

“The Devil Wears Prada 2” And The Future Of Tastemakers (With Who? Weekly)

Description: “…You think that you've made a choice that exempts you from the podcast industry when, in fact, you're listening to a podcast that was selected for you by th