Loading…
Hosted by Unknown Host · 🇺🇸 US · EN · 29 episodes
Established thought leaders with verified media credentials.
Welcome to Critical Darlings: a podcast about the movies everyone is talking about, one new release after another. Every week, critics Richard Lawson and Alison Willmore cover the latest film driving the conversation—from big summer blockbusters to festival favorites, buzzy streamers, and major awards contenders. New episodes every Thursday. We’re a Blank Check Production! To catch up on our first miniseries covering the 2026 Oscars season, check out Blank Check on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , or wherever you listen. Stick around on this feed for new episodes going forward. Produced by Benjamin Frisch Subscribe to Richard's newsletter, Premiere Party, and read Alis
Unknown Host hosts Critical Darlings, a tv show with 29 episodes published.
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 Frisch is out on a Minions-related leave of absence, so
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 land in 1920s Hollywood. among Chaplin, Keaton, a
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 helmed by Guardians of the Galaxy mastermind James Gun
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 wide-release gay movies: RuPaul’s spoofy Stop! Th
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 screen with E.T. and Close Encounters, he’s delivered an
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 is a test for Mattel, who are going all-in on IP mana
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, Backrooms! Based on a 4-Chan thread, creepypasta, and w
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 currently doing better than its opening weekend, largely
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 summer. We count down our top 5 favorite movies o
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. After the mysterious death of their shepherd, played b
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 the people in the room…and Who? Weekly!” This week o
Michael is many things: a box-office triumph, a savvy piece of IP management, and a Frankenstein stitched together from a movie we’ll never get to see. Today on the show, we’re joined by two journalists who have reported
This week, we’re holding a seance in a Dress Barn™ with Mother Mary! Directed by David Lowery and starring Anne Hathaway and Michaela Cole, this two-hander sees a pop singer and her former designer revisiting the rift th
This week, we’re confessing the worst thing we’ve ever done with Zendaya and Batman himself with The Drama. The twist premise of A24’s newest hit throws a grenade into the idyllic romance of a beautiful couple in Boston
This week, it's The Mario Galaxy Movie! The second film in the Nintendo/Illumination franchise is already a global hit despite less than stellar reviews. It is nevertheless a fascinating film: an amalgam of stunning anim
This week we’re eating the rich with two new horror films that share devilishly similar premises: Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come and They Will Kill You both feature women fighting back against satanic cults run by rich elit
Beam me up…Rocky!? Critical Darlings is back, from outer space, in our new feed, talking about the first blockbuster of the year. Project Hail Mary, directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller for Amazon, is a family-friendly
It’s Critical Darlings’ biggest morning! After a marathon season, we react to this year’s Academy Awards: the winners, losers, presenters, performances, and awkward play-offs. One Battle After Another and Sinners nearly
Welcome to Critical Darlings, where critics Richard Lawson and Alison Willmore cover the latest film driving the conversation—from big summer blockbusters to festival favorites, buzzy streamers, and major awards contende
What time is it? It’s time to study the revolutionary texts with David “Rocketman” Sims! On our last episode before The Oscars, we’re talking about One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson’s epic about parental leg
Ryan Broderick
Co-Founder · Garbage Day newsletter
1 appearance on this show
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
actress, producer, and comedian
1 appearance on this show
Julia Louis Dreyfus
Valentina Allegra de Fontaine
1 appearance on this show
Griffin Newman
I Love Lily
2 appearances on this show
Hugh Jackman
actor
1 appearance on this show
Bobby Finger
1 appearance on this show
Anne Hathaway
mega popstar
1 appearance on this show
David Sims
1 appearance on this show
Sam Sanders
host of The Sam Sanders Show and Vibe Check · The Sam Sanders Show
1 appearance on this show
Joe Reid
host of This Had Oscar Buzz
1 appearance on this show
Wagner Moura
1 appearance on this show
Kleber Mendonça Filho
director
1 appearance on this show
Detected from recent episode content. Sponsor presence is a real signal of listener purchasing power and show monetisation.
No public pitch examples yet for this show.
Generate your own personalised pitchBased on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:
Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.
Shows with the most semantically similar episode content. Pitch one, pitch all; producers cluster.
Critical Darlings has a verified contact on file. Create a free PitchCentric account to access it and generate a personalised pitch in seconds. Research at least 3 recent episodes first and lead with a specific angle that serves their tv audience.
Critical Darlings is hosted by Unknown Host. The show is categorised under tv (film) and has published 29 episodes.
Critical Darlings has published 29 episodes.
Critical Darlings regularly covers tv, film, reviews. It sits in the tv category, with a film focus.
Critical Darlings is accessible for guests with genuine tv expertise. A personalised, episode-aware pitch will still outperform a generic one every time.
Critical Darlings hasn't explicitly signalled guest openness in recent episodes. That doesn't rule out pitching. your hook just needs to be especially compelling and relevant to their recent content.
Episodes of Critical Darlings average 85 minutes, giving guests a long-form format with plenty of time to expand on their expertise.
Our data rates Critical Darlings's guest bar at 80/100 (Premium tier). Established thought leaders with verified media credentials. Sign in to PitchCentric to see how your own Pod Score compares against this show.
Methodology. Booking Probability™ blends Listen Score, 30-day Virality, open-to-guests detection, and Apple ratings. Data refreshed every 60 minutes. Listen Score and Booking Probability are calculated by PitchCentric. Last enriched 4 days ago.