Film Reviews

Critical Darlings

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 Alison’s work ⁠⁠at Vulture.

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Latest Episodes:

"Marty Supreme" And The Precursor Circuit with Griffin Newman Jan 08, 2026

Show notes

This week, we’re only slightly hung over from last night’s New York Film Critics Circle Awards! Griffin Newman joins the pod to discuss the event, where, among dry-run Oscar speeches from Amy Madigan, Rose Byrne, and Wagner Moura, we saw Ethan Hawke fall into a fountain beneath a towering Buddhist deity.

Then we turn to the precursor circuit, where Marty Supreme’s momentum has cemented Timothée Chalamet as a frontrunner for Best Actor. We get into how he’s played the campaign circuit so far, and why Timmy and Marty are well positioned for the Oscars, despite not resembling the usual Oscar fare. Finally, we dive into Marty Supreme spoilers, before closing out with both an award and an in memoriam for the week.

Subscribe to Richard's newsletter, ⁠Premiere Party,⁠ and read Alison's work ⁠at Vulture.

⁠Follow Critical Darlings on Instagram⁠⁠⁠

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Introducing Critical Darlings Jan 01, 2026

Show notes

Welcome to Critical Darlings, a new podcast miniseries from Blank Check: A conversation about the awards season conversation, one contender at a time.

On Critical Darlings, critics and Blank Check alumni Richard Lawson and Alison Willmore guide you through the state of the Oscars race, from the precursors, to the campaigns, to the nominees themselves. To get things started, we begin with a discussion of the festival circuit and the curious state of this year's race; where many promising films have floundered upon their public release. Sidebars include the host's Oscar history, watching festival features on no sleep, Brazilian film Twitter, The Oscars on Youtube, Leonardo DiCaprio at Cannes, and Allison's shocking Il Postino experiment.

Critical Darlings is crashing the Blank Check feed every Thursday through the end of Oscar season. Starting next week we'll have video clips to share produced by our friends at Vulture, stay tuned.

Subscribe to Richard's newsletter, ⁠Premiere Party,⁠ and read Alison's work ⁠at Vulture.

Follow Critical Darlings on Instagram⁠

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices