The Minnesota Movie Digest: Issue No. 129

The Minnesota Movie Digest: The Unbreakable Monkey

Welcome to The Minnesota Movie Digest, the official newsletter from the Minnesota Film Critics Association (MNFCA)!

The MNFCA is a collective of individuals dedicated to celebrating and critically examining the art of film. In this recurring publication, we’ll share a selection of insightful film reviews, absorbing essays, and interviews with film professionals.

Each issue of The Minnesota Movie Digest features a diverse array of perspectives and content. Our members have shared their most recent work with us, covering the latest releases and revisiting classic films that dissect the craft of filmmaking. Explore the links below and get a front-row seat to critically examine the art of film.

Check out the MNFCA Members page to meet our all-star lineup.

And now… The Minnesota Movie Digest.

Joe Botten – The MN Movie Man

After taking a few weeks off to enjoy the February chill, The MN Movie Man is playing catch-up with reviews! There’s something for every genre fan this week — take your pick! Check out reviews for The Monkey, Cleaner, Liza: A Truy Terrific Absolutely True Story, Millers in Marriage, Anacoreta, Ex-Husbands, Grand Theft Hamlet, Inhabitants, The Gorge, Suze, Armand, Paddington in Peru, The Dead Thing, The Quiet Ones, & Bonus Track. (There is a 10-star review in this batch…can you find it?)

Be sure to follow The MN Movie Man on Instagram, Letterboxd, and Facebook for his weekly early looks at upcoming films and other updates between newsletters!

Eli Brau – Cinephile Corner

Eli has a few new pieces this week over on Cinephile Corner. In their movie reviews section, he has reviews for the following new releases:

He also has reviews for the following classic movies:

Lastly, he has a few updated lists in their movie rankings section, including the best Miles Teller movies ranked, the best Anya Taylor-Joy movies ranked, and every Marvel MCU movie ranked from worst to best.

Brian Eggert – Deep Focus Review

Brian reviewed the new releases The Monkey and Cleaner, as well as last year’s Vermiglio.

For his Patreon subscribers, he wrote a reader-commissioned piece about Pedro Almodóvar’s All About My Mother (1999) for his essay series, The Definitives.

Hunter Friesen – The Cinema Dispatch

At The Cinema Dispatch, Hunter reviewed The Monkey.

Jay Gabler – Duluth News Tribune

For the Duluth News Tribune, Jay wrote a guide to this year’s Oscar nominees for Best Picture. He also reported on a movie called Murder at the Lighthouse, filmed in northeastern Minnesota and premiering February 23 on Lifetime.

Looking to the future — in two senses — he wrote a feature about a planned movie called The 7th, which may become the first $10+ million production in northern Minnesota since 2005’s North Country.

Kyle Goethe – Goat Film Reviews

Over on the GOAT Film Reviews YouTube Channel, you can find several first reactions to new releases, as well as a brand-new Unboxing Video for Severin’s 4k release of 2020 Texas Gladiators! Look for a Physical Media Review of the set soon!

Unboxing Severin’s 2020 Texas Gladiators (1983)

Kyle & GOAT Film Reviews were also featured in Rent.com this week! You can find more info here: Featured in Rent.com!

New Episode of Kyle & Nick on Film: 3:10 to Yuma (1957)

C.B. Jacobson – Picturegoer

In this week’s “Picturegoer” newsletter, Pamela Anderson as “The Last Showgirl”; the Monty Python gang’s first foray into feature filmmaking, “And Now for Something Completely Different”; Michael Rennie arrives for “The Day the Earth Stood Still”; Samuel L. Jackson and Jurnee Smollett visit “Eve’s Bayou”; Francis Coppola’s epic passion project “One from the Heart”; and the first volume of Simon Callow’s magisterial Orson Welles biography. Follow the link .

Ruth Maramis – FlixChatter

Ruth over at FlixChatter reviewed two new releases:

Paddington in Peru: The friendliest talking bear gets a bit lost in the wieldy jungle adventure but still packs a lot of charm

AppleTV+’s The Gorge: This amusingly romantic creature feature can’t sustain the intense build-up

In light of recent news, longtime Bond fan Ruth wrote about (lamented on) the fate of the British spy franchise:

Shaken AND stirred! Musings on Amazon MGM Studios taking creative control of the JAMES BOND franchise from the Broccolis family business.

Paul McGuire Grimes – Paul’s Trip to the Movies

Paul is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of “Saturday Night Live” Here, he looks back at his interviews with current and past cast members of the legendary late night sketch comedy series.

Looking Back at SNL – Paul Interviews the Cast of Saturday Night Live

Follow Paul on Social Media!