The Minnesota Movie Digest: Issue No. 197

The Minnesota Movie Digest: The Samurai and the Ice Cream Man

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

It’s been a busy stretch for The MN Movie Man! Plenty of new reviews have landed on the site, starting with One Night Only, Cookie Queens, and the latest web-slinging adventure, Spider-Man: Brand New Day. There’s also Furious, Lockbox, Motor City, The Last Picture Shows, The Python Hunt, Mockbuster, The Bay, Minions & Monsters, and The Invite.

On the physical media side, three classics get a closer look: the 1935 A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Blu-Ray, the newly restored Last Summer (1969), and Anyone But You on 4K UHD.

Over at Loud and Clear Reviews, The MN Movie Man tackled Disney’s live-action Moana and the final ride with jackass: best & last.

As always, be sure to follow The MN Movie Man on Instagram, Letterboxd, TikTok, Bluesky, and Facebook for weekly early looks at upcoming films, physical media updates, and other news 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 films:

Matt Clark – Kino Ventura

Matt takes a look at Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s period mystery, The Samurai and the Prisoner.

Brian Eggert – Deep Focus Review

On Deep Focus Review, Brian recently reviewed Ice Cream Man and Late Fame.

For his Patreon subscribers, he reviewed SOULM8TE.

Check out more of Brian’s work by joining his Patreon community.

Dallas Fisher – Dallas Goes To The Movies

Dallas had the privilege of viewing two movies early this week, and here are his reviews for them:

Also, here’s the monthly reminder that he is hosting movie trivia at Emagine Willow Creek on August 19th from 7:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Kyle Goethe – Goat Film Reviews

This week, you can find reviews for several new releases:

Late Fame, which I saw at MSPIFF, is also out this weekend:

[MSPIFF 2026] Late Fame (2025)

On the TV side of things, we also have a review of Ted Lasso’s fourth season premiere:

[TV Review] Ted Lasso: “Home”

Tune in for weekly Ted Lasso coverage!

Jakob Kolness – JakobTalksFilm

Over at JakobTalksFilm, Jakob reviews the new season of Ted Lasso!

Over on Best Animated Podcast, Jakob (and guest host Kara Lidberg) hop on the saddle to discuss DreamWorks Animation’s 2002 Oscar nominee Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron!

Be sure to follow him on Twitter, BluSky, and Letterboxd!

Be sure to follow Best Animated Podcast on Twitter, Blusky, and Instagram.