The Minnesota Movie Digest: A Freaky Friend for the Minecraft Movie

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.

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:

• Companion movie review
• Holland movie review
• Misericordia movie review
• Freaky Tales movie review
• Ash movie review

He also has reviews for the following movies released in the last few years:

• Test Pattern movie review
• The Beast movie review

Lastly, he ranked the best movies of 2025 through the first quarter.

Matt Clark – Kino Ventura

Matt’s March roundup includes chatting with Pat Healy, a 16mm 70s obscurity, and a black & white Italian stunner

Brian Eggert – Deep Focus Review

On Deep Focus Review, Brian reviewed The Friend, Wake Up, and Freaky Tales.

For the MSPIFF44, Brian wrote an introduction to the festival and his first dispatch, including reviews of Free Leonard Peltier, The Trouble with Jessica, and Misericordia.

For his Patreon subscribers, Brian posted a review of Ash Is Purest White (2018) as part of his “Filmmaker in Focus” series about Jia Zhangke. Wrapping up that series, he also posted a piece about Jia’s work overall. Finally, Brian shared a review of Neon’s new slasher throwback, Hell of a Summer.

Hunter Friesen – The Cinema Dispatch

At The Cinema Dispatch, Hunter reviewed A Minecraft Movie and reposted his review of William Tell from TIFF. He also previewed the films he’ll be seeing at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival and predicted thirty films that will likely appear in the 2025 Cannes Film Festival program.

Kyle Goethe – Goat Film Reviews

On the GOAT Film Reviews Site, you can find a review of the new release, A Minecraft Movie!

You can also find a new unboxing video over on the GOAT Film Reviews YouTube Channel. This week, we opened up the Paramount Scares: Volume 2 set which contains four more “classic” horror films from the Paramount lineup, and asked why they included Friday the 13th Part Two but ignored the original!

Kyle is also representing GOAT Film Reviews at MSPIFF this week, so look for coverage of the festival dropping in the coming days.

Jason Hemming – Cinema Recall

• The popular video game Minecraft gets its first big screen adaptation, but is it any good?
• Fresh from The Minneapolis St Paul International Film Festival is an insightful documentary about deaf actor, Marlee Matln

Eric Houston – North Metro TV

Movie Man Eric checks out the John Frankenheimer neo-noir 52 Pick-Up.

C.B. Jacobson – Picturegoer

In this week’s installment of the “Picturegoer” newsletter, the sports drama “The Fire Inside”; Eddie Murphy in “Beverly Hills Cop”; Andrea Arnold’s raw, heartbreaking “Fish Tank”; the delightful screwball comedy “Midnight”; Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in “Twice Two”; and the classic “Star Trek” episode “Journey to Babel”.  Follow the link.

Matthew Liedke – Liedke on Film

At his site, Liedke reviewed March releases Novocaine, Mickey 17, Last Breath, Black Bag, Snow White, and A Working Man.

Ruth Maramis – FlixChatter

Paul McGuire Grimes – Paul’s Trip to the Movies

Paul has been busy with a ton of new reviews and interviews for this week!

• The Friend – review
• The Friend Interviews with Bill Murray, Naomi Watts, David Siegel, and Scott McGehee
• Hell of a Summer – review
• Hell of a Summer interview with Finn Wolfhard, Fred Hechinger, and Billy Bryk
• Freaky Tales – review
• Companion – 4K review

Mark McPherson – Movies With Mark

Film Reviews:

• Common Side Effects: Season 1
• Freaky Tales

Essays:

• More Than Muppets
• AI Slop and Misreading Studio Ghibli

Brian Orndorf – Blu-Ray.Com

Film Reviews:

• A Minecraft Movie
• Freaky Tales
• The Friend
• Wake Up
• The Luckiest Man in America
• William Tell

Blu-ray/UHD Reviews:

• Tommy
• Blood Tracks
• Female Perversions
• The Carpenter

Keep your eyes peeled for the latest film critiques, reviews, and news from the Minnesota Film Critics Association! 🎬🍿

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