Tag: 2025

The Minnesota Movie Digest: Issue No. 176

The Minnesota Movie Digest, from the Minnesota Film Critics Association, showcases film reviews, essays, and interviews, highlighting latest releases and classic films. Stay updated with film critiques through their social media channels.

The Minnesota Movie Digest: Nirvanna Heights

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:

He is also reviewing a different Hong Kong action movie every Sunday for the first half of 2026. This week, he wrote about John Woo’s 1987 film A Better Tomorrow II.

Brian Eggert – Deep Focus Review

On Deep Focus Review, Brian reviewed the following titles:

For his Patreon community, Brian posted a new entry in his essay series, The Definitives, about John Sturges’ Bad Day at Black Rock (1955).

Finally, Brian appeared on the latest episode of The CineFiles. He and Chris Hrapsky discuss Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, Pillion, and Magnolia (1999).

Hunter Friesen – The Cinema Dispatch

At The Cinema Dispatch, Hunter reviewed Pillion and Crime 101. He commenced his series on the 50 best films of the 2020s on his Instagram page.

Jason Hemming – Cinema Recall

Jason “The Vern” Hemming releases another episode of Random Thoughts of a Movie Insomniac, with short reviews of: The Running Man (2025), Marty Supreme, The King of Comedy, The Testament of Ann Lee, and more.

On Cinema Recall’s website, you can read his review of the Oscar nominated Documentary, Mr. Nobody Against Putin.

Over on Rabbit Hole Podcasts, check out a new episode of The Rotten Truth, a podcast that looks at low scores on Rotten Tomatoes to see how bad they really are. On this edition, Donnie Roberts and The Vern watch the feature film debut of controversial comedian Andrew “Dice” Clay, and his feature, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane.

Jakob Kolness – JakobTalksFilm

Over at JakobTalksFilm, Jakob reviews Gore Verbinski’s wild Good Luck, Have Fun, Dont Die, the Sam Riley-starring resort-set thriller Islands, and continues to catch up on Sundance reviews with Rock Springs!

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

Erik Larson – Hamline Oracle

Erik hosted the February edition of the Secret Movie Night at Emagine Willow Creek and selected “Ace in the Hole” (1951). Thank you to everyone who showed up!

Ruth Maramis – FlixChatter

Review: SCARLET (2025) – A medieval princess on a vengeful quest in this Hamlet-inspired action fantasy anime feature

Review: Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die – Sam Rockwell lets it rip in this wild, wacky, chaotic anti-AI sci-fi satire

Review: CRIME 101 (2026) – Hemsworth & Ruffalo reunite in this stylish, moody Michael Mann-esque heist flick

Connect with FlixChatter on Letterboxd and social media » Instagram | Twitter | Bluesky

Paul McGuire Grimes – Paul’s Trip to the Movies

Paul is here with new reviews, articles, and a fun interview to share!

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die – Review

Crime 101 – review

Chris Hemsworth and Halle Berry Interview – Crime 101

Paul’s Weekly Newsletter – Remembering James Van Der Beek

Book Review – The Last Kings of Hollywood by Paul Fischer

Follow Paul across social media @PAULSMOVIETRIP, on Letterboxd, on YouTube, and Patreon.

Mark McPherson – Movies With Mark

Film Reviews:

Brian Orndorf – Blu-Ray.Com

Film Reviews:

Blue-ray/UHD Reviews:

Nicholas Palodichuk – St. Paul Filmcast

Film Reviews:

Podcast interview with actress Gael Palen

Tyler Strandberg – Cinefied

Tyler’s latest on Cinefied dives into pop chaos with The Moment and rides into Westeros lore with A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, two very different worlds united by sharp storytelling and big swings.

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

Follow Us On Social Media
Instagram: @mncritics
Twitter: @MNCritics

The Individual Top Tens of 2025

The recent MNFCA Awards delivered a composite consensus for what our members deemed the best films of the year. But how would things look if we broke it down to an individual level? Well, that’s exactly what we’ve done with this article!

Each member of the MNFCA was asked to submit their individual film lists. We encourage you to use these lists as a jumping-off point for discovering some great films that came out in 2025, and appreciate the great work that all of our members do!

Joe Botten – The MN Movie Man

  1. Train Dreams
  2. The Testament of Ann Lee
  3. Frankenstein
  4. Sinners
  5. Song Sung Blue
  6. Sentimental Value
  7. Sirât
  8. Weapons
  9. A Nice Indian Boy
  10. Friendship

Eli Brau – Cinephile Corner

  1. One Battle After Another
  2. The Phoenician Scheme
  3. Eddington
  4. Cloud
  5. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
  6. Marty Supreme
  7. Weapons
  8. Final Destination Bloodlines
  9. Wick Is Pain
  10. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

Brian Eggert – Deep Focus Review

  1. One Battle After Another
  2. Marty Supreme
  3. Sentimental Value
  4. The Mastermind
  5. Mickey 17
  6. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
  7. The Long Walk
  8. Sinners
  9. The Shrounds
  10. The Life of Chuck

Dallas Fisher – Dallas Goes To The Movies

  1. Black Bag
  2. Train Dreams
  3. Warfare
  4. One Battle After Another
  5. Caught Stealing
  6. Freaky Tales
  7. Sinners
  8. The Life of Chuck
  9. Marty Supreme
  10. Twinless

Hunter Friesen – The Cinema Dispatch

  1. Hamnet
  2. April
  3. Marty Supreme
  4. Frankenstein
  5. Sentimental Value
  6. Train Dreams
  7. Resurrection
  8. Is This Thing On?
  9. No Other Choice
  10. Jay Kelly

Kyle Goethe – Goat Film Reviews

  1. The Long Walk
  2. One Battle After Another
  3. Friendship
  4. Sinners
  5. 28 Years Later
  6. The Testament of Ann Lee
  7. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
  8. It Was Just an Accident
  9. Bad Shabbos
  10. Marty Supreme

Barrett Goetz – The Screen Mash

  1. One Battle After Another
  2. Sinners
  3. Marty Supreme
  4. Weapons
  5. Frankenstein
  6. Train Dreams
  7. Hamnet
  8. It Was Just an Accident
  9. Zootopia 2
  10. Superman

Matt Hambidge – FandomWire

  1. Marty Supreme
  2. Sinners
  3. Black Bag
  4. Sentimental Value
  5. Is This Thing On?
  6. No Other Choice
  7. Sketch
  8. Splitsville
  9. It Was Just an Accident
  10. Weapons

Zach Hammill – Movie Friend

  1. One Battle After Another
  2. Friendship
  3. Sentimental Value
  4. Sinners
  5. Sorry, Baby
  6. Weapons
  7. Superman
  8. It Was Just an Accident
  9. Die My Love
  10. KPop Demon Hunters

Jason Hemming – Cinema Recall

  1. One Battle After Another
  2. Sentimental Value
  3. Weapons
  4. Bugonia
  5. The Naked Gun
  6. The Housemaid
  7. Eddington
  8. Nouvelle Vague
  9. The Toxic Avenger
  10. F1

Jakob Kolness – JakobTalksFilm

  1. One Battle After Another
  2. Marty Supreme
  3. Sentimental Value
  4. 28 Years Later
  5. The Secret Agent
  6. Sinners
  7. Hamnet
  8. Weapons
  9. Black Bag
  10. Blue Moon

Catherine Krummey – Veg Out Recipes

  1. Hamnet
  2. One Battle After Another
  3. Sinners
  4. Bob Trevino Likes It
  5. Sorry, Baby
  6. Come See Me in the Good Light
  7. All That’s Left of You
  8. One of Them Days
  9. Jay Kelly
  10. The Testament of Ann Lee

Tim Lammers – Forbes

Insert text here

Erik Larson – Hamline Oracle

  1. No Other Choice
  2. It Was Just an Accident
  3. One Battle After Another
  4. Sentimental Value
  5. Rental Family
  6. KPop Demon Hunters
  7. Sinners
  8. Hamnet
  9. Superman
  10. Song Sung Blue

Brad Lenz – The Screen Mash

  1. Sinners
  2. It Was Just an Accident
  3. Twinless
  4. Train Dreams
  5. Weapons
  6. Sentimental Value
  7. Hamnet
  8. Marty Supreme
  9. Bring Her Back
  10. One Battle After Another

Matthew Liedke – Liedke on Film

  1. No Other Choice
  2. Bugonia
  3. Sentimental Value
  4. Blue Moon
  5. Frankenstein
  6. The Phoenician Scheme
  7. Wake Up Dead Man
  8. Rental Family
  9. Sorry, Baby
  10. Rosemead

Ruth Maramis – FlixChatter

  1. Hamnet
  2. Sentimental Value
  3. Train Dreams
  4. Frankenstein
  5. The Secret Agent
  6. One Battle After Another
  7. Black Bag
  8. Sinners
  9. Rental Family
  10. Checkpoint Zoo

Paul McGuire Grimes – Paul’s Trip to the Movies

  1. One Battle After Another
  2. Sinners
  3. The Life of Chuck
  4. Hamnet
  5. Weapons
  6. Marty Supreme
  7. Jay Kelly
  8. Wicked: For Good
  9. Train Dreams
  10. Is This Thing On?

Mark McPherson – Movies With Mark

  1. Resurrection
  2. The Secret Agent
  3. One Battle After Another
  4. Sinners
  5. Frankenstein
  6. Marty Supreme
  7. Sentimental Value
  8. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
  9. It Was Just an Accident
  10. The Long Walk

Brian Orndorf – Blu-Ray.Com

Unranked:

  • The Ugly Stepsister
  • If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
  • Predator: Killer of Killers
  • Sovereign
  • Highest 2 Lowest
  • A Little Prayer
  • Twinless
  • Rebuilding
  • The Rule of Jenny Pen
  • Roofman

Nicholas Palodichuk – St. Paul Filmcast

  1. Hamnet
  2. Sinners
  3. Marty Supreme
  4. Weapons
  5. One Battle After Another
  6. Frankenstein
  7. Train Dreams
  8. Sentimental Value
  9. Nouvelle Vague
  10. Eephus

Tyler Strandberg – Cinefied

  1. Jay Kelly
  2. Thunderbolts*
  3. Materialists
  4. Twinless
  5. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
  6. KPop Demon Hunter
  7. Hamnet
  8. Elio
  9. Frankenstein
  10. The Fantastic 4: First Steps

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

Follow Us On Social Media
Instagram: @mncritics
Twitter: @MNCritics