The student news site of the University of Northern Iowa

Northern Iowan

The student news site of the University of Northern Iowa

Northern Iowan

The student news site of the University of Northern Iowa

Northern Iowan

Film critic Hunter Friesen says, Its going to take a whole lot of magic to get this beat to be fantastic again, with a 2.5 rating.

A muddled story of wizards and muggles in “Secrets of Dumbledore”

HUNTER FRIESEN Apr 17, 2022

The “Fantastic Beasts” series has hardly lived up to its description.  The first entry assured us that the franchise wouldn’t be fantastic. “The Crimes of Grindelwald” assured us that the franchise...

Film critic Hunter Friesen gives the newly released film Ambulance a 3 out of 5 review.

“Ambulance” is a Bayhem at its best

HUNTER FRIESEN Apr 14, 2022

A funny thing happened before my screening for Michael Bay’s newest film, “Ambulance.” During the pre-trailer commercials, a TV spot for “Ambulance” came on the screen, claiming that it has the...

Film Critic Hunter Friesen gives Marvels latest movie Morbius a 1/5 rating and says, From the bottom of my heart, I implore you not to watch Morbius

I’d rather sell my soul than watch “Morbius” again

HUNTER FRIESEN Apr 4, 2022

I have made a deal with the devil.  The trailer for “Morbius” has been stalking me ever since it first appeared in January 2020. It didn’t matter what YouTube video or movie I was watching in the...

Film critic Hunter Friesen calls the Oscars an event that was no longer a celebration of cinema.

Sans smith slap, another tiring Oscars

HUNTER FRIESEN Mar 31, 2022

The Oscars have been desperate to recapture the social zeitgeist that they have been rapidly losing over the past few years. Viewership has steadily declined since the glory days when 55.2 million people...

Film critic Hunter Friesen lists his Academy Award predictions

94th Academy Award prediction

HUNTER FRIESEN Mar 24, 2022

Another year, another overly long awards season. Thankfully, everything is coming to a close as we reach the finish line of the 94th Academy Awards. With the votes tallied up and the winners being announced...

Film Critic Hunter Friesen gives The Batman a 4/5 and says Im excited to see where this story goes next.

“The Batman” finds beauty in the darkness

HUNTER FRIESEN Mar 7, 2022

It can be quite difficult these days to parse through the DC Cinematic Universe. While Marvel has been steady as she goes for nearly a decade and a half, DC has puttered along, shooting misfire after misfire....

Ranking this year’s Best Picture nominee

HUNTER FRIESEN Mar 3, 2022

For the first time in 11 years, the Academy Awards nominated 10 films in their coveted Best Picture lineup. The lineup is a full spectrum of scope and scale, ranging from domestic family dramas to sci-fi...

Film critic Hunter Friesen calls Cyrano a treat and gave it a rating of 3.5.

Dinklage stops the show in “Cyrano”

HUNTER FRIESEN Feb 24, 2022

The Great Musical War of 2021 has come to an end With the late-breaking “Cyrano” being the last extension of this trend The famed wordsmith’s tale of forbidden love Has been told so many times...

No honor among thieves in “Uncharted”

HUNTER FRIESEN Feb 21, 2022

In terms of adapting a video game to film, “Uncharted” should have been the easiest one yet. The cinematic sequences are all there, from the plane ejection and sinking cruise ship in “Uncharted 3:...

Check out film critic Hunter Friesens review of Death on the Nile

“Death on the Nile” is a misguided murder mystery

HUNTER FRIESEN Feb 14, 2022

The cards have been stacked against Kenneth Branagh’s sequel to “Murder on the Orient Express” for some time now. It had its production and release disrupted several times on account of the ongoing...

2022 Academy award nominations recap

HUNTER FRIESEN Feb 10, 2022

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences revealed their nominations this Tuesday for what they thought was the best of cinema in 2021. It was a sad day for me as my favorite film of the year,...

2021 Oscar nomination predictions

HUNTER FRIESEN Feb 7, 2022

It’s that time once again when the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences chimes in with what they think are the best that cinema had to offer in 2021. They’ll have a lot of worthy options to...

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