About

Hey there, welcome to my movie review website.

My name is Matthew Liedke and I’ve been writing about film since September, 2008. However, my journey to being a film critic started long before. From about 2004 I knew that I wanted to be a writer, more specifically, a journalist.

During the election period of 2004, I was engaged by the news, and at that moment I knew that’s how I wanted to write. At the same time, I had always been a film fanatic. I loved watching movies and I adored going to theaters.

As the years passed by and I entered my senior year of high school, I noticed the rise of online film criticism more and more. More specifically, I found a website called Spill.com. It was an Austin-based film review website with critics including Korey Coleman, Robert Cargill, Chris Cox and Martin Thomas. I was so hooked by their ability to review movies in a way that was intelligent, informative and intellectual, while at the same time being funny and relatable.

Despite having professional knowledge of film, it always felt like listening to a group of friends, it was very inviting. It showed me film criticism can be presented in numerous ways and that there are so many ways to engage people.

As I became more engaged in film criticism, I also continued to be a frequent patron at the local theater, along with my friends. When the movie got out, we would usually stand in the lobby or the parking lot for nearly 30 minutes to an hour just basically talking about the flick and reviewing it.

Eventually, I put two and two together. I loved films, and I loved to write, I should write about movies. I went and created a website on Webs.com and started After The Movie Reviews. The name was based on spending time outside the theater after a movie with my friends.

I wrote for my website all throughout my time in college, along with some other outlets. In 2010 I produced movie reviews for a local radio station as an intern, then in 2012 I wrote reviews for the student newspaper.

After graduating from Minnesota State University in Moorhead, I went to work for the Wahpeton (ND)-Breckenridge (MN) Daily News. There, while working as a reporter, I continued my website while also having a weekly column for some of my reviews.

In 2015, I moved and began working as a reporter for the Bemidji (MN) Pioneer, a job I still have today. After a few months of starting in Bemidji, I closed down my old website and moved over to the blog network AreaVoices. That network was operated by Forum Communications Company, which also owns the Pioneer. I continued writing there until this past spring, when I learned that AreaVoices would be shutting down.

With that, I got back to my roots and created a new blog website, which is the one you’re looking at right now.

So, do I like anything outside of film? Yup! I really enjoy watching sports and root for all Minnesota teams. I also enjoy video games, anime and craft beers.

Want to know my favorite movies? Check out my list:

  • Metropolis (1927)
  • All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
  • Stagecoach (1939)
  • The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
  • The Bicycle Thieves (1948)
  • North by Northwest (1959)
  • Psycho (1960)
  • To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
  • Night of the Living Dead (1968)
  • The Godfather (1972)
  • The Godfather II (1974)
  • The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
  • Rocky (1976)
  • All the President’s Men (1976)
  • Animal House (1978)
  • The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
  • Scarface (1983)
  • Back to the Future (1985)
  • Dirty Dancing (1987)
  • When Harry met Sally (1989)
  • Beauty and the Beast (1991)
  • Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
  • The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
  • Tombstone (1993)
  • The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
  • The Crow (1994)
  • Before Sunrise (1995)
  • Apollo 13 (1995)
  • Titanic (1997)
  • The End of Evangelion (1997)
  • Saving Private Ryan (1998)
  • Good Night and Good Luck (2005)
  • The Last King of Scotland (2006)
  • The Dark Knight (2008)
  • Frost/Nixon (2008)
  • District 9 (2009)
  • Inglorious Basterds (2009)
  • The American (2010)
  • Drive (2011)
  • The Artist (2011)
  • Midnight in Paris (2011)
  • Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
  • Wild (2014)
  • Whiplash (2014)
  • Birdman (2014)
  • The Big Short (2015)
  • Spotlight (2015)
  • Moonlight (2016)
  • La La Land (2016)
  • Call Me by Your Name (2017)
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