The Skolney Blog

My movie fandom kind of grew in stages. Movies were there for me when I was a kid, largely as a background thing, but it wasn't until around 92 that they started to become a major thing in my life. Then that fandom exploded throughout the middle of the decade. There were plenty of movies responsible for this, plenty of actors and actresses, and a few directors...none more instrumental during this time than John Singleton. He was the first director who mattered to me. The first director whose name on a film got me excited for that film. Obviously Boyz N The Hood is iconic. It was a huge hit, it kind of kicked off a string of black-centered films(many of which were also faves of mine at the time), it got Singleton an Oscar nod, it kicked off a bunch of careers. It is unquestionably one of the films of the decade. I saw it close to a year after it came out, and it was instantly one of my favorites. Then when his follow up Poetic Justice was coming out, knowing it was his film was...

Just to get it out of the way in a spoiler free summary: they stuck the landing. The 20+ film Infinity Saga was wrapped up in a way that I cannot imagine wouldn't satisfy 99.999% of the fanbase. *thus ends the spoiler free zone* It is an overwhelming film to process after just one viewing. This is a 3 hour film positively packed with stuff happening. MAJOR stuff. The last two-thirds of this movie in particular are just relentless. You feel the weight of 20+ films of story, as well as the responsibility to leave the MCU set up for the future. I knew in general some of the things that were going to happen. But like with the ending of Infinity War and knowing that one way or another a lot of that was going to have to be reversed, it was more about how you get there. Endgame earns bringing back the snapped. It isn't just a quick fix. The whole opening 20-30 minutes are all about driving that point home. The remaining Avengers, with Captain Marvel, go find Thanos, and kill him. B...

Best movie: Even after a year I cannot truly pick between the 1st Avengers and Infinity War. Worst movie: The only MCU flick I ever walked out of disappointed was Iron Man 3. It wasn't the Mandarin twist per se, but it just felt like the wrong film to do it in. It bugged me that Iron Man was not even Iron Man for most of the movie. Most underrated movie: Age Of Ultron, man. I swear, the backlash hit like a month after it came out and I never understood it. There was that whole thing of people thinking Joss Whedon was calling all infertile women monsters. People were mad Ultron, a character made from Tony's personality, made quips. Most overrated movie: I say this only in context, but it's the 1st Guardians of the Galaxy. I think the sequel is better in just about every aspect. Best cumulative performance: Chris Evans. Cap has had the best arc, and he has nailed it. I fully expect Endgame to cinch this. Worst cumulative performance: Vin Diesel. C'mon, admit it...

I'm not entirely sure what to make of this whole thing, the increased attention paid to Britney's conservatorship. We got the report of her checking into a "mental health facility" recently due to stress from dealing with her dad's serious illness. But now there is all this talk that she was forced to go. I listened to the podcast that had this alleged source on regarding this situation. I was almost crying at points listening to it, and not even because I necessarily believed everything. Just the idea of these things being done to Britney made me upset. I honestly don't know what to believe. The conservatorship began as sort of a last ditch effort to get Britney out of that place she was in in 07-08. Her public breakdown has been well documented. It seemed from afar like, okay, it worked. Britney got back to her career, she seemed happy, she had her smash residency, all that. She has largely shied away from doing much promotion for things the last 11 yea...

So, the 2019 Vikings schedule came out tonight, and I'm not sure it could have possibly been better for the Vikings. Yes they have a pretty tough road schedule, but the layout of the 16 games bodes very well. We open at home again, this time against the Falcons, and in week 3 we host the Raiders. In weeks 2 and 4 we play at Green Bay and Chicago respectively. Now, neither game will be easy, but it's a huge break to get to play both those games well before the cold and snow arrive. We can hopefully do some damage in October as well. At the Giants, then home to the Eagles(we'll be chuckin the beer cans this time), at Detroit, then a TNF home game against Adrian Peterson, Case Keenum and the Redskins. I love that our short week leads into one of our easier home games this year, unlike last year when we had to go face the Rams. November kicks off with our only really imposing back to beck games. At the Chiefs, then at Dallas on Sunday Night Football. But then we get a nice ...

Remember the Vikings 2018 season? Remember how they were a sure playoff team and perhaps more, but they were completely sabotaged by the offensive line? I'm starting to feel a disturbing case of deja vu. The 2019 Twins have the look in many ways of our 1st division champ since 2010. They have a lineup with a great mix of vets and young guys emerging into stardom. They have one of the league's best starting pitchers. They have a division that looks like a mess behind them. But they too have a huge gaping problem, just like the Vikings did: the bullpen. The bullpen stunk last year too,  but they were never in contention past early summer, so it didn't really cost them anything. But the offseason came and went and this was not addressed. Blake Parker was the lone acquisition of note, and he's barely of note. So they come into this season with a pen, not counting Martin Perez, of 2 solid returning guys(Rogers, Hildenberger), Parker, minor league journeyman Ryne Harper,...

What the fuck are we DOING? The Mueller report gets essentially buried, then butchered by Barr the stooge. Then days later the dems politely request the full report. That report was fucking SHREDDED. Wake up! You think Barr is redacting stuff? Hell no. A whole new report is being written. Trump continues to lie and refuse to release his tax returns. The dems politely request the returns....then when they are refused they ask again, only this time they set a hard date for them. Oh well I'm sure setting a hard date this time will make all the difference. 🙄 Wake up! Trump is publicly trying to rile up one of his deranged cultists to murder Ilhan Omar. It really is that simple. He knows he owns the minds of his followers. We've already seen the amount of domestic terrorism spawned directly from his rhetoric. It's not much of a step to then incite a literal political assassination. And all for some completely out of context comments about 9/11, the day that Trump ...

I need to do these sooner. I've already forgotten a couple of these. Fighting With My Family: Pretty entertaining movie. Made me temporarily obsessed with Florence Pugh, as I immediately watched a couple other of the movies after seeing this. Greta: Straddles the line between respectable thriller and total camp. Apollo 11: IMAX doc about the mission to the moon. It's really more comprehensive than gripping. Five Feet Apart: Haley Lu Richardson is wonderful, and I even thought Cole Sprouse was good. The last act almost undoes all the goodwill it builds up, but it's still a solid addition to the sick kids romance genre. Captive State: An alien invasion movie sort of redone as a serious spy drama. It's a weird mix and often doesn't work, but points for trying. Us: I didn't like this as much as Get Out. It's got less on its mind, but it's well put together and Lupita Nyong'o is outstanding. I wish they hadn't explained what the dopplegangers ar...

A year ago, they become the 1st, only, and probably last #1 seed to lose to a #16 seed. As devastating a loss as has really ever been suffered. Total humiliation. But man, if only all fanbases who suffer such a crushing defeat can rebound like this. The miracle tying shot against Purdue to get into overtime and reach the final four. The 2nd Minneapolis Miracle in the semifinal to get past Auburn. And now a tying 3 with seconds left to again get to overtime and finally get past Texas Tech for the title. Off the top of my head the only 2 things like this that come close: The 1996 Denver Broncos, #1 seed in the AFC, Super Bowl lock, get beat on their home field by the 2nd year Jaguars, only to then come back the next year and finally win their 1st super bowl. The 2003 Red Sox. Leading at Yankee Stadium in game 7 only to then blow it and lose in extras. Then they come back the next year and have the most legendary playoff comeback in history, and go on to end the curse. The only Minn...

The 1st DCEU movie that isn't really connected to other films at all, Shazam is a bright, fun, funny, rather slight entry into the DC canon. Long story short, a foster kid named Billy winds up being given superhero powers, which on command turn him into a buffed up Zachary Levi. And of course at the same time a supervillain, played rather unmemorably by Mark Strong, shows up and many clashes ensue. Shazam is at its best when it stays small. All of the scenes with the foster family are good. Billy's foster brother Freddy kind of acts as the new hero's conscience and that really works. When they are working out the new powers that's a lot of fun. And the payoff in the 3rd act involving the foster family, which could have been SO cheesy, really works. For the most part the movie stays on the right side of being good cheesy. It feels like even more of a throwback than Captain Marvel was. I wish the villain was good. Strong has played bad guys a lot, even within a DC fil...