The Skolney Blog

Finally we reach one of my favorite times on the sports calendar: no more mock drafts, no more uninteresting draft profiles, no more pre-whining about how the Vikings did the wrong thing with draft picks that haven't even taken place. Yes, the NFL draft is here. For the Vikings, this is phase 2 of their offseason rebuild. It's been clear to anybody paying attention that their strategy in free agency was to greatly prioritize defense. I think they've done a great job at adding pieces on that side of the ball. Fans and media have whined incessantly about how they haven't done much about the OL. The only newcomer is Mason Cole, likely a backup. Resigning Dakota Dozier to the barest minimum of a bare minimum deal sent the fans into a meltdown. Hello? Clearly their free agency approach has opened them up to be free to focus just as strongly on offense in the draft. And they should be in great position to have perhaps several linemen to pick from at 14.  And I do think the od...

2001: Blow was directed by Ted Demme, a guy who had spent a decade directing comedies (The Ref, Life, obviously Beautiful Girls). But with this movie he took his shot at something bigger, a film about a man (Johnny Depp) who became a middle man between the US and Columbia as cocaine blew up in the 70s and 80s.  It's very much a Goodfellas homage (they didn't cast Ray Liotta by accident), with quite a bit of Boogie Nights thrown in there. I'm guessing that familiarity is why it didn't do better. But it's too bad. This is a very good film. Depp, in one of his last movies before Pirates of the Caribbean completely changed his career trajectory, is great. I do wish that they had cast someone other than Penelope Cruz, who at this point was very new to English language acting and it showed. She's still better than Depp's mom in this. But there are lots of other colorful supporting characters and some odd casting picks that pay off (Paul Ruebens). You e...

A collection of insightful thoughts during the show, presented after the show. Which is probably the wrong way to go, but dammit I'm doing it. And here we go.... The sun shining on Carey Mulligan feels a little redundant.  Yay Emerald Fennell!  I liked this setup. I hope they go back to the standard large auditorium next year though.  Daniel Kaluuya takes supporting actor. Dude has been killing it in everything.  I am vehemently opposed to not showing clips of the acting nominees. I always like seeing what clips are picked.  Yay Chloe Zhao. Now onto The Eternals. Pretty sure the grandma from Minari wants to nail Brad Pitt.  Halle Berry's new haircut doing its damndest to disprove the theory that nothing can ever make Halle look bad. Glenn Close deserves an honorary Oscar for dancing to "Da Butt" The "In Memoriam" was put on fast forward, I guess. That was weird.  Nomadland wins best picture. I honestly think it, Promising Young and Judas are all really...

The Twins have now played 20 games in a season full of expectations. And they sit at 7-13, which puts them as the 2nd worst team in all of baseball.  Excuses abound from the team, and many fans. Sure, you can't completely dismiss that a handful of postponements, and some COVID issues have played a part in this rather pitiful start.  But if you actually watch these games, and have a memory of what the last couple years were, you can see that this is not just a fluke. This team has some real problems. Rocco Baldelli stepped in to a golden situation in 2019. He inherited a team loaded with talent, and ownership far more open to spending than any previous manager  got to experience. The dirty little secret is that a whole lot of managers would have won close to 100 games with that 2019 roster hitting bombs at a record clip. Last year the Twins again snuck out a division title, but the team was noticeably worse, and would they have prevailed over a full 162? Now this. Baldelli...

MINARI Nominated for a bunch of biggies (picture, director, actor, supporting actress). I thought it was...fine. It's a nice little movie, with a nice little specific story, but it kind of bored me a lot at times. I liked how each member of this family was very much their own character, even the wife, who could have come off as a monster. SOUND OF METAL Nominated for best picture and actor, this is about a heavy metal drummer who suddenly loses his hearing. I had a weird reaction to this one. On one hand it is incredibly immersive. The sound design is brilliant at making you feel like you are right there with the Riz Ahmed character. It's unpleasant, but by design. Ahmed is great, as is supporting nominee Paul Raci, and frankly my beloved Olivia Cooke would have been more than worthy of a nomination herself (although she disappears for a large chunk of the movie). But this film also really put me off, as for much of the film the Ahmed character is trying to find a way to afford...

As Minnesota sports weekends go, this was one for the books. FRIDAY A Wild team that had just gotten a seemingly big, meaningful win over Colorado goes to St. Louis and gets skull-fucked 9-1. Tying the franchise record for goals allowed. The Wolves give up 145 points in a loss to Boston, including letting Jayson Tatum drop 53 on them. SATURDAY  The Twins piss away their 3rd extra inning game of the season to Seattle through terrible execution and that absurd runner on 2nd rule. The Wild, seemingly in position for a nice rebound win over the Blues, surrender the tying goal with a minute left, then give up the game winner with 2 seconds left in OT. So they gave up 4 points (retaining just 1) to the only team with a chance at knocking them out of the playoffs. The Frozen Four that featured 3 Minnesota teams, as well as UMass...naturally ended with UMass winning it all, and in blowout fashion over St. Cloud State. And in the most absurd twist, news broke that the Timberwolves are about...

LET HIM GO A pretty good drama that mostly fits within the western (or maybe I just think it does bc Kevin Costner stars in it). Reminded me a lot of Winter's Bone. Costner and Diane Lane are a couple trying to rescue their grandchild from the seedy new family he is now a part of. The film has some slow spots, and the evil grandmother character is a cartoon, but I was genuinely unsure of how things were going to play out.  ZACK SNYDER'S JUSTICE LEAGUE Okay, are we done now? Look, this version of JL is probably the better film than the Whedon theatrical cut. The story is more coherent. Cyborg is actually a character this time. Steppenwolf isn't quite as bad a villain. Certain expanded sequences are better. But this thing is an absurd, punishing FOUR HOURS long. And doubling the length of the film only turns a mediocre 2 hours into a mediocre 4. Included is a useless half hour coda featuring a random selection of cliffhangers and teases for other DCEU films that most likely w...