The Skolney Blog

2002: Barbershop was a big hit. It spawned a couple sequels, a spinoff movie, and I guess a TV series. I'm kind of surprised it didn't lead to more. I mean, this is a setting that really works for an ensemble comedy. And you don't even have to worry about a changing cast, cause the cast WOULD change over the years. I liked the sequels, and I think the spinoff. But the first movie is the best. It's the funniest one, and the ensemble is at its best. This movie kind of sent Ice Cube's acting career off on a different trajectory, but he is well suited to be kind of the genial straight man as all sorts of shenanigans happen around him. Cedric The Entertainer lives up to his name as the cranky old man barber. Eve, man, she hadn't been in a movie before this but she was at the peak of her....everything here. Yeah I liked Eve. I kind of miss these PG13 comedies. I guess only network sitcoms can get clean laughs anymore.  Never heard of City By Th...

In theaters: BEAST Idris Elba's family trip to Africa takes a bad turn when they encounter a bloodthirsty lion. It's a pretty lean, mean thriller, and well made. The CGI lion is very convincing. Elba is a strong lead of course. THE INVITATION Nathalie Emmanuel thinks she's discovered some extended family, but oh would you look at that they're vampires. This movie has nothing new to offer the genre (and is PG13 for some reason) and despite the joys of getting to look at Emmanuel in every scene is quite dull. But you do get a pretty good finale.  BARBARIAN Two guests at an Air BnB find out they picked just about the worst house ever to stay at in this horror movie, which at times is quite effective at turning the screws and making you nervous. The structure is weird and halts the momentum of a pretty excellent opening third, but it recovers, and offers up some grotesquely memorable sequences.  PEARL A prequel movie to X, starring Mia Goth as the younger version of the cra...

Twins 4 White Sox 0 My last Twins game of the year was played in a largely deserted ballpark, between 2 teams playing out the string. Cleveland ran away with the AL Central, so the idea that this final home series would matter is long gone. Too bad, cause this was a solid game. If you didn't know any better, you'd think the Twins were a decent team. Bailey Ober was the star. 7 1/3 innings, 2 hits, 10 strikeouts....all of them swinging. Easily one of the best outings by a Twins SP all year. Jax and Duran (whose Target Field intro is quite cool) finished it up. The Twins scattered 10 hits off of that dipshit Lance Lynn, and 4 runs, capped by a 2 run homer by Matt Wallner that was hit incredibly high. The Twins went 4-1-1 in games I attended this year, so at least that worked out. And as always, it was kind of sad walking out of Target Field for the last time til spring.

Thursday: [Browns 29, Steelers 17] The Browns are 1 blown onside kick from being 3-0, but are also a 58 yard field goal from being 1-2. Pittsburgh has to go to the rookie Pickett if they want to salvage their own season.  Sunday: [Ravens 37, Patriots 26] Basically aside from the 4th quarter against Miami, the Ravens have been as good as anybody this year. Mac Jones got hurt, so the Patriots season is already in trouble.  [Panthers 22, Saints 14] The Saints very much stink this year. The Vikings need to take care of business in London.  [Bears 23, Texans 20] Somehow the Bears have managed to be 2-1 despite not playing a single good game.  [Colts 20, Chiefs 17] The stunner of the week. The Chiefs looked very good for 2 weeks. The Colts looked awful, and got shut out last week. So naturally the Colts win, with some help from a series of crucial Chiefs mistakes.  [Eagles 24, Commanders 8] The Eagles might just be that good. I'm already deeply regretting ...

VIKINGS 28 LIONS 24 Said it all week. This game was about how the Vikings would bounce back after their MNF debacle in Philly. Turns out they also needed to bounce back after their own performance put them in a separate pair of double digit holes on Sunday. But they answered the challenge. They played a messy, inconsistent, sometimes downright putrid game, but finished with one of the most rousing rallies they have had in years, and pulled out a massive win. The hopes they would come out crisp were dashed quickly. Our defense stunk early and gave up a pair of TD drives that looked all too familiar with the lack of pressure and the wide open receivers. Our offense couldn't get going. Well, the ground game started strong but it was repeatedly abandoned quickly. At 14-0 it was already looking bleak, but the Vikings offense rebounded with a very good 2nd quarter. A pair of TD drives, one ending with Thielen's 50th career TD and the other with Cook's 1st TD run of 2022. They eve...

Gophers 34 Michigan State 7 Okay, I'm the idiot. I thought the Gophers would lose this game. It seemed like the perfect setup to have the dominant 3-0 Gophers face a seemingly tough road test against a recently ranked Big Ten team and immediately trip up. Instead they made it 4 for 4 in blowout wins, in a game that wasn't even as close as 34-7. 2019 Tanner Morgan is back. He was great in this game, both making great throws and some a few key runs. The run game was brutally efficient again, racking up well over 200 yards. The defense didn't surrender the shutout until the final minute. They got a couple turnovers. The Spartans were never close to making this a game. The Gophers still have Penn State and Purdue and even Nebraska as games you could see them at least being challenged in, but after today there seems to be a very real chance that they could go into the final 2 weeks undefeated. And then, as usual, the season comes down to whether or not you can beat Iowa (home) o...

Eagles 24 Vikings 7 Well, at least it wasn't 38-7. Those great vibes from week 1 lasted approximately 8 days. They were snuffed out in convincing fashion on Monday night during a grotesque, lopsided loss to the Eagles. No silver linings here. This was a complete ass kicking. Philly dominated us on both sides of the ball, and amongst other indignities caused Kirk Cousins to have his worst game in almost 2 calendar years, much to the delight of the KCDS crowd. All the scoring happened in the first half, when Jalen Hurts was allowed to do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. First a game opening TD drive, then a dagger deep shot over our burned safeties. It was 14-0 and we had run 3 plays. You just can't get in a quick hole like that on the road. The Vikings did briefly appear ready to make things a game when they finally got the offense going a little bit. Sparked by a jet sweep carry by Jalen Reagor, the offense showed life. Kirk found a few open receivers, the last Irv Smith ...

Thursday: [Chiefs 27, Chargers 24] Once again a Mahomes team turns a double digit deficit into nothing. Yeah the Chiefs needed a 99 yard pick six to make it happen, but if the Chiefs can get some of those contributions from the defense they will be a juggernaut. Justin Herbert fractured some ribs but kept playing. He could never be a Twin. Sunday: [Lions 36, Commanders 27] The Lions offense is legitimately pretty good, but their defense is pretty bad. Next week at the purple palace is a real game the Vikings should not look past.  [Patriots 17, Steelers 14] With few exceptions, Bill Belichick just owns Mike Tomlin. I watched almost this entire game and it was rough watching this Steelers offense. Their fans are already chanting for the rookie.  [Buccaneers 20, Saints 10] Brady throws things on the sidelines and nobody calls him a poor leader. He does next to nothing on the field but his defense carries him to another easy win. Fuck off to all of this  [Dolphin...

Kevin Smith's Clerks is a sacred text for me. It's in my top 10 films of all time and might be #1 for most referenced movie in my life.  Clerks 2 came in 2006, and against all odds was a very worthy sequel, both really funny and a nice sprinkling of heart. Those 2 Clerks flicks bookend one of my favorite runs from any filmmaker. I either really, really like or flat out love each of Smith's first 7 films.  Thing is that since Clerks 2 Smith's movies have just been a mass of mediocrity, or worse. He reached his rock bottom with the appallingly bad Tusk, and at that point I figured it was just over. Then a few years ago he did go back to the View Askew well, and made Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. It wasn't all that good either, but it had parts that I liked and was the first movie of his in years I would say I enjoyed.  Now he returns to the Clerks well for Clerks 3, and finally we have a Kevin Smith film post-2006 that I can say that I flat out liked, with no qualificati...

Thursday: [Bills 31, Rams 10] I picked the Bills to win this game, and eventually the super bowl, but they exceeded my expectations. Stafford was shit, sure, but the Bills look like a juggernaut. Clearly the Rams were discombobulated following the departure of Kevin O'Connell. Sunday: [Bears 19, 49ers 10] I picked SF to face the Bills in that super bowl, but holy shit will that not happen if Trey Lance plays like this. Yes the field was atrocious, but Lance was terrible. Fields wasn't even good, he simply got a couple absurdly wide open receivers.  [Eagles 38, Lions 35] Not quite as close as the score. The Eagles looked potent. They'll be a tricky opponent for the Vikings next week, although if the Lions can drop 35 we should be able to score. [Steelers 23, Bengals 20 in OT] The super bowl loser curse gets an early start. Joe Burrow threw 4 picks, yet the Bengals would have won if they simply made the extra point at 20-20. Pittsburgh clearly has some defense, al...

VIKINGS 23 PACKERS 7 The Kevin O'Connell era of Minnesota Vikings football officially began on Sunday, with the 3 time defending NFC North champion Packers in town. And as first impressions go, I don't know how it could have been that much better. This whole game felt like a cleansing. Out with the bad vibes that permeated the last regime, in with the new enthusiasm.  They wasted no time. They took the ball, and went right down the field for their first touchdown, a 4th and 1 toss to JJ. Even the decision to go for it felt new. The Vikings caught a huge break on the Packers 1st offensive play, cause Rodgers launched a deep ball to Christian Watson, who had Pat P beat. It was a sure touchdown...except Watson dropped the ball. Hey, we have earned a break.  The Packers had another chance to tie it early in the 2nd quarter, having methodically driven to the Vikings goal. But on a 4th and 1 the Packers chose to run it and AJ Dillon was stuffed.  The Vikings turned around and m...

A new NFL season is here, and it's time to do some predicting. Might as well start with the Vikings, and the dawn of the Kevin O'Connell era.  My enthusiasm for this hire has not wavered. I think this guy will do great things in Minnesota. But with that optimism, there is also the reality that, historically, rookie head coaches can struggle just like players do. I don't think the Vikings will end their super bowl drought this year. Rookie coaches don't take non-playoff teams to such heights in year one. No HC has done it since before I was born. But I absolutely think this should be a playoff team. They were 8-9 last year with a historically un-clutch defense, and facing an extremely tough schedule. This year's schedule appears much less daunting, and there is simply no way this revamped defense can possibly give up as many points in the final minutes of halves. Kirk Cousins is going to have his finest season. He put up great numbers even with a coach doing everythi...

Roster cut downs happened this week. And I am here to break it all down, position by position.  QB To the surprise of few, both Kellen Mond and Sean Mannion were cut. To the surprise of, well, me, neither made it to the practice squad. Mond was claimed by Cleveland to be their #3 QB until the predator is back. And Mannion joined Seattle's PS. So we picked up David Blough from the Lions, who started against us a few years ago and, as I've learned on Hard Knocks, has a smoking hot wife. RB Everyone of note stayed. Mattison was not traded. Chandler was not cut. So KOC has a lot of toys. WR  The big news here was the trade for Jalen Reagor, who the Eagles famously drafted just before JJ 2 years ago. We got him pretty cheap, so it's a good deal I think. He's basically been a bust so far, but with shaky QB play. I think KOC can use him well. Plus he will likely return punts. The deal led to the release of Ihmir Smith-Marsette, who the Bears picked up. Jalen Nailor made the te...