The Skolney Blog

2003: 25th Hour is the last of the truly great Spike Lee movies. It also has one of the last truly great performances by Edward Norton, who plays a man living his last day of freedom before starting a long prison sentence for a drug conviction. This is a spectacular film, with some of Lee's most emotional work. The entire film has this feeling of sadness to it. The mournful Terrence Blanchard score is so great I even bought the soundtrack.  The ensemble is amazing. Norton's girlfriend is Rosario Dawson in one of her very best performances. His two best friends are a razor sharp Barry Pepper and a doofus-y Philip Seymour Hoffman. Anna Paquin goes full on temptress as teacher Hoffman's student. Brian Cox is wonderful as Norton's dad. The film is full of incredible scenes, like Norton's rant against every subsection of New York, and an ending (dream?) sequence that is one of the most emotional closers in any movie. It hits way closer to home for me than I w...

In theaters: The creepy killer robot doll movie that swept the nation. I think it is basically just silly trash, but the movie knows that it is silly trash, and leans heavily into the campiness. So it gets way more laughs than scares. You could (and have) done way worse for early January horror.  Quietly, Gerard Butler has amassed a pretty decent filmography. Plane, despite its hilariously bland title, fits right in as another rock solid genre flick. He's a pilot, he has to land a plane full of passengers in a country ruled by a crime lord. It's up to him and a tag along convict (Mike Colter) to save the day. I liked how the movie cut out a lot of the extraneous stuff that movies like this usually pad their runtimes with. It just gets right to it, in a good way.  Nice to see Anna Kendrick (an Oscar nominee once upon a time) do something more serious, in this drama about a woman stuck in a mentally abusive relationship. She's terrific, eve...

NFC: [Eagles 31, 49ers 7] An atrocious football game. I mean, the 49ers were already getting screwed hard by the officials, but then they not only lose Brock Purdy to a major elbow injury on their opening drive, but also lose 4th stringer Josh Johnson to a concussion. Any chance of a comeback was completely impossible when they didn't have a QB. The Eagles didn't even have to do anything. In fact, theirs has to have been the easiest playoff path to a super bowl any team has ever had.  AFC: [Chiefs 23, Bengals 20] This game looked to be following a bad trend for the Chiefs. KC really played great in the first half, particularly on defense, yet only led by 7 at the break. Then as the Chiefs offense stumbled the Bengals tied it up. At 13-13 I'd have bet big money on a Bengals win. But the Chiefs showed a lot of grit. That Mahomes TD laser to get the lead back was huge. But then the Burrow Bullshit stepped up and made Mahomes fumble. Tie game shortly after, but Burr...

Saturday: [Chiefs 27, Jaguars 20] The plucky Jaguars kept this thing competitive. Obviously the biggest story from this game was the injury to Patrick Mahomes. Like everyone else, when he first got hurt I thought the Chiefs were screwed, cause there was still so much game left and I believe they only led by 10 at the time. But Chad Henne, as he did against Cleveland 2 years ago, filled in capably. He led a 98 yard touchdown drive. Mahomes got back in and was noticeably diminished, but the Chiefs defense did their part and never really let the Jags get going. So the Chiefs go to their fifth straight AFC championship game.  [Eagles 38, Giants 7] Hey, that's a familiar score.  Well, as if we needed any more proof that last week's result was mostly due to how pitiful the Vikings defense was, we sure for it. This was complete domination. 28-0 first half. Eagles offense was a machine. Giants offense was inept. I spent the 2nd half doing other things.  Sunday: [Benga...

Saturday: [49ers 41, Seahawks 23] The 49ers were actually pushed for a half by the plucky Seahawks, but in the 2nd half they pulled away easily.  [Jaguars 31, Chargers 30] The Vikings certainly didn't have the worst loss of the weekend. That would be the Chargers, who used four Trevor Lawrence interceptions to build a 27-0 lead...then blew it all. It wasn't exactly a stirring comeback, just very methodical.  Sunday: [Bills 34, Dolphins 31] I only watched the first half of this game, during which the Bills were easily dispatching Miami. Then weirdness happened. Miami actually had a 2nd half lead, before the Bills got control back and avoided what would have been one of the biggest playoff upsets of all time.  [Bengals 24, Ravens 17] Another near huge upset. But then the Burrow Bullshit stepped in and got that fumble return TD.  Monday: [Cowboys 31, Buccaneers 14] Tampa did not deserve to be in the playoffs. But at least it gave us the chance to see Brady t...

GIANTS 31 VIKINGS 24 It doesn't seem fair. The 2022 Minnesota Vikings were about as fun a team as I have ever seen. This season contained so many incredible wins and moments and performances. It's why I keep coming back year after year, because maybe you'll get this kind of season. They don't get this good that often.  And it's over. Without a playoff win. Because we just let the ordinary New York Giants come into US Bank Stadium and end our season.  The crowd at the purple palace was absolutely electric at the start of this game. John Randle came out and did a hype intro. We were fucking READY.  The Vikings took the ball first, and drove 75 yards to a touchdown. At first it was a short TD pass to Justin Jefferson, but replay showed him just short. So Kirk got to sneak it in. Would this bottom feeding Vikings defense, weirdly hyped up by Ed Donatell all week, do their part and show up?  We got an early, definitive answer. And it was an emphatic no. The Giants even g...

Saturday: [Chiefs 31, Raiders 13] Chiefs easily dispatched the Raiders and clinched the AFC's #1 seed...although they are not guaranteed a home AFC title game cause the NFL botched their response to the postponed Bills-Bengals game.  [Jaguars 20, Titans 16] This was actually a good game. I expected the Jags to roll, but the Titans showed a lot of grit and Joshua Dobbs actually made some plays. Trevor Lawrence actually was not good at all. But the Titans made the one key mistake late with the strip sack fumble and that's all it took. So the Jaguars go from 3-7 to division champs, while the Titans lose their last 7 games in one of the all time collapses.  Sunday: [Bills 35, Patriots 23] [Dolphins 11, Jets 6] [Steelers 28, Browns 14] The early window headliner was deciding the AFC's final wild card. You knew Buffalo was going to be nearly impossible to beat. The Patriots actually made it a game, but you're not winning when you allow two kick return TDs. Buffalo...

VIKINGS 29 BEARS 13 The Vikings final regular season game didn't mean anything. Barring a mammoth upset of the 49ers by Arizona (which didn't happen) the Vikings were locked into the 3 seed and a matchup next week against the.Giants.  I didn't much care if we won. I cared far more about whether or not we came out of this game without any more injuries.  A handful of guys were inactive, but KOC did play the first team for the first half.  Chicago sat Justin Fields, in favor of the legendary Nathan Peterman. Many Bears fans probably wanted to lose so they would have a chance at the #1 draft pick.  The Vikings looked willing to oblige them. Kirk hit KJ Osborn on a season best 66 yard bomb, setting up a short TD to Thielen. Greg Joseph missed the PAT, because of course he did. It didn't portend doom. Neither did Dalvin Cook's fumble as we were moving on the next drive.  Chicago never got anything going on offense. Yeah, they stink, but when our defense has at times ...

My top 10: 1. GLASS ONION Rian Johnson's follow-up to Knives Out was arguably even more clever and intricate, and certainly funnier. And another great ensemble aced it. Keep em coming.   2. EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE No movie all year, or maybe in many years, has been so jam-packed with creativity.  3. SCREAM 5 The best Scream film since the 90s. Introduced a terrific new cast of characters, and revitalized the franchise.  4. DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS  The year's most complete MCU entry. Took great advantage of the opportunities of the multiverse. Scarlet Witch made for one of the MCU's best villains.  5. AMBULANCE  Remember Michael Bay? Well all he did this year was take a small budget a crank out an exhilarating action flick, his best pure action movie since The Rock.  6. THE WHALE Darren Aronofsky's best film in over a decade, anchored by a stunningly brilliant and empathetic lead performance by Brendan Fraser.  7....

Thursday: [Cowboys 27, Titans 13] A nothing game. Titans treated it like a preseason game, since only their week 18 gave vs Jacksonville matters. Dallas is locked into the 5th seed unless the Eagles lose out.  Sunday: [Lions 41, Bears 10] Chicago flirted with competitiveness for a while before having their doors blown off by the Lions. Hope the Lions show up next week like this.  [Patriots 23, Dolphins 21] The Patriots move into a wild card spot by edging the Teddy Bridgewater-led fish. Miami has now lost 5 straight games and now no longer control their destiny.  [Giants 38, Colts 10] The Giants emphatically clinched the 6th seed by destroying the Colts. Nick Foles was awful in what might be the last game he ever plays.  [Browns 24, Commanders 10] Ron Rivera should be fired. How can you justify punishing Taylor Heinicke for struggling against the 49ers defense, and hand your season's fate over to Carson Wentz? Well Wentz was a train wreck and got the Comm...

PACKERS 41 VIKINGS 17 Nothing at all good to say about this game. The Vikings got crushed by their hated rival, making their trash pit fans happy, and probably lost the 2 seed.  But they also suffered a couple of serious injuries that loom much larger for a team that hosts a playoff game in 2 weeks.  The vibes were bad going in. The early slate Sunday had a collection of results that were irritating to awful. The only good result was an Eagles loss that slightly opened the door to that #1 seed. Even that though felt like a tease.  The first big play at the Lambeau cow pasture came when, for the 2nd week in a row, Josh Metellus blocked a punt. We got the ball at the 1, but in a disastrous sequence that would inform the rest of the game we not only failed to get the touchdown. We also lost backup center Austin Schlottman to injury.  Greg Joseph's short field goal gave us a lead that lasted only a few seconds. The ensuing kickoff was taken 105 yards to the house.  ...