The Skolney Blog

1994: In 1994, man was I in the bag for Above The Rim. It was one of those perfect movies at the perfect time for me. A hood movie. A basketball movie (released right around tournament time). A Tupac movie. A movie with one of the all time classic soundtracks. There was no way this movie wasn't going to be one of my favorites at the time. I saw this in theaters. I believe it was the last movie I ever saw at this cheap ass little run down theater that closed shortly after. And yeah, I was totally into it. Amongst all the greats of 1994, this one was up near the top of my best-of list at the time. No, it's not at that level. It's noticeably cheap looking and in a few cases it seems like they only had one take for certain scenes that needed more. But hey, it's still a very entertaining watch. The basketball scenes have a lot of energy, and are backed by some of that great soundtrack. Tupac's role seems like a little bit of slumming coming off Poetic Justice...

In theaters: DUNE PART TWO I had kind of the same reaction to this as I did to part one. On a technical level it is a massively impressive achievement. The fx, the sound, the cinematography, all top notch. Again though I just felt nothing watching the overly complicated story unfold. I just don't care about Paul Atreides being the messiah or not. I still liked the movie more than part one, cause this has the magnificent Florence Pugh, and a lot more Zendaya.  LOVE LIES BLEEDING The best film of 2024 so far, a hugely entertaining noir, centered on a lesbian romance between a never better Kristen Stewart and the fantastic Katy O'Brian. They don't make em this grimy and sleazy anymore. Movie is full of cool twists and colorful dialogue. Ed Harris is a scary villain with a grotesque wig.  THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MAGICAL NEGROES Boy, this was a misfire. Points for originality, as this mixes social satire, fantasy and romantic comedy. And I often really like films that mix dispar...

Watching a movie franchise crack the code of how to be its best self is a wonderful thing. WB's monsterverse has been going for a decade now. It started with the okay 2014 Godzilla, then we had the excellent Kong: Skull Island, before the very disappointing Godzilla: King of the Monsters. There was not much to indicate that they knew how to maximize the property. But then came 2021's Godzilla vs Kong. This was the one where they figured it out. This was the one that took all of this franchise's potential, and splashed it all up there on screen. It was fantastic, and one of my favorite movies of that year. The rather clumsily titled Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire emphatically proves that it wasn't just a one movie fluke. No, they've hit their stride, and again all involved deliver another sensational entertainment experience. Godzilla and Kong are in kind of a truce. Godzilla stays up on earth, handling any threats that pop up. Kong stays down in Hollow Earth, disco...

Okay, now that we hit March the great movie year of 1999 was really ready to get going.  First up, and the first movie I saw in my 20s, was Cruel Intentions. This somewhat anachronistic film was based off of what earlier became Dangerous Liasons (I could check the French spelling of it, but I won't). But instead of adults engaging in various sexual manipulations, here it took place in a New York prep school. The film was a huge deal for me going in because of Sarah Michelle Gellar. 1999 was prime Buffy time, and SMG was breaking into movies. She had just been in a trifle of a romcom called Simply Irresistible, which was also a big deal to me going in, but wasn't that good going out. This film always looked like the better bet anyway, with her playing the bad girl. So she is the stepsister of Ryan Phillippe's womanizer, who bets that he can sleep with the innocent new girl Reese Witherspoon. But the two stepsiblings have their own kind of incestuous thing going o...

Well, the good news is that for the first time in 20 years, the Twins are coming off a season in which they won a playoff game. A series, even! That ultimate shame for the franchise is gone. But that's about it for good news with the Twins this offseason. It's been a bad vibes offseason for sure.  Chief among the negativity is the cheap ass Pohlads once again rearing their ugly heads. Sure, there was some uncertainty about how much TV money they were going to have coming in this year. That only got settled recently. And they sure jumped at that excuse to cut payroll (off a team that was as usual only middle of the pack anyway). Some of that payroll that.left will not be missed (Gallo, Pagan). Some will (Sonny Gray, Polanco). But almost nothing was done to replace the major losses, let alone add.  Aging Carlos Santana was the big addition, and he could be a solid get. But that pitching that so many have boundless optimism for? I don't see it.  They added all sorts of assor...

I knew it was more than likely coming, but that still didn't prevent the sting I felt on Monday when news broke that Kirk Cousins was signing with the Atlanta Falcons. This is the end of an era. Yeah, it wasn't the most successful era, but it was quite memorable and had a lot more pinnacle highlights than the Kirk haters would ever admit.  Heading into free agency, my stance was that if the offers from the Vikings and Falcons were close, that Kirk would indeed take the lesser deal to stay here. I don't think his words to that effect were empty. But then I saw the deal he got in Atlanta. Four years, $180 million, with like $100 million guaranteed. We may never know the Vikings offer, but I would bet my life it was not close. I'd be surprised if Kwesi even went to 3 years, let alone 4, and the total money could easily be double our offer. So I'm at peace with this on both ends. Kirk would have been nuts to turn down that deal, and from a team he certainly CAN win with...