The Skolney Blog

2004: Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill was of course originally meant to be one film. But then it became so long that he basically had to cut it into a two-parter. Now, the uncut film does exist (dubbed "The Whole Bloody Affair") but I have never watched it that way. For me, they exist as two films. Part one (covered last October) was quite simply a mind-blowing game changer, nearly on par with Pulp Fiction (covered this October). Halfing the film meant ending on the deliriously high of the Crazy 88's fight sequence, with the promise of more thrills to come.  Wait 6 months and here comes part 2. This wasn't Endgame-like hype, but the expectations could not have been higher. I did know that the odds of it measuring up were small, given the caliber of actors remaining for Uma Thurman to face (particularly Michael Madsen and Daryl Hannah, plus David Carradine's Bill). And yeah, it wasn't Vol. 1. Not close. Now, we ARE talking Tarantino here. Vol. 2 i...

I'm not saying this year's draft was a big one for the Vikings, but it was big enough for me.to finally go to a draft party. I wanted to be amongst the masses when we most likely made a huge decision that may shape this franchise for years to come. This was going to be a QB. We all knew it. Kirk Cousins is a Falcon now. We signed Sam Darnold, and I don't 100% dismiss the idea that KOC could unlock his full potential that crappy franchises in New York and Carolina couldn't, but come on.  So which QB? Well, we know it wouldn't be Caleb Williams or Jayden Daniels. Beyond that, there were rumors and reports and other assorted bullshit for weeks that had the Vikings trading up, maybe as high as pick 3 to get a QB. At that spot, it would be Drake Maye. But maybe you wouldn't have to trade up as high to get JJ McCarthy. And you could probably just stand pat and have Michael Penix and.Bo Nix available. I was staunchly opposed to an expensive trade up. Fact is nobody kno...

In theaters: IN THE LAND OF SAINTS AND SINNERS Nothing earth-shattering, but this is the first genuinely good Liam Neeson film in a while. This one is made with some actual craftsmanship, Neeson (rock solid as ever) gets to be Irish, and Kerry Condon really goes for it as the main villain. Some generic story beats, but when we get a good Neeson flick we must appreciate it.  MONKEY MAN Dev Patel's ambitious stab at full-fledged action stardom. It gets a little too deep into its own mythology and cultural politics, but when the action hits it delivers the goods.  ARTHUR THE KING Mostly a time-passing trifle with Mark Wahlberg as an adventure racer (kind of like a triathlon) whose team encounters a scruffy little street dog during a competition. It's a decent enough watch, but then takes a fully tearjerker turn in the last 20 minutes that got me a couple times. Hey, you're showing a little dog suffering and I'm not totally heartless.  CIVIL WAR This film promised to really...

1999 was flush with iconic movies. I've already talked about several of them, with many more to come. The spring of that year was a particularly great time. It's hard to explain if you weren't there. And no film gets across that feeling of that time better than Doug Liman's Go, truly one of the most underrated films of all time. And possibly my absolute favorite film of that year. Unlike so many of those 1999 classics, Go was not a hit at the time, nor quick to become a huge cult film. I still feel like a lot of people simply do not know about this film at all. The film came to be during the aftermath of both the indie film boom, and the Tarantino explosion. So many films came out after Pulp Fiction, aping aspects of that game changer, be it the colorful dialogue or the non-linear storytelling. Go was a little different, since it was mostly not about anybody living that criminal life. But it had the quirky dialogue and structure. The film had some cache due ...

Prior to 1994 I was actually a big OJ Simpson fan. I wasn't alive to see him play football, but I knew him from old highlights, and TV, and the Naked Gun movies. I even did a report on him in school a couple years before the murders. Then the murders happened. This was all like smack dab in the middle of the great 90s, and while this wasn't a great story, it's one of those core memories that helped define the decade. I remember the story really building up during that week, leading to the day of the Bronco chase.  I have very vivid memories of watching the chase that night. There's a fantastic 30 For 30 all about that day, June 17th, 1994. And then of course the trial was major news every day once that got going. And I also have a very vivid memory of school being stopped the day the verdict was announced. They wheeled a TV into the room so we could watch. I was happy at the verdict at the time. I think it was that whole thing of, well, white people get away with shit a...

Guardians 3 Twins 1 Well, my 1st Twins game of 2024 certainly did one thing. It set a very low bar for any future games to clear. On this sun-drenched Saturday, the biggest issue that has plagued the Twins throughout their opening week-plus reared its ugly head once again: BAAAAAD hitting. There was some hope early. Joe Ryan quickly set down the Guardians in the 1st. Then a Correa walk was followed by an Alex Kirilloff triple and the Twins led 1-0. But that was it. 8th hitting catcher David Fry hit a 3 run bomb off Ryan the next inning, and that was pretty much it for them too (they only had 2 guys in scoring position the final 7 innings), but they had the 1 really big hit that we never got. The Guardians offered chances. Most absurd was when the Twins put the 1st 2 on in the 5th, again the 6th (plus a bases loading HBP with 1 out), and then again in the 7th, and did not get a single run out of any of those opportunities. None of those baserunners were the result of hits. The Twins rem...