The Skolney Blog

In Theaters: THE FALL GUY The 2024 summer kickoff movie is one of those flicks that feels engineered to be a cable staple. Some action, a few laughs, but nothing truly memorable. Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt turn the charm up to 11, but they aren't given much to work with. Fittingly for a movie centered on a stuntman, the film has good action and stunts.  KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES The perennially underrated rebooted Apes franchise returns with a 4th installment that jumps ahead "many generations" to a time when Caesar has become more of a legend than anything. And his teachings are being twisted by a radical new wannabe dictator, who has plans to enslave apes and wipe out remaining humans. So yeah, basically, Christian fundamentalists. It's a strong metaphor, and a cool idea to base a film on. The new ape characters are led by Noah, who has the hero's journey, which brings him into contact and maybe alliance with a human (cute Freya Allen). I probably plac...

1994: Many directors wind up doing their own autobiographical film somewhere along the way. They usually don't have grand, cinema-changing ambitions. They just exist to tell a small story that really matters to them.  One of my favorites of this type is Spike Lee's Crooklyn. This was a big deal movie to me at the time. I had very much gotten into films from black filmmakers by now, and I am pretty sure I had seen all of the films of Lee's. He was firmly one of my favorite directors. But Crooklyn marked my first in-theater Lee film, so this was a big deal. And in 1994, the arrival of a new Spike Lee joint was still a big deal in the culture. He was coming off of Malcolm X, when he was arguably at the peak of his importance. So what a pivot, to go from a very provocative and political film, to this nice little movie Crooklyn. And this film is like nothing Lee ever made. It IS nice. There's conflict, sure, but it's nothing too serious.  Set in the early 70s...

So that's over.  Less than 2 weeks ago, the Wolves improbably pulled off the greatest and most unlikely single win in the history of the franchise, with that huge comeback to win game 7 in Denver.  At that moment it was only natural to have dreams of a championship. I mean, if we can take down the defending champs on their home court, why can't we follow that up by taking down an inferior Dallas team when we have home court this time?  Well I'll tell you why. Because Minnesota sports. Because Minnesota Timberwolves. I think deep down we all knew what it meant when they choked away game 1, and then we really knew what it meant when they choked away game 2 even worse. They were heading to Dallas down 0-2, a situation no team had ever come back from to win a series. Game 3, also winnable, and also featuring a late meltdown. And then down 0-3 it was just a matter of finishing the series.  The Wolves managed to not implode in game 4, and at least avoided a fully embarrass...

So....the Wolves did it. They slayed the dragon.  After barely competing in games 3-5, they destroyed Denver to send it to game 7 on Sunday.  And then all they did in that game 7 was get down 15 at the half, and 20 early in the 3rd...only to then stage the greatest game 7 comeback in NBA history.  A 58-38 deficit transformed into a 98-90 win that unquestionably stands (for now) as the greatest moment in franchise history. Never in a million years would I have thought this franchise capable of such an accomplishment. And they did it with Edwards having a not so great game. Certainly this wasn't KG against the Kings.  The hero was Karl Anthony Towns, and good for him. He has been the most unfairly maligned Minnesota athlete not named Kirk Cousins for years. And in the biggest game of his life he played fantastic. Winning this kind of game in this way is the least Minnesota sports thing to happen since the Minneapolis Miracle. But we all know what happened after THAT. E...

LYNX 102 STORM 93 2 OT The Lynx opened up their 2024 home schedule at a most unusual time on Friday night. 8:30 start time for TV.  Then an already late night became even later, during a double OT marathon that didn't finish up until almost 3 hours later.  It sure didn't look early that the Lynx would need to go to such great lengths to secure the win. The stout defense they had played in Seattle just a few nights earlier to get a win carried over to this game. And coupled with an efficient offense they looked like they might easily win in a rout. Midway through the 2nd a 4 point play by Kayla McBride pushed the lead up to a game high 16.  But then the Lynx offense got very sloppy for a very long time. They started turning the ball over, often unforced, which let Seattle go on a 17-6 run. The halftime lead remained 7, but the Lynx could have been on easy street already.  Third quarter was messy too. The highlight was rookie Alissa Pili draining a corner 3 for her fir...

Oh my god, where to even  begin this one? Well I guess we go back to 1997. The year I first truly became a Star Wars fan, courtesy of the special edition re-releases. But that was just the start of the odyssey. I'm sure I had some inkling around that time that there were going to be Star Wars prequels. And since I was now a fan, I'm sure I would have been interested no matter what. But I know the day that the Star Wars prequels became an obsession. It was May 28th 1997, when I was sitting in my high school library, reading the newspaper (as one does) and I saw a tiny little tidbit of news in the entertainment section that said that Natalie Portman had been cast in the Star Wars prequel. I know that I let out a somewhat audible "HOLY SHIT."  Star Wars? Cool. But Natalie Portman? Man, by 1997 it was all about her. She could have been cast in anything and it would have been a big deal. But I knew that her getting this movie would be massive.  So from that day, until rele...