The Skolney Blog

1995: Billy Madison is one of the stupidest comedies ever made. And I wouldn't have it any other way. Adam Sandler was on Saturday Night Live during my favorite era of the show, when it launched some of the biggest movie comedy stars of the next decade. Sandler was always a little weirder, a little more random, and that style translated to the movies right away.  After a few good supporting appearances, Billy Madison was his 1st starring role. And I could easily make the case that it remains his purely funniest movie. What a glorious time it was for the idiot comedy. Dumb and Dumber had just come out a few months earlier, and Tommy Boy was on the horizon.  Billy is the stupid, lazy son of a wealthy hotel chain owner, and presumed heir. But to actually get the company, he has to go back to school and pass grades 1-12. Yeah, he was so dumb he couldn't pass 1st grade on his own.  The premise alone is fertile ground for comedy, but what makes this movie so damn fu...

In theaters: SEPTEMBER 5 A really good dramatization of the network coverage of the terrorist attack at the 1972 Olympics. The screenplay got nominated for an Oscar. I was really into the old technology on display, and the film is really riveting even when you know the outcome.  ONE OF THEM DAYS This comedy about a couple of women going on a quest to scrape together rent money wound up being a small hit. And I want movie comedy to be a major thing again, but this one only got an occasional chuckle from me, despite the best efforts of Keke Palmer. Every other character in this annoyed the hell out of me.  NICKEL BOYS Nominated for best picture, this drama about a pair of kids growing up in a reform school has a really absorbing story. It also has a strange gimmick where the whole movie is told in 1st person POV shots. That works as much as it doesn't.  LOVE HURTS The latest in the ever-expanding action genre of ordinary people being secret ass kickers. This time, it's the ...

Another new MCU film has arrived, Captain America: Brave New World. As with every MCU film to date (35 in total), it falls somewhere on the scale of decent to incredible.  And as with any new MCU film in the last half decade, it has triggered a slew of negative to be negative reviews and click bait bullshit. BNW is the first solo movie for the Sam Wilson version of the character, following The Falcon and the Winter.Soldiwr series, and Anthony Mackie is terrific as usual.  The plot involves a conspiracy that calls back all the way to 2008's The Incredible Hulk, and that runs all the way to the top with the newly elected President Ross (Harrison Ford taking over for William Hurt). Sam takes the lead on trying to solve what's going on, as the film mimics the spy thriller tone of The Winter Soldier (and no, it's not nearly on THAT level).  Like most MCU fare, we get some returning characters (the new Falcon, and Isiah Bradley from the TV show), a few new ones (a female secret...

Eagles 40 Chiefs 22 The Super Bowl that almost nobody wanted wound up being one of the worst of the 38 I have personally seen, a stunning domination by the Eagles over the 2 time defending champion Chiefs. I wanted the Chiefs to win this one. One because I hate Eagles fans and wish them nothing but eternal misery, but also I knew how much a Chiefs threepeat would have devastated the Brady fanboys, to see Mahomes do something their messiah never did.  It wasn't to be, and you knew it early. The Eagles outclassed the Chiefs decisively from the start. The Eagles' defense overwhelmed the Chiefs up front, generating instant pressure on Mahomes with nearly every snap. It was like the Tampa game 4 years ago, but worse. The Chiefs had NO offense in the first half.  Their defense was kind of hanging in there. The Eagles got a touchdown, but then were held to a field goal, and Jalen Hurts threw an interception. Sure, it was 10-0, but the Chiefs are always down 10 points in the Super Bow...