The Skolney Blog

The Gentlemen Guy Ritchie back in fine form. I've never been a huge fan before of his movies. I liked Snatch but that's about it. This is his best though. The plot is a little overly complicated, but it moves fast. Tons of snappy dialogue with some BIG laughs. Ace performances by a terrific cast, including Matthew McConaughey, Colin Farrell and Hugh Grant in hands down the best performance he has had.  The Turning As January horror movies go, this isn't as bad as The Grudge at least. It's still a dull slog, and the last 20 minutes are just stunningly bad. First they pull a complete cheat on the audience, then the movie just ends. You'd swear the studio forgot to include a whole last act of the movie. I sat there incredulous at what I just saw.  The Last Full Measure Curious why a war drama with a prestige cast including Samuel L Jackson, Ed Harris and William Hurt would get a barely marketed January dump. Well, it's cause it's kind of boring, and seemed to h...

The Vikings are choosing their all decade team for the 2010s.  My picks: QB: Kirk Cousins. I gave a thought to Teddy, but Kirk has the far better numbers and won a playoff game. RB: Adrian Peterson and Dalvin Cook. Peterson is a no brainer, and Cook outpaces anything McKinnon or Murray did.  FB: Jerome Felton. Ham has become elite, but Felton blocked for AP's MVP season.  WR: Stefon Diggs, Adam Thielen, Percy Harvin. First 2 are obvious, and despite him being a douchebag Percy was one of the best weapons in the NFL for the 2 1/2 years in the decade he was here. TE: Kyle Rudolph. Duh. OT: Phil Loadholt and Riley Reiff. Loadholt was a beast before he got hurt way too soon. Reiff over Kalil because he doesn't carry the stench of disappointment.  OG: Steve Hutchinson and Joe Berger. Hutch is a HOFer in a few days hopefully. Berger was an invaluable player. He gets a slight nod over Fusco. C: John Sullivan. Easy choice.  DE: Danielle Hunter and Everson Griffen. Hunte...

As I sat there watching the Wolves game tonight, watching them somehow turn a 27 point lead on a night where they hit more 3s than they ever had before, into a blown loss in overtime, my reaction was not anger. It was not frustration. It was not sadness. It wasn't even really laughter.  It was just total, complete apathy.  I haven't been emotionally invested in this franchise since Kevin Garnett was traded in 2007. I used to live and die with this team in the late 90s and early to mid 2000s. But even in the couple post-KG years I had cheap season tickets I mostly just went to games, watched the Wolves get destroyed, and felt bored. And since then my interest has just faded more and more. Kevin Love proved to be a diva asshole and we had to trade him. The Butler-Thibs debacle obliterated any hope for the Towns-Wiggina era to be any different. Oh we got that one playoff series out of it, but now look at where this franchise sits. This season was always being approached as a sort...

Okay, look, I feel sad for his daughter who died too, for the rest of his family, and for all the other people who died in the crash. But I shed no tears for Kobe Bryant. I don't gloat either. I am unmoved.  Kobe Bryant was a rapist, don't forget. He raped a woman, BY HIS OWN ADMISSION, but his legal team harrassed the victim so relentlessly that she stopped the criminal case and settled a civil suit instead. And of course if you're settling on a rape case you are fucking GUILTY. You don't settle on something like that. I'm not at all surprised that the rape case is an afterthought at best since he died. It had basically been ignored for 15+ years already. And I don't expect that to be where the media and fans go.  But beyond that, a whole lot of people are losing their minds over this. I get that Kobe is one of the biggest names in sports in the last 25 years. But people were literally talking about this like it was 9/11. Calling for the Pro Bowl to be cancelle...

Bad Boys For Life Bad Boys 1 is just a peak 90s era action comedy. Bad Boys 2 is just gloriously insane excess from start to finish. This 3rd movie is just kind of okay. Smith and Lawrence still really play well off each other. There are a couple really strong action beats. It has a few fun callbacks to the other movies. But it all feels strangely bland without Michael Bay behind the camera. And it's also by far the darkest and most serious of these movies, including a couple twists that really feel like they are out of a different franchise. I'm glad it's doing so well though. I wouldn't turn down a 4th movie, as long as they ramp the comedy back up. Underwater This is a pretty formulaic monster movie, but it's a good one. I actually think the movie didn't even need to have monsters at all. It works just fine as a claustrophobic thriller. It's cool seeing Kristen Stewart in a movie like this too. Dolittle I really didn't think this was that bad. It has ...

49ers 37 Packers 20 Justice was finally served! In the 2nd to last game of this NFL season, the most fraudulent 13-3 team in NFL history finally got what they deserved. The Packers were thoroughly, decisively pummeled by the 49ers.  They got it worse than the Vikings did. We both lost by 17, but the Packers defense looked even more helpless to stop the run. Garappolo barely had to throw at all.  Wonder who Aaron Rodgers will throw under the bus now? Can't blame Mike McCarthy anymore, you no accountability taking bitch! Rodgers two key mistakes in the 2nd quarter (fumbled snap and a pick) took that game from 17-0 to a hilarious 27-0 by halftime. Sure, Rodgers padded the stats in the 2nd half but the game never got closer than 14 and even that was late.  Enjoy the karma, Packtards. You earned this. Total fucking fraud of a team. From a cupcake schedule (the only quality regular season wins were against us, and 1 of those was blatantly ref-aided), to getting every break imag...

AFC: Almost anytime a high flying offense faces off in a big game against a team built on a strong defense and power running game, the latter team wins. I think it will happen again. The Titans have what it takes to keep Mahomes off the field. They'll probably need a little more from Tannehill than he gave them the last 2 games, but the Chiefs defense is also the worst of the 3 they have played. Andy Reid's conference title game woes continue. Titans 24-21 NFC: It's not hyperbole to say this entire NFL season rides on this game. Every part of this game that has anything to do with actual football favors the 49ers big. They are the better team, the more complete team, better on both sides of the ball, at home, with an extra day of rest after kicking our ass. They blew out the Packers less than 2 months ago, and did so without several of the starters they got back last week.  But when you have the officials in your back pocket, as the Packers have all year, nothing can be tak...