The Skolney Blog

2001: They don't make em like this anymore. The star-led, mid-budget thriller used to be a cinema staple. Michael Douglas starred in a bunch of them. For me none was better than Don't Say A Word, just a slick, engrossing genre entry and hugely rewatchable.  I feel like this one has largely been forgotten though. It's assembled from a lot of other movies for sure. There's a lot of Ransom here, and some Primal Fear (from the same director). It has that thing a lot of these movies have, where no matter what it has to end in either a gun fight or a fist fight. Here we get both. Douglas's daughter is kidnapped by Sean Bean in one of his many villain roles. Douglas (a psychiatrist, also a genre staple) has to obtain some mysterious information from a hospitalized girl (Brittany Murphy) to get her back. Within the day. Oh, and it's Thanksgiving. There's also a detective (Jennifer Esposito, who should have been a bigger deal) on the trail. This movie was, is, an...

In theaters: FLAG DAY Sean Penn directing and co-starring with his daughter Dylan Penn? That could reek of nepotistic self-indulgence, but I actually thought this was pretty good. Dylan (a dead ringer for a young Robin Wright) is really great. She absolutely could and should be in things independent from her dad. The movie flubs the ending though which is poorly staged (no way it actually happened like that). THE CARD COUNTER I don't understand poker, so movies about it could go either way with me (Rounders was riveting). This isn't really about poker that much, more just a backdrop for the Oscar Isaac character who is one of those movie characters who is mysterious for the sake of being mysterious. I still don't really get why he does what he does in this movie. I liked the casting of Tiffany Haddish in a more serious part.  BLUE BAYOU A thoroughly engrossing drama about a Korean born American (director Justin Chon, who I was unfamiliar with but who is great) facing deport...

First off, can the WNBA please stop scheduling Lynx home playoff games opposite Vikings home games? They lose EVERY TIME! The Lynx season ended abruptly on Sunday in a single elimination loss at home to Chicago. I certainly didn't see this coming. I thought things layed out very well for them to at least make a finals run. Now yes, the format is probably unfair, that you can finish with the 3rd best record in your sport and be done in 1 game. But it is what it is. It didn't seem like the Lynx were vulnerable. They won 9 of their last 10. They were 22-6 since that 0-4 start, and 17-3 since they were 5-7. Aside from the Clarendon injury they were about as healthy as they'd been all year. But they're done. I only saw the highlights but it appeared to be a very poor game. In particular Collier was bad. Look, it has always been unfair to expect her to be a new Maya Moore just cause she is a forward drafted.out of UConn who was a ROY and is very versatile. But Fowles can'...

VIKINGS 30 SEAHAWKS 17 0-2. Coming off one of the biggest regular season gut punches ever. An entire fanbase and media feverishly calling for the heads of Mike Zimmer and Kirk Cousins. An entire era of Vikings football seemingly on the precipice.  In comes Russell Wilson, who has tormented you for a decade and who you have never beaten. Oh, and you don't have Dalvin Cook. Time will tell what Sunday's desperately needed victory will mean. Whether it is a one week feel good story or the start of a major run.  But it felt like one of the most important wins of the Zimmer era. First off it was just electric to be back at the purple palace for a real game. The crowd was the loudest I have heard it there since the Saints playoff game. The awesome new introductions, complete with fake snow, got everyone jazzed beyond belief.... ...and then Seattle went right down and scored on their opening series, with really no resistance. I mean, alright, I knew this was not going to be a low scor...

BOWLING GREEN 14 FLECK'S FRAUDS 10 Seriously. That happened. The Gophers lost, to Bowling Green, a team they were 31 point favorites over. At home. On Homecoming. It is the most embarrassing moment of the PJ Fleck era. And he deserves the humiliation. A disgrace like this falls squarely on the coaching. Fleck did not take this game seriously. As we have so often seen with him, his team played down to the level of competition. Not acceptable. If you want to be taken seriously, your team needs to roll a scrub like Bowling Green. The offense was asleep from the start. The OL got worked. Tanner Morgan was atrocious. The run game sputtered. Key mistakes killed drives. They led just 3-0 midway through the 2nd quarter. But this defense just shut out Colorado. All Fleck had to do was not do something moronic to spark the underdogs. So naturally he went for a 4th and 1 around his own 30. And called one of those idiots plays that requires the back to gain 4 or 5 yards. And it was a tackle fo...

Twins 3 Blue Jays 1 Well whaddya know? The Twins actually finished 4-3 in games I went to this year.  My last Twins game of the year Friday night happened to coincide with the first start of Jose Berrios at Target Field as a visitor. And the home team dealt a blow to Jose's hopes of pitching in the postseason.  It wasn't that Berrios was bad. He just had one little slip up and got no run support. It's like he was still a Twin. To open the 3rd inning, Simmons walked, Arraez laced one down the right field line that turned into a triple, and Byron Buxton drilled the first pitch he saw over the centerfield fence. Just like that it was 3-0. The Twins didn't mount any real serious scoring threats before or after, but they didn't need them.  Bailey Ober was Berrios's opponent, and he was masterful. Arguably the best start of his career. You could just feel how in command he was. 4 hits, 6 Ks. The only Jay he let get past second was the last one, as Rocco yanked Ober im...

CARDINALS 34 VIKINGS 33 You know it's bad when I get philosophical after a loss. There is so much that took place during this devastating loss, the 2nd straight Vikings loss that should have been a win in a fair, just world. But we do not live in a fair world. We live in this world in which the Minnesota Vikings are just undoubtedly cursed. Bad things happen to this team, with such unceasing regularity, that I don't know how the existence of a curse can be in dispute. How else do you explain a game in which: We won the turnover battle 2-0, including a Nick Vigil pick six. We win the sack battle 3-1. Dalvin runs for 131 yards, with some of the widest holes he has ever had.  Kirk throws for 244 and 3, AND outrushes Kyler Murray. We hold superstar DeAndre Hopkins to just 1 catch after the 1st quarter.  Our OL showed vast improvement in both phases from last week.  We only commit 3 penalties all game. Our kicker hits TWO 50+ yard field goals. And yet we still lose on a shanke...