The Gophers’ secondary continues to be the position group most-affected by injuries this season.

The U posted key cornerback Mike Gerald and safety Aidan Gousby as out on the unavailability report posted two hours before the homecoming game against Purdue at Huntington Bank Stadium.

Safety Garrison Monroe, who missed the last two games, was not listed on the report, setting up his return to play against the Boilermakers.

The U will also be without cornerback Naiim Parish, defensive lineman Theo Randle and Mo Omonode, offensive lineman DJ Shipp, receiver Cristian Driver and running back Cristian Driver.

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If the cult techno sci-fi films “Tron” (1982) and “Tron: Legacy” (2010) are about humans going into “the grid” of the digital world, then the newest installment in this franchise, “Tron: Ares,” is about the digital world invading our own. Allegorically, this feels right for our particular moment, the film depicting AI super soldiers wreaking a path of destruction through human cities, but despite the ethical questions the film presents, it still can’t shake the franchise’s enduring techno-optimism (or inevitability), even as it encourages getting “offline.”

This iteration of “Tron” is helmed by Norwegian director Joachim Rønning, with a screenplay by Jesse Wigutow. The Flynn men, Kevin (Jeff Bridges) and his son Sam (Garrett Hedlund, who starred in “Legacy”) are now out of the picture, and two warring tech companies are locked in an arms race for the future of artificial intelligence. The Kim sisters have taken over the Flynns’ company, ENCOM, while bratty upstart Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters) runs Dillinger Systems under the watchful, but ultimately powerless, eye of his mother (Gillian Anderson).

While Eve Kim (Greta Lee) searches for a message from her late sister, an AI optimist who believed in the tech’s possibility to improve human life, Julian Dillinger is 3D-printing digital tanks and “expendable” super soldiers off his grid for investor presentations. Too bad their real-world lifespan is only 29 minutes. When he gets wind that Eve has located a “permanence code” thanks to her sister’s message, Julian sends his two best soldiers, Ares (Jared Leto) and Athena (Jodie Turner-Smith) to retrieve the code by any means necessary.

A scene from Disney’s “Tron: Ares.” (Disney Enterprises, Inc./TNS)

If the appeal of “Tron” was its groundbreaking computer-generated imagery and forward-thinking concept, then the appeal of “Legacy” was its sleek sci-fi design and digital disco score by Daft Punk, offering more of a vibes-based experience than absorbing narrative. “Ares” tackles more story, but the style is borrowed from “Legacy,” just in new colorways — Dillinger’s digital squadron is cloaked in menacing red neon — and Nine Inch Nails offers up a crunchy, industrial, sexy soundtrack for the action.

But the story itself is bitten from a tale over 200 years old, one that now seems a part of our primordial DNA, or at least the DNA of the stories we tell ourselves over and over again. That is, of course, Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein.” If the themes of creating a monster that starts to think on its own weren’t clear enough, the book is directly referenced when Ares, stalking Eve, catches a glimpse of her reading it in a social media video. As he quickly processes the book’s content, a few lines make an impression. Ares is already starting to question things, like Julian’s words about his soldiers being “expendable,” and the deletion of a fellow “program” during a hacking mission in the ENCOM grid (cleverly visualized like breaking and entering). Combined with a new sensation, a “feeling” when he experiences rain, and learning about “Frankenstein,” his system is primed to go rogue.

Typically in sci-fi, artificial intelligence gaining sentience means bad things for human beings. But as Eve posits in a televised interview, “what if its major malfunction is benevolence?” Optimistic, as always. What “Tron: Ares” suggests is that independent thinking can result in benevolence and empathy. It’s following the directive, by any means necessary, that results in death and destruction.

With his searching, but empty blue eyes, Leto is physically perfect for playing a questioning AI, and Lee brings her steely presence to bear on Eve, Peters the appropriately slimy essence to Julian. Turner-Smith demonstrates her “Terminator” bona fides as well. But the problem with “Ares” is the script, which spells out everything for us. There’s no subtext, room for interpretation or ambiguity, especially as it plays out like the scene of Frankenstein’s monster discovering a daisy. Wouldn’t it be more fun if we could uncover these themes on our own, without being prompted?

Rønning, who helmed a later “Pirates of the Caribbean” film and “Young Woman and the Sea,” provides serviceable direction of the material, without offering much innovation. The film loses fidelity toward the end, as it becomes a crashy, pixelated monster movie, as the real world has no capability for hosting the sleek, bloodless appeal of the grid.

Ultimately, “Tron: Ares” grapples with questions that plague us all, like how nefarious self-sentient artificial intelligence might be. It lands on the diplomatic argument that AI is only as good as the person wielding it, but doesn’t offer answers on how to ensure that (aside from a big old battle). But furthermore, it can’t answer the question of any AI evangelist: why try to make AI more human when we can just be human ourselves?

Perhaps that’s too much to ask of a sci-fi movie that should be more about style than substance. All “Tron: Ares” needed to be was a vibe, but it delivers existential questions that are pre-chewed pablum, rather than searching moral quandaries.

‘Tron Ares’

2.5 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: PG-13 (for violence/action)

Running time: 1:59

How to watch: In theaters Oct. 10

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There’s considerable throwback appeal to “Roofman,” a quirky dramedy based on an unbelievable true story that mines the same groove as films like Richard Linklater’s “Bernie” (2011) and Steven Soderbergh’s “The Informant!” (2009), featuring a lead character you just can’t help but root for, despite the bafflingly bad choices he makes along the way.

But because this comedic crime caper is helmed and co-written by Derek Cianfrance, who is known for his melodramatic weepies “Blue Valentine,” “The Place Beyond the Pines” and “The Light Between Oceans,” the effect of “Roofman” is far more poignant and tender than wacky and wild; the material itself is mind-boggling enough.

Channing Tatum stars as Jeff Manchester, aka the Roofman, a well-meaning but savant-like career criminal who robbed upwards of 45 McDonald’s locations in the late 1990s by tearing holes in the roofs. The film follows his time living for months in a Toys R Us while on the lam in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2004.

Cianfrance doesn’t have to push the humor, which unfolds organically, due to Manchester’s reputation as an exceedingly nice and polite armed robber, an inexplicable blend of traits that happens to be the bullseye of Tatum’s skillset as a performer. As Jeff, and later, going by his alias “John Zorn,” Tatum is both easy charmer when he needs to be and weirdo loner. There’s a certain warmth, goodness and goofiness to Tatum’s persona that he and Cianfrance put to use in their portrait of Jeff. Despite his many, many crimes, we have to believe that he’s doing this for good, if misguided, reasons and that he truly doesn’t intend to hurt anyone. That’s perfectly illustrated in the opening scene where he gives his coat to a McDonald’s manager (Tony Revolori) as he locks the staff in a walk-in freezer.

But Cianfrance also brings his skill with drawing out deep emotion to bear on this story as well. In someone else’s hands, this film might tip over into slapstick territory, but Cianfrance’s tonal restraint and focus on Jeffrey’s inner turmoil — his desire to simply provide for a family — makes “Roofman” a far more moving piece than expected.

This is one of Tatum’s best and most lived-in performances to date, with Cianfrance making use of his natural appeal and physicality, but also pushing him into more complex emotional waters. (It wouldn’t be a Cianfrance movie without some tears.) He is especially potent opposite Kirsten Dunst, who plays Leigh, a Toys R Us employee with whom Jeffrey strikes up a relationship after meeting at a local church.

Separated from his own family and children, Jeffrey attempts to fill the hole in his heart with Leigh and her daughters, furnishing the girls with stolen gifts while falling for the single mom. Dunst and Tatum are terrific together, particularly in moments where things are left unsaid, unspoken confessions, apologies and forgiveness coursing between them. Cianfrance’s slow zooms on Tatum’s tormented face tell us everything we need to know.

For much of the film, Tatum’s performance is purely physical, wordless, while Jeffrey is alone, a voice-over providing context and reflection. Slimmed down and lithe, Tatum’s panther-like physicality showcases Jeffrey’s preternatural ability to master his environment through keen observation and sheer determination. One scene where he has to make a quick escape while stark naked is absolutely astonishing.

“Roofman” is predominantly a one-man showcase for the full range of Tatum’s talents, but the entire ensemble is crucial for any good caper. Dunst’s prowess pushes his own performance, while Peter Dinklage offers levity as the stern store manager Mitch. Ben Mendelsohn steps into the role of Jeff and Leigh’s chipper pastor, which requires enthusiastic hymn-singing. Mendelsohn tackles this with gusto alongside Uzo Aduba as his wife. Lakeith Stanfield plays Jeff’s one friend and confidant, a military buddy, with Juno Temple as his girlfriend.

These actors color in the world around Jeff, providing examples of how easily he is able to inveigle trusting strangers with a bit of smooth talk, slipping into normal society and evading capture. But Stanfield in particular also serves as a moral compass, or at least a dose of common sense, offering ballast to the proceedings. It would otherwise be too easy to justify Jeff’s actions, not as good choices, but the choices made by a person who desperately wants to do good, but can only achieve it in a bad way.

Jeff Manchester might have been a folk hero of the early 2000s, but his story resonates even more today, with wealth inequality and performative materialism higher than ever. An audience of 2025 will understand what Jeff does empathetically, without having too much sympathy for corporate losses or law enforcement. In this era, his bad choices, driven by desperation, make much more sense. For this moment, the “Roofman” has arrived right on time.

‘Roofman’

3 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: R (for language, nudity and brief sexuality)

Running time: 2:06

How to watch: In theaters Oct. 10

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Bruce Helmer and Peg Webb

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has brought remarkable advances to everyday life, but unfortunately, it has also supercharged the tools available to criminals.

For investors and families, this new reality comes with new risks and new responsibilities. According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, reported fraud losses exceeded $16 billion in 2024, a record figure. AI is lowering the cost of deception, making it easier for fraudsters to mimic voices, fabricate documents and create convincing websites.

High-net-worth and mass affluent households are prime targets. The reason is simple: the higher the assets, the bigger the potential payday for criminals. But it is not just multimillionaires who need to pay attention. Retirees with steady wealth, trustees managing family accounts and adult children helping aging parents are all on the radar. Complex finances, multiple accounts, and busy lives can make it easier for fraudsters to take advantage.

AI-enabled fraudsters in action

Real-world cases illustrate just how brazen these schemes can be. In one instance, criminals used a deepfake video call to trick a corporate team into wiring $25 million. Regulatory bodies like the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) have also issued warnings about fake investment pitches that boast of AI-powered strategies and fabricated results. The Internal Revenue Service has warned taxpayers of convincing fake tax-preparer sites designed to look identical to IRS.gov. And in the world of crypto and speculative investments, AI-generated promises of “can’t lose” returns fueled nearly $9.3 billion in fraud losses in 2023.

What unites these scams are the red flags. Urgency is one of the biggest ones: scammers insist you act immediately or face severe consequences. Another is false authority: someone claiming to be from the IRS, your bank, or your financial adviser. Today, those cues are more dangerous because AI can fake official voices, titles and video feeds. Secrecy is another warning sign: requests framed as “confidential” or “just between us.” Finally, unusual payment methods like gift cards, cryptocurrency transfers or sudden changes in wiring instructions are classic indicators of fraud.

Practice good cyber hygiene

The good news is that protecting yourself doesn’t require advanced technology, just disciplined habits.

Experts recommend five simple steps.

• First, slow down. Fraudsters rely on speed and panic; taking a breath often prevents mistakes.

• Second, verify through known channels before acting. That means calling a bank, adviser or family member back on a number you know or can verify, not one provided in a suspicious message. Families might even agree on a phishing “safe word” that must be used in any urgent request.

• Third, strengthen your logins. Long, unique passwords, password managers and multi-factor authentication with passkeys or security keys make it much harder for criminals to break into accounts.

• Fourth, freeze your credit. A freeze, or at a minimum a fraud alert, blocks criminals from opening new loans or credit cards in your name.

• Fifth, always use official channels. Go directly to IRS.gov, your adviser’s verified email or your bank’s secure site. Many institutions now offer account alerts for logins, new payees or wire transfers, which can help you catch suspicious activity early.

Act quickly if attacked

If you do fall victim, speed matters. Contact your bank, adviser or credit card company right away. Report the crime to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) and the Federal Trade Commission. Above all, tell your family and adviser, do not hide it out of embarrassment. The faster you act, the better the chances of containing losses and even recovering funds.

AI is making persuasion easier and cheaper for criminals to achieve scale. But the counterbalance is process and authentication. AI can fake a voice or a video, but it cannot fake a callback on a known number. Building verification into your daily financial routine is your best defense.

AI is powerful, but awareness and process can keep your wealth safe. If something feels off, it probably is. Stop, verify, and ask. By taking just one or two concrete steps today (e.g., freezing your credit, setting up account alerts or talking with your family about red flags) you can make it much harder for criminals to succeed.

The age of AI has arrived for better and in some cases for worse. For those managing assets, the challenge is not to fear technology but to stay a step ahead. By pairing vigilance with practical habits, families can protect their financial security in an increasingly digital world.

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The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

Bruce Helmer and Peg Webb are financial advisers at Wealth Enhancement Group and co-hosts of “Your Money” on WCCO 830 AM on Sunday mornings. Email Bruce and Peg at yourmoney@wealthenhancement.com. Advisory services offered through Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC, a registered investment adviser and affiliate of Wealth Enhancement Group.