Kelvin

ESPN's SportsCenter has now been on the air for 20 years and in those 20 years, it has become the standard by which all other sports news programs are measured. From the creative, entertaining way that highlights from the day's sports events are portrayed to the informative features on all of the major American sports (baseball, football, hockey, basketball, etc.), SportsCenter keeps its viewers up to date with everything that is happening in the world of sports. All the personalities appear to be knowledgable on all types of sports which is important to this type of program and SportsCenter has launched the careers of several of its anchors, most notably Craig Kilborn and Keith Olbermann. (Dan Patrick has been long rumored to also be leaving to pursue other options.) Regardless, though, of who are sitting in the anchors' chairs, SportsCenter provides an informative and entertaining hour of sports news that has made SportsCenter the longest running series in television history, with well over 20,000 episodes at the time I wrote this review.

Slam is an excellent movie and an intriguing character study. Ray is a young black man who deals marijuana and writes "slam" poetry. His life changes when a tragic event occurs right in front of him and he is caught with a packet of marijuana. He faces jail time and there is where the movie draws it's amazing strength.

The movie does not blink at the violence, factionalism, and bureaucraticness of today's prison system. Ray is just a man trying to survive and be left alone. Though he finds that to be nearly impossible. An all too quick to develop romance develops and Ray has to figure out how to deal with finding a new love in the very brief time between his being bailed out and the beginning of his sentence.

It is a fascinating story with excellent performances. The major criticism I have with it is when it tries to stretch itself out to become a non-violence message to all black people instead of sticking with its strength which is the poetry, the romance, and the utter desperation felt by Ray. It is in Ray's utter desperation that the film's manic energy is truly felt.

Well, I saw Orgazmo last night. Though it was funny and had great moments (T-rex's scene and the real Orgazmator shot at strangers scene), I was expecting more from Trey Parker.

Just because it is a parody of the porn industry doesn't mean that it has to be as painfully badly acted as a porno. (Ron Jeremy and G-Fresh) The script also left something to be desired as it set up a sequel we'll probably never see and it did its absolute best to avoid showing anything even remotely pornographic with the exception of dildos and more than a couple of nude male rear shots.

That said, I'm surprised this got an NC-17. Language is no worse than what we've heard before in R-rated movies. (Clerks) Frontal nudity is avoided at all costs. The subject matter is no more provocative than other comedies this year. (There's Something About Mary; Happiness; etc.)

All in all, I left satisfied, but got the feeling that if you're not a hard core fan of South Park or the porn industry, you're probably better off waiting until this comes out on video.