slam - Rumorstore search

Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 05/25/2004 Run time: 103 minutes Rating: R

A darling of the 1998 festival circuit, Marc Levin's Slam won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance as well as the Camera d'Or (best first film) at Cannes. Despite its shortcomings, the film merits these awards--Slam offers a strong cast and compelling subject matter, a perfect setting with a killer soundtrack, and over-the-top rap poetry.

The film opens with an exterior shot of the protagonist, Raymond Joshua (played by real-life poet Saul Williams), walking away from the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. The image of a young black man turning his back on this symbol of government scant minutes before he's popped on a chump-change drug charge is poignant and disturbing--not easily forgotten by anyone aware of the immense contradictions inherent in the demographics of the nation's capital.

Slam depicts Raymond's fall from relative innocence, and his apparent redemption. As a small-time dope dealer and street poet, his arrest thrusts him into an unfamiliar world--the violence of life in the slammer is palpable and altogether frightening. Incarceration, however, awakens the slumbering power of Raymond's poetry; eventually, its strength keeps him alive. In a prison yard scene when he's about to get whomped, Raymond gives free rein to his words, choosing poetry in motion over violence. Hearing Raymond's impassioned words, the hardened cons let him walk. One of them even covers his bail, and Raymond hits the streets, eager to check out Lauren (Sonja Sohn), the creative-writing teacher he met behind bars.

Although the third act dilutes the credibility established by Levin's in-your-face vérité style, Slam is relentlessly passionate, unswerving in its conviction that there's an alternative to the violence that decimates North America's inner cities. Indeed, for all the film's preachiness, we cheer Raymond on, fueling his poetry, hoping, somehow, that it can transform those around him. Peace is the word. --Stephan Magcosta

Portrays the world of hoops from high school to college to the NBA.

The #1 New York Times bestseller now in paperback.

For 16-year-old Sam, life is about to get extremely complicated. He and his girlfriend—make that ex-girlfriend— Alicia have gotten themselves into a bit of trouble. Sam is suddenly forced to grow up and struggle with the familiar fears and inclinations that haunt us all.

Nick Hornby’s poignant and witty novel shows a rare and impressive understanding of human relationships and what it really means to be a man.

A darling of the 1998 festival circuit, Marc Levin's Slam won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance as well as the Camera d'Or (best first film) at Cannes. Despite its shortcomings, the film merits these awards--Slam offers a strong cast and compelling subject matter, a perfect setting with a killer soundtrack, and over-the-top rap poetry.

The film opens with an exterior shot of the protagonist, Raymond Joshua (played by real-life poet Saul Williams), walking away from the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. The image of a young black man turning his back on this symbol of government scant minutes before he's popped on a chump-change drug charge is poignant and disturbing--not easily forgotten by anyone aware of the immense contradictions inherent in the demographics of the nation's capital.

Slam depicts Raymond's fall from relative innocence, and his apparent redemption. As a small-time dope dealer and street poet, his arrest thrusts him into an unfamiliar world--the violence of life in the slammer is palpable and altogether frightening. Incarceration, however, awakens the slumbering power of Raymond's poetry; eventually, its strength keeps him alive. In a prison yard scene when he's about to get whomped, Raymond gives free rein to his words, choosing poetry in motion over violence. Hearing Raymond's impassioned words, the hardened cons let him walk. One of them even covers his bail, and Raymond hits the streets, eager to check out Lauren (Sonja Sohn), the creative-writing teacher he met behind bars.

Although the third act dilutes the credibility established by Levin's in-your-face vérité style, Slam is relentlessly passionate, unswerving in its conviction that there's an alternative to the violence that decimates North America's inner cities. Indeed, for all the film's preachiness, we cheer Raymond on, fueling his poetry, hoping, somehow, that it can transform those around him. Peace is the word. --Stephan Magcosta

Before Russell Simmons' highly acclaimed HBO series Def Poetry Jam, SLAMNATION captured the cutthroat world of spoken-word poetry with an "energy that pulses, snaps and crackles" (Chicago Tribune), Beginning in New York City at the Nuyorican Poets Café's Grand Slam tournament, the film follows slam champion Saul Williams and three other top poets--Beau Sia, Mums the Schemer, and Jessica Care Moore--as they journey to the annual National Poetry Slam, the Super Bowl of spoken-word poetry. Tensions run high as they join dozens of spoken-word artists from across the nation to compete for the championship-and the cash prize. Judges, chosen randomly from the audience, score poets on a scale from 0 to 10. The drama unfolds as rivalries are revealed and controversies arise, underscoring larger questions of art versus ego and self-expression versus self-advancement. Produced and directed by Emmy award-winner Paul Devlin (Power Trip), this two-disc set includes the television spin-off Slammin' plus hours of uncensored bonus performances. SLAMNATION will expose you to the raw energy and sheer talent of some of the greatest performance poets in the world. DVD Features: Original Slammin’ TV Spin-off; "Special Play" mode with complete, uncut versions of all poems; Filmmaker Commentary with Slam co-founder Marc Smith; Uncensored Bonus Poems; Deleted Scenes; Filmmaker Biography; Poet Biographies; Resources; Theatrical Trailer; Interactive Menus; Scene Selection

"Just when everything is coming together for Sam, his girlfriend Alicia drops a bombshell. Make that ex-girlfriend-- because by the time she tells him she's pregnant, they've already called it quits. Sam does not want to be a teenage dad. His mom had him at sixteen and has made it very clear how having a baby so young interrupted her life. There's only one person Sam can turn to--his hero, skating legend Tony Hawk. Sam believes the answers to life's hurdles can be found in Hawk's autobiography. But even Tony Hawk isn't offering answers this time--or is he? Inexplicably, Sam finds himself whizzed into the future, for a quick glimpse of what will be . . . or what could be. In this wonderfully witty, poignant story about a teenage boy unexpectedly thrust into fatherhood, it's up to Sam to make the right decisions so the bad things that could happen, well, don't. "

Seventeen-year-old Greg "Slam" Harris can do it all on the basketball court. He's seen ballplayers come and go, and he knows he could be one of the lucky ones. Maybe he'll make it to the top. Or maybe he'll stumble along the way. Slam's grades aren't that hot. And when his teachers jam his troubles in his face, he blows up.

Slam never doubted himself on the court until he found himself going one-on-one with his own future, and he didn't have the ball.

The Targus Backpack range is affordable, stylish, and lightweight. This Targus Slam backpack includes a separate padded notebook compartment, convenient cushioned pockets for your mobile phone and CD player storage with headphone porthole, an extra pocket for miscellaneous storage, an oversized file-size compartment and slip pocket, double buckle wrap design for attaching extra gear, ergonomically contoured shoulder straps with 3-D air mesh, and much, much more.

It's nice to see that a film that places so much value in the spoken word went out of its way to fill up the soundtrack with accomplished rappers: most everyone here has demonstrated on more than one occasion that he has something to say (while the few that don't have much to say at least have a nice flow). Representing the old school, there's Q-Tip, a newly resurgent and provocative Brand Nubian, and KRS-One, who teams up with Saul Williams, a noted spoken-word artist and the film's star, who has appeared on both the Lyricist Lounge, Volume One and Black Whole Styles compilations. Then there's the new kids, most of whom have been around the block a half dozen times: Big Punisher, Goodie Mob, Black Rob, Mobb Deep, and a surprisingly catchy Flipmode Squad. Still, the spoken-word interludes, taken from the film and performed by Williams, Sonja Sohn, Jerome Goldman, and Bonz Malone, put most all of the MCs to shame with their intensity and eloquence. --Randy Silver

As Executive Director of the Airway Education and Research Foundation and the founder of the SLAM airway course, the author brings a unique perspective to this comprehensive, easy-to-read book.  SLAM: Street Level Airway Management is based upon the author's highly successful course of the same name taught nationally to hundreds of students since its inception in 2000. Using the SLAM Universal Emergency Airway Flowchart as the basis for the text, this book focuses on the fundamental aspects of anatomy and patient status and provides a practical approach for prehospital providers, nurses, residents and doctors working on airway management and patient ventilation skills.  The book bridges the gap between the oversimplified and the detailed with effective redundancy and concept-building that reinforces the learning of difficult topics.    Paramedics and EMS educators