ESPN's 30 for 30: Popkin Reviews 'Em All!!!

Hello friends, been a while, but i'm performing some lyrical mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on The Honest Male Perspective......temporarily of course......but resuscitating it nonetheless!!

Your wondering what in good name of Yorvit Torrealba is bringing me back? ESPN's upcoming year-long series: "30 for 30."

...Allow me to expand.....

.....On the surface, "30 for 30" sounds like another familiar ESPN premise: Start with a catchy name, wrap it in "countdown" style format, add flashy graphics package, add 1 part Stuart Scott and mix. And VOILA! The sports-loving nation is served.

Too many times stunts like "Who's Now" or "Mount Rushmore of Sports" feel like forced, spoon-fed territory (the latter) or come off as a weak idea--who's today's biggest sports star?-- that end up doubling as cross-promotional tools for the movie "I now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry." (the former)

Both instances seemed fairly forced, very unnatural and thus uncool....its on the same scale of phony awkwardness of A-Rod's public image or when i try to pet a Dog....in the end all three try to come off like they know what they are doing, but its painfully obvious how unnatural the whole thing really is.

So why will 30 for 30 be any different? Well for starters, read the website's description and check the video clip:



"Inspired by ESPN’s anniversary, ESPN Films’ 30 for 30 is an unprecedented documentary series featuring thirty films from some of today’s finest storytellers. Each filmmaker will bring their passion and personal point of view to their film detailing the issues, trends, athletes, teams, rivalries, games and events that transformed the sports landscape from 1979 to 2009."

These aren't canned, formulaic "Behind The Music" style documentaries that all have the same narrartor......these are 30 Individual sports stories.....told in 30 different ways....by directors who pitched stories to ESPN based on their personal ties, or interest in the subject matter!!

Its unbelieveable to even comprehend......The "doused in disney"corporate check writers ESPN for once took the "hands off" approach, trusted filmmakers to do what they wanted to do.

You just never see the keys to car handed off for projects of this size......EVER....for this reason ESPN should be applauded.

And my excitement as a sports and film fan is absolutely genuine....this isn't some grassroots viral publicity campaign....its just that after working at ESPN and being a part of some of the behind-the-scenes stuff here for 4 years, it isn't as often that I get THIS excited about something we put out there!

and thats exactly why THMP is back with thunderous swagger!!

So here's my plan friends: watch every 30 for 30 film over the year.....and review it for you Siskel and Ebert style...if its a can't miss you'll know, and if it blew warm chunks of clam chowder i'll tell you so......then at the end of the series, i'll rank them ALL one-to-thirty.......sounds simple enough....so lets do this....

First up tonight at 8PM: King's Ransom by Peter Berg