Bomb the System
Encyclopedia
Bomb the System is a drama
film
written and directed by Adam Bhala Lough
, which was released to film festivals in 2002 (see 2002 in film
) and American
theaters in 2005. It revolves around a group of graffiti
artists living in New York City
who decide to make a mark on the city, and stars Mark Webber
, Gano Grills, Jaclyn DeSantis
, Jade Yorker
, Bönz Malone
and Kumar Pallana
. Bomb the System was the first major fictional feature film about the subculture of graffiti art since Wild Style
was released 1982.http://www.at149st.com/adam1.html Several well-known graffiti artists participated in the making of the film including Lee Quinones
, Cope2
and Chino BYI. The film's score and soundtrack were composed by El-P.
In January 2004 the film was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature. http://movies.about.com/cs/miscellanous/a/ifp2004120303.htm
distributed the film in the US and gave it a limited 2-theater release in New York City and Los Angeles on May 27, 2005. Palm decided not to open the film wider despite positive reviews in The New York Times, LA Times, Variety, Rolling Stone, and The Village Voice and a per-screen average gross of US$4,588.http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=bombthesystem.htm The film was released on DVD October 8, 2005. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0337585/releaseinfo
called the film a "next-gen [sic] update of 1982's Wild Style
. With strong whiffs of Trainspotting
and Kids
" that "distinguishes itself with streaky, Krylon-bright editing and El-P's eerie soundtrack beats."http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/dvd/7683699/bomb_the_system Village Voice noted the movie was "birthed from a blunt-fueled blend of Aronofskian frenzy and nostalgia for the agreeable griminess of mid-'90s Wu-Tang Clan
videos."http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0521,tracking1,64257,20.html Los Angeles Times
critic Kevin Crust wrote, "Lough's impressive, if uneven, debut feature captures the adrenaline rush and contradictory nature of the simultaneously creative and criminal activity."http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-bomb27may27,0,4216169.story The New York Times
review was the most positive: "The movie runs on the synergy between this grimy but glamorous urban landscape and the emotional intensity of characters who at moments suggest contemporary descendants of the innocent, tormented teenagers in Rebel Without a Cause
. Bomb the System, which rides on a subtle hip-hop soundtrack, might be described as soulful pulp; cult recognition awaits it."http://movies2.nytimes.com/2005/05/27/movies/27bomb.html?ex=1170910800&en=ea6440b312bbb3a9&ei=5070
The negative reviews were mainly scathing. The New York Post called the film "a mild, slow-moving drama that belatedly tries to argue that graffiti writers are political artists, not an urban blight"; The New York Daily News
called the film "brashly passionate in its desire to express the power and validity of graffiti art. But it's also preachy and single-minded, populated by a world of sympathetic heroes and hissable villains"; and Sean Axmaker in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
likened the film to "tomcats spraying outside their yards."http://www.seattlepi.com/movies/229746_limited24.html
Jim Jarmusch
wrote, "For Bomb the System director Adam Lough takes far more inspiration from the on-going graffiti culture than from the depleted stylistic formulas of recent commercial cinema. His refreshing use of skewed camera angles, blasts of color, and inventive cutting are deftly blended, becoming much more than calculated atmosphere. The performances are also consistently strong, and Mark Webber in particular, in the central role, never hits a false note. Bomb the System is welcome proof that the spirit of graffiti writing has a continuing cultural influence on both the subtleties of form and explosive personal expression." Parts of the quotation ran in a Village Voice ad on the second weekend of the film's release.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
written and directed by Adam Bhala Lough
Adam Bhala Lough
Adam Bhala Lough is an American film director and screenwriter from Virginia. In 2002 he directed and wrote his first film Bomb the System, which was nominated for a 2004 Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature. His follow-up film, WEAPONS, starred Paul Dano and was nominated for the Grand...
, which was released to film festivals in 2002 (see 2002 in film
2002 in film
The year 2002 in film involved some significant events. The first significant releases of sequels took place between The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Men in Black II, Analyze That, Spy Kids 2: The Island of...
) and American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
theaters in 2005. It revolves around a group of graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
artists living in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
who decide to make a mark on the city, and stars Mark Webber
Mark Webber (actor)
Mark Allen Webber is an American actor, screenwriter and director known for his roles in the films Snow Day and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.-Personal life:...
, Gano Grills, Jaclyn DeSantis
Jaclyn DeSantis
Jaclyn DeSantis is an American actress. She is best known for playing Maggie on the NBC television series Windfall. She played the character Heather in the movie Road Trip...
, Jade Yorker
Jade Yorker
Jade Yorker is an American actor of film and television. He grew up in Manalapan, New Jersey. He attended the Freehold Performing Arts Center for High School, which furthered his training. Among his TV credits are Cosby, Third Watch and Law & Order...
, Bönz Malone
Bönz Malone
Bönz Malone was born in the Bronx and has been called the "Hunter S. Thompson of Hip Hop". He also co-wrote and starred in the prison film Slam, which won the Camera d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival Grand Jury Prize at Sundance....
and Kumar Pallana
Kumar Pallana
Kumar Valavhadas Pallana is an Indian character actor and vaudevillian.He performed on the Mickey Mouse Club as a plate spinner and juggler....
. Bomb the System was the first major fictional feature film about the subculture of graffiti art since Wild Style
Wild Style
Wild Style is a 1983 hip hop film produced by Charlie Ahearn. Released theatrically in 1983 by First Run Features and later re-released for home video by Rhino Home Video, it is regarded as the first hip hop motion picture...
was released 1982.http://www.at149st.com/adam1.html Several well-known graffiti artists participated in the making of the film including Lee Quinones
Lee Quinones
George Lee Quiñones is an American artist and actor. He is one of the several artists rising from the New York City Subway graffiti movement....
, Cope2
Cope2
Fernando Carlo is a graffiti artist from the South Bronx, New York. He has been writing graffiti since 1978-79, and has gained international credit for his work. Though he is now known worldwide, he didn't receive recognition in the mainstream graffiti world until the mid-1990s.Cope2's cousin...
and Chino BYI. The film's score and soundtrack were composed by El-P.
In January 2004 the film was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature. http://movies.about.com/cs/miscellanous/a/ifp2004120303.htm
Brief history
The film was produced for US$500,000, expanded from the director's thesis project at NYU. The director, producer, cinematographer, and other key members of the crew had recently graduated from NYU and this was their first film. The film played at over 26 film festivals on four continents and was first offered distribution by Now on Media in Japan after the company's president saw a 1-minute clip at the 2004 Independent Spirit Awards. The film received a wide theatrical release in Japan and extensive press coverage.http://www.bombthesystem.jp Palm PicturesPalm Pictures
Palm Pictures is a US-based entertainment company owned and run by Chris Blackwell. Palm Pictures produces, acquires and distributes innovative music and film projects with a particular focus on the DVD format...
distributed the film in the US and gave it a limited 2-theater release in New York City and Los Angeles on May 27, 2005. Palm decided not to open the film wider despite positive reviews in The New York Times, LA Times, Variety, Rolling Stone, and The Village Voice and a per-screen average gross of US$4,588.http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=bombthesystem.htm The film was released on DVD October 8, 2005. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0337585/releaseinfo
Critical response
Rolling StoneRolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
called the film a "next-gen [sic] update of 1982's Wild Style
Wild Style
Wild Style is a 1983 hip hop film produced by Charlie Ahearn. Released theatrically in 1983 by First Run Features and later re-released for home video by Rhino Home Video, it is regarded as the first hip hop motion picture...
. With strong whiffs of Trainspotting
Trainspotting (film)
Trainspotting is a 1996 British satirical/drama film directed by Danny Boyle based on the novel of the same name by Irvine Welsh. The movie follows a group of heroin addicts in a late 1980s economically depressed area of Edinburgh and their passage through life...
and Kids
Kids (film)
Kids is a 1995 drama film written by Harmony Korine and directed by Larry Clark.The film features Chloë Sevigny, Leo Fitzpatrick, Justin Pierce, Harold Hunter, and Rosario Dawson, all of them in their debut performances...
" that "distinguishes itself with streaky, Krylon-bright editing and El-P's eerie soundtrack beats."http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/dvd/7683699/bomb_the_system Village Voice noted the movie was "birthed from a blunt-fueled blend of Aronofskian frenzy and nostalgia for the agreeable griminess of mid-'90s Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
The Wu-Tang Clan is a hip-hop group from Staten Island that consists of RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. They are frequently joined by fellow childhood friend Cappadonna, a quasi member of the group...
videos."http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0521,tracking1,64257,20.html Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
critic Kevin Crust wrote, "Lough's impressive, if uneven, debut feature captures the adrenaline rush and contradictory nature of the simultaneously creative and criminal activity."http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-bomb27may27,0,4216169.story The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
review was the most positive: "The movie runs on the synergy between this grimy but glamorous urban landscape and the emotional intensity of characters who at moments suggest contemporary descendants of the innocent, tormented teenagers in Rebel Without a Cause
Rebel Without a Cause
Rebel Without a Cause is a 1955 American drama film about emotionally confused suburban, middle-class teenagers. Directed by Nicholas Ray, it offered both social commentary and an alternative to previous films depicting delinquents in urban slum environments...
. Bomb the System, which rides on a subtle hip-hop soundtrack, might be described as soulful pulp; cult recognition awaits it."http://movies2.nytimes.com/2005/05/27/movies/27bomb.html?ex=1170910800&en=ea6440b312bbb3a9&ei=5070
The negative reviews were mainly scathing. The New York Post called the film "a mild, slow-moving drama that belatedly tries to argue that graffiti writers are political artists, not an urban blight"; The New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
called the film "brashly passionate in its desire to express the power and validity of graffiti art. But it's also preachy and single-minded, populated by a world of sympathetic heroes and hissable villains"; and Sean Axmaker in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an online newspaper and former print newspaper covering Seattle, Washington, United States, and the surrounding metropolitan area...
likened the film to "tomcats spraying outside their yards."http://www.seattlepi.com/movies/229746_limited24.html
Jim Jarmusch
Jim Jarmusch
James R. "Jim" Jarmusch is an American independent film director, screenwriter, actor, producer, editor and composer. Jarmusch has been a major proponent of independent cinema, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s.-Early life:...
wrote, "For Bomb the System director Adam Lough takes far more inspiration from the on-going graffiti culture than from the depleted stylistic formulas of recent commercial cinema. His refreshing use of skewed camera angles, blasts of color, and inventive cutting are deftly blended, becoming much more than calculated atmosphere. The performances are also consistently strong, and Mark Webber in particular, in the central role, never hits a false note. Bomb the System is welcome proof that the spirit of graffiti writing has a continuing cultural influence on both the subtleties of form and explosive personal expression." Parts of the quotation ran in a Village Voice ad on the second weekend of the film's release.