Bomb the System

Just finished watching the movie, and I gotta say...It was fresh. Had me from start to finish. I was immersed. I felt as though I was running through Brooklyn with the characters. As soon as I finished it I had an overwhelming urge to go to throwup some work. "Bomb the system" had great acting, really good filming, decent script, and some nice "tags"(they don't dwell on any of the pieces long enough unfortunately). My only complaints were: the girlfriend, she was too stereo typical, and anti-captilist. Also the lack of an in depth look at actual street art(graffiti). All in all the I loved this movie, and would recommend it to anyone, whether they are into graff or not. 8 out of 10 stars Watch it now!

I've always been a big fan of cult films that expose some sort of cool and/or intriguing sub-culture whether it's rhyme battling in 8 MILE, heroin addiction in TRAINSPOTTING, or even fraudulent stock trading in BOILER ROOM. These films are great because they present the subject without promoting it or criticizing it which draws you into the world and allows you to make your own judgments. BOMB THE SYSTEM definitely falls into that category and for the first half, had the makings of a cult classic. It thrusts you into the dangerous world of the graffiti artist and makes no apologies for how they go about doing it(by the way, I'm amazed it took this long to make a movie about graffiti). The film centers around Anthony, AKA "Blest", who is part of a "bombing" crew that is constantly hunted by the local Police Vandalism Unit. If you are a fan of hip hop culture, then you are sure to buy into the whole bravura of the renegade street-artist(I am and I did). You buy into it because you feel as though they are carrying on this long legacy of artistic expression. But then, in the second half, things get a little confusing. First he meets this girl who is part of a political-stencil-message-spraying group that are trying to say that a bumper sticker message like "Don't Eat Meat" is better than artistic graffiti? And then to top it all off, he turns his back on his friends and says that graffiti is stupid? I don't know if I just missed the point of the second half, but it definitely left me scratching my head. But besides that, the film has some great experimental editing and cinematography that enhanced the overall atmosphere and experience. The acting is great by a cast of unknowns or littleknowns, especially Gano Grills who played "Buk 50." Films like these really bother me because they have such potential for greatness, but then take a left turn somewhere instead of staying on the right track. But then again, it did have a scene in an underground club that was playing Madvillain "Money Folder" so...

Much like the recent "Lords of Dogtown", "Bomb the System" is a film spotlighting a semi- underground subculture, in this case graffiti writers, wrapped around a narrative plot. Somewhat similar to "Kids", the story follows a young writer, "BLEST" as he tags, hangs out with friends, smokes pot, parties and tags again. This would all work fine as a minimalist, loosely structured, spectator piece, but instead, the filmmakers throw the dramatic storyline arc into the mix about a crooked cop and his ex-writer partner, which makes the whole thing seem artificial. Besides this major flaw, the film also suffers from over-acting, un-motivated hyper editing techniques and un-authentic slang dialouge. As an artist myself, I would suggest to neophytes looking to learn more about the culture to explore documentaries and check out websites. It's too bad that this film doesn't work, because the characters, like the filmmakers, seem to have a spiritual passion for the art of graffiti. The character Alex says in one scene something along the lines of while graffiti is aesthetically pleasing and stylistic, it the end, it stands for nothing. This particular line echos my thoughts and feelings about the film itself.

Perhaps only once or twice in a lifetime does a film this insipid and wrong-headed come along - a celebration of graffiti "artists" - created by idiots, for idiots, and about idiots. These are the brilliant talents that scrawl garish dripping odes to themselves upon our cities' historic buildings, monuments, and anything else they can deface. From New York City where I grew up to the magnificent ancient landmarks of Prague, these vandals have ruined priceless historic treasures with their crappy handiwork - and now, finally, we have a movie that makes them feel like misunderstood heroes and artistic geniuses. Everyone associated with this dreadful film should be banned from the industry forever. Sorry for the rant, but this one really made me sick.

i don't know about you guy's but this movie was awesome.also the message that the movie is trying to pass is the reality of our life's.the end of the movie where bless is being killed by the cop and after that it says "you have to make the right decision" it's the best ending and at the same time the most touch full ending that i've ever seen. you shouldn't stand in such worthless part of the movie such as the graffiti terminology. focus on the message that every movie is trying to pass to you. don't see the tree and loose the forest.... if of course you know what i mean..........thats all guy's,i hope that this comment will make you rethink again the whole think and change your point of view for this movie.......thanks,see ya.

The dedicated practitioners of graffiti art in New York City get dramatically profiled in a film shot 'guerilla' style late at night in order to simulate the 'danger' involved with the only art form that's against the law. Stereotypical 'bad' cops continually stalk the intrepid band of 'taggers' while 'Blest' (Mark Webber) truly is the most artistically blessed member of the gang as he readies an art exhibit of his best work. However, this film doesn't really become interesting until Blest becomes involved with 'Alexandra' (Jaclyn DeSantis), a political activist who anonymously paints the words 'Bomb the System' all over the city sidewalks using a cleverly modified shopping bag that has a stencil cut into the bottom. As the police become more and more of a factor the dangers that Blest faces by hanging with his friends causes him to make some hard decisions. Worth watching for some great night shots of New York City and an amazing sequence on the top of the Brooklyn Bridge. Check it out!

amazing movie. i used to write but the fort got way to hot with the vandal squad crap, but this movie made me bust out the Krylon and fat caps and go out that very night. not only an amazing Graf doc. but also a damn good plot that anyone who has ever held a chisel tip can fully appreciate. it is a very real view of life as a writer, always on the run. despite their attempts to silence us we will be heard loud and clear. very moving and compelling. if u view Graf as vandalism, don't watch this movie... or better yet go out Bombin' and feel the realness of life on the run...

Good lord.. this was by far _THE_ worst what-ever-this-was I have seen. A whole bunch of wannabe gangsters, pseudo-sprayer attitude, side plot love-story and on top of it one or two oh-we-are-so-system-critical statements. It is hard to say if the story, the storytelling, the acting or the camera is the thing that make you want to turn this off after some minutes. I am really annoyed, having wasted my time on watching and finally writing something about this nonsense. It is though watching until the end, I can tell..

This film is the best graf film ever made that isn't a documentary. It isn't Beat Street. There is no wack or corny dialog. No weak links on the acting side. No stupid side plots. If you are not familiar with graf or the culture of writing then watch it and learn. Do not judge this film as you would a general genre film. This isn't a drama, or an urban drama....it is a GRAF FILM. Pure and simple. If you don't like dirty and lewd comedy don't bother seeing The Aristocrats. It you aren't into seeing independent films, gritty urban/graf or hip hop related films then DON'T BOTHER WATCHING OR REVIEWING THIS FILM! True heads only need apply. 10 out of 10 for staying true to the culture...everyone who gave this film 1's need to reserve them for The Fantastic Four or another mindless summer blockbuster. Read my in dept comments on the board titled "Is It That Bad?" One.

We've all seen this story before, it's kind of a combo deal between Wild Style and Bad Lieutenant. Some good acting performances by the lead character and his crew. The girl bugged me, just too formulaic with her Che' t-shirt and her anti-capitalism stance. Good editing techniques, really fit the pace well. El-P should score more films, this seems to be a perfect side gig for him. The music really makes up for the lack of character development and originality in the plot. It's relatively short so it's worth checking out just for the cinematography and the score. And as a former writer, I take offense to the line about real writers never paying for paint. Yeah right, try racking paint from the same hardware store more than a couple times. There's not that many stores selling paint that you can maintain anonymity. This type of pretension, combined with a total lack of humor brings the whole film down.