Bomb the System (2002)

Director:

Adam Bhala Lough

Writer:

Adam Bhala Lough (written by)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Tagline:

Graffiti Can Be A Powerful Weapon

Plot:

A tribute to graffiti art and the city where it all began. Blest, a 19-year-old graffiti writer, has just graduated from high school...

Plot Keywords:

Graffiti | Fight The System | Friend | Street Art | Drug Use

Awards:

6 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Mark Webber	...	Anthony 'Blest' Campo
Gano Grills	...	Justin 'Buk 50' Broady
Jade Yorker	...	Kevin 'Lune' Broady
Jaclyn DeSantis	...	Alexandra
Joey Dedio	...	Hazer
Stephen Buchanan	...	Noble
Al Sapienza	...	Officer Bobby Cox
Bonz Malone	...	Officer Nole Shorts
Donna Mitchell	...	Diane Campo
Kumar Pallana	...	Kumar Baba
Blake Lethem	...	Lazaro
Dylan Mikson	...	Gabriel
Joshua Gustin	...	Young Blest
KaDee Strickland	...	Toni
Semz	...	Knife
Walter Masterson	...	Hyste
Nato Jude	...	Mayo
'Lee' George Quinones	...	Himself (as Lee Quinones)
I'Kyori Swaby	...	Pharoah
Aliya Campbell	...	Kim
Muck	...	Hazar's Girlfriend No. 1
Trina Grant	...	Hazar's Girlfriend No. 2
Ned Stresen-Reuter	...	Brendan Pricely
David Ley	...	Randolph
Peter Linari	...	Custodial Boss
Manny Siverio	...	Sum5
Derrick Simmons	...	Tido
Elliot Santiago	...	Krazy
Nikklas Bates	...	Drug Dealer
Quinn	...	Man in Window
Daisy Rojas	...	Woman in Window
David Aldi	...	Yuppie Man
Raj-Ann Rekhi	...	Yuppie Woman
Tim Dowlin	...	Drooling Junkie
Ajay Naidu	...	Moses Mundhra
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Muck	...	Hazar's Girlfriend No.1
Rocco Rosanio	...	Rocco (uncredited)

Directed by
Adam Bhala Lough

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Adam Bhala Lough		written by

Produced by
Robert Bethge	....	co-executive producer
Joey Dedio	....	associate producer
Smriti Mundhra	....	co-producer
Ben Rekhi	....	producer
Kanwal Rekhi	....	executive producer
Theo Sena	....	co-producer
Sol Tryon	....	producer
Mark Webber	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Sebastian Demian
El-P.		(as El-P)
Ethan Higbee
International Friends

Cinematography by
Ben Kutchins

Film Editing by
Jay Rabinowitz

Casting by
Caroline Sinclair

Production Design by
Jon Nissenbaum

Art Direction by
Ethan Brooke

Costume Design by
Harwood Lee

Makeup Department
Michael Alsondo	....	key hair stylist
George Black	....	makeup department head

Production Management
Smriti Mundhra	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Christina Fontana	....	second second assistant director
Josh Newport	....	second assistant director
Craig Zobel	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Catherine Osborne	....	art department assistant
Peter Wu	....	additional art

Sound Department
Rachel Chancey	....	foley editor
Bryan Greene	....	boom operator
Roy Marasigan	....	boom operator
Jonathan Parham	....	sound mixer
Dave Paterson	....	supervising sound editor
Mary Ellen Porto	....	dialog editor
Robert Purvis	....	sound mixer

Visual Effects by
Luke DiTommaso	....	visual effects
Jim Rider	....	digital artist
Jennifer Russomanno	....	digital effects artist
Keith Yurevitz	....	visual effects

Camera and Electrical Department
René Crout	....	additional assistant camera
T.J. Hellmuth	....	assistant camera
Paul McCluskey	....	key grip
Alan McIntyre Smith	....	gaffer (as Alan Smith)
Christopher Norris	....	first assistant camera
Ben Rekhi	....	director of photography: additional photography

Editorial Department
Chris Gennarelli	....	dailies colorist
Matt Mayer	....	associate editor
Patricia Sztaba	....	negative cutter
Stan Sztaba	....	negative cutter

Music Department
Barry Cole	....	music supervisor
Jay Rabinowitz	....	music editor

Other crew
Walter DeForest	....	key production assistant
Jennifer DeLia	....	production coordinator
Elizabeth Destro	....	legal counsel
Massoumeh Emami	....	location manager
Shane Haden	....	assistant location manager
Michael Powsner	....	production assistant
Wendy L. York	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Bomb the System LLC
• Drops Entertainment

Distributors

• Palm Pictures (2004) (USA) (all media)
• Media Suits (2005) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Palm Pictures (2005) (USA) (theatrical)
• Cultmovies (2007) (Germany) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (all media)
• Nowonmedia (2004) (Japan) (all media)

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive language, drug use, some violence and sexuality/nudity

Runtime:

USA:91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Hindi

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Japan:R-15 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Bomb the System LLC

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The word "precinct" is misspelled in the newspaper headline that is seen after the undercover police car is tagged with graffiti.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 2004 IFP/West Independent Spirit Awards (2004) (TV)

Works better as a music video, less as a narrative piece

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.