Bomb the System

{{No plot|date=August 2024}}

• Mark Webber as Anthony 'Blest' Campo
• Jaclyn DeSantis as Alexandria
• Jade Yorker as Kevin 'Lune' Broady
• Gano Grills as Justin 'Buk 50' Broady
• Bönz Malone as Officer Nole Shorts
• Kumar Pallana as Kumar Baba
• Joey SEMZ as Knife

The film was expanded from Lough’s thesis project at NYU.{{cite web |title=Graffiti Interviews : Adam Bhala Lough / Bomb the System |url=http://www.riotsound.com/hip-hop/rap/interviews/bomb-the-system/index.php |website=Riot Sound |access-date=5 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061023063136/http://www.riotsound.com/hip-hop/rap/interviews/bomb-the-system/index.php |archive-date=October 23, 2006}}{{cite web |title=Bomb the System Director: Adam Bhala Lough Interview |url=http://www.at149st.com/adam2.html |website=at149st.com |date=2005}} Lough’s fellow NYU graduates collaborated with him on the film as producer, cinematographer, and other key members of the crew.

The film had its world premiere at the Anchorage International Film Festival in December 2002, winning the award for Best Feature.

After a 1-minute clip of the film was shown during the 2004 Independent Spirit Awards, Now on Media in Japan offered to acquire distribution rights. The film received a wide theatrical release in Japan on September 3, 2005.{{cite web |title=キャッシング審査比較システム |url=http://www.bombthesystem.jp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019092005/http://www.bombthesystem.jp/ |archive-date=October 19, 2013 |accessdate=October 17, 2013 |website=Bombthesystem.jp |language=ja}}{{Cite news |last=Fazio |first=Giovanni |date=August 31, 2005 |title=Art explosions taken to the streets |work=The Japan Times |url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ff20050831a2.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926221612/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ff20050831a2.html |archive-date=September 26, 2007}}

In the US, the film was distributed by Palm Pictures and was shown in New York City and Los Angeles on May 27, 2005. The film grossed a per-screen average of $4,588.

Shortly after the theatrical release, a movie theater in Delaware was closed down after a promotional Bomb the System sticker was found illegally posted in the theater. Due to fear of terrorism, the theater manager called the police and bomb squad and the theater was shut down for a few hours while the canine unit sniffed for bombs. Nothing was found.{{cite web |last=Langford |first=James R. |date=January 12, 2006 |title=Film title sticker causes alarm, closes theater |url=http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060112/NEWS/601120357/1006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923213349/http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20060112%2FNEWS%2F601120357%2F1006 |archive-date=September 23, 2015 |access-date=October 17, 2013 |website=The News Journal}} In graffiti terminology, "bombing" has nothing to do with actual explosives, and instead refers to slang for covering a surface with graffiti.{{Cite magazine |last=Malooley |first=Jake |title=Drop the bomb |url=http://chicago.timeout.com/articles/museums-culture/76840/bomb-chicago |magazine=Time Out Chicago |issue=231 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091005062408/http://chicago.timeout.com/articles/museums-culture/76840/bomb-chicago |archive-date=October 5, 2009}}

The film was released on DVD on October 11, 2005.{{Cite web |date=October 14, 2005 |title=Bomb the System |url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/18191/bomb-the-system/ |access-date=February 5, 2023 |website=DVD Talk}}

Rolling Stone 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."{{cite magazine |date=October 6, 2005 |title=Bomb the System |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/dvd/7683699/bomb_the_system |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090813002422/http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/dvd/7683699/bomb_the_system |archive-date=August 13, 2009 |access-date=October 17, 2013 |magazine=Rolling Stone}} 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."{{cite web |date=May 17, 2005 |title=Bomb the System |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0521,tracking1,64257,20.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080603195830/http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0521%2Ctracking1%2C64257%2C20.html |archive-date=June 3, 2008 |access-date=October 17, 2013 |website=Village Voice |publisher=}} 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."{{cite web |last=Crust |first=Kevin |date=May 27, 2005 |title=Bomb the System |url=http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-bomb27may27%2C0%2C4216169.story |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051228145105/http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-bomb27may27,0,4216169.story |archive-date=December 28, 2005 |accessdate=October 17, 2013 |website=Los Angeles Times}} Stephen Holden of The New York Times reviewed the film positively: "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."{{cite web |author=Holden |first=Stephen |date=May 27, 2005 |title=An (Illegal) Artist Determined to Make His Presence Known |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/27/movies/an-illegal-artist-determined-to-make-his-presence-known.html |accessdate=October 17, 2013 |website=The New York Times}}

On the critical side, 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".{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}} 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".{{cite web |date=May 27, 2005 |title=Bomb the System |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/moviereviews/story/313493p-268055c.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060209200253/http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/moviereviews/story/313493p-268055c.html |archive-date=February 9, 2006 |website=New York Daily News}} Sean Axmaker in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer likened the film to "tomcats spraying outside their yards."{{cite web |date=June 23, 2005 |title=Limited movie runs: 'Brothers,' 'Bomb the System' and more |url=http://www.seattlepi.com/movies/229746_limited24.html |access-date=October 17, 2013 |website=Seattle Post-Intelligencer}}

Filmmaker 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.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}}

On review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, Bomb the System has an approval rating of 32% based on 22 reviews. The site’s critics consensus reads, "Given the movie's premise, one would assume it's gritty and street-smart, but in reality it's a slave to stale cliches and formula."{{Cite web |title=Bomb the System |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1151490-bomb_the_system |access-date=February 5, 2023 |website=Rotten Tomatoes}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|id=0337585|title=Bomb the System}}
• {{Rotten Tomatoes|1151490_bomb_the_system}}
• {{Metacritic film}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bomb The System}}

Category:2002 films

Category:2002 drama films

Category:2000s hip-hop films

Category:2002 directorial debut films

Category:2002 independent films

Category:2000s hood films

Category:Films set in New York City

Category:Graffiti in New York City

Category:Films directed by Adam Bhala Lough

Category:2002 musical films