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

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	....	key makeup artist

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
Roy Marasigan	....	boom operator
Dave Paterson	....	supervising sound editor
Mary Ellen Porto	....	dialog editor
Robert Purvis	....	sound mixer

Visual Effects by
Luke DiTommaso	....	visual effects
Morgan Miller	....	digital restoration (video version)
Jim Rider	....	digital artist
Jennifer Russomanno	....	digital effects artist

Camera and Electrical Department
René Crout	....	additional 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)
• Crossroads Pictures (2008) (Czech Republic) (all media)
• Crossroads Pictures (2008) (Hungary) (all media)
• Crossroads Pictures (2008) (Slovakia) (all media)
• Cultmovies (2007) (Germany) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (all media)
• Media Suits (2005) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Nowonmedia (2004) (Japan) (all media)
• Palm Pictures (2005) (USA) (theatrical)
• Vision Films (2007) (worldwide) (all media) (sales agent)

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:

Japan:R-15 | USA:R

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)

Unrealistic...

I went into this movie thinking it would be a non-cliché, modern portrayal of graffiti culture in NY... only to see in the first 2 minutes, a guy Break dancing with a boombox, in front of a muraled wall. Maybe it was a flashback of the main character as a kid... but it seems that would only make sense if the lead character was 30yrs old.

I tried to give this movie a chance. But there were just too many things that bugged me... The writing for instance, all the graffiti terminology was incorrectly used. When a graffiti writer goes "Bombing" he does not go out and do full illegal murals. Nobody even mentions doing "fill-ins" or "throwups" which are the most commonly used terms/acts by graf-writers. They call them "pieces" in the movie, which is completely wrong. Those are just some examples...

It became pretty obvious that the filmmakers knew little or Nothing about graffiti. Just because you know about Sane & Smith, and heard a couple chase stories from your NYU buddy, isn't enough to go out and make a significant Graffiti movie. There is some "cool" cinematography in this, which isn't bad. But that's it. Storyline is similar to the likes of Wild Style or Beat Street (a hip hop love story). But even those movies were made with less pretension than this.