Bomb the System

The film was expanded from Lough’s thesis project at . 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 , Now on Media in Japan offered to acquire distribution rights. The film received a wide theatrical release in Japan on September 3, 2005. In the US, the film was distributed by 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 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. In graffiti terminology, ” ” has nothing to do with actual explosives, and instead refers to slang for covering a surface with graffiti. The film was released on DVD on October 11, 2005. called the film a “next-gen [ ] update of 1982’s . With strong whiffs of and ” that “distinguishes itself with streaky, -bright editing and ‘s eerie soundtrack beats.” noted the movie was “birthed from a blunt-fueled blend of Aronofskian frenzy and nostalgia for the agreeable griminess of mid-’90s videos.” 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.” Stephen Holden of 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 . , which rides on a subtle hip-hop soundtrack, might be described as soulful pulp; cult recognition awaits it.” On the critical side, called the film “a mild, slow-moving drama that belatedly tries to argue that graffiti writers are political artists, not an urban blight”. The 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”. Sean Axmaker in the likened the film to “tomcats spraying outside their yards.” Filmmaker wrote, “For 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. 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 ad on the second weekend of the film’s release. On review aggregate website , 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.”