Artillery Magazine Review

“Reiss has a knack for knowing where the action is, and he never does things half way. So if he expends the effort to document graffiti, one is likely to learn something new. And “Bomb It! The Global Graffiti Documentary” delivers the goods. . . Whatever your take is on graffiti, you are likely to pick up a few fun facts that you didn’t know. Reiss is a very capable filmmaker with a curator’s eye and a generous vision.”

Read the full review HERE

Evening Class review of Bomb It

“There is a wealth of ideas disseminated in Jon Reiss’s Bomb It! It’s been a while since this reviewer has been prompted repeatedly to think and found it so entertaining. Again, don’t miss this one!”

Read the full review HERE

Advocate Review of Bomb It

“Overall, Bomb It is an outstanding view of a fascinating and creative underground community. The argument over graffiti as an acceptable form will continue to rage on, but the film is a work of art in its own right.

With its combination of music, visuals and the powerful words of the bombers themselves, “Bomb It” will provoke thought in viewers, both about art and freedom of expression.”

Read the full review HERE

Cinematical Review of Bomb It

Click Here for the full Cinematical review of Bomb It – an excerpt:

Bomb It! is a fresh, fierce look at the history and theory of graffiti that, at first glance, seems to not have either; it didn’t make up my mind on how I felt about graffiti, but it conveyed the excitement and energy and contradictions of it while providing plenty to think about.

Director Reiss has a past in unconventional art (art so unconventional, in fact, the question of it’s really art comes into play) — he spent years filming the merry roboticists of San Francisco’s Survival Research Laboratories, and captured the rave scene in his doc Better Living Through Circuitry — and his movie travels the globe, looking at what’s on walls and who put it there and why. We get a history of the form — starting with Daryl “Cornbread” McCray, the graffiti artist who first plastered his name all over Philly in 1967: “The more they talked, the more I wrote, the more they talked the more I wrote …” Like graffiti, the movie leaps from Philly to New York, and then it goes everywhere — Amsterdam, London, Capetown, Barcelona, Hamburg, Paris and more.

Obama

This is a letter that I sent to my email list. I feel so strongly about it I felt I should post it on my blog as well.

Hey all,

I have never written to any of you for something overtly political before – but I am now. I am writing because I feel passionately about this election and believe that we are facing a choice about our nation’s future that does not come along that often. This election will be a defining moment that will resonate for many years to come. It us up to us to have the courage to vote with our hearts and believe that we can have the kind of political system that I for one have never witnessed.

I am urging to vote for Barack Obama. And if you feel as stongly as I do, please open your address book and tell your friends how you feel before Tuesday.

I got started in politics working for Eugene McCarthy back in 68 and worked my heart out for many candidates until I turned 17. At which point I became disillusioned with the American political system. I had a glimmer of hope renewed with Clinton – only to see his willing engagement in attack/reattack politics squander his administration and its potential.

I feel that we need someone who can rise above the internecine warfare in Washington that produces such profound apathy in our country. Apathy in otherwise idealistic people such as myself.

I believe that Barack Obama is the one person running for president who can change the debilitating politics of the last 20+ years and can rally the country around some of our most pressing national problems: the war in Iraq, institutionalized poverty, health care, energy and the environment.

While I appreciate Hilary’s incredible grasp of the issues, her proposed policies and her ability to debate, I do not feel that she is capable of creating any kind of consensus with which to enact her programs. I believe that Hillary and Bill believe in “politics” to the detriment of policy. Bill’s behavior in South Carolina, convinced me that they learned nothing from their disastrous years in the White House with its constant calculation and stonewalling.

Internationally, electing an African American, with an African father, a last name Obama, who lived in Indonesia for 4 years as a child will go a long way toward healing the perception in the world that America is a self centered, xenophobic, intolerant nation.

Finally because I feel that the “experience” issue is still troubling to some of you – I would just say Nixon – one of the most “experienced” politicians of our time.

Thanks for your time!

Jon