Thanks to listener suggestions, this week we tackle Style Wars, Tony Silver's classic 1983 documentary about graffiti and hip hop culture in New York City. The film stars many of the city's talented young graffiti artists, most of them teenagers, opposite frustrated city officials and then-mayor Ed Koch. There's a lot of entertaining, interesting and historically important footage here, but we have a bit of a disagreement over whether Silver crafts it into a particularly great film. How does it compare to similar movies, like Paris Is Burning, and does it build its characters effectively enough? In this respect, Chris sees it as more valuable as a document than a documentary. Finally, in light of both Banksy's recent visit and the larger change in how New York presents public spaces since the 1980s, we discuss how Style Wars is still relevant in 21st century Gotham.
Also included: Dan gives a brief preview of DOC NYC, which kicks off this weekend. Chris tells us a bit about his own graffiti documentary, which if we cross our fingers we might get to see some day.