Louder Than A Bomb (2011)
Average Rating: 7.6/10
Reviews Counted: 24
Fresh: 24 | Rotten: 0
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 7.5/10
Critic Reviews: 10
Fresh: 10 | Rotten: 0
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.9/5
User Ratings: 1,352
Movie Info
Louder Than a Bomb tells the story of four Chicago high school poetry teams as they prepare to compete in the world's largest youth slam. By turns hopeful and heartbreaking, the film captures the turbulent lives of these unforgettable kids, exploring the ways writing shapes their world, and vice versa. Louder Than a Bomb is not about "high school poetry" as we often think of it. It's about language as a joyful release, irrepressibly talented teenagers obsessed with making words dance. While the
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Cast
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Elisabeth Graf
Coach -
James Sloan
Coaches -
Nova Venerable
OPRF Slam Team -
Rocco Bulmer
OPRF Slam Team -
Alicia Davis
OPRF Slam Team -
Keenan Smith
OPRF Slam Team -
Tabitha Watson
OPRF Slam Team -
Peter Kahn
Coach -
Christina Santana
Coach -
Adam Gottlieb
Northside Slam Team -
Amaya Dimyen
Northside Slam Team -
Elisha Miles
Northside Slam Team -
Jessie Welch
Northside Slam Team -
Ebikepreye Porri
Coach -
Nate Marshall
Whitney Young Slam T... -
Hannah Bernard
Whitney Young Slam T... -
Gabriella Bonamici
Whitney Young Slam T... -
Will Grucza
Whitney Young Slam T... -
Diana Rosen
Whitney Young Slam T... -
Jamal Sadrud-Din
Whitney Young Slam T... -
Jonathan "Freaky" Ca...
The Steinmenauts -
Kevin "KVO" Harris
The Steinmenauts -
Lauren Iron
The Steinmenauts -
Jesus "L3" Lark
The Steinmenauts -
Lamar "Tha Truth" Jo...
The Steinmenauts -
She'Kira McKnight
The Steinmenauts -
Charles "Big C" Smit...
The Steinmenauts -
Travell Williams
The Steinmenauts -
John Hood
Coaches -
-
-
Idris Goodwin
MCs -
Billy Tuggle
MCs -
Tim Stafford
MCs -
Denise Jolly
MCs -
-
-
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All Critics (25) | Top Critics (10) | Fresh (24) | Rotten (0) | DVD (2)
"Louder Than a Bomb" has a lot in common with such documentaries as "Spellbound" and "Mad Hot Ballroom": charismatic, if obsessed, kids and nail-biting suspense.
Top CriticThink of it as "Glee'' without music. Without a net, too.
Having a bad day? Then get yourself to Greg Jacobs and Jon Siskel's life-affirming documentary, immediately.
The sheer breadth of talent is so astonishing, and the rhymes so clearly from the heart, that our spirits are inevitably lifted.
Who says poetry has to be dull?
The efforts to document the teams' creative processes aren't particularly successful - no camera can capture something that elusive - but the filmmakers do a fine job with the back stories of the featured poets.
Poetry-as-savior may be eye-rolling. Their talent, however, is not.
The kids whom Jacobs and Siskel have chosen for us to watch are so enthralling, with such remarkable life stories, that their autobiographical poems have actual power.
An emotionally-evocative poetry slam blasting the King's English to smithereens leaving Ebonics as the last language standing!
It should hit home with anyone whose experience of adolescence involved creativity, intellectual exploration, and getting to know and love people outside their immediate social circles.
It's about changing young lives, on giving them a taste for learning and a facility with language. In this post-literate era, how can you not cheer something like that?
You can't help being uplifted by kids, trying to honestly express themselves through this unique medium.
Teen doggerel is celebrated in this documentary about a Chicago poetry slam in which competition runs as high as on any basketball court.
[M]ore focus on showy slam than ...writing poetry. How the best performers-and the best young poets-dig down deep and polish their work, finally makes this a satisfying film.
These kids are brilliant, charming wordsmiths.
The filmmakers showcase an art form diverse enough to include a panoply of styles and methods.
A documentary about the competition between inner city and suburban high school poetry teams to win Chicago's 'Louder Than A Bomb' teen poetry rave. The teens hone their rhyming skills and styles until they're nothing less than terrific.
What 2002's hit Spellbound did for spelling bees, this inspiring documentary does doubly well for high school spoken-word poetry slams.
Audience Reviews for Louder Than A Bomb
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- The Steinmenauts: The point is not the point. The point is the poetry. But it's also bigger than that.
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- Coaches: Sucker.
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- Coaches: This kid could do great things.
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Louder Than a Bomb had me thinking deeply about the possibilities of both art forms. They can both be used as avenues to address cultural issues and break down stereotypes. If every kid thought as deeply about their lives and their environment as the kids in this movie, we'd be on our way to a better world.
A poetry slam, in case you don't know, is a competition in which poets recite poetry as performance, in this case much like rap. A panel of up to five judges give scores based on performance and the content of the material. The scores look very much like you might see in a diving competition. Most of what the contestants convey comes from their charisma, their content and their rhythm. When a contestant is really in the zone, it is a sight to behold. The poetry takes the form of rap without music. A person takes the mike and begins a sort of verbal dance, addressing cultural and personal issues that are important to them. There is a lot of emotion in their performances and many start slow and build to a crescendo that makes your pulse race.
The movie is about the 2008 high school poetry slam in Chicago called Louder Than a Bomb. Over 50 high school from all over the Chicago area compete, and the finalists perform in an arena to an enormous crowd. The focus of the film is Steinmetz High School which won the competition in 2007 in a major upset under the direction of the tough-loving Coach Sloan who helps them work their frustration into an artistic expression. The film follows the competitors form Steinmetz and other schools as they work their hearts out trying to get a spot in the competition.
Most of the kids performing are from the inner-city, from various high schools in the area. Most are black or Latino and live in rough areas and rough circumstances. The most memorable is Nova Venerable, a strong-willed young girl from Park River Forest High School who helps her mother at home with her younger brother who has a disability. Her writing is a sad allegory of her struggles at home and with her father who is not in the picture. She has the heart of a lion. Also unforgettable (and the one you'll remember) is Adam Gottlieb, a student of Northside College Prep who's round face bears a permanent grin. His spirit at the microphone is breathtaking. There's Lamar, who pours over obsessively over his notebook. In his eyes are a manner of intelligence and poise that might make him a great orator or a civic leader. Then there's my favorite Big C, tall and heavyset who wants to win and doesn't hide his tears or his big heart.
Louder Than a Bomb was directed by Greg Jacobs and Jon Siskel (nephew of Gene Siskel). Their film had me thinking of how easy it is to turn a negative into a positive. If rap music could turn itself around and address positive issues then it might be used as an invaluable educational tool. If a movie like this could be turned into a reality show for television, I think it would be a brilliant alternative to the negative junk that is being fed to our nation's youth. Just imagine the impact it could have.