RIP, Tony Silver, director of Style Wars
February 2, 2008 12:09 PM   Subscribe

Tony Silver, the director of the groundbreaking hip-hop documentary Style Wars passed last night. He was a family friend of mine, and had been sick for several years with a irreversible brain condition. Style Wars is considered by some to be the best hip-hop film ever made, and by everyone to be the first. It was shot at the very start of the 1980s, when graffiti was still hip-hop's dominant form, and the idea of graffiti as art was brand new. I recommend checking out the deluxe DVD edition of the film Tony put together a few years ago after many years where it was only available as an expensive educational-only VHS, but you can also check out the 1hr 10m version on Google Video.
posted by YoungAmerican (15 comments total) 9 users marked this as a favorite
 


Grouse, take it to metatalk, please. YA, I'm sorry for your loss. That was a great film.
posted by Doug at 12:48 PM on February 2, 2008


I felt Style Wars was the greatest hip-hop film ever made before I ever knew Tony. His wife is a good friend of my mother's. I mention the family connection only so that folks will know that this is real news, in the absence of a news link.
posted by YoungAmerican at 12:59 PM on February 2, 2008


I love Style Wars.

"That's some never forgive shit!"

My condolences to his family.
posted by Divine_Wino at 1:08 PM on February 2, 2008


YA, thanks for pointing this out. I'm sorry for his family's (and your family's) loss.

That movie is a great documentary of not only the graffiti and burgenoning hip hop scenes, but is also an interesting document of NYC in the early 80s.
posted by sleepy pete at 1:12 PM on February 2, 2008


"Is that art? I don't know, I'm not an art critic. But I can sure as hell tell you that that's a crime."

One of my favorite movies of all time. I recommend checking out the sequel for anyone who's a fan of the original. There are a lot of cool interviews with people who were featured in the first Style Wars.
I've never seen anything else by Tony Silver, but maybe now I will.
posted by Demogorgon at 1:39 PM on February 2, 2008


Thanks! I look forward to watching this.
posted by goo at 2:09 PM on February 2, 2008


Style Wars is one of my most beloved DVDs. I could watch the train montage for hours on end.

RIP Tony Silver.
posted by carsonb at 2:32 PM on February 2, 2008


I know what I'll be watching tonight. RIP, Tony.
posted by beaucoupkevin at 2:52 PM on February 2, 2008


Never saw it before, and having watched just the first 20 minutes now, its taking me back to the NYC I knew and loved, and miss quite a bit in these times.
Thanks for the link.

Private to grouse: whats in a name?
posted by Fupped Duck at 3:06 PM on February 2, 2008


I loved Style Wars. I think about it quite a lot. It's a great movie.

RIP.
posted by OmieWise at 3:19 PM on February 2, 2008


.
posted by cashman at 3:42 PM on February 2, 2008


Terrible news, great film, and sorry about the loss.

But the fpp is still bloggy newsfilter.

Anyhow...

.
posted by humannaire at 7:43 PM on February 2, 2008


That looks really good. Thanks for posting it, and sorry for your loss.
posted by ignignokt at 10:34 PM on February 2, 2008


It's also on Folkstreams (via deleted post from Miko). Great movie (and *awesome* site I missed the first time it was posted).
posted by mrgrimm at 10:00 AM on February 14, 2008


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