raga recommends: style wars

easily one of the best documentaries i've ever seen, independent of my hip-hop bias. style wars, filmed in the early 1980s in new york city and subsequently aired on pbs, captured a moment in time. whether you believe that time reflected chaos or creativity is up to you. however, in the video above, new york times film critic a.o. scott tries to convince you of the latter.

in addition to providing a glimpse into the burgeoning youth subculture, the movie also includes the perspective of the city's establishment, including mayor ed koch and the head of the metropolitan transit authority, richard ravitch.

on a sad note, quite a few of the artists featured in the film aren't around anymore despite the fact that this footage is barely 25 years old and they were all fairly young at the time.