Rock Fresh

Part documentary about modern graffiti artists, part commentary on L.A.'s urban wasteland, filmmaker Danny Lee's stylish Rock Fresh has the mood of an updated Repo Man (minus the car scenes, aliens, or a wizened Harry Dean Stanton to provide a moral center). The five artists featured here—Kofie, Axis, Clae, Trixter, and Tyer—all started as youngsters with a love for edgy (and increasingly illegal) artistic expression. Now, they struggle with nascent adulthood and the classic tension between art and commerce, and while all have painted for high-profile gigs (including MTV, VH1, Toyota, Red Bull, and Gucci), the new challenge is finding steady opportunities to pay the bills (from successfully selling hand-painted items to clothing boutiques, to the heart-crushing experience of participating in gallery events with no nibbles). The art itself is both classic and edgy, representing some of the best of what we might have first seen on freight cars moving through our communities, but is now featured (intentionally) on billboards, clothing, and television. DVD extras include deleted scenes. Recommended. Aud: P. (C. Block)