Camjackers (2006) User Reviews

World Premier (possible (not really sure) spoiler)

[prerunink · 7/10 · 24 March 2006]

I saw the world premier of this tonite in Ann Arbor, MI. The cast and crew were there and all. It was for the Ann Arbor International Film Festival.

I went in with no real expectations as I had never heard of the film or of any of the actors. I had only read a brief synopsis of it and decided it was worth the price of admission. I think it was definitely an OK film. There were some parts that dragged and you could totally tell that there were multiple hands guiding the production. Different scenes had completely different voices and tones. All in all it was a good film with some very bad and very good hip-hop. I'd have to say that DX was the worst rapper and that the scene of the movie, the scene of the night was the elderly man singing/rapping about how he ended up where he is. This is being perfectly honest, the scene is exceptional and makes the movie worth seeing.

The style of the film is a pseudo-documentary with a kind of cameraman taping people taping a documentary. As the viewer, we are along for the ride as an accomplice in the camjacking. It makes it more fun. Style-wise it was fresh and worked. Some of the acting was cheesy, B-Movie quality, but I think that was the effect they were going for.Towards the end of the film though, it seemed that the editor was having a seizure. The last 15-20 minutes of the film were debauch and filled with manic (drugs, sex, Hollywood) and quasi-unbelievable (how the "thugs" get their movie back) actions. The whole movie until this point was sleek and effective and the ending seemed rushed and contrived; as if the directors/writers/editors decided 81 minutes of running time was long enough and they needed to show the film fakers demise and the "thugs" resolution but didn't quite know how with the remaining time. I'd say this film was good on an enjoyment level. At times it makes you think and feel. I LOVED the poetry of the rappers words. At other times the movie made you question why a plot had to surround the rappers at all. Even still, I would not knock any of the actors as they did a fine job. Thanks for reading.

check it out

[kamilahn · 9/10 · 12 April 2006]

I saw this movie in ann arbor at the film fest. The film was billed as a "mockumentary" of LA's underground hip hop scene. Its that but a whole bunch more. Camjackers has aspects of a documentary within a drama within a comedy within a documentary, if that makes sense. At its core is a showcase of LA's scene including commentary, song, freestyling, dance, graffiti, local legends, etc. Then we have a foursome of characters (also into the scene) who capture this, and the original "whack" filmmakers who hilariously try to do a Shakespearean ghetto drama (did anyone see "O"?).

Moments of the film are light and uplifting, and then the next shot is devastating. The ride for the audience will be excruciating for some, given the guerrilla style camera work, the complicated, hyper, and disjointed story. The shift from comedy to documentary doesn't always work, especially in terms of uneven character development. I was most weary of the race premise. Two milk white filmmakers go into the hood and get jacked. Not to reveal too much but the story really ended up being a fairy tale commentary on main stream society's co-opting of Black, oh I mean "urban" culture. What happened in the movie, would never have happened in real life. That said, I enjoyed the whack filmmakers getting their just desserts.

I felt the best aspect of the film was the way it looked (is that cinematography, editing, I dunno). But there was a glorious technical aspect to the film as it switched point of view. I'm not sure what was happening but depending on who was telling the story we got different shots, different light and color filters. They utilized film, surveillance camera, digital, night vision etc. It worked really well. Be sure not to miss the performance of Phoenix Orion, the male lead. He truly captured the experimental genre of the film. You knew he was acting, but you also knew the character was part of his true self. And I could not tell in which scene we were seeing bits of Phoenix vs. the character.

def a spoiler. read really fast!

[jtjohn03 · 8/10 · 5 May 2007]

I saw this at the Syracuse International Film Festival. I have a feeling that once the critics who get paid to do this stuff finish whining stuff like, "The story is weak," "Audiences won't have enough patience for this," "The characters aren't very riveting—" "VISUALLY it's great, BUT…" i think the people who "get it" will tell you how contextually necessary this film is.

Many viewers probably won't be accustomed to this style of editing or directing. The camera gets dropped, spun around, zooms in on some pretty random things (like a cactus, broken jar of cherries), the actors talk (shout) all at the same time while waiting to get high—and mainstream film (plus (un)reality TV, a microwave society, and a culture in denial) have lent us no patience to endure the strenuous labor of reality editing. This is one of the first things people will just have to get over.

Besides, every MC in this pic is insane. So you'll forget everything I just said by the time the next beat drops. They are indeed true representations of what real hip-hop is. That 10-year-old kid won my heart. His rhyme, for me, is the crux of the conflict in this film.

The white "film-fakers" have set out to produce a film that sets up gang-warfare as the essence of "ghetto" life, the central issue of hip-hop, and from this, the cipher that deciphers Black identity. All one needs is a pimp, a couple of hoes, and a thug and the Black American's existence—all 400+ years of it—has been articulated, popularized, and labeled "ghetto cool". Unfortunately, this is the widely-held perception of too many Americans—not only White, but Black, Brown, and Yellow, too. While some can jock the style from a distance, others die and die again trying to fulfill their purpose in one of three, simple life callings. THIS IS WHY EVERYONE MUST SEE CAMJACKERS.

Hip-hop culture is so much more beautiful, varied and complex than this and Camjackers drives this truth home. Some of the political, economic and social threads of the struggle hip-hop culture rests upon are alluded to in the film. Towards the beginning, the Dahls introduce you to my man who can't walk. Spitting in Spanish, he shows the scar running down his tattooed stomach—a brief ode to the violence in the hood. When Phoenix is getting tagged by the police in the tradition of Rodney King, his reaction is an open protest of police brutality. When a homeless Brotha on the street dissects—in blues and rhyme—the hypocrisy in calling him "Brother", and when Medusa tells you how they chopped down trees just for the ghetto bird hovering in her hood—we're seeing the forces at work that fuel hip-hop culture—a culture that the Jeremys and Taos of the world think they can imitate in a "Sista' Strada".

So I guess my only real critic-ism is this: Now that viewers have "survived the hood", tell the part about why this is such compelling stuff.

Unfortunately, the U.S. third-world isn't a reality that everyone in the U.S. believes to be true. Even in a post-Katrina world people translate the images into indolence and think the "rage" behind the culture is unfounded.

While Camjackers is unforgiving in its depictions of life in the ghetto (no 40-oz. or blunt is spared) the film operates on the assumption that people accept, let alone understand the broader political machinations guiding these interpretations.

We may not be given the chance to fully identify with the Camjackers. At the film's conclusion, we know people exploit the hood for personal profit, and scapegoat the hood for suburbia's sins, but how is it that this system of manipulation manages to stay intact?

Camjackers II can cover that ground, though: how the "guh'ment" sold crack to the poor; welfare dependency is (un)intentional; how they're waiting for my 10-year-old rhyme-prodigy to flunk fifth grade so they can add another cell to the maximum security prison they want to build in your backyard. Then again, who has time for conspiracy theories? Right? ;-) (Sorry. I'm "sensational".)

White filmmakers in L.A. run at first sight of "thugs" who use abandoned film making gear to create own film.

[jlopez6911 · 8/10 · 22 July 2007]

They took the road least taken in the portrayal of a film set Los Angeles. The people that live here: the poets, writers, break dancers and the hip hop culture are reflected in their own light in this film by Julian Dahl. This facet of L.A. is rarely portrayed as authentically as in this film, and way overdue because finally it was successfully captured. This comedic docudrama will be enlightening for those too pretentious and incorrigible to stray too far from the nearest Starbucks, although hopefully I am totally proved wrong when people go stammering to watch 2MEX, Aceyalone, and other underground hip hop artists show their stuff. LA from the inside has never been more hopeful. Urban landscapes backdrop the dialog for empowerment the way Paolo Freire describes education and decoding environments through communication. Documenting the perils of L.A.'s diverse hip hop culture with a well crafted extraordinary plot line woven into the mostly docudrama exhibits life in gritty L.A. neighborhoods rarely seen up close. The main characters, whose motivation is to get back at the stereotypical interpretation perpetuated repeatedly by the 'drive-by' media have a mission to make a real movie with 'borrowed' film making and editing gear from scared preppy wannabe film makers who are too afraid to face the 'thugs' who inadvertently walk into one of their scenes while trying to film a scene. The film takes a jab at Hollywood and their ubiquitously jaded interpretation of Los Angeles and the industries usual lack of ethics and respect for the richness of our culture. The perception of hip hop that the filmmaker is fighting against is reminiscent of the rock n roll which I during its beginnings was painted in the similarly negative shades of gray. It too had its adversities as does the hip hop scene Dahl is investing in, through this cleverly written script. Few socially conscious films feature the grassroots artists of free verse spitting the real sticky icky, the ingenious and progressive heart beat, lyrics and artistry of one of the biggest metropolis in the entire world. Only the authentic survive and Dahl has shown he's got heart and proved his worthiness in my book.