This documentary follows the lives and careers of a collective group of Do-it-yourself artists and designers who inadvertently affected the art world.I am not sure what to make of this. I like some of the art, and it is interesting to see it getting the proper respect. Other than Shep Fairey, I had no idea who any of these people were. But I am also somewhat soured by the pretentious attitudes of some of them, thinking what they do is important. It probably isn't...So, ultimately, what to make of this? It's not as grand or as timeless as "Exit Through the Gift Shop". I suppose the real test is time. Today (2016) may not be the best distance to view 2008. But by 2018, where will these artists be? Setting trends or in the dustbin?

I can't recommend this film nearly as much as I could recommend Waste Land or Exit Through the Gift Shop, but Beautiful Losers does occasionally have it's moments of merit. The running story of support that each member of this wide artistic circle should be commended. Without the constant support system, this sliver of the art world would have come and gone without much notice at all.But really, that's mostly what I enjoyed about this film. I don't really care about self aggrandizement on such a large scale, especially when the people in question are ( with the exception of one artist) still very much alive and still very, very young. Most of the artists in the film are approaching their forties.These artists are also very lucky to be alive at this time. It appears that everyone was filming themselves, even before making their own art scene, so this documentary is rife with footage of every artist from young kids to adults dressed up as kids.Ho-hum...there's better films about artists and their respective scenes.

First of all, I HATE "vanity films". You know what they are - films made merely to promote this product or that person(s). Second, if you want to get on my bad side, try to validate and romanticize graffiti applied to others' private property. Third, I taught a long time, and it's been almost as long since I had to listen to so many self-righteous, self-impressed, self-centered, uneducated, immature idiots who want to believe their emotions validate their lack of intelligence. Their art efforts were shallow, and, of course, self-aggrandized (you can first spot these types by the time they spend practicing their signature instead of their art), and, are equally admired by a small peer audience of uneducated culture-babies who grew up on placebo intellectualism and Trix cereal. In an especially pathetic move to create associations, they include film maker Harmony Korine as though he is "one of them". (After all, it's not WHAT you know, it's WHO you know!) You'll love/hate their classically dimwitted, ironic rebellious insistence to be heroic "individuals" by their group pride in ALL skateboarding, looking alike, making like things, reveling in their refusal to become adults, and speaking with the same lack of language skills and education. You'll want to choke the "LIKE" and "YOU KNOW" right out of them. SPOILER ALERT: Oh, and just in case that doesn't bring you over, one of them dies and the others are given the chance to cash in on THAT emotion too… complete with romantic music sprayed on the surface of their fallen comrade. I nearly puked. What a bunch of jerk-offs who can't keep their spray cans in their pants.

I was fortunate to catch _Beautiful Losers_ at its cinematic debut in Tokyo accompanied by an introduction from Aaron Rose and several of the artists featured. The film is an inside look at these fascinating individuals and how their art took in each other's influences and moved from the streets into galleries into commercial agencies and back.It was an inspiring look at how 'creatives' are made. The discussion of just making stuff for your friends, having street art encapsulate the sacrifices and hopes of each attempt was a much more realistic way to think about nurturing artists as opposed to the '____ is a prodigy who (paints/makes movies/etc).' attitude that rules art reviews and the popular press today. These really were just kids who never stopped painting/making movies/etc. and mastered their crafts.As documentaries go, this one had fantastic footage of the artists across their evolution. The tribute to Margaret Kilgallen was especially touching. Unfortunately, it suffers from a somewhat wandering message and it was hard at times to piece together the relationships between the artists--which seemed to be at the core of what made them special. You get a sense that this community had fantastic chemistry that really brought out the best but Rose fails to show us how that really comes together. Some artists seem very close while some like Harmony Korine's seem just random and disconnected.The handling of the commercialization, the artists notions of 'success' and the role of Rose's gallery left me scratching my head. It was all interesting to hear, but I didn't get the point.Overall, this is worth watching for the great footage, chance to feel like you're right there as the artists show their personalities and a view inside how art should work.