lyneday
03-30-2006, 11:22 PM
March 31, 2006
MOVIE REVIEW
The Beastie Boys and Their Fans Make a Movie. 'Awesome!' (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/movies/31awes.html?_r=1&oref=slogin)
By NATHAN LEE
"Awesome" is what you get after distributing 50 video cameras at a sold-out Beastie Boys concert, editing the results like a squirrel on methamphetamine, pulverizing them with psychedelic effects and releasing the whole mixed-up thing into theaters with bass so heavy it'll set off car alarms on Mars.
Aw, yeah! Is (white 20-something) Brooklyn in the house? Believe that! But the real question is: How much awesomeness can be achieved by a group of 40-something millionaires bouncing around in green tracksuits and gray hair as they bid the kids at Madison Square Garden to "Shake Your Rump"?
No longer beastly and certainly not boys, these three M.C.'s (and one D.J. — the amazing Mix Master Mike) remain on point, spitting baroque wordplay, which still astounds, over beats of eternal tightness. From their propulsive riff on "Root Down," to a gargantuan "Paul Revere" singalong, to a heavy dose of "Sabotage" dedicated to President Bush, the Boys dip into their catalog and come up flinging hot funk all over the somewhat hip but totally hopped-up crowd.
As for the authorial conceit — assembling the movie from giddy, spastic, amateur photography captured from every part of the arena — at best it yields energetic perspectives on the show, at worst it looks like a cellphone video camera having an epileptic seizure.
"Awesome!" is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). The lyrics make use of four-letter words.
Awesome!
Opens today in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Portland, Minneapolis, Evanston, Ill., Mountain View, Calif., Seattle, Chicago, Berkeley, Calif., San Francisco, Boston and Washington
Directed by Nathanial Hörnblowér; edited by Neal Usatin, Michael Boczon and Remi Gletsos; music by the Beastie Boys; produced by Mr. Hörnblowér and Jon Doran; released by ThinkFilm. In Manhattan at the Regal Cinemas Union Square, 1 Union Square. Running time: 90 minutes.
MOVIE REVIEW
The Beastie Boys and Their Fans Make a Movie. 'Awesome!' (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/movies/31awes.html?_r=1&oref=slogin)
By NATHAN LEE
"Awesome" is what you get after distributing 50 video cameras at a sold-out Beastie Boys concert, editing the results like a squirrel on methamphetamine, pulverizing them with psychedelic effects and releasing the whole mixed-up thing into theaters with bass so heavy it'll set off car alarms on Mars.
Aw, yeah! Is (white 20-something) Brooklyn in the house? Believe that! But the real question is: How much awesomeness can be achieved by a group of 40-something millionaires bouncing around in green tracksuits and gray hair as they bid the kids at Madison Square Garden to "Shake Your Rump"?
No longer beastly and certainly not boys, these three M.C.'s (and one D.J. — the amazing Mix Master Mike) remain on point, spitting baroque wordplay, which still astounds, over beats of eternal tightness. From their propulsive riff on "Root Down," to a gargantuan "Paul Revere" singalong, to a heavy dose of "Sabotage" dedicated to President Bush, the Boys dip into their catalog and come up flinging hot funk all over the somewhat hip but totally hopped-up crowd.
As for the authorial conceit — assembling the movie from giddy, spastic, amateur photography captured from every part of the arena — at best it yields energetic perspectives on the show, at worst it looks like a cellphone video camera having an epileptic seizure.
"Awesome!" is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). The lyrics make use of four-letter words.
Awesome!
Opens today in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Portland, Minneapolis, Evanston, Ill., Mountain View, Calif., Seattle, Chicago, Berkeley, Calif., San Francisco, Boston and Washington
Directed by Nathanial Hörnblowér; edited by Neal Usatin, Michael Boczon and Remi Gletsos; music by the Beastie Boys; produced by Mr. Hörnblowér and Jon Doran; released by ThinkFilm. In Manhattan at the Regal Cinemas Union Square, 1 Union Square. Running time: 90 minutes.