YoungRemy
03-31-2006, 10:12 AM
forget all the negative reviews, those guys just don't get the beastie boys or what this movie is all about.. I get goose bumps every time i watch it... I have seen it three times and it keeps getting better...
this is quite possibly as good as it gets as far as reviews go...
http://www.insidebayarea.com/bayarealiving/ci_3658849
Ch-check it out Beastie Boys film warrants four stars
By Jim Harrington, InsideBayArea.com STAFF WRITER
'AWESOME ... I Shot That!" might someday be remembered as one of the greatest concert films ever made.
Only time will tell, but upon first impression this film documenting a 2004 performance by the Beastie Boys seems on par with 1978's "The Last Waltz" and 1984's "Stop Making Sense," which are widely regarded as the two finest rock performance documentaries in history. And it has little to do with the actual renditions of such B-Boys classics as "Ch-Check It Out," "Paul Revere" and "Root Down."
In 10 years, professors might be showing "Awesome" to students in film schools across the country and — if music is indeed the universal language — even around the world. It's that good of a film.
Even more important, it's so vastly different than Martin Scorsese's "Last Waltz" and Jonathan Demme's "Stop Making Sense," the pair of films that really inked the blueprint for concert films made over the last two decades.
"Awesome" isn't a document of a band at the height of its creative powers delivering a performance that would turn thousands of mildly interested listeners into rabid fans, which is what "Stop Making Sense" did with the Talking Heads.
It also doesn't capture a landmark occasion, a la The Band's farewell concert at San Francisco's Winterland Arena on Thanksgiving Day 1976. This one, at least by direct comparison, was just another night on the road for the Beasties.
Furthermore, "Awesome" can't claim a big-name director in its credits like the other two can.
Yet, what Nathanial Hornblower (aka, the Beasties' Adam Yauch) managed to accomplish with "Awesome" is every bit as impressive as what Demme and Scorsese did with their films — arguably, more so. At least those other two more celebrated directors were working with professional cameramen.
In contrast, the Beastie Boys — Mike D (Michael Diamond), Adrock (Adam Horovitz) and MCA (Adam Yauch) — simply handed out 50 film cameras to audience members prior to their sold-out show at New York's Madison Square Garden.
The instructions were simple: Start recording once the Beasties hit the stage. Basically everything else from that point was left up to the individual cinematographers. The benefit from undertaking this mission, an unnamed rep from the Beastie Boys instructed the camera-toting fans, was that they would one day be able to watch this movie and say, "Awesome; I f——- shot that!" (That colorful quote, complete with the expletive, is the official title of the film. The one used in this family newspaper is the "alternative" title.)
The cameras were then collected up at the end of the show and Hornblower spent the next year editing the footage filmed from 50 individual perspectives. The result is a highly daring experiment in semi-democratic filmmaking that manages to place the viewer in the middle of the action like no other.
Many folks might be more qualified than this writer — a music critic by trade — to access the value of a film. But few are more qualified to judge whether a film does a good job at capturing what it feels like to be at a concert. I go to roughly 200 gigs a year and know what that experience is like better than I know how it feels to flip on the TV in my own living room.
This film does the trick. The swirl of different perspectives — sometimes out of focus, at times obscured by a body-less head bopping along to the music — combined with the frantic edits and chaotic pacing really makes you feel like you were there.
It should be noted, however, that this process wouldn't work for all genres of music, notably folk or jazz. But the nonstop assault on the senses delivered in "Awesome" fits the hip-hop experience like a glove.
As shown with Demme's mediocre feature on Neil Young, the recently released "Heart of Gold," the old blueprint for making concert films is severely outdated.
With the advent of the Internet and the onslaught of music DVDs, both of which allow fans a more interactive experience than they can get from the big screen, filmmakers in the 21st century have to find new ways to document live shows. In that sense, this daring and highly innovative feature might well be the blueprint for the next generation of concert films.
In this new era, the filmmaking process might well become the true star — or at least the legitimate co-star — of the experience, which is certainly the case with "Awesome." Yes, I do mean that filmmaking techniques used to document the concert might be valued as highly as the performers themselves.
It's not such an absurd hypothesis, given how significant stage props, pyrotechnical displays, dance routines and wardrobe changes have become to the concert experience. We're already living in an age where technology and trickery are what really sell the music at many concerts.
"Awesome," and films that may follow in its path, are just a sign that filmmakers are willing to use everything at their disposal to catch up with the times.
While the film clearly isn't for everyone — the zigzagging footage might make some feel they've just rode every roller coaster at Paramount's Great America after eating hot dogs and cotton candy — status as a Beasties fan shouldn't be the only deciding factor in whether or not you see the movie.
Go see it if you are interested in filmmaking or in experiencing the most accurate cinematic representation of what it actually feels like to attend a hip-hop show.
I appreciate the Beasties, though I'd hardly call myself a big fan. Still, as the movie came to a close and the credits began to roll, I found myself sitting in my chair and muttering, "Awesome I (expletive) saw that!"
Write music critic Jim Harrington at
jharrington@angnewspapers.com.
this is quite possibly as good as it gets as far as reviews go...
http://www.insidebayarea.com/bayarealiving/ci_3658849
Ch-check it out Beastie Boys film warrants four stars
By Jim Harrington, InsideBayArea.com STAFF WRITER
'AWESOME ... I Shot That!" might someday be remembered as one of the greatest concert films ever made.
Only time will tell, but upon first impression this film documenting a 2004 performance by the Beastie Boys seems on par with 1978's "The Last Waltz" and 1984's "Stop Making Sense," which are widely regarded as the two finest rock performance documentaries in history. And it has little to do with the actual renditions of such B-Boys classics as "Ch-Check It Out," "Paul Revere" and "Root Down."
In 10 years, professors might be showing "Awesome" to students in film schools across the country and — if music is indeed the universal language — even around the world. It's that good of a film.
Even more important, it's so vastly different than Martin Scorsese's "Last Waltz" and Jonathan Demme's "Stop Making Sense," the pair of films that really inked the blueprint for concert films made over the last two decades.
"Awesome" isn't a document of a band at the height of its creative powers delivering a performance that would turn thousands of mildly interested listeners into rabid fans, which is what "Stop Making Sense" did with the Talking Heads.
It also doesn't capture a landmark occasion, a la The Band's farewell concert at San Francisco's Winterland Arena on Thanksgiving Day 1976. This one, at least by direct comparison, was just another night on the road for the Beasties.
Furthermore, "Awesome" can't claim a big-name director in its credits like the other two can.
Yet, what Nathanial Hornblower (aka, the Beasties' Adam Yauch) managed to accomplish with "Awesome" is every bit as impressive as what Demme and Scorsese did with their films — arguably, more so. At least those other two more celebrated directors were working with professional cameramen.
In contrast, the Beastie Boys — Mike D (Michael Diamond), Adrock (Adam Horovitz) and MCA (Adam Yauch) — simply handed out 50 film cameras to audience members prior to their sold-out show at New York's Madison Square Garden.
The instructions were simple: Start recording once the Beasties hit the stage. Basically everything else from that point was left up to the individual cinematographers. The benefit from undertaking this mission, an unnamed rep from the Beastie Boys instructed the camera-toting fans, was that they would one day be able to watch this movie and say, "Awesome; I f——- shot that!" (That colorful quote, complete with the expletive, is the official title of the film. The one used in this family newspaper is the "alternative" title.)
The cameras were then collected up at the end of the show and Hornblower spent the next year editing the footage filmed from 50 individual perspectives. The result is a highly daring experiment in semi-democratic filmmaking that manages to place the viewer in the middle of the action like no other.
Many folks might be more qualified than this writer — a music critic by trade — to access the value of a film. But few are more qualified to judge whether a film does a good job at capturing what it feels like to be at a concert. I go to roughly 200 gigs a year and know what that experience is like better than I know how it feels to flip on the TV in my own living room.
This film does the trick. The swirl of different perspectives — sometimes out of focus, at times obscured by a body-less head bopping along to the music — combined with the frantic edits and chaotic pacing really makes you feel like you were there.
It should be noted, however, that this process wouldn't work for all genres of music, notably folk or jazz. But the nonstop assault on the senses delivered in "Awesome" fits the hip-hop experience like a glove.
As shown with Demme's mediocre feature on Neil Young, the recently released "Heart of Gold," the old blueprint for making concert films is severely outdated.
With the advent of the Internet and the onslaught of music DVDs, both of which allow fans a more interactive experience than they can get from the big screen, filmmakers in the 21st century have to find new ways to document live shows. In that sense, this daring and highly innovative feature might well be the blueprint for the next generation of concert films.
In this new era, the filmmaking process might well become the true star — or at least the legitimate co-star — of the experience, which is certainly the case with "Awesome." Yes, I do mean that filmmaking techniques used to document the concert might be valued as highly as the performers themselves.
It's not such an absurd hypothesis, given how significant stage props, pyrotechnical displays, dance routines and wardrobe changes have become to the concert experience. We're already living in an age where technology and trickery are what really sell the music at many concerts.
"Awesome," and films that may follow in its path, are just a sign that filmmakers are willing to use everything at their disposal to catch up with the times.
While the film clearly isn't for everyone — the zigzagging footage might make some feel they've just rode every roller coaster at Paramount's Great America after eating hot dogs and cotton candy — status as a Beasties fan shouldn't be the only deciding factor in whether or not you see the movie.
Go see it if you are interested in filmmaking or in experiencing the most accurate cinematic representation of what it actually feels like to attend a hip-hop show.
I appreciate the Beasties, though I'd hardly call myself a big fan. Still, as the movie came to a close and the credits began to roll, I found myself sitting in my chair and muttering, "Awesome I (expletive) saw that!"
Write music critic Jim Harrington at
jharrington@angnewspapers.com.