Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That!

WOW!!!! How much fun can one person take. Props to the editor Neal Usatin for cutting such a brilliant piece with mass amounts of footage. How many gigs of storage for this project? The stylistic way in which this is put together equals the creative genius of their DVD Anthology. I love the Boys approach to utilizing technology in a new refreshing way.

Finally I just have to say a big "THANK YOU" to The Beastie Boys for another piece of time forever etched into my brain. The positive experiences never end when it comes to these guys. Check out this Film as many times as you can. I hope you have as much fun as I did and they did.

"I'm not here to fight nor incite, I'm like the beach at the Bahamas make you feel alright"

SoCal

In 2004 NYC, the Beastie Boys are performing at Madison Square Garden. They hand out 50 hand-held digital cameras to selected audience members. They use the footage gathered by these fans and put together a concert movie unlike any other before it.

The idea of amateur video is better than the actual execution. The good is to see what is not normally shown. Somebody took their camera into the bathroom. The bad is everything about amateur cameramen. The video looks grainy. It's either shaky or jarringly shaky. It's unfocused. At the core of it all, there is the music. That is good for the fans but not a successful cinematic effort for everybody else.

A very novel way to make a live concert film: hand video cameras to 50 audience members and get them to shoot it for you! Result is variable though, despite some good editing. Some great shots and some mediocre. Still, a very different, and less sterile, approach.

Music is good, of course. Great performance by the Beastie Boys.

I went into this movie expecting something totally different. But what I got was pretty awesome. The shakiness of the amateur videography sometimes caused a kind of "Blair Witch" effect on me, but the professional camera shots that were worked into it balanced the effect. The audio is booming & is much like being at a concert. The style of the movie changes gradually throughout the show, which kept me focused on the screen when I was tempted to just rock out in my seat. The Beastie Boys have been on the scene for a long time. This movie shows not only their ability to rock a sold out show at Madison Square Garden, but it also conveys the amazing connection they have with each and every fan in that audience. If you're a fan, you must see it. Even if you're not a rabid follower of the Boys, you'll still enjoy the show. I left the theater feeling as if I had been at The Garden that night.

i watched this 93-minute film at midnight during the sundance film festival, and when it ended and the lights came on, i secretly hoped someone would announce that it would be shown again for those who wanted to stay (i know i wouldn't have left my seat!).

i really wish i could have been at the actual concert at madison square garden--the beasties put on a fantastic show with music spanning their entire repertoire (minus the hardcore early days, of course). at one point, they even donned some retro tuxes and played instrumental numbers from "check your head" and "ill communication." as you might imagine, given the premise of the movie being shot by amateurs using hand-held digital cameras, some of the inclusions and streams weren't great, but for the most part, the final edit allowed a wonderful flow between multiple audience viewpoints, backstage hijinks, pre- and post-show moments, and even a bathroom break taken by one intrepid guy. "hornblower" threw in some creative editing and composition elements, too, showing a few songs performed in the cinematography styles the group has used in videos like "so whatcha want" and "shake your rump." the guest performance by doug e. fresh was amazing (as you might expect), and there were several other celebrity cameos from the on-screen audience as well. i was lipsynching along throughout the show, and many heads were bobbing in my theater. i was disappointed that i didn't get to attend the sundance showing the beastie boys visited, but i enjoyed this movie immensely and look forward to buying it when it's released.

P.S. the attempted re-creation of this idea during the beasties' performance on letterman (2/8/06) was *not* indicative of the quality of the the "awesome..." film. the beastie boys did a great job, but the letterman footage was pretty lame and poorly done.

"Once upon a time upon this mic, MCs be really workin' on what they write; With the sound delight, we rock all night, and yes, we're gonna party for the right to fight."