Dir. Nathanial Hornblower, 2006, USA, 89 mins
Starring: Mike D, Adrock, MCA, Money Mark, Mixmaster Mike, Alfredo Ortiz, Doug E Fresh
Review by Robb Horsley
Neil Young should be afraid - very afraid. Concert films are the flavour of the month, but despite managing to secure the services of Jonathan Demme, Young will be cringing when he hears the news that New York's finest have beaten him to the punch. And better still, Nathanial Hornblower (the self-claimed author of Star Wars) is at the helm.
The concept is simple, sell out the home stadium (Madison Square Garden) and give 50 Hi-8 cameras to 50 fans. Bootlegging exists to record great performances we missed, so fortunately - to paraphrase Tone Loc - the Beastie Boys have got it going on, and they're on fire.
As the concert unfolds, we are treated to the work of fifty amateur auteurs, each providing a unique perspective on the proceedings. One man films himself visiting the toilet, another group of fans invade the backstage area, and a man who sounds like a grown-up version of The Simpsons’ Martin Prince repeatedly encourages surrounding fans with the banal mantra: “Come on everybody… get into it – you’ll be on the DVD”. Lest we forget, New York gave us Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen. On this evidence, neither director will lose much sleep worrying about the competition. That said, the makers of Awesome; I Fuckin’ Shot That! are hampered by the choice of a shooting format that isn’t fit for display on a mobile phone – let alone in a cinema. The resulting footage is a shoddy under-exposed mess of blocky pixels - it is so hilariously bad that the occasional DV footage (shot as a backup) looks like Cinemascope. Fortunately, the sound is crystal clear.
Live music may be difficult to capture on film, but at least the Beastie Boys have a sense of theatre, dividing the show into three main acts: old school hip-hop, funk, and crowd-rousing anthems. The middle section is a particular highlight, with the band disappearing, only to return as the stage revolves to reveal them as a lounge act, complete with tuxedos and real instruments.
If you are a hip-hop hater, you should steer well clear, but if you haven't heard of the Beastie Boys by now - then why are you reading this review? It may look for the most part like a bad student film, but the music and the performances carry the show. Along with Julien Temple’s Glastonbury, this is part of a new breed of concert film that truly captures the feeling of being there. And intriguingly, these films succeed because they are hand-made by the fans – not stage directed by a jaded TV producer.
At the screening, I felt I should enter into the spirit of things and recorded the entire film on my camera phone. Imagine my surprise when I reviewed the footage. Every minute or so, there is a scrolling message which reads “property of Think Film – Not For Resale”. It looks like my post on YouTube will have to wait…"
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