Awesome, I Shot That | DVD Review

In 2004, The Beastie Boys gave out 50 cameras to their audience members during their Madison Square Garden concert in New York City, whose footage would later be used as part of an official bootleg DVD called Awesome: I Fuckin’ Shot That! referring to all the camera operators’ joy and elation from seeing what footage of theirs would be used for the film. Intended for straight-to-DVD release, the film was nonetheless screened in theatres as a limited engagement. Let me save face and compare my movie-going experience to my sit-at-home DVD experience: Way more enjoyable on the small screen. At no time did the shakiness make me feel like I was going to swallow my own tongue or that my eyeballs were gonna roll at the back of my skull as they were during the theatrical showing.

Far from the biggest Beastie Boys devotee, I’ve only seen them twice in concert, the first time sucked but the second was highly enjoyable, and I thought that gave me a generally unbiased subjective view point while watching this. I’m a huge fan of The Band, and could watch The Last Waltz over and over again but I also love Leonard Cohen and was sadly disappointed with the monstrosity they call I’m Your Man. I’d rather watch Awesome again rather than be subjected to the useless drivel that was perpetrated by this boring ‘best ever music documentary’ as they billed it. I must commend the editors on this. I honestly would have blown my brains out by the shear number of possible shots I could have used while putting this together. The mere thought of it makes my testicles shrink. Sure, the end product is less than admirable, but kudos anyways.

You might get goose bumps during cuts to shots of fans singing along and seeing how excited they are to be there. You can’t fake that enthusiasm. Kinda helps when they’re cute. Yeah, I guess its cool seeing Ben Stiller singing along too, but what’s even funnier is seeing his lovely wife Christine Taylor by his side just idly watching by, with nary an expression on her face, almost afraid to be there. I’m certain she’s a bigger fan than I am, but the one time you see her she is complete deadpan… apart from the end credits when she gives a shout out to Mix Master Mike. Apparently he rocks.

The little things that make it cool: Girl dancing like Mike D during Shake Your Rump. Really fun but really annoying special effect. Wicked cool was the part during Paul Revere when the vibrations from the bass are so intense they make the cameras shake, giving the mood a very earth-quaky effect. Having been right next to one of the speakers at a Beastie Boys concert, what little is left of my sternum remembers the experience fondly. I think many would agree the breakout scene is the Intergalactic/elevator sequence where the band has but a few moments to run from backstage into an elevator and pop up into the middle of the crowd, play the song, and then disappear again only to re-appear onstage. Complete with awkward silence and muzak. Other key moments appear when they actually slip in the footage of the dude going to the bathroom during All Lifestyles. It broke up the routine monotony and got a chuckle out of me. There should also be a new category in the Olympics called “Vertical Handstand Keyboard Jump Whilst Playing Sabotage”, and just give the Chicano-Jap dude the gold medal right away. No contest.

The little things that make it not so cool: mostly the jitteriness (less evident on TV than in theatres as previously mentioned), and the cheesy effects. Cheese is good, but this is just plain bad. The inverted/negative lens effect during their instrumental set is annoying beyond comprehension. I guess the ‘special effects’ guys just ran through the gamut of Photoshop filters, checking them off the list one by one as they infiltrated them in each shot. Not to mention zooming in on the instruments, showing us the vibrations of the (fake) strings as they are struck. Useless. As was the black and white portion.

The DVD packaging. Oy. Love the idea, hate the execution of it. Looks like a last-minute-panic art school project that was lost, and this was made instead. The inside booklet on the other hand; awesome. Pun intended. Made to look like and read like a home video equipment instruction manual operations guide. Handbook. This is one instruction manual you’ll take time to appreciate.

1. Grid Angle (aka Grid Mode Squad)
Holy crap. This feature allows you to watch all 50+ different angles on one screen! Could be interesting if you have a TV the size of Manitoba. Otherwise useless. I would love to follow the part where those guys sneak in backstage but there’s no way of knowing which camera number it is and it hurts my brain sitting so close to the TV and trying not to focus on all those RGB dots. The buzzing sound still persists.

The Extremely Insightful Band Commentary
I’m aware of the irony of the title of this special feature, but it doesn’t help the fact that it’s still about as fun and informative as watching grass grow. You have to ask yourself “Do I really wanna re-watch this just to hear these guys making all these inside jokes I’ll never understand all the while learning nothing new about the making of this movie I haven’t already learned from the crappy 15 minute making-of documentary?”

Special ‘Hidden Detours’ Feature
When a special little icon appears at the bottom of your screen, press ‘Enter’ and be transported to more of the same, but longer. Some are funny, most aren’t. One of the last ones has 2 guys making their way onstage after the show in search of booty such a set lists and guitar picks, all the while witnessing a fight breaking out on the ground floor.

Stand-Alone Extras

A Day In The Life Of Nathaniel Hörnblowér
Ad Rock and Buddhist MCA have a chance encounter with Nathaniel Hörnblowér (MCA’s alter-ego semi-hilariously portrayed here by comedian David Cross, usually played by MCA himself when storming MTV award stages and such) in this overly long and trite short film that played before the concert if you had the pleasure of catching it in theatres. Simply put, it follows the foreigner and his misadventures in the Big Apple. Worth watching once if you’re that much of a hardcore David Cross fan at his lamest.

Never Stop Rapping Yet
What the fans have to say is very much useless. No one cares what a couple of nuts from all around the world dressed up as Beastie Boys characters have to say about their devotion to the band and that “If they don’t play Brass Monkey, I’m like, totally gonna kill myself, man.” Unfortunately they play Brass Monkey pretty much every show. Idiots: 1. Human gene pool: 0. Special guest appearance by Jack Black.

Show Intros
The intros to each concert are worth it simply because they are funny in the good ol’ Beastie Boys cheesy fashion. The one with Mix Master Mike running away from Slipknot is especially outstanding if only for the sheer look of terror on MMM’s face as he runs for his life. Don’t fuck with psychos in masks and single digits for names is the lesson here.

Enter Jerome Crooks’ Angry World
If you wanna waste another few minutes of your time watch this special feature where Jerome the tour manager punches the camera over and over again, ‘cuz he thinks that’s funny or something I guess.

Big-Time Hollywood Trailer
The trailer is slightly amusing but tries too hard to be funny by spoofing big budget Hollywood trailers with the deep voiced man who sounds dramatic even if he’s just talking about making himself a sandwich. Both the censored and uncensored versions are available.

A Cappella Vocal Tracks
(This feature is accessed through the Audio Set-Up menu)
I dare you to watch the whole thing. It can’t be done. It’s touted as a ‘make-your-own-beat’ karaoke type segment, and I guess it can be funny during a party if you were already passed out from alcohol poisoning and sleeping in your own vomit.

I must admit the idea is brilliant. The Beastie Boys are fun, innovative and can still put on a show like nobody’s business. It’s just a shame the end result wasn’t as amazing as it should/could have been.

Movie rating – 3

Disc Rating – 3