Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That! (2006)

awesomeIn 2004, the Beastie Boys handed different hardcore fans Hi-8 Cameras to walk around the audience shooting the concert and offering up their own view of the concert taking place in Madison Square Garden. And my first thought was: Did any of them steal the camera? I can imagine one of them just making a break for the door with this great camera in hand. But I digress, “Awesome;” is for the hardcore fans only.

The Beastie Boys tend to kick all sorts of ass, even if I’m the last person to be described as a fan of theirs. When white boys tend to transcend racial barriers and become music legends in a genre that’s almost exclusive to African Americans, they’re doing something right. I’ll say this, if you’re not even remotely interested in the Beastie Boys after watching this film, then go watch “American Idol,” because they’re just such a fucking amazing group, and haven’t lost a single beat to this day. Even I who haven’t liked hip hop in years found myself in sheer goose bumps during this film. But we’re here to talk about the film. “Awesome;” is basically about the fans. They’re given cameras and we sit for ninety minutes watching the concert by the Boys, through the eyes of the different cameras. That’s really all there is to it. We’re there to see the eyes of the hardcore fans, and listen to the music. It’s so simple, it’s rather ridiculous.

There’s really nothing to say about “Awesome;” except that it manages to bring some insight into the audience experience, while putting the Beastie Boys on full display. They’re still a kick ass hip hop group, and “Awesome; I Fuckin’ Shot That!” is a fun twist on the concert film. I wish the makers of “Awesome;” didn’t shove this notion that this isn’t a concert film down our throats throughout the running time. The innovators behind this want us to think that this is far from any concert film because it’s being filmed by fans, but it really is just a concert film, and one that could have been different with an angle that was actually better than making fans film the concert before us. If you take away that device, it’s really just a concert film with the Beastie Boys. That’s not a bad thing, but don’t pretend it’s a new thing, either. It’s really just another concert film with a quasi-twist on the entire concept using fans as the filmmakers, but that’s not a downfall since the Beastie Boys are still a very entertaining hip hop group. I had fun, even if I’m not a huge fan of the group.