Garden Party
Beastie BoysAwesome; I Fuckin’ Shot That!
(Thinkfilm)
Rather than cozy up to the new Beasties live DVD with a bowl of Jiffy Pop, consider Dramamine instead. The film’s concept is certainly novel — producers handed 50 fans video cameras to shoot the Beasties’ October 2004 homecoming show at Madison Square Garden — but the frenetic mess that this footage has been edited into is not for the weak of stomach. However, once you get past the zillion-cuts-per-minute pace and the shaky handcam imagery, the performance itself finds Messrs. Horovitz, Diamond and Yauch in peak form, even if the album they were touring behind was something of a turkey.
Twenty years’ worth of musical shapeshifting are represented here, including a set of Check Your Head/Ill Communication–era instrumentals performed wedding band–style in ruffled tuxes, while newer, lesser songs like “Triple Trouble” hold their own next to crowd-pleasers like “Paul Revere” and “Sabotage.” And the film’s central gimmick, while visually frustrating at times, offers vantage points conventional concert movies wouldn’t bother with, such as the men’s room and the seat next to Ben Stiller.
Out Now:
Awesome; I Fuckin’ Shot That!
