3 posts tagged “beastie boys”

Full from a brunch at Linda's and drunk from a delightful long soak thanks to the folks at Lush and their Westlake opening, I spent the last bit of this delightful afternoon watching the Criterion Collection of Beastie Boys videos.

A long-winded preface: I began my extended love affair with the Beastie Boys as a sophomore in high school when at a debate tournament at Rio Grande High School in Albuquerque someone forced me to listen to a song called "Paul Revere." And so the newfound appreciation soon begat idolatry. Fast forward to 1999. As a college sophomore in Illinois, I bought tickets to the Tibetan Freedom Festival. However, I was unable to afford the plane ticket back to see the show, so I still have an untorn ticket for the show that was to have been the highlight in the culmination of years of fangirling. Now, twelve years after I fatefully put on a pair of headphones, it appears as though I will see them as part of this years Sasquatch Festival. The mounting excitement has thrust me back into my fifteen year old world.

But back to the video collection. After watching this comprehensive video collection I can definitely proclaim "Sabotage" by Spike Jonze (see: Being John Malkovich) to be the best video, with "Hey Ladies" and "Body Movin" as tied seconds.

And with this retrospective in mind I present the first song I ever LOVED by the Beastie Boys.

Due to my previously mentioned sleep deprivation and it's toll it's taken on both Dylan and I, we spent the last two nights watching musical films. For some reason watching movies about musicians are less energy requiring?

Anyhoo, first up to bat was a movie about the Flaming Lips, The Fearless Freaks. I have to admit, I wasn't dying to see it. Perhaps it's been my underexposure to the band. Or perhaps I felt that it was a predictable "Behind the Band" type of documentary. And boy did I play the role of the fool after we turned it off. I think part of the allure is the wildly charismatic and interesting Wayne, who uses the film to showcase the things that he loves: his family, Oklahoma City, his bandmates, freaking people out, and fake blood. What's not to love?

Next up is Awesome, I Fuckin' Shot That!. Oh, how I've waited more than 10 years to see this film. I spiritually traveled back to that day my sophomore year at high school at a debate tournament putting on a pair of headphones and instantly falling in love with the Beastie Boys because of Paul's Boutique. This movie was made just for me: a straight up a fan flick. They gave 50 fans digicams to record their Madison Square Gardens show in October of 2004. To me, the editing alone makes this movie worth seeing: there were a lot of shaky shots, audio quality issues, and more than a few annoying people behind the camera. And somehow it all came together in an interesting way. It's by no means a perfect documentary, but it certainly is interesting and it even made me laugh a few times. I would never make someone who didn't like them watch it though. Partly because I think what makes this worth seeing is having an underlying appreciation for the Boys.

I entered a contest to win a copy of Awesome I Fucking Shot That! which features a guilty pleasure, the Beastie Boys. I read that the 50 cameras that they gave to various members of the crowd were returned back to the store they purchased them from the follow day. That makes me love them even more.