Beastie Boys Story
2020 American documentary film
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Beastie Boys Story is a 2020 American documentary film, directed, produced, and written by Spike Jonze, alongside Michael Diamond and Adam Horovitz. It was filmed at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York and adapted from Beastie Boys Book, a memoir of the Beastie Boys. Jonze reunited with Diamond and Horovitz for the project after having directed several music videos for them in the past, including "Sabotage" in 1994.[2]
- Spike Jonze
- Michael Diamond
- Adam Horovitz
by Michael Diamond and Adam Horovitz
- Spike Jonze
- Jason Baum
- Amanda Adelson
| Beastie Boys Story | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Spike Jonze |
| Written by |
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| Based on | Beastie Boys Book by Michael Diamond and Adam Horovitz |
| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Autumn Durald |
| Edited by |
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Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Apple TV+ |
Release date |
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Running time | 120 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
It was scheduled to be released in a limited cinema release on April 3, 2020, followed by digital streaming on April 24, 2020, by Apple TV+. The limited cinema release was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cast
- Michael Diamond as himself
- Adam Horovitz as himself
- Adam Yauch as himself (archival content)
- Bill Hader as Crazy Shit Voice
- Michael K. Williams as Bob Dylan[3]
- Ben Stiller, David Cross and Steve Buscemi as Audience Members
Release
Beastie Boys Story was scheduled to have its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 16, 2020, but the festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4][5] The film was also scheduled to be released in a limited cinema release on April 3, 2020, in selected IMAX cinemas, but it was pulled from the schedule due to cinema closures that started in mid March because of the pandemic restrictions.[6] Digital streaming was made available on Apple TV+ on April 24, 2020.[7]
Reception
Critical reception
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 94% based on 84 reviews. The website's critical consensus, which is a reference to the 1986 Beastie Boys song "Paul Revere," reads, "Here's a Beastie Boys Story they had to tell, about three bad brothers you know so well. It started way back in history -- and for new or old fans, it's a must-see."[8] It has a score of 75 out of 100 on Metacritic, a site that aggregates a normalized rating, indicating "generally positive reviews".
Erik Adams of The A.V. Club gave the film a C+ and criticized it for poor pacing and lacking fun. His review concludes: "There's not a lot of new insights or Criterion Collection-worthy film-making on offer, but for fans, the documentary will be a reminder of why they got into Ad-Rock, MCA, and Mike D in the first place. It's all there in the outtakes: The Beastie Boys story is simply too big, too strange, too unwieldy for Beastie Boys Story to contain it."[9]
Accolades
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hollywood Critics Association | January 9, 2020 | Best Documentary Film | Beastie Boys Story | Won | [10] |
| Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | September 14, 2020–September 17, 2020 | Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special | Jason Baum, Amanda Adelson, Spike Jonze, Mike Diamond, Adam Horovitz, Dechen Wangdu-Yauch and John Silva | Nominated | [11] |
| Outstanding Picture Editing for Nonfiction Programming | Jeff Buchanan and Zoe Schack | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Sound Editing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program (Single or Multi-Camera) | Martyn Zub, Paul Aulicino and Pernell Salinas | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program (Single or Multi-Camera) | William Tzouris, Jacob Feinberg and Martyn Zub | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming | Mike Diamond, Adam Horovitz and Spike Jonze | Nominated | |||
| Online Film & Television Association | September 27, 2020 | Best Reality or Non-Fiction Program | Beastie Boys Story | Nominated | [12] |
| Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards | November 16, 2020 | Best Music Documentary | Beastie Boys Story | Won | [13] |
| Hawaii Film Critics Society | January 12, 2021 | Best Documentary | Beastie Boys Story | Won | [14] |
| International Documentary Awards | January 21, 2021 | Best Music Documentary | Beastie Boys Story | Nominated | [15] |
| Grammy Awards | March 14, 2021 | Best Music Film | Beastie Boys Story | Nominated | [16] |
| Golden Reel Awards | April 16, 2021 | Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Non-Theatrical Documentary | Martyn Zub and Paul Aulicino | Nominated | [17] |
| American Cinema Editors Eddie Awards | April 17, 2021 | Best Edited Documentary (Non-Theatrical) | Jeff Buchanan and Zoe Schack | Nominated | [18] |
| Cinema Audio Society Awards | April 17, 2021 | Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing – Television Non-Fiction, Variety or Music Series or Specials | Jacob Feinberg, William Tzouris and Martyn Zub | Nominated | [19] |