Beastie Boys Story

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Beastie Boys Story
Beastie Boys Story poster.jpg
Directed by Spike Jonze
Written by
Based onBeastie Boys Book
by Michael Diamond and Adam Horovitz
Produced by
  • Spike Jonze
  • Jason Baum
  • Amanda Adelson
Starring
  • Michael Diamond
  • Adam Horovitz
  • Adam Yauch
Cinematography Autumn Durald
Edited by
  • Jeff Buchanan
  • Zoe Schack
Production
companies
Distributed by Apple TV+
Release date
  • April 24, 2020 (2020-04-24)(United States)
Running time
120 minutes [1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Beastie Boys Story is a 2020 American live 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 directing several music videos including "Sabotage" in 1994. [2]

Contents

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

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

AwardDate of ceremonyCategoryRecipient(s)ResultRef.
Hollywood Critics Association January 9, 2020Best Documentary FilmBeastie Boys StoryWon [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 SilvaNominated [11]
Outstanding Picture Editing for Nonfiction Programming Jeff Buchanan and Zoe SchackNominated
Outstanding Sound Editing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program (Single or Multi-Camera) Martyn Zub, Paul Aulicino and Pernell SalinasNominated
Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program (Single or Multi-Camera) William Tzouris, Jacob Feinberg and Martyn ZubNominated
Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming Mike Diamond, Adam Horovitz and Spike JonzeNominated
Online Film & Television AssociationSeptember 27, 2020Best Reality or Non-Fiction ProgramBeastie Boys StoryNominated [12]
Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards November 16, 2020 Best Music DocumentaryBeastie Boys StoryWon [13]
Hawaii Film Critics SocietyJanuary 12, 2021Best DocumentaryBeastie Boys StoryWon [14]
International Documentary AwardsJanuary 21, 2021Best Music DocumentaryBeastie Boys StoryNominated [15]
Grammy Awards March 14, 2021 Best Music Film Beastie Boys StoryNominated [16]
Golden Reel Awards April 16, 2021Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Non-Theatrical DocumentaryMartyn Zub and Paul AulicinoNominated [17]
American Cinema Editors Eddie Awards April 17, 2021 Best Edited Documentary (Non-Theatrical)Jeff Buchanan and Zoe SchackNominated [18]
Cinema Audio Society Awards April 17, 2021 Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing – Television Non-Fiction, Variety or Music Series or SpecialsJacob Feinberg, William Tzouris and Martyn ZubNominated [19]

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