fight for your right

April 22, 2011 7:20 AM

Beastie Boys 25 years later are still fighting for their right. Starring: Jack Black, Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Seth Rogen, Elijah Wood, Danny McBride, Orlando Bloom, Kirsten Dunst, David Cross, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, Jason Schwartzman, Adam Scott, Rainn Wilson, Steve Buscemi, Chloë Sevigny, Alicia Silverstone, Martin Starr, Ted Danson and Rashida Jones. Here's a link to the original. This may be NSFW.
posted by TheBones (64 comments total)

FYI, the movie is 22 minutes long. Sorry, should have framed this a little better. This was released a couple of nights ago uncensored on comedy central.

"The cameo-riddled storyline picks up right where the original video ended twenty-five years ago, except three contemporary actors pay homage to the trio instead. Ad Rock, MCA, and Mike D are played by Elijah Wood, Danny McBride, and Seth Rogen respectively."
posted by TheBones at 7:33 AM on April 22, 2011

When they told me this was coming,
I thought I could not wait.
Waited; was happy.
posted by J0 at 7:40 AM on April 22, 2011

I was wondering why it was taking so bloody long to load... it's a 171MB FLV file!

Still downloading. Content evaluation TBD
posted by mykescipark at 7:40 AM on April 22, 2011

Yeah, I couldn't get the video to actually load in my browser, but I'm pulling it down now. The short (5-minute) version is all over the web. This is the first place I've seen the 22-minute version. I look forward to watching it.
posted by uncleozzy at 7:42 AM on April 22, 2011

I'm going to invite all my friends over to watch this and have soda & pie!
posted by dr_dank at 7:42 AM on April 22, 2011 [4 favorites]

Here's the video for "Make Some Noise" which basically consists of five early minutes of the movie. Elijah Wood does a good Ad Rock(?).
posted by cyphill at 7:42 AM on April 22, 2011

In my teenage years there were three bands that ended up being huge influences on my musical taste, but I initially hated them because the reason I knew about them was their first "hit". Those bands were Beastie Boys (Paul's Boutique to this day I think of as the best hip-hop album of all time), R.E.M. and Devo (yes, Devo). Great bands, the lot of them, but if I never heard Fight For Your Right, The One I Love, and Whip It again, that would be just fine with me.

Apparently a lot of celebrities are down with Fight For Your Right though, so I must be full of crap. They are, after all, celebrities.

I did try to watch the video but it stopped at like the 1 minute mark and wouldn't go any further. 171MB FLV file? Internet fail.
posted by mcstayinskool at 7:42 AM on April 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

I heard about this on NPR yesterday and promptly forgot about it the minute I left my car. Thanks for reminding me how much I wanted to see this.
posted by SNWidget at 7:45 AM on April 22, 2011

Given that this is unwatchable for so many people, could we either find a stable mirror or remove and repost when one becomes available?
posted by tommasz at 7:45 AM on April 22, 2011

I love the b-boys. Brass monkey is still that funky money
posted by silentsender at 7:50 AM on April 22, 2011

Stanley Tucci! Susan Sarandon! Mary Steenburgen!
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:51 AM on April 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

I pulled the FLV down directly just fine a few minutes ago, although not to my local machine, so I haven't actually watched it yet.
posted by uncleozzy at 7:52 AM on April 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

mcstayinskool, given your expressed feelings you should really watch the film. In interviews, they say its about them coming to terms with their past selfs and how Fight For Your Right was a joke that got out of hand. I'm not sure how much of that is their older selves (the real ones, not the portrayals from the new film) filtering the past through their adult wisdom, but given my Beastie Boys love, I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 7:52 AM on April 22, 2011

Yeah I'd like this post to stay so I can brag about how I saw this last night on the big screen, at an invite-only premiere at the IFC Center with Ad-Rock and MCA and some of the cast, but with no working link it's gotta go.
posted by Now I'm Prune Tracy! at 7:59 AM on April 22, 2011

The cameo list is proof that my ideal world exists where the people from the TV shows I watch on Thursday nights and the movies I liked ten years ago all hang around together waiting for the bands I liked growing up to do neat vanity projects.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 8:00 AM on April 22, 2011 [7 favorites]

I kept waiting for them to get stabbed and left for dead in an alley.
posted by Burhanistan at 8:00 AM on April 22, 2011

Well, Ad-Rock gets stabbed by Chloë Sevigny in the limo, but it doesn't seem to affect him much.
posted by Now I'm Prune Tracy! at 8:04 AM on April 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

So he did!
posted by Burhanistan at 8:05 AM on April 22, 2011

Does anyone know another link? It keeps telling me that the video has been removed.
posted by bradth27 at 8:08 AM on April 22, 2011

You can download the flash video here, thanks uncleozzy, sorry should have posted this in the original.

Starts download as soon as you click the link.
posted by TheBones at 8:11 AM on April 22, 2011

The cameo list is proof that my ideal world exists where the people from the TV shows I watch on Thursday nights and the movies I liked ten years ago all hang around together waiting for the bands I liked growing up to do neat vanity projects.

The fact that we live in such a world drives me to tears. Good tears.
posted by thsmchnekllsfascists at 8:16 AM on April 22, 2011 [3 favorites]

You can see the film here as well, and it works great for me.
posted by norm at 8:21 AM on April 22, 2011

I wanted to like this badly, but it was pretty diffuse and unfunny to me. It seemed like a lot of fun for them. I did laugh out loud when Danny McBride was talking about tripping balls, though, especially when he did that thing with his teeth. That was hilarious, and the best part of the video.
posted by OmieWise at 8:24 AM on April 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

That was hilarious, and the best part of the video.

Really? Because it's McBride's involvement that's keeping me from having any interest in watching this. I just don't understand his popularity.
posted by item at 8:34 AM on April 22, 2011 [2 favorites]

So much broken glass.
posted by uncleozzy at 8:42 AM on April 22, 2011

Ok, I relented and watched norm's link, which is unfortunately the short 5 minute version. Pretty entertaining.
posted by item at 8:42 AM on April 22, 2011

I heard about this on NPR yesterday and promptly forgot about it the minute I left my car.

Ah, the anti-driveway moment.
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 8:55 AM on April 22, 2011 [3 favorites]

Ok, I relented and watched norm's link, which is unfortunately the short 5 minute version. Pretty entertaining.

Third video down on that page. I've now watched the whole thing, and the 5 minute version is waaaaaaay better. The long one is just bloated and pointless, and I'm saying that as a huge Beasties fan. Editing is a good thing.
posted by norm at 8:58 AM on April 22, 2011 [2 favorites]

I really really like that "Lee Majors Come Again" track. I have to admit I'm kinda psyched for the new record.
posted by mintcake! at 8:59 AM on April 22, 2011

Really? Because it's McBride's involvement that's keeping me from having any interest in watching this. I just don't understand his popularity.

Yeah, I don't know from McBride, and I didn't think he was all that good in the rest of the video. I just know that LSD moment, and he did it pretty perfectly. As I said, the video wasn't really all that enjoyable, so he had a low bar to meet.
posted by OmieWise at 9:08 AM on April 22, 2011

McBride is just currently filling the vacancy in the "up-and-coming gross pudgy white crossover comedian" slot. Someone else will come along and take his place soon enough. He is a bit of a drag, though.
posted by Burhanistan at 9:10 AM on April 22, 2011

I actually really like mcbride, he's not nearly as bad as jack black for that spot burhanistan refers to. He plays the same character over and over again, but when he does it right, it's really good (in small doses).
posted by TheBones at 9:14 AM on April 22, 2011 [2 favorites]

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves!

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves!

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves!

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves!

ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES!

ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES!

ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES!

ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES!
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 9:22 AM on April 22, 2011 [14 favorites]

I thought the future Beastie Boys were going to warn themselves not to be giant douchebags. Was disappointed.
posted by yifes at 9:23 AM on April 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

It took the Beastie Boys to get all this talent in a movie and not have it, as it inevitably ends up being with these particular comedians and comic actors, turn primarily into a tale of gay panic.
posted by Astro Zombie at 9:25 AM on April 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

I liked the pee-pee part because I am a small child.
posted by ColdChef at 9:32 AM on April 22, 2011 [6 favorites]

I enjoyed seeing Sevigny as a 80s metal girl (?) but mainly I was waiting for the NYPD to show up and protect and serve the good citizens by hauling the B-Boys to the slammer for a loooooong stay.
posted by Bwithh at 9:35 AM on April 22, 2011

for hard to load online flvs i just use DownloadHelper and pull them down that way. far more manageable.
posted by nadawi at 9:43 AM on April 22, 2011

WIsh I could watch it. I can't get any version to load.
posted by Liquidwolf at 9:46 AM on April 22, 2011

Those guys are such jerks! They got beer all over Will Arnett's suit, that thing looked really nice! It must have cost a couple thousand at least.
posted by tylermoody at 9:49 AM on April 22, 2011 [3 favorites]

I've only watched the short clip, and have only one thing to add: it was all shot on the Warner Brothers backlot in Burbank.
posted by Bookhouse at 9:50 AM on April 22, 2011

Could give a crap about the music, but I really wanted to see Chloë Sevigny and Alicia Silverstone, but it won't load for me either.
posted by puny human at 9:51 AM on April 22, 2011

The Sevigny bit was quite good but where was Alicia Silverstone in there? Rashida Jones had about as much of a role as she did in The Social Network and her face was way blurry and pixellated in my viewing anyway
posted by Bwithh at 9:53 AM on April 22, 2011

I enjoyed seeing Sevigny as a 80s metal girl (?) but mainly I was waiting for the NYPD to show up and protect and serve the good citizens by hauling the B-Boys to the slammer for a loooooong stay.

Well, keep trying to watch the long version, then. You'll NEVER GUESS who plays the boys in blue.
posted by norm at 9:59 AM on April 22, 2011

What's up with the golden shower?
posted by Burhanistan at 10:04 AM on April 22, 2011

Nathanial Hornblower cameo!
posted by mikeh at 10:25 AM on April 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

mcstayinskool: "Great bands, the lot of them, but if I never heard Fight For Your Right, The One I Love, and Whip It again, that would be just fine with me."

I remember reading in the liner notes of the Beastie Boys Anthology from 1999 that Fight For Your Right was recorded as a parody of a 40 rock song. It was on Licensed to Ill, their first album that marked their crossover from hardcore punk to rap.

I think AdRock says they were pretty surprised when the people they had always made fun of, budweiser drinking fratboys, started showing up at their shows.
posted by danny the boy at 10:38 AM on April 22, 2011

I've only watched the short clip, and have only one thing to add: it was all shot on the Warner Brothers backlot in Burbank.

Looks identical to the one in every exterior shot of Eyes Wide Shut ( every exterior NYC street scene in that film has a dead end at one side).
posted by Liquidwolf at 10:39 AM on April 22, 2011

I'm not sure this thing makes any sense now and I doubt anyone will get it in 10 years.
posted by Liquidwolf at 10:49 AM on April 22, 2011

WIsh I could watch it. I can't get any version to load.

uncleozzy's direct FLV link above is your best bet, but I agree that the 5-minute video is better.
posted by mrgrimm at 10:53 AM on April 22, 2011

Really? Because it's McBride's involvement that's keeping me from having any interest in watching this. I just don't understand his popularity.

I'd be willing to bet that a large part of his popularity has to do with his uncanny resemblance to Horatio Sanz, who is funny.
posted by Sys Rq at 11:27 AM on April 22, 2011

Around the time of the "who is the real" argument, I shut this off. Ugh.
posted by stinkycheese at 1:53 PM on April 22, 2011

It's been taken down. If anyone was able to snag it, can you upload it somewhere?
posted by defenestration at 2:17 PM on April 22, 2011

In case Danny McBride ever reads this thread; I want you to know that I think you are a genius.
posted by bonobothegreat at 3:30 PM on April 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

It wasn't his teeth. It was his face. He was trying to get his face to relax because sometimes you realize you're holding your face in a weird way but you can't figure out how to disengage the muscles that are doing so directly so you try to do it indirectly by like systematically engaging all your facial muscles from left to right and just hoping that the end result is a natural-looking reset.
posted by neuromodulator at 3:47 PM on April 22, 2011

McBride is Genius. Don't believe? Put "The Foot Fist Way" in your Netflix cue and enjoy.
posted by holdkris99 at 4:23 PM on April 22, 2011

now that the ending has been explained to me , all I can say is that I am glad that in real life they found useful, stable jobs that are about helping other people and have big pensions.
posted by Bwithh at 4:55 PM on April 22, 2011

danny the boy: "Fight For Your Right was recorded as a parody of a 40 rock song"

TOP 40 rock song, I mean. Gosh.

I always use it as an object lesson not to mock things through parody because you might end up being indistinguishable to most people c.f., hipsters and "ironic racism".
posted by danny the boy at 6:21 PM on April 22, 2011

It's on Hulu now.
posted by defenestration at 6:26 PM on April 22, 2011

I'm....not seeing McBride's resemblance to Horatio Sanz.
posted by DrGirlfriend at 6:58 PM on April 22, 2011

Also, I will never tire of seeing Will Arnett throw a manchild tantrum.
posted by DrGirlfriend at 6:59 PM on April 22, 2011

oh my. combining lsd and whippets? that just seems like a recipe for disaster.

or a recipe for having dancing pissing contest with your future self.

actually, this seems pretty accurate.
posted by mannequito at 8:02 PM on April 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

This was both better and worse than I thought it would be. Better, in the sense that I was expecting it to be more sort of intentional. This was clearly a 'let's get famous people we know and make a stupid movie' thing, and it worked on that level. I got some big laughs. But it was worse in the sense that, on occasion, I think the Beastie Boys have been transcendently terrific and I keep on holding out the hope that they will be again. This was not that, even though it was enjoyable.

Plus I love seeing Martin Starr pop up in here. That made the whole thing for me.
posted by dirtdirt at 9:46 AM on April 23, 2011

If you did't catch who was who: IMDb credits.

SPOILER




They really missed the opportunity when the real Beastie Boys to come in as the cops and actually make things good at the end. Instead, it just ended with peeing and police.




/SPOILER
posted by filthy light thief at 11:12 AM on April 23, 2011