Customer Reviews

Bittersweet Motel

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Full disclosure: I am a Phish fan. I'm not quite a die-hard fan, I've probably seen them less than 10 times live, but I've listened to hours of bootlegs. One of the shows I saw was at Red Rocks in Colorado during a thunderstorm. Not a drop fell on us, buffered by the foothills, we had nothing but blue sky above us. But behind the stage, we looked down on a dark storm pouring on Denver, with bolts of lighting creating an intense light show. Phish opened with a Divided Sky, the crowd went nuts, and a catecholinergic soup bathed my nucleus accumbens like never before. Guess you had to be there. Which is the point, and the flaw in this movie.

I liked Bittersweet Motel. I liked the backstage look at the band interacting. It had the effect of demythologizing the members. Like anything that takes on a life of its own, the reality behind Phish is both fascinating and disappointing. The guys are basically likeable, guys you can imagine yourself drinking beers and laughing with. At times they seem to take themselves too seriously, come off as your basic high school band geek, or even come off as jerks. Just like your overgrown college buddies who stop by unannounced.

The best is watching Trey respond to negative reviews. I don't know quite why, but nothing amuses me more than artists reacting to critics. Beethoven's letters to critics are hilarious, Tchaikovsky is said to have committed all his negative reviews to memory, word for word, until his dying day. Trey makes a point of letting us know he doesn't care what people think. But he's clearly smoldering underneath, and it's all there for our entertainment.

What I didn't like was the selection of songs in the movie. Whether trying to explain the phenomenon to people who don't get it, or trying to entertain those already converted, I don't think this was the right mix of musical moments to get the job done. Too many of the slow, somber songs and not enough great jamming. There are some high-energy jams but not necessarily their most creative handiwork, in my opinion.

I do think the movie conveys the fun of being a fan. Loved the footage of the mass nude scene. I loved hearing the stoners pontificating, reconciling the rich girls versus the more authentic hippie girl in her VW bus: "the girls rolling up in their Cherokees, their pits are shaved obviously..." but "it's how you're brought up, it's not their option...they're both on the same level, everyone here is chill."

Thumbs up overall, it'll entertain and make you wish you were back at a show.

If Bittersweet Motel were my first exposure to the band Phish, I am almost sure that I would hate them. Film-maker Todd Phillips certainly does. Given almost unlimited access to the band for a year, he seemed determined to portray them in a thoroughly unappealing light. He achieves this effect through a number of number of nails-on-the-chalkboard strategies, including posing inane interview questions ('Do you feel like a rock star?' and 'Are you rich'? are two of the dumbest), staging tastelessly manipulative ploys (like having band members read negative press reviews out loud and then respond to them on the spot), and filming the band while they are drunk after a show. Combine this with the generally mediocre live footage, eccentric song choices, and some tacky voyeuristic shots of bra-less fans, and you end up with a fairly disagreeable picture of the band from a documentarian who seems to equate such approaches with authenticity. On the other hand, it has to be said that the band give Phillips more than enough unappealing material to work with. Some of this, I am sure, was a product of the filming itself. It's clear that Phish disliked Phillips as much as he disliked them, and they sometimes work hard to be crass or obtuse, just for the pleasure of giving him a hard time. Other times, unfortunately, it seems to come to them fairly effortlessly. I was really disappointed by the glee they seemed to take in deliberately spoiling the pictures fans asked to have taken with them (their road manager would take the pictures and make sure everyone's heads were cut off) or the rather tacky fan-bashing song they cook up when drunk. This isn't Phish's finest moment. Of course, all of us can be asses at times, but most of us don't have a film crew waiting to capture those moments, and only those moments, with which to define us. Phish did, and it makes for a really mediocre movie. I've been a fan since 1994, and I'm not sorry I own this movie, but I doubt I'll watch it often. The unitiated might want to see their 'IT' DVD instead, or just download some of their hundreds of amazing live shows.

This is a fantastic DVD that gives you a taste of the wonderful world of Phish. I don't understand the statements of some reviewers saying that Todd Phillips hates Phish. He did a freakin' movie about them for cryin' out loud. And a pretty damn good one. Trey dominates much of the footage because (guess what Phish fans)...He dominates the band. I've seen and read countless interviews, and generally he's the one who has the most to say. It's not his out-of-control ego, he just happens to be more verbose than the other 3 guys. And he is also the primary songwriter of the band and the obviuos "ringmaster" of the group in their live performances. I miss Phish just as much as the next guy, but enough with all this Trey-hating. He is a BIG part of what made Phish so special (and may again.)

I thought this film was great. It captured the scene, the band, the music the personality. Plus it was majorly cool to see the Great Wendt and remember what it was like to be there (that was actually my first Phish concert and my life was never the same afterwards.)

If you don't know Phish and are curious, check out this film.

If you are so hardcore that you argue about which was the best version of My Sweet One, then you'll probably complain about this film.

This is an excellent DVD although I must say I was slightly disappointed because it was so short. There are a lot of highlights though like when Trey goes gun shopping in Barcelona. That was hilarious! There is a lot of conert footage that is cool too. Highlights include hearing: "Roses Are Free", "Waste", "Wilson" and all the additional stuff on the DVD ("Punch You In The Eye" ect.) are amazing. This video in my opinion focuses a bit too much on Trey Anastasio and I wish there was more of the other 3 members. I can tell that Fishman is a funny guy and would have liked to have seen more of him. Todd Phillips, who directed "Road Trip" is someone who knows what he's doing so maybe everyone else was burned out and didn't want to be in the spotlight. Heck, Trey pretty much banged out "Farmhouse" by himself so its probably good that Phish is taking a break from touring this year. Like other reviewers, this movie brought back memories from seeing the band live and hopefully Phish hasn't taken the stage for the last time.

I saw this movie in the theatres and am glad to say that the Dolby 5.1 mix and the video transfer really do it justice.

For any phan, buying this DVD is a no brainer. The film itself is excellent, and the extra scenes (including four complete songs from Rochester '97) are great.

My only gripe is that the extra tracks are only in plain 'ol 2.0 stereo, no surround sound. So, while you get a great version of "Punch You in the Eye" and Page singing "Lawn Boy," the sound is a disappointment after watching the film.

A must-have.

What can I say, I love Phish, so it's gonna be pretty tough for me not to like this flick. Even if they were Urinating in my ears I'd prolly still enjoy this movie. I just wish it was a little longer, with a bit more focus on Mike, Page and Fish. I had a friend over when it came in the mail so we popped it in. He was an instant convert, he left that night with my Phish Book, and a few of my Phish CD's. I was a bit disappointed that the image wasn't anamorphic, but I still would have bought this had I known.

I will begin by saying that if you are reading this, you probably are a phan. Phish music is unmistakable, undeniably fantastic; their ability to execute both technically astounding and fun music is well reknowned enough to continue with little mention of it.

The disc is full of music, all good. One of the best scenes features the band developing the song "Birds Of A Feather" into what ended up on the recording "The Story of the Ghost". There isn't alot of focus on the process, though, since it's mostly live performances in Europe and the East coast of the U.S. My interest is in the personalities, and there are some tantalizing scenes featuring backstage antics.

One of the most fascinating things about the band is that they almost transform when they go on stage. Their off-stage demeanor is somehow completely different and during downtime Trey doesn't resemble the man on stage with the guitar- at all. When being interviewed, The group's frontman is depicted as a defensive 17 year old explaining why he's so minunderstood. Between musical feats of magic and rehersals, He's shown setting up pranks (which seem as improvised as anything the band does) and executing them with childlike glee. A scene in Spain in which Trey buys a bullwhip and proceeds to crack it after a few steps out the door is supremely telling. ...Or is it?

Honestly, there is no way to tell anything concrete from the band as the interview/candid segments are few and far between, and approximately half of all screen time is given to Mr. Anastasio. I think the director lack of familiarity with the band ultimately creates the feel of The Stillwater T-shirt from Almost Famous; one guy is in focus and the rest are blurry and faded. The disc is surely lacking footage of the man Page McConnell calls "the funniest guy in the band"- Mike Gordon.

As an addendum, I must say that the deleted scenes are some of the best- the two that focus more on Gordon are both interesting and hilarious. God knows why they were deleted.

The overall quality of this movie is excellent. I was there in person for almost all of the US concert footage and the movie does a good job of capturing what you would see at a live show with one big exception, the film in extremly "Trey-Centric." The majority of the concert footage and Q+A is focus on Trey. The film should mirror the orginal idea of the band which was to have equal airplay for all four members. Perhaps the movie should be entitled "Trey." Besides the fact that it is Trey-centric, I think the film is excellent, the sound is good, the behind the scenes looks give a little sense of how the Phish machine is run and you get a good sense of the personalities of the members. I really liked how the film didn't focus on the Phans. The media tends to cocentrate of the wacky Phan-base instead of music, I guess Phish allowed the documentary with the notion that it would center around the music. Overall, the film is great but there is one minor detail that should be mentioned, the DVD menu system for this DVD is extremly poor. The interface is buggy and the animations are terrible.

I love Phish and I was excited to see a movie capturing the behind the scenes mayhem and what not. I was not pleased to find out that it mainly consists of Trey's thoughts on the band, Trey's playing, and pretty much all things Trey. It really looks like the other band members were not really into the whole documentary thing and sort of retreated to the background thus forcing the director to focus on the frontman, Trey. There is some great concert footage, and it is understandable why there are only clips, the movie would just be way too long. The full length songs are a definite bonus. I do have one major problem, the sound on the live concert portions of the movie seems really muddy, there is some weird compression going on, I can't tell if it is my system or the DVD, i suspect the latter. Another problem, the 'phans' they chose to film REALLY brings this movie down. It doesn't speak to highly of us REAL fans or the band for that matter. I mean what the hell do I care about some drunk and high kids talking about random stuff, or an annoying hippie chick sucking on a nitrous balloon on the verge of passing out. Oh, but my favorite part was the five minutes devoted to a bunch of ugly naked people. Now I'm not that shallow, but there is just some things that I don't need to see....I think some of you will understand. Overall is is a good DVD, you might find yourself getting a little annoyed by Trey, but other than that it is enjoyable. Get it if you are a true fan of these guys, if you are on the fence borrow your friends copy. Not a must have, but solid.

I think this documentary really captures the free wheeling nature of a phish show. The music was cut into the film great and the editing was fantastic. I couldn't help noticing that Trey is extremely full of himself in the film. It is no wonder the band is broken up with an ego like that around. I only hope that they can reconcile and get back to playing tunes together. After some of the dialouge belched forth from Trey I wouldn't have blamed Fishman from punching Trey in the eye. I would have liked to have heard more from Mike, he seems to be the most interesting and unassuming guy in the band. Page also came off as being a very professional and serious musician...