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The Movie:
I've been introduced to not one, but two cults in one day. Earlier, "Highlander: Endgame" proved to be a terrible introduction to that series and now, the documentary "Bittersweet Motel", which provides a much more enjoyable introduction to the hugely popular band Phish. "Road Trip" director Todd Phillips reportedly came from a similar standpoint before directing this feature - he was familar with the band, but hadn't really heard their music.
I hadn't either. I've never heard a Phish song before, but actually found myself liking quite a bit of their music as shown during the concert portions of this documentary. Sort of folk-rock-ish, their tunes are loose and don't have a great deal of structure, but still remain engaging and fun due to the talented musicians and their work.
(Very) thankfully, Phillips has chosen not to go what seems to be the usual route lately for the filming of this rock-doc. Where more and more filmed concert presentations and music documentaries seem to see how fast they can cut, Phillips generally keeps the cameras moving, but not hyper. Editing is also similarly relaxed. I think the one thing that may suprise viewers is that the documentary mainly focuses on the band. Not unusual in any sort of musical documentary, but with the kind of cult following that literally travels with Phish as they go on the road, you would think that the camera would turn their way more often. It's only towards the festival at the end where we begin to hear a bit more from the fans, including one girl who won't stop talking to Trey between sets as he's trying to ride around on a cart.
Still, it's not as if the band members don't provide enough. Although the remainder of the band sometimes seems suprisingly weary about the presence of cameras at times, lead singer Trey Anastasio does quite a bit of talking, especially in one amusing moment when Phillips has him respond to a particularly negative review of their music. "Bittersweet Motel" as a whole journeys with the band for a year, across the US and Europe, ending in a Phish festival where 70,000 fans converge on a small Maine town.
"Bittersweet Motel" is a fun little ride and does a fine job presenting the often amusing antics on and off-stage of the band.
The DVD
VIDEO: Although Image Entertainment has a strong record for giving their titles anamorphic presentations, there are some occasions where they do not. Still, I've found that in these cases, they still attempt to do their best with the material they have. "Bittersweet Motel" is unfortunately not anamorphic, but in terms of non-anamorphic presentations, this stands as one of the better ones, with very few flaws.
Sharpness and detail are quite good for the most part. The concert scenes are well-defined and crisp, looking quite good. Some other scenes, such as portions of the interview footage, have a bit of a softer look, but certainly nothing that became hazy or murky.
In terms of flaws, some slight edge enhancement appears on a couple of occasions, although I was pleased to see no pixelation and only a couple of minor marks on the print used. There's a slightly grainy look to much of the movie as well, although I never found this to become distracting. Colors seem natural and occasionally vibrant during the concert scenes with the stage lighting. An enjoyable presentation from Image.
SOUND: "Bittersweet Motel" is presented with a choice of Dolby Digital 5.1 audio or DTS 5.1 audio. Although the interview segements generally collapse the sound into being dialogue-driven, the concert segements and scenes of the documentary when music is being played sound excellent.
Surrounds are nicely used to re-inforce the music or for crowd noise during the concert segements. Audio quality in general is very pleasing, with the music sounding warm and crisp, with enjoyable and appropriate bass. Dialogue during the interviews is also nicely recorded for a smaller documentary like this, as there's no trouble understanding what the band members are saying. Although not among the most impressive concert audio efforts I've heard, I was very pleased and thought it was a very fine presentation of the material. Although I do enjoy having the choice between DTS and Dolby Digital, I didn't find a noticable difference between the two formats in this case.
MENUS: Very nicely done menus; there's background animation and music as well as clips from the scenes for both the deleted scenes and the actual scene selection menu for the movie.
EXTRAS:
Deleted Scenes: Eight deleted scenes are included, including full-length versions of "Punch You In The Eye", "Big Black Furry Creature From Mars", "Maze" and "Lawn Boy". One of these scenes is a very funny interview between the lead singer and the bassist. I enjoyed these scenes and could have watched them as part of the movie. About 35 minutes worth of footage.
Interview: This is the text of an interview with director Todd Phillips about Phish and the movie in general. Where I'm usually not too interested in text supplements such as this one, this particular one contains 28 screens and actually, is quite informative and interesting to read.
Trailer: The film's trailer (Dolby 2.0).
Final Thoughts:
Positive: "Bittersweet Motel" is a fun movie that's very well done by director Todd Phillips. It's very refreshing to see a music documentary like this one without rapid editing and camera movement that's become evident in too many recent music features. The sound quality is also very enjoyable, with the concert sequences sounding particularly strong. Fans and non-fans alike will probably find the documentary enjoyable, although fans of the band will very likely find a lot to enjoy in this look behind-the-scenes at the band. Recommended .
Negative: Although the picture quality is quite watchable and enjoyable, the discs one unfortunate element is that the feature is not presented anamorphic.
Film Grade
The Film ***
DVD Grades
Video 84/B = (336/400 possible points)
Audio: 90/A- = (360/400 possible points)
Extras: 82/B = (246/300 possible points)
Menus: 86/B = (172/200 possible points)
Value: 83/B = (249/300 possible points)
TOTAL POINTS:1359/1600
DVD GRADE:B/85%
FILM GRADE: ***
DVD GRADE: B
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