The Chills: The Triumph and Tragedy of Martin Phillipps

2019

Documentary / Music

IMDb Rating 7.3/10 10 124 124

new zealand biography

Director

Top cast

Iggy Pop Photo
Iggy Pop as Self - On BBC Radio 6
Bob Biggs Photo
Bob Biggs as Self - Founder, Slash Records
Neil Finn Photo
Neil Finn as Self - Songwriter - Split Enz, Crowded House and Fleetwood Mac
Martin Phillipps Photo
Martin Phillipps as Self - Chill #1
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
878.63 MB
1280*536
English 2.0
NR
23.976 fps
1 hr 35 min
Seeds 1
1.59 GB
1920*804
English 2.0
NR
23.976 fps
1 hr 35 min
Seeds 14

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by pscamp01 6 / 10

A documentary about a rare second act in rock and roll.

This documentary is about a beloved cult band from New Zealand. While The Chills are called a band, they are pretty much just Martin Phillipps, who is the lead singer/songwriter and the sole constant member in something like 23 iterations of the band. The Chills were on the cusp of international success during the 1980s, but when they failed to break through, Phillipps descended into alcoholism and drug addiction. So far, pretty much a standard rock and roll story. But the movie follows Phillips as he cleans himself up and releases a couple albums that are a return to form. It's an uplifting story with some great archival footage of the band in its prime. However, the movie seems a little long as there is way too much footage of Phillips puttering around his house and talking to the camera. Still, fans will eat it up, while others probably will not enjoy it nearly as much.
Reviewed by Rob-O-Cop 5 / 10

More triumph than tragedy

I guess in the modern dark world of content you've got to have the negative so you can pull out your positive. Unfortunately this documentary falls for the trap of dwelling too much on the misfortunes however much they may appeal to modern audiences tastes for the darkness of the world, and not nearly enough time exploring the wonderful things Martin Phillipps achieved in his life time.We get the boring alcoholism and drugs thing which we've seen in a million shows on musicians and actors. We hardly need to see it again, and importantly they waste time on it when we could be looking into Phillipps as a charming and interesting thinker. How, coming from the tyranny of distance he managed to achieve so much and kept at it again and again when around him fellow travelers fell off?Martin and the Chills is a story of success and overcoming difficulty to keep doing the thing he seemed destined to, and doing it well in a local climate that predominately thinks of success in arts as irrelevant, even to the level of government. If it's not sport or farming it doesn't matter. That's the location where The Chills had to hone their craft in.For me Phillipps life won't be defined by this film or all the cliche multi band member fluff. It will be defined by the body of work he left and by the unique person he was and the way he carried himself. I hope we get to see something that shows us that.
Reviewed by pscamp01 6 / 10

This documentary is about a beloved cult band from New Zealand. While The Chills are called a band, they are pretty much just Martin Phillipps, who is the lead singer/songwriter and the sole constant member in something like 23 iterations of the band. The Chills were on the cusp of international success during the 1980s, but when they failed to break through, Phillipps descended into alcoholism and drug addiction. So far, pretty much a standard rock and roll story. But the movie follows Phillips as he cleans himself up and releases a couple albums that are a return to form. It's an uplifting story with some great archival footage of the band in its prime. However, the movie seems a little long as there is way too much footage of Phillips puttering around his house and talking to the camera. Still, fans will eat it up, while others probably will not enjoy it nearly as much.
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