iplautus-1 Hilarious is what this often is, and often enough to make it good. The Wikipedia article on it complains that Radiohead and the Verve aren't given much coverage, but really I don't think they had much to do with the aspects of Britpop that are dealt with in the film, indeed the aspects that make Britpop interesting to documentarians, and are therefore the reason this movie exists. Had they been interviewed, I can't imagine Thom Yorke or Richard Ashcroft having much to say about the subject beyond "We never really considered ourselves part of Britpop, and I don't think many other people did either," which would be pretty much right. What's good in this movie? Noel Gallagher sitting on a throne talking about being working class; Jarvis Cocker doing an imitation of a person on cocaine; Liam Gallagher responding to questions about his supposed androgyny ("What, so I'm a bird?") Hilarious.

Markmainwaring This documentary about Brit Pop of the 1990s could have been great. As I was a teenager in the 1990s it felt like the next big thing had happened. It felt like our Sex Pistols. But this is no Filth and the Fury.All the way threw it is made out like the whole thing only started because of the Stone Roses forgetting other important bands like the Happy Mondays.It also misses out great moments from the time such as Noel Gallagher saying that he hoped Damon Albarn died of AIDS and other such classics.There are some great moments along the way and some funny. Mostly all with the Gallaghers. The sad moment when Robbie Williams started making music that sounded like Oasis and Noels love of S Club Juniors.But you don't feel like you are transported back to the 90s like you were the 70s in the Filth and the Fury.Flawed but funny and occasionally interesting.PS Listen for Damon Albarn's accent as it goes from Cockney to middle class and back again.

elitist ...it's odd how this story about the best of 90s Britpop (although it claims to be about more than just music) starts at about the time I'd pretty well lost interest in pop. It wasn't a feeling of 'the music was better in my day' - I was in my early-to-mid 30s in the early to early-to-mid-1990s - just that I'd grown up. It was a strange feeling when one day I realized I'd heard a lot about Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit, but had no idea what it sounded like.But, having seen Live Forever, I now can't stop thinking about the song Live Forever (which I'd never heard before), Wonderwall, and Blur's Parklife (which I'd also never heard before). And some internet research has revealed that the song I'd heard just once, years ago, and never been able to get out of my mind, was Massive Attack's Unfinished Sympathy (sic).I did have some contact with the music - indeed, virtually the only pop album I bought during the period was the Trainspotting soundtrack, which features in this film. (Pulp, Blur and Sleeper are on it, and all their lead singers are interviewed here.) But my knowledge of Oasis was limited to Wonderwall (including the Mike Flowers easy listening version, which I appropriately first heard on supermarket muzak) and Don't Look Back in Anger. I could take them or leave them. And the Oasis/Blur Battle of the Bands? Never heard of it. See what I mean about Rip van Winkle? Noel Gallagher's (and others') comments that 'Britain was dead in the 80s', musically as well as politically, are of course nonsense. But I can't get too worked up over that: they're par for the course for any British pop act over the last 40 years that takes itself oh-so-seriously. 'Yeah, well, there was nothing happening, know-what-I-mean?' Nevertheless, the best of their music does still stand up.By the way, Noel Gallagher is not interviewed sitting in his Georgian mansion - the director's commentary on the DVD reveals he's actually at Knebworth Castle.(Personal postscript - during 1990 Trafalgar Square Poll Tax Riot that features at the start of the film, I was just a few blocks away at Leicester Square. I saw smoke in the distance, and people coming into the Tube station carrying anti-poll tax placards, but didn't put the two together till I got home and saw them on the news. Damn, missed A Defining Moment in the History of Modern Britain.)

davideo-2 STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All CostsAs a documentary and study of how the British music scene evolved throughout the decade I was growing up in,the 90s,Live Forever is a nigh-on unmissable filmic experience,detailing all the music and events that shaped this unforgettable period,and ,for me at least,delivered an effective and affectionate piece of nostelgia.From the doped out Stone Roses gig at the start of the decade,to Oasis's What's the Story? (Morning Glory) becoming the fastest selling album of all time,the subsequent Blur vs. Oasis rivalry that ended up getting a mention on the News at Ten,Noel (but not Liam) Gallagher's invite to No.10 and,right toward the very end of the decade,the non-stop taking over of manufactured pop bands such as S Club 7,and their spin offs,er,S Club Juniors.And of course,other country/world shaping events such as the end of Thatcher's reign,Kurdt Cobain's suicide,Tony Blair being elected the new Prime Minister and the death of Princess Diana.All these important events are played out absorbingly to the distinctive,memorable soundtrack of the times.We get to hear from the singers who shaped the period,and their thoughts and feelings on what they thought of it and how it changed their lives.Blur are described as a band that epitomised the culture of lads who'd left school with no qualifications,were doomed to a future drawing the dole and who would only be likely to hang around in parks drinking cider all day,with melodies like Park Life,Girls and Boys and Country House.Their frontman Damon Alburn ends up coming across in real life as ultimately shy and undisclosing,in contrast to his band's rivals Oasis,whose frontmen the Gallagher brothers are infamously opinionated ond out-spoken.Noel has a big mouth on him,that's for sure,but he's without question the more diplomatic wing of the brothers Gallagher.Liam is a bit more articulate than usual here,but still comes across in his usual yobbish manner.Still,poetic justice is served up when he's made to look daft by not knowing the meaning to the term 'androgynous',and when he ultimately shoots himself in the foot in the end by singing the praises of,of all people,S Club Juniors.And Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker appears to have become retiring and disillusioned in comparison to his hey-day of extroverted stage antics (not least the Michael Jackson incident).He provides some interesting commentary on how his music was inspired and how music shaped events during this period.The over-riding feeling throughout it all,however,is that the Brits were tired and felt patronised by all the overseas American music that was dominating the charts and how we wanted to show we could produce damn fine music of our own,thank you very much.And indeed we did.For anyone who has affectionate memories of or who grew up in this time,this is absolutely must see stuff.But even if you don't fall into either of these categories,it's still a well-researched,absorbing,insightful,thorough and funny experience.And thankfully (though undeniably weirdly) there's not a mention of the Spice Girls in it.****