Good Lord, a Second Entry

     Well well well, I didn't expect to write another post this soon after the last one (or at all for that matter!). You know when you read your own work and you suddenly notice every little mistake and you just wish that you'd never written that piece of garbage? That's basically my feeling toward my post regarding "The Shining!" Here's hoping that this will be better (in my estimation anyway!).
     Today ladies and gentlemen, I have an entirely different kind of film for you: a documentary. On Friday evening I watched "Live Forever: The Rise and Fall of Britpop." Long story short: I thoroughly enjoyed it!
     The problem with a documentary is, it's not easy to criticize it, at least, not in the same way you would with most films. I should mention before I start my analysis that I absolutely adore Britpop. Oasis, Blur, Pulp, Suede, Catatonia, Ocean Colour Scene, The Verve, Supergrass etc I think the genre is absolutely brilliant (though I'm aware not everyone is in agreement over that... including some of my more outspoken friends!). Well, that's enough of a ramble, here goes:
     I suppose the first thing I'd criticize is that I didn't really see the direction they're going in with it. Here's an example of what I mean: The film (inevitably) spoke about the rivalry between Oasis and Blur and focused how they both released singles on the same day. They moved on a little to the next year after this section before then going back to 1995 to talk about Pulp and their album "Different Class." It's that kind of jumping back and forth that can make me a little uncomfortable in terms of documentaries. I watched "Super Size Me" last week which was easier to watch as it followed the timeline of events as they occurred (though I didn't find the content as interesting which is why I'm not writing a blog on it). Similarly, "Catfish," another documentary I watched, followed the chain of events chronologically. I suppose it just meant I was a little lost, though being familiar with the Britpop era myself, it wasn't as uncomfortable as it would have been had I have been some stranger who had never even heard "Wonderwall!"

There was too much focus on the rivalry
between these two.

     I suppose the other criticism to be made is the large focus on Oasis and Blur. Don't get me wrong, I love Oasis and Blur (Oasis more so for anyone who's interested where I stand on that age-old debate!), but I felt a little disappointed that some other bands weren't mentioned, such as The Verve and Ocean Colour Scene, who also had huge impacts on the 1990s "Cool Britannia" culture. Brett Anderson of Suede never makes an appearance and it wasn't until around the halfway mark that we saw Jarvis Cocker, and in comparison to the airtime given to the one on one interviews with Noel Gallagher, Liam Gallagher and Damon Albarn, Cocker barely appears in the film. Considering Pulp are another of my favourite bands, I was incredibly disappointed. [Sidenote: I was disappointed to hear that Jarvis didn't like the Pulp album "This Is Hardcore" as I personally think it's really good and hearing that the main wr

Poor old Jarvis didn't get much of a
look in!

iter doesn't like it makes me feel a little stupid!]. I suppose you can't really blame the producers for focusing mostly on Oasis and Blur, after all, they were the faces of Britpop. However, it would have been nice to hear more from the perspective of some other British bands of the time, the only other musicians who were part of the film were Jarvis Cocker, Louise Wener of Sleeper, and Robert Del Naja of Massive Attack.
     Other than those two criticisms, I thought the film was excellent! It explained how the movement came about well, as well as how it collapsed. The focus on the impact it had, not just musically, but culturally and politically, was fascinating to watch. To get the true views of the artists was especially intriguing, as it was revealed that not everyone was behind Tony Blair as first thought. The introduction of other significant cultural figures such as fashion designer Ozwald Boateng and artist Damien Hirst also put another perspective on the Britpop movement.
    I shall leave you with this thought. Traditionally, documentaries give factual information to help the viewer learn. What did I learn watching this? That there is yet another reason to despise Tony Blair: the fall of Britpop.
My Rating of "Liver Forever: The Rise and Fall of Britpop": 7.5/10