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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good but maybe a bit too surface for true fans, May 16, 2004
I watched a new to DVD documentary called "Live Forever" this weekend and it's entertaining as hell. Most of the interviews feature the big names of the era: Damon, Noel, Liam, Jarvis and other assorted talking heads and pundits. In addition to the 90 min main film, there is a supplement with all the interview bits they didn't edit in, and that section has some priceless moments, especially from Liam. Two examples:
Interviewer: You've often been described as androgynous..
Liam: What's that mean?
I: You have a feminine quality...
Liam: What's that mean?
I: You have a look that's neither masculine or feminine exactly...
Liam: You mean I look like a bird?
and he goes on to explain that he does care about how his hair looks cuz that's important. I: "Live Forever" has been mentioned as a song that cystalizes the mid 90s. What's that song about?
Liam: It's about living forever, innit? Lots of good music and vintage footage, but overall a somewhat surface look despite getting all the main participants to agree to on camera interviews. Worth at least renting. I would also recommend John Harris' more insightful book about BritPop in the 90s called "The Last Party."
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Cool, sleek, engrossing and crammed with great music, August 31, 2004
"Live Forever" takes a sleek, well-documented look at "Cool Britannia," the British pop movement of the 1990s that briefly filled the void left by the demise of Nirvana and provided a soundtrack for the new era of Tony Blair and the Labour Party.
Though the DVD box promises looks at great bands such as Radiohead, The Verve, Elastica, Massive Attack and Portishead, those groups are just name-checked. The movie is actually dominated by Oasis, Pulp and Blur, three of the era's most popular bands who flew high for a while, got bogged down by feuding and excess and eventually tanked out. My only quibble is that the movie pokes a stick into the old Blur/Oasis rivalry; the feud was a marketing gimmick but the movie lingers on it too long and structures its coverage so that Damon Albairn (who famously came out on the bottom) gets kicked while he's down.
Seemingly taking its cue from the Experience Music Project's excellent musical history "Rock and Roll," "Live Forever" offers well-negotiated & stylishly arranged interviews (check Noel Gallagher being questioned first in the study of a posh estate, then later in what appears to be a ship's cargo hold), period clips and also sends a cool, composed camera into the areas from which the music came -- the streets of Manchester, the highways of Bristol and carefully tended suburbs.
Though the movie scatters details in a somewhat disorienting way that almost demands a repeat viewing, the interviews and the music are excellent.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
For what it's worth, March 16, 2005
Nicely packaged documentary not only about Brit pop, but 90's Britian period. The main focus is on Oasis & Blur, with some Jarivs/Pulp (but not nearly enough). Live Forever runs a little over an hour and also touches on politics, fashion, and art of the time. I had nearly forgotten about that horribly cheesey Vanity Fair cover with Liam and Patsy, but there it was--along with a flood of memories of the time.
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