Live Forever [2003] [DVD]

To their credit, they managed to secure some very high profile interviews (Liam, Noel, Damon and Jarvis), but all this film turns out to be is a glorified version of an "I Love the 1990s" documentary.

Thankfully, it is not the production team who come off as the biggest fools in this film. That accolade goes to Damon Albarn for acting so arrogant as to not want to discuss the Blur/Oasis rivalry - what did you think they would ask you about Damon?? Your new Gorillaz album?

Hopefully someone will come along a few years down the line and produce a more informed account of the wonderful Britpop years. But for now your best bet is to read "The Last Party" by John Harris, whilst having this film on as background music!

Thankfully, this documentary doesn't pull many punches. It is worth the money alone for the clever use of links, and for pointing out just how stupid we all were not to see the politicians manipulating the music scene. Hindsight is indeed 20/20.

It all seems so glaringly obvious. As does the fact that Be Here Now was an album recorded by a band high on coke who couldn't be arsed. Good to see Noel actually admit that it was a bad album - but we all bought it. We all got caught up in the hype.

Did Britpop really die with Be Here Now? Or was it dead long before, when the politicians and the marketing gurus tried to sell it to us as the ultimate lifestyle?

You draw your own conclusions about how real the period was - as was I suspect the ai of the producer and the only real letdown was Damon refusing to divulge the "real reason" why Blur and Oasis fell out.

As for the criticisms levelled earlier. Basically, the producers got the main protaganists "Gallaghers, Damon and Jarvis". These, along with Elastica and Suede, were the people who drove the whole movement forward.

The rest were bit part players and what the Boo Radleys thought of the Britpop scene is of no consequence at all, as they were one of the least important facets of it. It's like asking the guy who was polishing the piano during the opening night of Tosca for his considered views on Puccini's place in operatic history.

Pulp were around for years but were Britpop because they chose to be, Radiohead were not Britpop in any way shape or form, the same goes for PJ Harvey, Primal Scream, The Divine Comedy and Modern Life is Rubbish was not a Britpop album.

There is no information about how the bands were formed, but whoever wrote that seems to be missing the point by a mile. It wasn't supposed to be a potted history for anoraks.

It is supposed to be a look back at a cultural phenomenon, warts and all. And this is exactly what it is, well shot, intelligent questioning, good locations, decent choice of music, and ultimately thought provoking. The Gallaghers are what you expect, Louise Wener is surprisingly perceptive, Damon clearly doesn't want to remember his mistakes and Jarvis displays the wry star quality that we all know he has in spades.

As retrospectives go. This is above average.