blur | No Distance Left to Run (2010)

I was very excited to see this doco on Blur. Mmm but I must say I was extremely disappointed to the point of boredom and depression. I know nothing about the film makers but I know one thing for sure they know nothing about making an entertaining band doco. For a start there was a distinct lack of Blurs better songs. So much pointless interviewing of the lesser members and my God the guitarist wallows in his own success/depression and attempts to take everyone down with him. I have seen a lot of band doco's and this I do not hesitate to tell you is by far the worst ever. See it at your own peril!

Blur were a pop band, influential in the "Britpop" movement celebrated by the press, and briefly the most famous band in Britain. Eclipsed by Oasis, they descended into turmoil and drugs, but continued to make interesting music; I was never a fan, but can acknowledge their interest in musical experimentation. After eventually splitting up, they reunited to play some widely acclaimed comeback gigs last year, and this documentary follows this tour while recalling the band's history. And it's actually a fascinating story; not too self-aggrandising, it's a tale of four mates who became inadvertently famous, and an insight into how people deal, or don't deal, with such a transformation. At one point, one of the band members refers to a documentary about the band Metallica, which revealed it's members to be self-obsessed, business-oriented and utterly unappealing; by contrast, Blur all seem very human, even front-man Damon Albarn. But it's shy guitarist Graham Coxon who steals the show, he seems the unlikeliest of pop stars, which explains a lot of why he found his fame so hard to deal with. I'm still don't like the music that much; but having seen this film, I kind of like the band.

Covering the comeback gigs of 2009, No Distance Left To Run also looks back at the story of Blur. The tale is told with some fairly candid up-to- date interviews with all four of the band and with a certain amount of honesty although the film strikes me as vaguely hagiographic - the band have obviously sanctioned the film as well and take the opportunity to get things off their chest and wax sentimental.I would have liked to have seen more contemporaneous footage from the first half of the 1990s. It would also have been to this film's benefit if we'd been able to see more backstage, fly-on-the-wall cuts from the 'comeback' concerts, instead of the arty, wistfully slo-mo accounts of the gigs. Still, that's the film and will appeal to those who count themselves fans of the band. Additionally, I loved the use of Vaughan- Williams (Serenade to Music and Lark Ascending) as it seemed entirely in keeping with not only the sentimentality of the film but the story of the temporary English cultural renaissance which characterized the band's golden period. 5/10

'No Distance Left to Run' is a sentimental journey through Blur's beginnings, success, disillusionment, re-invention, arguments, break-ups and the emotional reunion and gigs of summer 2009.This documentary is fantastically shot, with intertwined footage from the band's 1990's Brit- pop haze. The interviews with the band, although not altogether open and revealing, do illustrate somewhat the band's dynamics and demons they each faced.Blur have always been a special band for me, a band which defined and re-defined the 1990s and early 2000s. This documentary is a superb representation of their chameleon-type talent: a band who were not afraid to take risks. Unlike their old adversaries, Oasis.The film illustrates Blur as an utterly original band, whom I am sure, will be remembered in many years to come, as one of the most influential bands to come out of England of the last thirty years