blur | No Distance Left to Run (2010)

Don't listen to the negative reviews

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

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!

"No Distance Left to Run" is a documentary about British music band Blur. The film starts with the band reuniting for a series of live dates, about seven years after breaking up, which was mainly because of the disagreements between singer Damon Albarn and guitarist Graham Coxon. The documentary then begins to tell Blur's story from their beginning in the late 1980's until their breakup in 2003 and their reunion in 2009.The documentary is both informative and entertaining. It gives a lot of information about Blur's influential role in the "Britpop" movement in mid-1990's and the band at its height of commercial success with the 1994 album "Parklife". The documentary says how the band then shifted towards more rock-orientated music. This gave guitarist Coxon a more prominent role in the band, but can be said to have marked the beginning of the band's troubled relations with each other, which ultimately led to Coxon's departure after "13". He only appeared in one song in the band's last album "Think Tank", released in 2003.A good point of this documentary is that you see the situation the band went through from the viewpoints of all the four members. The role of bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree was often overshadowed by Albarn and Coxon's divisions, but this documentary tells how much they also put into the band. Both Damon and Graham also tell their own version of the band's breakup, allowing the viewer to decide for themselves who was right and who was wrong. The documentary tells a little about their private lives as well, but only as much as it was directly related to the band's career.One thing I got from, and liked about, the documentary, was that despite all the band went through, they decided to come back together. And also through the years, they got to know and better understand each other, to admit to their mistakes and embrace each other again.

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.

Just been to a preview of the new Blur documentary "NO DISTANCE LEFT TO RUN" ... and I must say that I was pretty impressed with it ...The film directed by Dylan Southern & Will Lovelace traces Blur's history – through their own words. It's a warts and all look at the dynamics of the band, relationships, gigs, successes and failures - right from their very early days up to when they split up and then their triumphant reunion in 2009 when they headlined at Glastonbury.The Blur band members (Damon Albarn - Singer/Guitar, Graham Coxon · Guitar, Alex James - Bass, and Dave Rowntree - Drums) give exceedingly honest accounts of their feelings towards each other, their emotions, their ambitions, the stories behind the songs / albums, their personal lives, the split-up and the reunion ... all interlaced with great gig footage and behind the scenes "never seen before" footage that really draws you into the inner circle of the make-up of the band The advent of "Britpop" (which Blur started) is also covered very well as well as the Blur vs. Oasis much media-hyped "Battle of the Bands" This is a very interesting film - and it's great to get an inner perspective of what motivates / drives bands such as Blur in this "fly on the wall" way - as well as getting the real take on what the creative influences were behind many of their songs / albums This film is a "must see" event for any Blur fans ..."NO DISTANCE LEFT TO RUN" comes out on 19th January 2010