Comments on: My Favorite Documentaries: Fast, Cheap and Out of Control

By: ariel

ariel — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 23:26:27 +0000

Great doc!

Two more must see documentaries are:
Grey Gardens
Lord of The Universe

By: Michelle

Michelle — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 01:47:00 +0000

Thank you, Les! As a reporter, I knew that, but as a traditional English nerd, the lack of a third comma irks me to no end.
I guess I can’t win.

By: Higgins

Higgins — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 16:17:08 +0000

Bassman — oops, I forgot to mention that. The documentary’s title refers to a paper of the same name written by Rodney Brooks (the robot expert) in which he proposes that instead of sending monolithic robots (big, expensive, heavy) into space, we instead send large numbers of tiny, cheap robots. There should be some info on the web/wikipedia about this if you’re interested — or he explains it in the documentary.

By: Les

Les — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 03:03:16 +0000

AP style dicates that, in a list of items, no comma be placed before the “and.”

By: Johnny Cat

Johnny Cat — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 19:20:47 +0000

Good one! I just saw God Grew Tired Of Us and it’s the bomb, about The Lost Boys of Sudan and their relocation to the US. Great quote, as they show off their newly stocked fridge: “This is Pepsi, but in our country it is called Coca Cola.”

By: lanebrain65

lanebrain65 — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 19:01:25 +0000

If you can find, E Morris’ first documentary “Gates of Heaven” is one of the funniest movies you will ever see. It’s about pet cemetaries. I believe it’s one of Ebert’s all time Top Ten.

By: Ransom

Ransom — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 14:51:09 +0000

Great stuff, chris! Keep ‘em comin’. By the way, have you seen ‘why we fight’ yet? It’s kind of a like a michael moore doc without the in-your-face personality …

By: Bassman

Bassman — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 14:24:59 +0000

I’vew seen several of the documentaries listed here. As someone who reads alot of non-fiction I guess these films are a natural for me.
I also agree with the comma.
My question is this: What has this title got to do with the subject of the film?

By: Karen

Karen — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 13:59:11 +0000

My favorite example of why we need the serial comma is this (probably apocryphal) dedication to a book:

“For my parents, God and Ayn Rand”

Some other good documentaries: Mad Hot Ballroom, Dogtown and Z-Boys, the whole Seven-Up series, and The Fog of War.

By: Harold

Harold — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 01:45:12 +0000

I agree, Fast, Cheap & Out of Control is a great documentary, one of my favorites.
A couple of recommendations:
Titicut Follies
The Hellstrom Chronicle