Documentaries

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Who Killed the Electric Car? - a great look at the EV1 that GM produced (as well as other electric cars), their amazing potential to redefine driving in america, and how they were quietly killed by a combination of... well i guess you must watch it to see.

[DeezNuts]

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Startup.com -- I defy anyone to find a better exploration of the dot-com boom and bust.

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I can not remember if this was any good but E-Dreams, the "rise and fall" of Kozmo.com, is an in-depth look at a company that typified the dot-com boom-bust. I believe ~$60M was invested by VCs, along with ~$100M from corporations, and it may have even enjoyed a post-money valuation of >$1B! (Diablo correct me if I'm wrong.)

March of the Penguins is incredibly well executed, and I will 5th / 6th whatever Hoop Dreams as my favorite documentary.

-Al

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Hoop Dreams is awesome. Along the same basketball-vein, I really enjoyed Year of the Yao and Through the Fire. Although not even close to the level of Hoop Dreams, each of these films really made me like the subjects, Yao Ming and Sebastian Telfair, respectively.

Edit: Also would like to add Once in a Lifetime, the story of the New York Cosmos(who had Pele on the team) and how soccer was a huge deal, for a brief flickering moment in the USA.

DN

[KOTLP]

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Who Killed the Electric Car? - a great look at the EV1 that GM produced (as well as other electric cars), their amazing potential to redefine driving in america, and how they were quietly killed by a combination of... well i guess you must watch it to see.

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Man this one pissed me off, even more so because I watched it directly after An Inconvenient Truth.

[blatz]

The Cruise You can never fully understand New York City until you see it through the eyes of "Speed" Levitch. Some kind of renaissance man, part poet/philiosopher, a circle line bus tourguide and an entirely different kind of rebel, his view on life and the modern city are delivered in an amazingly hilarious film.

The director, Bennet Miller, has made two movie; this one, 10 years ago, and Capote.

[NajdorfDefense]

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Who Killed the Electric Car? - a great look at the EV1 that GM produced (as well as other electric cars), their amazing potential to redefine driving in america, and how they were quietly killed by a combination of... well i guess you must watch it to see.

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...their 75-150 mi driving limit on an 8-hr charge, and top speed of 80?
Something not mentioned in the film at all- just a thought. I don't know anyone who would want to drive in LA or NJ or DC with a car that maxes out after a few hours of driving.

According to GM, fully costed these would have been $80k, which you can debate, but is still awfully high for a car that only 800 people leased at half that price or less 10 years ago. These were 'quietly killed' by lack of demand.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Roadster
This goes up to 130mph and 250mi before a new charge, with a reported fuel efficiency of 135mpg. Let's see how that does.
You can reserve a 2008 model today.

[KOTLP]

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Who Killed the Electric Car? - a great look at the EV1 that GM produced (as well as other electric cars), their amazing potential to redefine driving in america, and how they were quietly killed by a combination of... well i guess you must watch it to see.

[/ QUOTE ]

...their 75-150 mi driving limit on an 8-hr charge, and top speed of 80?
Something not mentioned in the film at all- just a thought. I don't know anyone who would want to drive in LA or NJ or DC with a car that maxes out after a few hours of driving.

According to GM, fully costed these would have been $80k, which you can debate, but is still awfully high for a car that only 800 people leased at half that price or less 10 years ago. These were 'quietly killed' by lack of demand.

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It wasn't lack of demand that killed them. Also, keep in mind the technology was rapidly improving and prices would obviously have come way down. We could all be driving 500+ mile electric cars today if the auto companies, state of CA, and the federal government wanted us to. They already had 300 mile versions ready at the time GM pulled the plug.

[CharlieDontSurf]

GM might be saved if they can actually ge this off the ground
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16503845/

[KOTLP]

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GM might be saved if they can actually ge this off the ground
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16503845/

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I read this a few weeks ago, and my thought was it sure looks like inferior technology to me than what was already proven years ago...

[maryfield48]

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I thought "Fade to Black," which was basically a documentary (more in the mold of "the last waltz" in so far as it wasn't narrated but just did a good job of editing footage to convey its point) of Jay-Z's last concert in Madison Square Park cut with scenes of the making of the Black Album was extremely fascinating. Watching him construct songs on the fly with no preparation and listening to him talk about his life provided a lot of insight into how much different and more intelligent/artistic Jay-Z is from most other rappers.

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I wonder if that conclusion is justified unless you've also seen documentaries about other rappers.

[maryfield48]

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I found Rize (Dave LaChapelle) a documentary about Clowning/Krumping dance styles to be real interesting.

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Showtime is showing Rize this Saturday at 7:30pm.