This is a riveting documentary on the history and relevance of one of the most commonly used and iconic type faces since Gutenberg did his thing. “Riveting” might sound like too strong a word to describe a film about letters, but if you’re at all interested in the mechanics of messaging then this is like porn.

I saw the trailer (above) last year on You Tube and thought it was a really cool premise for a doc, but then I promptly forgot about it. Months later when googling to find out which font Obama was using on Super Tuesday I found the trailer again above plus many clips (Obama’s font is in the flick, by the way. It’s called Gotham).

For a long time I hoped it would appear in my local movie store, to no avail. I remembered what kind of movie it was – not exactly Harold & Kumar.

Two months ago I gave in and sent away for it. When it arrived a few days later I watched it twice right out of the sleeve. I just watched it again, and was totally hooped.

For the next few days I won’t be able to walk down any street without trying to identify the fonts I see in the signage and branding that envelopes all of us, and I won’t be able to stop trying to discern what the marketers are trying to convey within each and every letter. Harold & Kumar can’t do that…nerdy nerdity nerd nerd. More clips below: