Cinemania (2002)

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

I think when I first watched this on TV many years ago, it came off like as though all of the subjects were just downright nutty. At best they have obsessive compulsive disorder, and at worst they're head-cases, loners, even in one case a "hoarder" (maybe there are more among the pack, just on lower levels). This was at a time when I hadn't lived as much life as a hardcore cinephile as I have by now; since then I've seen many films, and, as someone from the NYC area, at many of the theaters depicted, and I felt more empathy. This could be me in some alternate reality, easily, and I certainly connect with the ideal of seeing many films in the theater, and even to the point where early on I felt like 'hey, 3 movies a day, that's awesome, I hope to do that more too.' But of course in this fairly short feature film, we get to see what these people are fully like, and they're not lacking in confessing about who they are and their... idiosyncrasies. I don't know if they still exist in the further dimming world of actual 35mm film projection and the proliferation of DVD and VoD/streaming, but it is a time capsule that reveals psychological mind-sets: making sure everything is to a tee, whether it's with wearing a particular sweater, getting ALL the pamphlets and movie schedule books for these art house theaters, getting the food, getting the memorabilia, what happens when there's a lack of any actual taste and one may go and see ANYTHING playing? These are some seemingly desperate people, but is it still a desperate time in Manhattan? I think the filmmakers did an excellent job of getting to know these people, though I wish the filmmaking were a little better ironically enough. It's a little too basic, like something that is made for TV as a reality show (today this could potentially play on something like TLC the Learning Channel, albeit compared to many people on their shows these guys seem like rode scholars). It's even tempting to call it something closer to a freak-show, but I don't think that's what the intention was or how it exactly comes off. They are eccentric folks, and none of them seem to have anyone to go to the movies with really, except that some of them by proxy run into one another. It's funny but also quite sad, and the balance between the two makes it never less than interesting.And, if you're the right particular movie geek, a little close to home... 7.5/10

We've seen these types of people before. I used to work at an old movie theater where one of these "cinemaniac" types was a regular customer. He would arrive very early between shows, waiting in the lobby and eat popcorn. Occasionally he would strike up a conversation and repeat a lot of the same stories like "you know, one of my best friends is William Shatner's personal secretary!" This man and the people documented in "Cinemania" are not people we want to pay much attention to. When we hear them, we may be amused by their quirkiness but eventually we just want to get away from them. We feel pity for them because they seem so oblivious. One minute of looking at these people and we know what their problem is. They need to get a life. Instead of investigating their inner demons, the filmmakers decide to show the attractive qualities of these characters which is that they all love films. These are not the typical film buffs who obsess over Star Trek or Lord of the Rings. These are the types that are obsessed with "art" films. Despite their obsessive compulsive behavior, it is nice to see Americans who are passionate about films by Wim Wenders, Jean Luc Godard, Tarkovsky, and Truffaut. Their taste in films is rare in this country. One of the characters, Roberta takes film culture so seriously that she feels it is an insult to serve popcorn and snacks at the theater. Eric calls a theater and asks if the film playing that day is being shown on a new 35-mm print because otherwise, he won't see it. Another guy has a business card with a title like "philosopher, French New Wave, Godard expert". At one point in the film, we see him writing a blurb for an online dating service and one of his other film geeks is critiquing it. Unfortunately, we know he's not being very objective. The problem I had with this documentary was that it seemed to be mocking these people to the point where it was disturbing. There's not much we learn about these people other then the fact that they all share a form of obsessive compulsive behavior. One of the most depressing scenes was when two friends were sitting in a messy apartment watching an old movie on the VCR. The scene runs too long and the camera zooms right into their faces to show off their twitches and creepy expressions. It seems as though the film was trying to be therapeutic to these characters. At times, there are bits of revelations that we hear. "I watch these old films of Greta Garbo because it's a better alternative to watching porn all the time". That was a positive sign but by the end we just get a hopeless feeling about them. They're living as if they were in a movie, stuck in fantasy and never able to get out. Maybe, that's good for them but this film didn't make me think so.

CINEMANIA runs sometimes on the Trio channel so I've seen it a few times. Its characters are what I'd probably become if I had unlimited time and resources to go to the movies five times every day. I've already been to some of the rep houses they frequent (like the Film Forum).But even though this movie purports to be a comedy, I don't find it particularly funny. These people are sad loners who go to the movies all the time because they don't have anything else in their lives to do. Nowhere in the movie do we see them loving the films they see, or even enjoying them. No post-film chitchat about what they just saw, what they think of it, if they even liked it. Roberta collects memorabilia. She's got a fast-food tie-in beverage cup for LAST ACTION HERO, but what does she think of the movie? Has she even seen it? Does she go to summer blockbusters or stick to film festivals and rep houses? Do any of these maniacs have opinions? It's like they're obligated to partake in this ritual day after day, and any joy the cinema once gave them is long gone. Oh, and I object to a movie called CINEMANIA that's shot on video.

This film was a favorite at the Seattle Film Festival. I went to a screening last night with rather high expectations, some of which were met and others, which well... were not.We follow six oddballs from the big apple whose lives center around thick film festival guides and meticulous prints of "La Dolce Vita". The beginning is a clever montage in which we are introduced to each one and are allowed to laugh at their idiosyncracies. One individual's eccentric voiceover is played while he's spreading half a jar of peanut butter onto a slice of wonderbread. All are extraordinarily unattractive and the nightmare of any suburban mother who's afraid that they're kid is watching too much television. I am beginning to the think the term "film buff" should be given a new meaning. They ride on a subways crowded with anxious people catching the train to work. They sit at the sides of the train, hearts pounding at the pure thought of someone may "stealing their special seat" at the 3:00 showing at MoMA. One even collects thousands of film records. The revelation? He doesn't even own a record player.The film stays a quirky, safe experience in the first half-hour. Then it becomes repetitive, disturbing, and not necessarily in a poignant matter. We step into their apartments and it's not surprising that they're all packrats (to say the VERY least). Many live with books (mostly related to film) stacked up to the ceilings, struggling daily to find their way out the door. Their social lives are exclusive to their `film society', which consists of spitting out film titles and waiting for ten second criticisms. Only one person is employed. The rest either live off someone else or a dead relatives royalties. The film became progressively more uncomfortable for me upon realizing that this, was, indeed a documentary… and that the hypocrisy of sitting in a theatre, laughing at an extreme version of myself became too much for me. Had the filmmakers not been there, I probably might have walked out. As playwright Edward Albee said: `The best art holds a mirror in front of your face and says, THIS IS WHO YOU ARE. NOW CHANGE.' I wish it could have applied to this movie the same way. It never strayed from being a caricature-driven freak show and very much resisted giving us a thorough investigation of who the psychology of these people. What the hell they get out of saving every ticket stub and soda cup from their childhood. Tell me why? Tell me how? Give me answers before the film comes to an end…And of course, as most films do… `Cinemania' came to end and left this viewer extremely irritated. Usually, I resist walking out of the theatre commenting on the film's quality. This time, when asked the question, I answered: `Self-conscious. But I'm sure they're thrilled that they're on screen. It's just too bad they don't understand how sad they are…' Which, I will admit… is a matter of opinion… and surely mine will be battered.For me, it was a montage of social loners and obsessive-compulsives in the Big Apple. A friend of mine was touched, humored and said it reminded him of… well, himself. What I failed to tell him was that it affected me the same way too. He just has a better sense of humor.Recommended for fans of `Trekkies', `The Cruise' and `Crumb'.RATING: 6/10