Cinemania (2002)

Truly Dreadful Film

just watch it!

brilliant actors, brilliant editing

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

I consider myself a huge film buff. I have played HSX.com for @ least a decade & am ranked #135 Lifetime to Date, so I know movies & actors extremely well. Saying that, these people (especially the woman) are no longer film buffs, they are in a whole different extremely unhealthy category. What's infuriating to me is that all of these people are a drain on society. None of them serve any sort of purpose & they all collect disability. How that is possible when there are other more deserving actually handicapped whether physical or mental & are constantly denied makes it all the worse. The film isn't bad but it's not really good either. What's sad is that these people are completely consumed by watching movies. I watch at least 1 or 2 a night before going to sleep, but I don't come close to letting it run my life like these people. What's even more sad then just about anything is just how out of touch w/reality all these people are. I would bet that all of these people have some undiagnosed & yes diagnosed OCD & some other personality disorders because these people are off. Just like their is rehab for drug addicts, these people all need rehab from movies. This is really only for the hardcore fans as most will see 5 minutes say to themselves these people are crazy & turn it off.

And I thought I had a problem.I guess obsession is the same no matter what the object is, and many documentaries have dealt with that theme, but obviously this one is much more of a meta-doc.What I wonder is, are these people so dysfunctional because they continually go to movies; or do they go to movies because they're dysfunctional? There's something really disturbing if the former is the case -- that we consume movies and TV (more than we should) and the result is this deterioration of the mind and total disconnection from society. Are these people examples of over-consumption taken to its logical extreme? Do most of us have the exact same pathology but just watered down?

Cinemania is a documentary about a bunch of crazy people in NYC who spend their lives watching films (in theaters).Either on disability or independently wealthy or working dead end jobs, they exist to just go to the movies...several times a day (and its go to the movies not watch videos). Yea I know they are like me... or not I don't need the projected image, I am happy with video and I do try to actually do things with people other than films or theater...Even by my standards these people are nuts-and I know buffs like them, who are more obsessive then sane (one of which was in a mental hospital- my friends-not in the movie). These are people who for the most part must see good films (one guy who is like me and will watch anything is derided) in good conditions or else they get nuts, complaining to the manager or even getting violent (The sole woman in the bunch was banned from The Museum of Modern Art's screening room for her bad behavior.) I admire their drive and ability to do nothing but sit but these people are too much. I would love to have a screen on 24 7 but I'd do other things while I watched. The film itself is good, if a tad long (Apparently it was originally intended for Finish TV and ran a half hour shorter). We get to know the people pretty well and we see their mania and we even like them. The thing is that running some 85 minutes the film runs out of steam because for the most part these are limited people and watching them talk about movies is different then talking to them about films (Having been around people like this I know its better to be involved then on the sideline). I liked it and recommend it, but I'm not sure I'll watch it again. (I am frightened that I could recognize the inside of most of the theaters shown....)

I feel a little cheated by this documentary as it seemed to be packaged as a quirky comedy and it is downright depressing. One of the cinephiles mentions that the obsession is like being in a prison, which is true, but the film wasn't presented that way. At best, the five subjects are sad and at worst, they are sick. They cross the line of being "buffs" to living unfulfilled lives in which they will see thousands and thousands of movies and then just die. They live in death traps, do not work and seemingly cannot even dress properly. The movie's whimsical tone betrays the truth and the viewer leaves knowing that these five people will never be any better. Sour.