Cinemania
by Stephen Kijak, Angela Christlieb
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DVD details
Actor: Bill Heidbreder, Eric Chadbourne, Harvey Schwartz, Jack Angstreich, Roberta HillDirector: Angela Christlieb, Stephen Kijak
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Color, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 80 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-11-04
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Winstar
DVD Reviews of Cinemania
DVD Review: I understand somewhat.
Summary: 4 Stars
It would not take much for me to become like this. I do feel it's sad but in a small way I understand. Perhaps if I ever find my self all alone in this world I would retreat into films. Anyway, these people seem happy enough and thank god they have films. Films can be a very simple outlet for people who might otherwise be up to no good. DVD Review: This movie focuses on five people (4 men and 1 woman) who live to go to the movies.
Summary: 3 Stars
These movie lovers seem to only want to talk about movies and I suspect all but one of them prefer their own company. They don't have jobs (one does) and live frugally with the exception of this obsession with films. All live in small apartments (maybe rented rooms) crammed with books, movies and movie paraphernalia. You also see plastic bags and junk laying around. So this tells me they have mental illness of some sort.
I am an introvert like them. I'm also messy so I don't like having too much stuff. That way my home isn't cluttered with belongings never being used. So perhaps under the right circumstances I would be like them. Scary!
DVD Review: fascinating
Summary: 4 Stars
Cinemania is a fascinating and very funny documentary that focuses on the lives of five New York film-lovers. The men (and woman) this film chronicles are not simply erudite, artsy types who can appreciate Bergman. They are people who have literally re-arranged their lives in order to make movie-watching their primary focus. They are all articulate and funny. None of them are normal ... they range from strangely overzealous to OCD to downright creepy. And - while it is frequently hilarious to listen to their testimonies (one cinephile suggested that he's ripped food out of a too-noisy movie-goers hands; another has memorized the precise running time for practically every movie he's ever seen; and another is permanently banned from the MOMA (I'll let you figure out why)), it is also a little sad that these people get more fulfillment from movies than they do from their everyday lives.
This documentary excels most when it asks *why* these people need to watch movies (the answers, I think, also speak to the pleasure each of us gets from escapism). There is a scene where Jack, the main "character" in the film, insists that he could only make love to Rita Hayworth in black-in-white. It's an interesting and telling concept. Cinemania's greatest weakness is probably its amateurish production qualities. Rather than come across as quirky and immediate, they are more along the lines of frustrating. But this is only a minor complaint. Overall, I would still recommend Cinemania. I can pretty much guarantee that, if you give it a shot, you'll be entertained and amazed.
DVD Review: Fear and Fascination
Summary: 4 Stars
The Fear comes from the fact that potentially I'm not so far from the characters depicted in this film. I'm also suffer from breakdowns produced by romantic failures, and I'm also have seen four movies in a row for three or four days in film festivals, when outside is a sunny day and the beach is near the movie theater. The Fascination comes from the fact that those people are not exactly crazy. Jack is even an extremely interesting and intelligent person. The fact that he is alone has to do more with the failings of the world (and his society in particular) than with his personal characteristics. This movie trascends morbidity because what some of those people have to say about cinema affects in some way or another each of us. Given that a segment of the western population passes their days watching horrible programs in television, the activity of these five people can be seen as revolutionary as taking a trip outside the Matrix. If Krakauer was right, maybe is time to ask Jack what he thinks about the future of Western civilization. I hope (even when I know he's right) that his answer will not be close to that of Houellebecq.DVD Review: Nerds unite to watch this movie
Summary: 5 Stars
If you hate the world or don't understand what direction we're headed and escape into movies to avoid pain, you should realize you're not alone. Watch this movie or you're a nerd.
Description of Cinemania
A funny yet mesmerizing documentary that chronicles the lives of five film crazed New Yorkers so consumed by their obsession that they don't have jobs or social lives, out of fear that it would take time away from their movie viewing.When movie obsessive Bill declares, "Film is a form of living," he means it. The surprisingly entertaining documentary Cinemania tracks five crazed movie fans, for whom a day spent seeing only two movies is a day wasted. Harvey owns dozens of movie soundtracks, but doesn't own a stereo on which he can play them. Roberta once physically attacked an usher who tore one of her ticket stubs, which she compulsively collects. For Eric, the death of Audrey Hepburn was sadder than the death of his own family members. Jack, perhaps the most self-aware and strikingly eloquent of this quintet, designs his diet so that bodily functions won't disrupt his filmgoing. These New Yorkers are heady, opinionated, and charming in the most neurotic way--but they also express a fascinating joy in both film and collecting that will strike a chord with any movie-lover. --Bret Fetzer
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