Review of Cinemania (2002) by Alexander L — 10 Jul 2010

The people in this documentary make me look like a film novice. It also served as a bit of a wake up call to myself. It also made me wonder how 4 of the 5 people profiled in the movie could only watch movies in theaters and not at home.

Cinemania profiles 5 extreme film buffs that live in New York. The people in the film sure are eccentric. Most of them live off of disability or unemployment checks and try to watch as many as 5 or 6 movies a day.

I think the most I've ever seen in a day is 4 and so far this summer I've seen about 2 a day (not to be mistaken with that stupid show on MTV). The people in this film essentially schedule their lives around seeing obscure and festival films.

They've seen their favorites over 20 times and collect all sorts of memorabilia and ticket stubs. The folks in the film are picky when it comes to their seating arrangements in the theater and they nitpick their schedules everyday so they can see a certain amount of films while making it to the theater in time and finding a bite to eat.

The most important thing for these people is to schedule an average of 3 or 4 movies per day, but it's not as easy or stress free as it sounds since the film festivals only last a certain amount of time and these cinephiles want to see as many movies as possible.

I could relate to the people in this movie since I'm always thinking about the next time I'll be able to see a movie and I'm always trying to see as many movies as possible. In addition, my knowledge of film is pretty exceptional and like the people in the movie I could tell you when and where I've seen any movie that I've rated already, dating back to my childhood.

Unlike the people in this movie, I would not sacrifice personal commitments and career goals in order to watch movies. These people take their obsession/love for film too far, but I don't blame them since movies are their calling in life and it seems to be the only thing these people love.

This is an interesting and funny movie where my only criticism would be that the movie had some slow moments because the most interesting people were not always on screen. This is a movie that any movie fan would not only enjoy, but also be able to relate to.