9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A poignant and funny portrait of unusual people, February 8, 2004
This review is from: Cinemania (DVD)
Here's a problem most moviegoers don't have: scheduling conflicts. If you want to see a movie, it's probably playing at the multiplex all day and evening and you just pick a time and go. But the five people in Cinemania have every film showing anywhere in New York City to choose from, first run movies, film classics, festivals, films shown in museums and small screening rooms. Two of the men have worked out a computerized system to figure it all out. A movie they want to see might only be playing three times in the coming week, at the same time as one or more other movies they want to see. They need help from databases and decision trees. Another guy will only see a movie if it's a good print. He has the phone number of all the projection booths, and calls ahead of time to discuss the quality of the print. Then he brings his cell phone with him into the theater; if something goes wrong with the projection, he doesn't want to have to leave his seat. He calls instead. It's these kinds of details that make this movie fascinating, and fun to watch, in a head-shaking, "I can't believe this" sort of way.
It was also sad to see these people driven by an obsession that maybe even they don't understand. It was hinted that at least two of the film buffs didn't know as much about film as they thought they did, and didn't have discerning tastes. That was good stuff, and made me wonder, why do they do it, then? Ultimately, maybe the question can't be answered. There were five people, and five different, complex reasons. I think the movie gave as full a picture of what they were about as is possible in 80 minutes. So even though I wanted to know, and understand, more, I give the movie 4 stars and will watch it again.
I do wish there'd been more of sense of the mix of movies they all watched. It seemed that most of them did see a fair number of first run movies, but the documentary didn't get into that much. In one of the deleted scenes, Roberta discusses at great length her reaction to "Pearl Harbor." Suddenly she believes that the other person (another of the cinemaniacs) isn't understanding a word she's saying, and she walks away, frustrated, angry, unable to communicate. There are many small scenes like that one, that show so much just by letting the people talk.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
manic for cinemania!, November 18, 2003
This review is from: Cinemania (DVD)
I don't know what that other review is talking about! Dissorganized? I teach a course in film editing and this is a perfectly structured little gem - and funny, and human, and really touching. Yes, it's sad at times (these are fringe characters scraping by on the edges of the big city), but it is also very compassionate.
CINEMANIA is a near-verite look at some of the most whacked out film obsessives you could ever hope to find, but it reveals them in subtle layers - they're self-aware, smart, dangerously brilliant at moments. I found myself thinking about these people long after I saw the film (and was lucky enough to see it on the big screen!) There's no narration (no obnoxious Michael Moore-type leading you by the hand throught he film - thank GOD) so, sure, it may seem haphazard, but I was caught up in it moment-to-moment. I found it fascinating structurally - seeming to anticipate your questions about these folks and then answering them. I did miss hearing about their past lives a bit, but it seems a very in-the-moment experience, very much like the lives of the characters - as if there IS no other life beyond the confines of the silver screen.
People familiar with more verite styles of documentary filmmaking or brilliant personal essay films like Varda's "The Gleaners and I" will love this. It's a great homage to our love of cinema.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Cinemania, October 8, 2003
This review is from: Cinemania (DVD)
A disorganized, but fascinating documentary about a eccentric quintet of New York cinephiles. It's absolutely surreal and hilarious although parts of it is rather sad and even a little disturbing. The movie could've used better planning though. It's almost as though the filmmakers just put together footages of the so-called cinemaniacs at random. While the movie is super entertaining, it lacks a focus and a flow. Maybe they should've just focused the movie on Jack, who claims that he once saw 1000 movies in one month -- he was the only person who struck me as a true cinephile. Jack is funny, articulate and extremely knowledgeable of films, whereas other characters are borderline mental patients whose obsession with movies is simply a symptom of their obsessive compulsive disorders.
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