(2002)
3
Josh Ralske
Cinemania is a sporadically fascinating foray into the world of five insanely compulsive New York City moviegoers. Any longtime New York film fan will recognize both these people and the venues they frequent. Filmmakers Angela Christlieb and Stephen Kijak choose their subjects wisely. The five have wildly varying degrees of self-awareness. Harvey Schwartz, with his unique whinnying laughter, and Roberta Hill, who was once banned from the Museum of Modern Art after a violent encounter with a hapless ticket taker, display little interest in self-examination, while Jack Angstreich, who gets the most screen time, seems to devote a great deal of time and energy to justifying his unusual lifestyle choices. In addition to devoting large chunks of time, like the others do, to scheduling, so that he can see the most obscure films every day, Jack calls curators in advance to discuss the quality of prints, and states proudly that he's the only subject in the film who actually has the phone numbers to all the projection booths of the venues he frequents. His response to people who claim that he's not living in the real world is a lament that serves all of these essentially sad, lonely people equally well -- "Who would want to live in this reality?" Unfortunately, the filmmakers, shooting on digital video (much to the chagrin of their subjects), are determined to keep things light and amusing. They're successful at it, but Cinemania might have been a more edifying experience if it really delved into the roots of this obsession and explored whether the obsession followed from social inadequacy and unhappiness, or to what degree these filmgoers' devotion to cinema, at the expense of all else, contributed to their current state.
Cinemania on AllMovie
Cinemania (2002)
