Movie Review: Cinemania

Story: How could I resist not seeing this documentary about five New Yorkers who spend their entire lives at the movies? Some of them see up to 7 films a day. They average about 600 to 2000 films a year. Oh my!

Directed by German filmmakers Angela Christlieb and Stephen Kijak we are introduced to these New Yorkers as they go from theater to theater planning their day around the starting times of each film and how they would negotiate getting from one venue to another. The MTA should give them each an award for knowing the transit system so well. The directors have some fun with each character. And they have some fun right back at the filmmakers. Are they wacky? Absolutely! But they are fun to watch and I am sure each and every one of us has an obsession of our own that we could relate to a little.

Acting: Not applicable in this category. Although I did think one of the five featured cinephiles was acting a bit.

Predilection: Hmmm... The subject for this documentary (and I am a fan of this genre) was too appealing to pass by.

Critters: One beautiful orange cat who worked in a bookstore.

Food: Amazing amounts of junk food, peanut butter and pop corn (of course). There was actually a discussion about what one of the movie buff ate in order to be able to control his trips to the bathroom.

Visual Art: Movie posters everywhere.

Opening Titles: Some colorful type over a graphic of running film.

Theater Audience: About 15 cinephiles (all sitting alone) and us. There were a lot of titters through out the film from the audience. I turned to my friend at the end of the film and asked her if I was in any way similar to the characters on screen. She laughed and said I was too neat and that I shouldn't worry! Whew!

Quirky Meter: 8

Squirm Scale: The state of some of their cluttered apartments made me squirm.

Oscar Worthy: No.

Nit Picking: There was an overall orange tint during most of the film. I found it claustrophobically annoying (my own little quirk there).

Big Screen or Rental: Check it out on the big screen and maybe you will see one of the characters in the audience. We looked for them but did not see them. The theater we saw it in (The Village Cinema on 12th Street) was one of the theaters featured in the movie.

Length: 80 Minutes - one of the characters knew the length of every movie he ever saw. He also phones the theater to correct them if the advertised time is in error.

LOBO HOWLS: 6