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By PAUL BRENNER
Religious fundamentalism
gets all the press these days for the obvious
reasons. But fanaticism comes in many forms and in
Angela Christlieb and Stephen Kijak's peppy
documentary, "Cinemania," this fanaticism is the
obsessive compulsion of cinemaniacs whose Mecca is
New York City and their temples are Film Forum,
Walter Reade Theater, the Museum of Modern Art,
The Screen Room, Two Boots Cinema, and the
American Museum of the Moving Image.
The documentary follows five movie-mad New Yorkers
who sacrifice everything to eek out a tortured
existence for the next movie ticket. Jack, the
youngest and most intellectual of the bunch, fell
into an inheritance and doesn't have to worry much
about where the next movie ticket is coming from
("If I don't blow it all on hookers, I will never
have to work") but the other folks profiled in the
film are either on disability or unemployment.
Bill leans towards European art cinema and the
French New Wave (he stamps his arrival in New York
City by remembering it as "the day before the
Fassbinder retrospective started"), Harvey is a
human database of exact film running times, Eric
is consumed with Audrey Hepburn, and Roberta saves
ticket stubs and weeps for blocks after seeing
"The Umbrellas of Cherbourg."
Christlieb and Kijak clearly love these New York
obssessives and give them the space to grandstand
for 82 minutes. And the group is so passionate
about their love of movies that it is charming and
creepy at the same time. Appropriately, in the
end, where else can the film go except to
culminate with Jack, Bill, Eric, Harvey, and
Roberta sitting in a screening room and watching
themselves in "Cinemania."
It is also a bit disconcerting for a film reviewer
to squirm around in his chair watching this film.
One cannot help but to reflect that there but for
the grace of God go I. If only I were a bit more
psychotic or were of more independent means,
whether it is an inheritance or disability or
unemployment checks, I could have been Number Six
in the group. After all, we can't all be Leonard
Maltin or Roger Ebert.
The Wellspring DVD includes fifteen deleted
scenes, Christlieb and Kijak filmographies, the
trailer, and trailers for six other Wellspring
video releases. |
