As far as I'm aware, 'cinemania' is not a psychiatrically recognized mental health disturbance, nor should it be. As for whether support groups exist for people wanting to overcome movie addiction, this I do not know, either, but where would such ones ever find the time to attend these meetings, anyway?
Far from viewing cinemania as a pathology, I for one prefer the term cinephilia and liken this passion to religious devotion, and who are we to be critical of innocuous religious beliefs and practices?
CINEMANIA introduces us to five admirable idolaters, who worship filmdom above all else.
There's Bill, who has sacrificed a career in order to devote all his time and energy to watching motion pictures. As with the other four ardent moviegoers profiled in this, the movie theater is more than just a place one goes to escape the stresses of reality, it's a place you go to worship.
There's Jack. Here's one guy who's not in the least bit afraid of commitment Why, he's completely devoted to the love of his life. There are positive changes to be observed in Jack as we witness him go from being disheveled to clean-cut, as if wanting to impress the gorgeous starlets whom he encounters on the big screen.
There's Eric. Yet another of our cinephiles who lives in poverty and, as most people know, after cleanliness is next to godliness.
There's Harvey. A likable man-child, without a hint of partiality in him. He'll watch almost anything put before him, the omnivorous viewer that he is.
Finally, there's Roberta, a spinster who refuses to have a TV in her humble hole-in-the-wall. True, she may be one foot away from living in the streets but at least it beats being a bag lady.
These are not lazy folks, by any means. Consider that when not in a theater watching movies, these people are constantly on the move, either racing to bus stops or hurriedly flagging down taxis, rushing to get to the next destination point in their hectic itineraries. I suspect they don't have much time even for sleep, let alone for eating. These are bona fide devotees through and through.
CINEMANIA was released in theaters back in 2001. That's over twenty years ago. I wonder if Bill, Jack, Eric, Harvey, and Roberta are still with us and why a follow-up documentary has never been made. If Jack's still around, I picture him perhaps working as an usher or as a film projectionist, some job close to church.
Of the five, I found myself liking Bill and Eric the most. That Bill gave up aspirations of becoming a lawyer is exactly what a devotee would do. Eric, meanwhile, I can't see doing anything else but watching movies and has somehow managed to eke out a subsistence doing so, which can only be a bonus. That he regards, in general, European cinema boring and pretentious, I'm in agreement with.
As for Jack, what are we to make of his claim of having watched 1000 movies in a single month? Do the math and you'll find that that's virtually humanly impossible, akin to a miracle that only an absolute saint would ever be able to pull off.
Sure, almost all five of these human subjects were unemployed at the time of filming, but all seem contented if not pleased with their lives, and are no less productive and of value to society than your average politician or parasitic, affluent idler.
Any one of these five subjects I would love to meet and chat film with. Incidentally, for the record, the types of movies I enjoy are indies, art-house, b&w classics, whodunits, spy thrillers, some science-fiction and some foreign films. Whereas, genres I tend to avoid include: Horror, Westerns, rom-coms, fantasy, actioners, and CGI-saturated blockbusters. I mention this, along with the fact that I watch, on average, five movies a week, as it helps to explain why CINEMANIA is a documentary that's so dear to my heart. We can't all be normies, nor do the majority of us outsiders desire to be.
Jack's cinema-related habits and quirks aside, I too have my own personal eccentricity of sorts when it comes to movie-viewing. Sacrosanct it is, in my book, that one sit attentively and silently through the end credits. In my opinion, the movie is not over until the crawl has completely ended! How can one not be riveted by the hauntingly lovely song that plays over the end-credits to director Paul Cox's "Innocence" (a film, by the way, that would make my top ten list of favorite films). Maybe only a cinephile would be able to appreciate what I mean by this. Does that make me one?
Like the Ida Lupino character in the Twilight Zone episode "The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine," and the protagonist in the movie "Film Geek," Bill, Jack, Eric, Harvey, and Roberta know that there's more to life than simply work, family, social activities, and responsibilities. CINEMANIA proves it.
Far from viewing cinemania as a pathology, I for one prefer the term cinephilia and liken this passion to religious devotion, and who are we to be critical of innocuous religious beliefs and practices?
CINEMANIA introduces us to five admirable idolaters, who worship filmdom above all else.
There's Bill, who has sacrificed a career in order to devote all his time and energy to watching motion pictures. As with the other four ardent moviegoers profiled in this, the movie theater is more than just a place one goes to escape the stresses of reality, it's a place you go to worship.
There's Jack. Here's one guy who's not in the least bit afraid of commitment Why, he's completely devoted to the love of his life. There are positive changes to be observed in Jack as we witness him go from being disheveled to clean-cut, as if wanting to impress the gorgeous starlets whom he encounters on the big screen.
There's Eric. Yet another of our cinephiles who lives in poverty and, as most people know, after cleanliness is next to godliness.
There's Harvey. A likable man-child, without a hint of partiality in him. He'll watch almost anything put before him, the omnivorous viewer that he is.
Finally, there's Roberta, a spinster who refuses to have a TV in her humble hole-in-the-wall. True, she may be one foot away from living in the streets but at least it beats being a bag lady.
These are not lazy folks, by any means. Consider that when not in a theater watching movies, these people are constantly on the move, either racing to bus stops or hurriedly flagging down taxis, rushing to get to the next destination point in their hectic itineraries. I suspect they don't have much time even for sleep, let alone for eating. These are bona fide devotees through and through.
CINEMANIA was released in theaters back in 2001. That's over twenty years ago. I wonder if Bill, Jack, Eric, Harvey, and Roberta are still with us and why a follow-up documentary has never been made. If Jack's still around, I picture him perhaps working as an usher or as a film projectionist, some job close to church.
Of the five, I found myself liking Bill and Eric the most. That Bill gave up aspirations of becoming a lawyer is exactly what a devotee would do. Eric, meanwhile, I can't see doing anything else but watching movies and has somehow managed to eke out a subsistence doing so, which can only be a bonus. That he regards, in general, European cinema boring and pretentious, I'm in agreement with.
As for Jack, what are we to make of his claim of having watched 1000 movies in a single month? Do the math and you'll find that that's virtually humanly impossible, akin to a miracle that only an absolute saint would ever be able to pull off.
Sure, almost all five of these human subjects were unemployed at the time of filming, but all seem contented if not pleased with their lives, and are no less productive and of value to society than your average politician or parasitic, affluent idler.
Any one of these five subjects I would love to meet and chat film with. Incidentally, for the record, the types of movies I enjoy are indies, art-house, b&w classics, whodunits, spy thrillers, some science-fiction and some foreign films. Whereas, genres I tend to avoid include: Horror, Westerns, rom-coms, fantasy, actioners, and CGI-saturated blockbusters. I mention this, along with the fact that I watch, on average, five movies a week, as it helps to explain why CINEMANIA is a documentary that's so dear to my heart. We can't all be normies, nor do the majority of us outsiders desire to be.
Jack's cinema-related habits and quirks aside, I too have my own personal eccentricity of sorts when it comes to movie-viewing. Sacrosanct it is, in my book, that one sit attentively and silently through the end credits. In my opinion, the movie is not over until the crawl has completely ended! How can one not be riveted by the hauntingly lovely song that plays over the end-credits to director Paul Cox's "Innocence" (a film, by the way, that would make my top ten list of favorite films). Maybe only a cinephile would be able to appreciate what I mean by this. Does that make me one?
Like the Ida Lupino character in the Twilight Zone episode "The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine," and the protagonist in the movie "Film Geek," Bill, Jack, Eric, Harvey, and Roberta know that there's more to life than simply work, family, social activities, and responsibilities. CINEMANIA proves it.