50
An unsparing, if light-touched, look at obsession, denial and where to find the cheap seats in Manhattan.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
70
Built on a foundation of cinephilia, Cinemania is a valentine of sorts to this movie mecca (you have to love a city, and a film culture, that can sustain such bottomless appetites).
70
Washington Post by Desson Thomson
It's too short, and it doesn't delve deep enough. But it's thoroughly enjoyable.
50
TV Guide Magazine by Maitland McDonagh
Their mania might be funny if it weren't so creepy.
67
Austin Chronicle by Marrit Ingman
A couple of the cinemaniacs are less defined than others, but the portrait that emerges is a detailed composite of life on the fringe.
50
A voyeuristic look at voyeurs, Cinemania never seems sure whether it's a comedy or a tragedy. Instead, the film just seems intent on depicting its subjects as lovable kooks, a reductive portrayal that does little to acknowledge the desperation and loneliness that permeates every frame.
50
The New York Times by Stephen Holden
It is left for Mr. Heidbreder to offer the fanciest rationalization for their addiction. Asked whether the movies are a substitute for life, he rejects the suggestion that their behavior is pathological and declares that film itself "is a form of living."
75
It would be easy to mock or patronize them. Cinemania does neither. They seem quite satisfied with their lives, which is more than can be said for a lot of people with more conventional lifestyles.
88
What Christlieb and Kijak do so well is keeping these folks from not seeming like loons.