''Cinemania'' is a 2002 German/American documentary about five obsessed

cinemaphile Cinephilia (; also cinemaphilia or filmophilia) is the term used to refer to a passionate interest in films, film theory, and film criticism. The term is a portmanteau of the words Film, cinema and philia, one of the four ancient Greek words for l ...

s, who, throughout the year, each see two to five films a day and work out a daily schedule to see them in theatres across

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Cast

*Eric Chadbourne — A cinephile who lives on disability benefits, and who vociferously prefers musicals and romantic-comedies to foreign films. He is the only profiled character in the documentary who has succumbed to watching films on video, of which he seems to own thousands (the others steadfastly refuse to watch TV under any circumstances; Roberta Hill states that she "only has nightmares in video.") *Harvey Schwartz — A cinephile who has traits found among those with

Asperger syndrome Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's, is a former neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in Interpersonal relationship, social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted and re ...

, who lives on disability benefits. According to Jack, Harvey has no discerning taste in film and will watch just about anything, including '' The Amazing Crab Monster''. He can quote the exact running time of every film he's ever seen from memory. He owns hundreds of soundtrack LPs but doesn't have a turntable. *Bill Heidbreder — A cinephile who defines his taste in film as "effeminate", as he prefers "relationship" films to action films. He is an NYU grad student and amateur philosopher who lives on unemployment benefits. *Jack Angstreich — The most heavily profiled member of the quintet, Jack's justification for his abnormal behavior is to not deny what he considers to be a "visionary" lifestyle, that there is no "correct" way to live, and really has no interest in real life beyond the cinema. He claims that he wouldn't want to make love to

Rita Hayworth Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer and producer. She achieved fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars, appearing in 61 films over 37 years. The press coined th ...

unless he was doing it in black-and-white. Living off an inheritance, Jack sees upwards of five films per day (and claims to have seen over 1,000 films in eight months at one point), and deliberately eats a constipating diet so he won't be interrupted while watching a film and have to go to the bathroom.

Roberta Hill

Hill was born June 18, 1936, in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, a daughter of Robert L. and Dorothy (née Dyar) Hill, and a granddaughter of

Harrison Gray Dyar Jr. Harrison Gray Dyar Jr. (February 14, 1866 – January 21, 1929) was an American entomologist. Dyar's Law, a pattern of geometric progression in the growth of insect parts, is named after him. He was also noted for eccentric pursuits which includ ...

She lived for most of her life in Washington, D.C., moving in 1983 to

, where she died on July 18, 2009. An obsessive-compulsive woman who, according to Jack, "is so far in the prison f cinephilia that to me, it's just a hopeless,

Sisyphean In Greek mythology, Sisyphus or Sisyphos (; Ancient Greek: Σίσυφος ''Sísyphos'') was the founder and king of Ephyra (now known as Corinth). Hades punished him for cheating death twice by forcing him to roll an immense boulder up a hill ...

lifestyle." Has kept every piece of film-memorabilia she's got her hands on for what appears to be the last five decades, including ticket-stubs, programs, fliers, a promotional bottle of water from an independent film called ''Water'', and promotional plastic cups from ''

Last Action Hero ''Last Action Hero'' is a 1993 American fantasy action comedy film directed and produced by John McTiernan and co-written by Shane Black and David Arnott. It is a satire of the action genre and associated clichés, containing several parodies ...

'' and ''

Jurassic Park ''Jurassic Park'', later also referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton and centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of cloned dinosaurs. It began in 1990 when ...

''. Roberta has been banned from many theaters for her rude and uncouth behavior, which has included attacking ushers who have torn too much paper off her ticket-stubs.The New York Times
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References

External links

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Film on YouTube
* * *

{{Authority control 2002 films American documentary films Films directed by Stephen Kijak German documentary films Documentary films about the film industry 2002 documentary films Documentary films about fandom Film and video fandom 2000s English-language films 2000s American films 2000s German films English-language German films

Cast

Roberta Hill

See also

References

External links