David M. Brown sent me an intriguing note:

Eric, There’s a movie coming out about you. The Times says release is May 16.

CINEMANIA A movie about obsessive moviegoers — who spend every day (literally) and every night, in movie theaters and see everything that’s released — sounds entertaining. The sad thing is that this is a documentary. It focuses on five film-addicted New Yorkers, their isolation and their unsurprising inability to hold jobs. But they’d be awfully good at Silver Screen Trivial Pursuit. Angela Christlieb and Stephen Kijak are the filmmakers.

Wow — I’m almost scared to see this movie, but the thought of not seeing a movie that’s been released sends me into convulsive fits . . . OK, not really. I’m not quite as bad as the subjects of this film, thankfully, but it would probably be pretty easy to step off the precipice. I haven’t ever had trouble holding down a job (just the opposite, really), I do hang out with friends (albeit periodically) and I don’t see literally every movie released (but it’s not due to a lack of effort). For example, even though there are several movies now in theaters that I haven’t yet seen, I stayed home today, working on web projects . . . and watching five movies on cable.

And watching movies has occasionally interfered with work. A couple of weeks ago, I left work a couple of hours early just to watch a movie that was ending its limited local theatrical run that day with a 4:50 p.m. screening. And I’ve been known to take extended lunches, catching a show at the Union Station movie theater across the street. But luckily I’ve had a fairly flexible work schedule for the last few years.

So, do I have cinemania? I wouldn’t be surprised. I’ve noticed other relatively mild forms of OCD in myself before (I say mild because I can break the habits once I notice them — and if I want to), so this is probably one way it manifests itself. I think I’ll pull out a DVD before I start becoming too self-aware . . .