Megamind
To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.
Logan
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
Scarlet
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
quaseprovisorio
Can you imagine a movie that portraits the magic of being a kid and going to the movies? that will put you in their eyes, feeling overwhelmed by the cinema, wanting to be surprised, like we were years ago. Matinée is mostly about that. Is also about how cinema can be alienating - we are talking about a very specific period here - and how people and industry managed to keep them entertained while so many things were happening in the "real world".It's obviously also an homage to monster movies, to small budget monster films, to the era were movie promoters wanted the audience to feel everything )even the smell?), and it wraps everything up in 1:30 minutes.Plus, has john goodman as the film promoter, where he embodies this whole spirit, while wanting to-make money on his own. I don't know but i do think it's one of his best performances all time.Probably my favorite joe dante movie. And a great film mostly about the magic of the movies, the desire of wanting to engage the audience, at all costs. Underrated as hell.
Michael_Elliott
Matinée (1993) *** (out of 4) Joe Dante's loving tribute to the horror films of the 50s and 60s. The film takes place during the Cuban Missile Crisis as a horror producer (John Goodman) comes to a Florida town to show his new film, MANT!, part man and part ant. Matinée certainly has several flaws in it but fans of these types of movies being payed homage to should still find it entertaining and worth viewing. I think what makes the film so special are all the homages to those films from the drive-in era. This includes stars like Dick Miller and Kevin McCarthy making appearances, the terrific poster and lobby cards showing off some films and of course the movie-within-a-movie itself. I thought the movie MANT! was actually done extremely well as it looked and sounded just like you'd expect a movie about a man turning into an ant to. The film also manages to have a good sense of humor about these films without having to make fun of them or look down on them. Goodman gives a really strong and fun performance of the producer who was certainly modeled after William Castle. I thought Good was a lot of fun in the role and really made you believe that he could be a producer of these types of movies. Cathy Moriarty is also fun as the girlfriend and the various child actors also do a nice job. I think there are some problems with the movie including some humor around the Cuban Missile Crisis that just doesn't work all that well and I think the teen romance is also pretty weak. Still, Matinée is a fun little movie that has its heart in the right place.
calvinnme
I felt that the advertising for this movie was somewhat misleading. I expected to see a film about John Goodman portraying a loose characterization of showman William Castle. Instead, the main focus of the film is a young boy, Gene Loomis, whose father is a soldier who is dispatched to active duty during the Cuban missile crisis, which is the time period in which this film is set. You have your typical coming-of-age themes revolving around Gene and his friends as they discover their own emerging adolescence, and this consists largely of tired material that has been done to death.Somewhat in the background we have John Goodman as old-fashioned showman Lawrence Woolsey, a vaudevillian stuck in the age of cinema who wants to put the show back in picture shows. He is tied into the film because Gene enjoys Woolsey's showmanship as a way to forget about the world around him which seems to be on the brink of self-destruction. Woolsey pulls such stunts as having his girlfriend (Cathy Moriarty) dress a a nurse and ask patrons to sign a waiver releasing Goodman's character from liability in case they die of fright during the movie. This is based on a similar stunt by William Castle and his movie "Macabre". Woolsey also wires the seats to produce a mild electric shock during a key moment in a film, which he labels "Atomo-Vision." That antic is based on what William Castle did during the showing of "The Tingler". Then he rigs still another device to shake things up as buildings on the screen are tumbling and calls it "Rumble-Rama." Again, these are all very similar to the showman-like stunts of William Castle during the 50's and 60's.The best part of the movie is when Woolsey comes up with an atomic-age monster movie entitled "Mant" that is a composite of cheesy 50's horror films such as "The Fly," and "Them!". "Mant" is about a mutant that is half-man and half-ant and is a total riot. Woolsey's schlock merchant displays just the right mix of con-man materialism and childlike glee at his own bogus movie magic. It's too bad that Goodman's character and his showmanship weren't the main focus of the movie - Goodman was truly born to play the part of Lawrence Woolsey.Watching this movie really made me happy that some of William Castle's films have finally been coming out on DVD in the last couple of years, through both traditional DVD releases and through the Warner Archive manufacture on demand program. At any rate, enjoy.
gemussman
This seems to be one of those movies that might be somewhat overlooked. If that is the case for some, that is sad. In fact, this movie evokes a time in movies that simply does not exist anymore.John Goodman plays a moviemaker that specializes in making cheap garbage movies that only appeal to kids. To build interest in the premiere of his film, he employs actors who are themselves imposters to add to the hysteria.A real life event that adds to this is the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Despite the silliness of what is happening, everything in this movie seems to be something that could have gone on at the time.The character that John Goodman plays, Lawrence Woolsey, seems to have come from the same mold as Ed Wood or Roger Corman. They were directors who specialized in the cheap. The tricks used by Woolsey, to intensify the interest in his film, are fun to see! I seriously recommend this film. It is a delight of a bygone time!
