AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Asad Almond A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Leofwine_draca You could well describe Matinée as Joe Dante's most mature and reflective work and also one of his very best movies. It's a criminally underrated film that only seems to be enjoyed by those who love and respect B-movies as much as the characters in the film, but for my money it's one of the most loving and respectful cinematic dedications in existence and miles ahead of overrated fare like Scorsese's HUGO.The film is set in the 1960s and involves a larger-than-life showman, played to the hilt by John Goodman, bringing his latest B-movie to a local cinema in Florida. In many ways the film's backdrop is even more important than the main story: the Cuban Missile Crisis was in full swing and the threat of nuclear destruction was closer than any other time in history. On top of this, there's an excellent depiction of social and class issues and culture, as well as an exploration of what it was like to be growing up during the era. In this respect, Matinée is as deep and contemplative as STAND BY ME, for example.On top of this, Matinée is thoroughly entertaining. Dante - who clearly puts himself into the main character of Gene Loomis - gives it his all and the result is stunning. The recreation of the cinematic experience, heavily inspired by the real-life showman William Castle, is genius. Goodman steals the show and is constant and surprising delight; I'd go so far as to describe this as my favourite role from the actor. The expected cameos from Robert Picardo and Dick Miller as well as many others are all delightful. Some of the stuff that takes place at the climax is over the top, but that's okay because it fits the theme of the film nicely. Matinée is one heck of a tribute and as a unique piece of film-making it takes some beating.

leplatypus Well, this movie isn't really bad but it's not also great. On the positive side, this movie offers a new idea in movies about movies. Usually, it's about Hollywood and I rate them as the lowest level in storytelling: it's like writing a book about a writer (isn't-it Mr King?), it's very complacent. Here, we left producers for the audience and how people receive movies, what they bring to them and how they shape and feed their imagination. Indeed, the movie offers a short but amazing scene about this magic of the theater! In addition, the background is interesting because it could have been the biopic of Mr. King (again!). Like the kids here, he was totally addicted to these matinée and in 1957, one was interrupted by the manager to told the audience that Russians were in space! Here, we got this same kind of red panic!On the negative side, the movie just never takes off and it's really strange as it's Dante behind the camera: he is such a nervous, corrosive, dynamic director but here, he delivers nothing. It was cool to see his buddies (Miller, Goldsmith) but nothing happens even with this funny Z-movie of the ant-man! His sixties are faraway from the best ("American graffiti", "BTF", "Ed Wood").So, maybe it's only a movie just for the morning when we are still half sleepy and half aware!

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.