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Waste of time

To me, this movie is perfection.

Excellent but underrated film

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Is there anything more satisfying as a film fan than discovering a forgotten gem? How about a forgotten gem that expresses a bleeding heart love for cinema? Matinee is a fantastic nostalgia trip about the Cold War & the opportunity movies provide for anyone looking to escape reality, while coming out more fully understanding it. Dante walks this balance through honesty about the time, & a whole heap of loving humor about suburban paranoia.

"Matinee" (1993) I recently happened upon this likable comedy directed by Joe Dante (Gremlins, Innerspace, The Howling) and set in 1961 during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The young protagonist Gene, a recent resident of Key West, FL, finds himself in a small community with no friends, unhappy and forlorn. When word gets out that his Navy dad is on a ship blockading Cuba, he becomes something of a high school celebrity, who gains acceptance by a small circle of friends. Eventually he hooks up with Sandra (Lisa Jakub – Mrs. Doubtfire), who he admires because of her refusal to participate in a school A-bomb drill (stop, drop, cover your head with your hands), because she protests in a scientifically correct manner: the blast will vaporize you or you'll die from radiation exposure. Enter Lawrence Woolsey (John Goodman) a Hollywood horror movie mogul, who's in town to promote his latest release, "Mant", enlisting Gene's help to make the flick's debut a must-see local event. Actress Ruth Corday, played by Cathy Moriarity (Raging Bull) is Lawrence's girlfriend, in a hilarious, sardonic side-job as the theater nurse who makes all movie patrons sign a medical waiver, "in case you have a heart attack while watching the movie". A litany of great character actors, round out the cast: Kellie Martin (Becca on TV's Life Goes On), Jesse White (Harvey), Kevin McCarthy (B- movie horror king of the 50's & 60s'), Director/Actor John Sayles (Return of Seacaucus Seven) and William Schallert (The Patty Duke Show). Simon Fenton does a fine job as Gene, but the stellar attraction is John Goodman, who is one of the most talented actors in Hollywood, but is perhaps the most underrated. This is currently playing on Starz broadcast & on demand and is available on DVD. This is a good family film and will bring back baby- boomers' memories of the cold war and the "Red Scare".

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!

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!