Matinee

Rating:
Summary: Serendipity Cinema #10
Review: A film you may never have heard of, but really should see. Trust me. If you grew up at the movies, like I did, this film is a slam-dunk. You went to the shows and devoured films like "It, The Terror From Beyond Space," & "Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers." The kid in this film is you (or me) and Lawrence Woolsey played by John Goodman is the guy who gave us our favorite junk movies. And add to that that it all takes place in Southern Florida during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and you have a deliciously fun film(I see that look in your eye and you'll just have to trust me on this) Fine performances all around and Joe Dante (a heroically underappreciated director) directing. Goodman's character is based on real-life producer William Castle who was known as much for his stunts as his movies. He gave us "The Tingler" crawling under the seats of the audience, and on one film actually gave the audience mild shocks through wires in their seats. He also issued "Death by Fright" Insurance policies in the lobby, and had an actress dressed like a nurse on duty,
just in case you had a heart attack. It is all gloriously remembered here. They even lets us see portions of the film he's trying to sell. "Half Man! Half Ant! He's Mant!" You'll see a bunch of stars of the B-Movie heaven here, but I'll let you find them, that's the fun. Even the clever little send-up of Disney films of the '60's ("The Shook Up Shopping Cart," with dead Dad coming back as a shopping cart and trying to solve crimes.) would make this worth seeing. This is not an epic, this is just a great little find. My friends, you put the joy of movie hokem next to the true terror of a world on the edge of Nuclear war, and you have a little film that has a lot to say, but never forgets what it is, and what it is meant to do. Goodman's character sums it all up when he tells the teen hero: "You think grown-ups have it all figured out? That's just a hustle, kid.
Grown-ups are making it up as they go along just like you. You remember that, and you'll do fine."

Rating:
Summary: Serendipity Cinema #10
Review: A film you may never have heard of, but really should see. Trust me. If you grew up at the movies, like I did, this film is a slam-dunk. You went to the shows and devoured films like "It, The Terror From Beyond Space," & "Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers." The kid in this film is you (or me) and Lawrence Woolsey played by John Goodman is the guy who gave us our favorite junk movies. And add to that that it all takes place in Southern Florida during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and you have a deliciously fun film(I see that look in your eye and you'll just have to trust me on this) Fine performances all around and Joe Dante (a heroically underappreciated director) directing. Goodman's character is based on real-life producer William Castle who was known as much for his stunts as his movies. He gave us "The Tingler" crawling under the seats of the audience, and on one film actually gave the audience mild shocks through wires in their seats. He also issued "Death by Fright" Insurance policies in the lobby, and had an actress dressed like a nurse on duty,
just in case you had a heart attack. It is all gloriously remembered here. They even lets us see portions of the film he's trying to sell. "Half Man! Half Ant! He's Mant!" You'll see a bunch of stars of the B-Movie heaven here, but I'll let you find them, that's the fun. Even the clever little send-up of Disney films of the '60's ("The Shook Up Shopping Cart," with dead Dad coming back as a shopping cart and trying to solve crimes.) would make this worth seeing. This is not an epic, this is just a great little find. My friends, you put the joy of movie hokem next to the true terror of a world on the edge of Nuclear war, and you have a little film that has a lot to say, but never forgets what it is, and what it is meant to do. Goodman's character sums it all up when he tells the teen hero: "You think grown-ups have it all figured out? That's just a hustle, kid.
Grown-ups are making it up as they go along just like you. You remember that, and you'll do fine."

Rating:
Summary: Matinee is better than "Lobsterman from Mars"
Review: A promoter of movies is coming to town. This is at the height of the bomb scare era. A boy from the near by base in Florida and a mysteriously girl that is a free thinker with a more realistic concept of nuclear destruction strike up a friendship with the promoter.

This movie has the same concept of spoofing most of our favorite bug movies. It also has an underlying script, which changes this movie from a "Lobsterman From Mars (1990), ASIN: B0000065S5 to more of an "A Christmas Story (1983)" B00000JKNP feel. You could have been there in the 60's. And footage is shown from the real films that it is spoofing. And once again the MANT (man-ant) has his appendages where they don't belong.


Rating:
Summary: Great film
Review: By turns poignant, nostalgic and hilarious. John Goodman, as a William Castle-type quickie-monster movie maker, rolls into town during the Cuban Missle Crisis to promote his lastest film, "The Mant" (the title says it all -- half man! half ant!)And "The Mant" is really not that bad! It's played during the movie -- a movie within a movie. And it shows what these cheapo horror films were like during the early '60s': theaters packed with sceaming kids as "The Mant" menaces everyone. This film is a pretty good reprensentation of that time -- for example, the silly bomb shelters (the theater manager has one built in the basement of the theater), and the leather-jacketed, duck-tailed juvenile deliquent (who barely has two brain cells to rub together). I had a copy of this movie. I lent it out. Not surprisingly, I never saw it again.

Rating:
Summary: What did I miss?
Review: Completely boring and uninteresting. I guess I missed the point. And I wanted to like this movie!

Rating:
Summary: A loving tribute to the great Wm. Castle...
Review: I really love this film. The bottom-line subject matter of the Cuban missile crisis is a catalyst, but the subject of the film is the innocence of youth and the reactions toward it, living in Key West, FL. The seriousness of that situation is alleviated when Goodman arrives, a film director of gimmicky horror films, a direct reference to William Castle.Director Joe Dante juxta-imposed the political and pop-culture idea with brilliance. This film never fails to entertain. Goodman is terrific, Cathy Moriarty is the best of all. Young Simon Fenton is great as the real star of the film. It's scary and fun and silly and ALL the things that make movies entertaining.

Rating:
Summary: This is a WUNDERFUL movie
Review: i really, really, really love this movie! it's sweet and fun and really cool. it's one of my favorites ever because it deals with really cool, corny cheaply made horror films which are really hilarious. john goodman makes a charming, whimsical, and endearing performance as a visionary film maker and the younger stars of the film are really amazing too. what can i say, this is the best and if you don't buy this, rent it!

Rating:
Summary: none
Review: i think this movie is exealent even if it is less realistic than what really happen in the early 60's i think.

Rating:
Summary: Is This MY Life?
Review: I was 12 years old during the Cuban Missle Crisis, in love with cheap, schlocky horror movies (ANYTHING with Vincent Price!), and had a subscription to "Famous Monsters of Filmland" Magazine, so, except for living in Florida (I lived in Hollywood - well - Los Angeles, the only place for a film fanatic to grow up) this could be my biography. When the boy is shown with monster magazines spread all over his bed, they're real magazines from the period, and I had every last blessed one of them! I also had the monster models in his bedroom. When he turns into a fount of movie minutia at lunch, he IS me at school lunch, the kid who knew the difference between William Castle and Roger Corman, who couldn't have mistaken Dick Miller, who knew every trivial fact about every trivial horror movie ever made, and who would share them all with anyone in earshot. This hilarious yet heartfelt movie pushed all my nostalgia buttons. Even now, I can say what's that poster for "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" doing in a 1962 movie theater when the film hadn't even been shot yet? I remember the panic in our local grocery store during the missle crisis, and it was exactly as Dante shows it in the film. It's my favorite John Goodman performance. He was born to play William Castle, aka "Lawrence Woolsey". This is Joe Dante at his best. Apparently he and I had the exact same childhood.

Rating:
Summary: Matinee a filmbuffs treat
Review: Matinee is a little gem of a movie, directed by Joe Dante (Gremlins, The Burbs, The Howling) the film is set in a coastal town in Florida during the Cuban missile crisis. Shock film maker Lawrence Woolsey (John Goodman)a take off character of shock film maker William Castle, comes to the small coastal town in the time of kaos to show his new B-film Mant! The film is shown through the eyes of a young teen who loves B horror films. The film is a fun innocent romp in an era of great change.
For film buffs this is a treat and shows Joe Dantes love of B-films. The film may not be for everyone but watch it anyway, you might enjoy it.
I actually only heard about this film when it came on home video it was never released in theatres in Australia. Being a huge fan of Dante's and a huge film fan I loved it. Matinee is a gem to watch, Joe Dante's best I believe.
John Goodman is perfect in the role as are the young actorsin their roles. Dante features his regular actors Robert Picardo (Gremlins 2, TV's Star Trek Voyager) and Dick Miller (Gremlins, The Howling) also.