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.

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.

THE WILLIAM CASTLE STORY (a.k.a. Matinée) is definitely my kinda movie. I caught it during its initial release and decided to revisit it last night. I'm glad I did, but I STILL couldn't warm to the kid who played the lead: he seemed then and still seems now to have been miscast. Other than that, I'm on board with everything else the movie has to offer (which is a lot). (Note: I wrote a script titled DOUBLE FEATURE- a portion of which can be found on the American Zoetrope website- that was a loving tribute to the drive-in, complete with two short features and a gaggle of Coming Attractions that included a live-action version of my black and white comic, KUNG FU CATS. So I was- and AM- in tune with what Dante wrought.) The MANT! costume was GREAT (the Mant himself coming across as perhaps a second cousin to THE FLY) and the cheesy imitation that that Starkweather kid (!) was wearing was just as memorable (in an INVADERS FROM MARS kind of way). And I'd give my lower left tentacle to get my claws on some of those FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLANDs we see strewn about in the movie.

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.