Matinee (film)
Encyclopedia
Matinee is a 1993
period
comedy film
directed by Joe Dante
. It is an ensemble
piece about the home front
in the Cuban Missile Crisis
combined with a tribute to independent filmmaker William Castle
. The film stars John Goodman
, Cathy Moriarty
, Simon Fenton
, Omri Katz
, Lisa Jakub
, and Kellie Martin
. A then unknown Naomi Watts
has a small role as a character in a film within the film. The film was written by Jerico Stone
and Charlie Haas
, the latter portraying Mr. Elroy, a schoolteacher.
; their father is away onboard one of the nearby submarines. After leaving the announcement of an exclusive engagement of Lawrence Woolsey's (Goodman) Mant!, including Woolsey's appearance in-person, they arrive home to John F. Kennedy
's television interruption, stating the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba
. Woolsey finds this atmosphere of fear to be the perfect environment in which to open his film, Mant! in Atomo-Vision and Rumble-Rama.
Woolsey brings along Herb Denning (Miller) and Bob (Sayles) to stir up the yokels by protesting the film, but Howard, the theatre manager (Picardo), assures him that "the people of Key West are not yokels". Indeed, the progressive Jack and Rhonda (Clennon and Butler) find a strong free speech argument in allowing the film to proceed.
New to the local high school, and not getting along with the similarly-aged Andy (Nick Bronson) on the base, Gene ends up associating with Stan (Katz), and becomes infatuated with Jack and Rhonda's daughter, Sandra (Jakub), after she takes a detention for protest
ing the uselessness of an air raid
drill and yelling the truth of the faux protection at the students in the hall. In attempting to get a date to the dance, Stan goes for Sherry (Martin), who was seeing a prison
poet
, Harvey Starkweather (Villemaire), who regularly bothers Stan about his interest in her (and hers in him).
The film is structured in halves: the first half leading up to the screening, and the second half depicting the screening and what goes on at and around it. The film also showed the differences in two young women who would eventually become the girlfriends of the two boys in the film. The girlfriend of Gene had more progressive ideas of what a woman might become, whereas the eventual girlfriend of Stan was more in line with what society at the time of the film thought a young lady should be.
The film also includes scenes from Mant! ("Half man, half ant, all terror!", the tagline parodying RoboCop
's) that sharply skewer cheap '50s sci-fi and horror flicks.
. Several cues from previous films were also used, arranged and conducted by Dick Jacobs
, including "Main Title" from Son of Dracula
(1943); "Visitors" from It Came from Outer Space
(1953); "Main Title" from Tarantula
(1955); "Winged Death" from The Deadly Mantis
(1957); two cues from This Island Earth (1955), "Main Title" and “Shooting Stars;" and three cues from the Creature from the Black Lagoon trilogy: "Monster Attack" from Creature from the Black Lagoon
(1954); "Main Title" from Revenge of the Creature
(1955); and "Stalking the Creature" from The Creature Walks Among Us
(1956).
in each of his movies to date, casting him here as one of the men protesting the monster movie's release, and as a soldier holding a sack of sugar. Also appearing in supporting roles are both William Schallert
and Robert O. Cornthwaite
(each whom have appeared in scores of low-budget films of all genres); Kevin McCarthy
(perhaps best remembered for his role in Invasion of the Body Snatchers) as well as Robert Picardo
, both of whom have appeared in several of Dante's movies. John Sayles
, who collaborated with Dante on earlier movies, appears as one of the men protesting the monster movie's release.
shopping cart), is a reference to several color Disney comedies that actually came later in the decade: The Love Bug
(1969) in particular, and The Ugly Dachshund
(1966); Monkeys, Go Home!
(1967); Blackbeard's Ghost
(1968); The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit
(1968); The Million Dollar Duck
(1971); Snowball Express
(1972) and The Shaggy D.A.
(1976) in general.
. Roger Ebert
gave the film three and half out of four stars and wrote, "There are a lot of big laughs in Matinee, and not many moments when I didn't have a wide smile on my face". In her review for the New York Times, Janet Maslin
wrote, "Matinee, which devotes a lot of energy to the minor artifacts of American pop culture circa 1962, is funny and ingenious up to a point. Eventually, it becomes much too cluttered, with an oversupply of minor characters and a labored bomb-and-horror-film parallel that necessitates bringing down the movie house". Entertainment Weekly
gave the film a "B+" rating and Owen Gleiberman
wrote, "In Matinee, Dante has captured the reason that Cold War trash like Mant struck such a nerve in American youth: The prospect of atomic disaster was so fanciful and abstract that it began to merge in people's imaginations with the very pop culture it had spawned. In effect, it all became one big movie. Matinee is a loving tribute to the schlock that fear created". In his review for the Los Angeles Times
, Peter Rainer wrote of Dante's film: "He pulls out his bag of tricks and even puts in an animated doodle; he's reaching not only for the flagrant awfulness of movies like MANT but also for the zippy ardor of the classic Warner Bros. cartoons. He does everything but put a buzzer under your seat". In his review for the Chicago Reader, Jonathan Rosenbaum
wrote, "At the same time that Dante has a field day brutally satirizing our desire to scare ourselves and others, he also re-creates early-60s clichés with a relish and a feeling for detail that come very close to love". In her review for the Washington Post, Rita Kempley wrote, "In this funny, philosophical salute to B-movies and the B-moguls who made them, Dante looks back fondly on growing up with the apocalypse always on your mind and atomic mutants lurking under your bed". In his review for the USA Today
, Mike Clark wrote, "Part spoof, part nostalgia trip and part primer in exploitation-pic ballyhoo, Matinee is a sweetly resonant little movie-lovers' movie".
1993 in film
The year 1993 in film involved many significant films, including the blockbuster hits Jurassic Park, The Fugitive and The Firm. -Events:...
period
Period piece
-Setting:In the performing arts, a period piece is a work set in a particular era. This informal term covers all countries, all periods and all genres...
comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed by Joe Dante
Joe Dante
Joseph "Joe" Dante, Jr. is an American film director and producer of films generally with humorous and science fiction content....
. It is an ensemble
Ensemble cast
An ensemble cast is made up of cast members in which the principal actors and performers are assigned roughly equal amounts of importance and screen time in a dramatic production. This kind of casting became more popular in television series because it allows flexibility for writers to focus on...
piece about the home front
Home front
Home front is the informal term commonly used to describe the civilian populace of the nation at war as an active support system of their military....
in the Cuban Missile Crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
combined with a tribute to independent filmmaker William Castle
William Castle
William Castle was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Castle was known for directing films with many gimmicks which were ambitiously promoted, despite being reasonably low budget B-movies....
. The film stars John Goodman
John Goodman
John Stephen Goodman is an American film, television, and stage actor. He is best known for his role as Dan Conner on the television series Roseanne for which he won a Best Actor Golden Globe Award in 1993, and for appearances in the films of the Coen brothers, with prominent roles in Raising...
, Cathy Moriarty
Cathy Moriarty
-Career:Her first film credit was Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull in 1980, as Vikki LaMotta, the wife of Robert De Niro's lead character. Her performance earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also appeared opposite Andrew Dice Clay in the short-lived CBS...
, Simon Fenton
Simon Fenton
Simon Fenton is a British actor who has appeared in several different television roles.One of his earliest roles was in Tom's Midnight Garden, and he also appeared in the ITV children's series T-Bag and the Sunstones of Montezuma, Through The Dragon's Eye, and the Russell T Davies series Century...
, Omri Katz
Omri Katz
Omri Haim Katz is an American actor. His TV and film credits include Eerie, Indiana; Matinee; Adventures in Dinosaur City; Hocus Pocus; and the CBS prime time soap opera Dallas, in which he played the role of John Ross Ewing III, the son of J.R...
, Lisa Jakub
Lisa Jakub
Lisa Jakub is a Canadian-American actress, best known for her roles in Mrs. Doubtfire and Independence Day.-Early life and career:...
, and Kellie Martin
Kellie Martin
Kellie Noelle Martin is an American television actress who is known for her roles as Rebecca Thacher on Life Goes On, Christy Huddleston on Christy, Lucy Knight on ER, and Samantha Kinsey on Mystery Woman.-Early life:...
. A then unknown Naomi Watts
Naomi Watts
Naomi Ellen Watts is a British actress. Watts began her career in Australian television, where she appeared in series such as Hey Dad..! , Brides of Christ , and Home and Away . Her film debut was the 1986 drama For Love Alone...
has a small role as a character in a film within the film. The film was written by Jerico Stone
Jerico Stone
-Trivia:* Also credited simply as "Jerico".* When Jerico Stone lost an arbitration on the film Matinee and received only a shared story credit - a result that is tantamount to the verdict "Your screenplay must have stunk" - he was so angry that he tried to replace his name in the credits with the...
and Charlie Haas
Charles S. Haas
Charles S. Haas , also known as Charles Haas or Charlie Haas, is an American screenwriter and actor, and novelist....
, the latter portraying Mr. Elroy, a schoolteacher.
Plot
Gene Loomis (Fenton) and his brother Dennis (Lee) live on a military base in Key West, FloridaKey West, Florida
Key West is a city in Monroe County, Florida, United States. The city encompasses the island of Key West, the part of Stock Island north of U.S. 1 , Sigsbee Park , Fleming Key , and Sunset Key...
; their father is away onboard one of the nearby submarines. After leaving the announcement of an exclusive engagement of Lawrence Woolsey's (Goodman) Mant!, including Woolsey's appearance in-person, they arrive home to John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
's television interruption, stating the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. Woolsey finds this atmosphere of fear to be the perfect environment in which to open his film, Mant! in Atomo-Vision and Rumble-Rama.
Woolsey brings along Herb Denning (Miller) and Bob (Sayles) to stir up the yokels by protesting the film, but Howard, the theatre manager (Picardo), assures him that "the people of Key West are not yokels". Indeed, the progressive Jack and Rhonda (Clennon and Butler) find a strong free speech argument in allowing the film to proceed.
New to the local high school, and not getting along with the similarly-aged Andy (Nick Bronson) on the base, Gene ends up associating with Stan (Katz), and becomes infatuated with Jack and Rhonda's daughter, Sandra (Jakub), after she takes a detention for protest
Protest
A protest is an expression of objection, by words or by actions, to particular events, policies or situations. Protests can take many different forms, from individual statements to mass demonstrations...
ing the uselessness of an air raid
Airstrike
An air strike is an attack on a specific objective by military aircraft during an offensive mission. Air strikes are commonly delivered from aircraft such as fighters, bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters, and others...
drill and yelling the truth of the faux protection at the students in the hall. In attempting to get a date to the dance, Stan goes for Sherry (Martin), who was seeing a prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, Harvey Starkweather (Villemaire), who regularly bothers Stan about his interest in her (and hers in him).
The film is structured in halves: the first half leading up to the screening, and the second half depicting the screening and what goes on at and around it. The film also showed the differences in two young women who would eventually become the girlfriends of the two boys in the film. The girlfriend of Gene had more progressive ideas of what a woman might become, whereas the eventual girlfriend of Stan was more in line with what society at the time of the film thought a young lady should be.
The film also includes scenes from Mant! ("Half man, half ant, all terror!", the tagline parodying RoboCop
RoboCop
RoboCop is a 1987 American science fiction-action film directed by Paul Verhoeven. Set in a crime-ridden Detroit, Michigan in the near future, RoboCop centers on a police officer who is brutally murdered and subsequently re-created as a super-human cyborg known as "RoboCop"...
's) that sharply skewer cheap '50s sci-fi and horror flicks.
Cast
- John GoodmanJohn GoodmanJohn Stephen Goodman is an American film, television, and stage actor. He is best known for his role as Dan Conner on the television series Roseanne for which he won a Best Actor Golden Globe Award in 1993, and for appearances in the films of the Coen brothers, with prominent roles in Raising...
as Lawrence Woolsey - Cathy MoriartyCathy Moriarty-Career:Her first film credit was Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull in 1980, as Vikki LaMotta, the wife of Robert De Niro's lead character. Her performance earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also appeared opposite Andrew Dice Clay in the short-lived CBS...
as Ruth Corday / Carole - Simon FentonSimon FentonSimon Fenton is a British actor who has appeared in several different television roles.One of his earliest roles was in Tom's Midnight Garden, and he also appeared in the ITV children's series T-Bag and the Sunstones of Montezuma, Through The Dragon's Eye, and the Russell T Davies series Century...
as Gene Loomis - Omri KatzOmri KatzOmri Haim Katz is an American actor. His TV and film credits include Eerie, Indiana; Matinee; Adventures in Dinosaur City; Hocus Pocus; and the CBS prime time soap opera Dallas, in which he played the role of John Ross Ewing III, the son of J.R...
as Stan - Lisa JakubLisa JakubLisa Jakub is a Canadian-American actress, best known for her roles in Mrs. Doubtfire and Independence Day.-Early life and career:...
as Sandra - Kellie MartinKellie MartinKellie Noelle Martin is an American television actress who is known for her roles as Rebecca Thacher on Life Goes On, Christy Huddleston on Christy, Lucy Knight on ER, and Samantha Kinsey on Mystery Woman.-Early life:...
as Sherry - Jesse SofferJesse SofferJesse Lee Soffer is an American actor. His film debut at the age of eight was in Matinee. In 1995, he played the role of Bobby Brady in The Brady Bunch Movie and returned for A Very Brady Sequel a year later....
as Dennis Loomis - Lucinda JenneyLucinda Jenney-Career:Jenney began her acting career in 1984 with Hearts and Diamonds. Several roles followed throughout the eighties, appearing in the 1986 comedy The Whoopee Boys, the award-winning Peggy Sue Got Married, with Kathleen Turner and Nicholas Cage. She appeared as 'Iris' in the Oscar-winning film...
as Anne Loomis - James Villemaire as Harvey Starkweather
- Robert PicardoRobert PicardoRobert Picardo is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayals of Dr. Dick Richards on ABC's China Beach, the Emergency Medical Hologram , also known as The Doctor, on UPN's Star Trek: Voyager, The Cowboy in Innerspace, Coach Cutlip on The Wonder Years , Ben Wheeler in Wagons East, and as...
as Howard, the Theater Manager - Jesse WhiteJesse WhiteJesse White may refer to:*Jesse White , film and television actor*Jesse White , Illinois politician*Jesse J. White, member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives*Jesco White, the West Virginia "Dancing Outlaw"...
as Mr. Spector - Dick MillerDick MillerRichard "Dick" Miller is an American character actor who has appeared in over 100 films, particularly those produced by Roger Corman, and later in films of directors who started their careers with Corman, including James Cameron and Joe Dante, with the distinction of appearing in every film made...
as Herb Denning - John SaylesJohn SaylesJohn Thomas Sayles is an American independent film director, screenwriter and author.-Early life:Sayles was born in Schenectady, New York, the son of Mary , a teacher, and Donald John Sayles, a school administrator. He was raised Catholic and took to labeling himself "a Catholic atheist"...
as Bob - David Clennon as Jack
- Lucy Butler as Rhonda
- Naomi WattsNaomi WattsNaomi Ellen Watts is a British actress. Watts began her career in Australian television, where she appeared in series such as Hey Dad..! , Brides of Christ , and Home and Away . Her film debut was the 1986 drama For Love Alone...
as Shopping Cart Starlet
Music
The original score was composed by Jerry GoldsmithJerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring....
. Several cues from previous films were also used, arranged and conducted by Dick Jacobs
Dick Jacobs
Dick Jacobs was an American musician, conductor, arranger, orchestrator, music director and an artists-and-repertoire director for several record labels who helped Jackie Wilson, Buddy Holly, Bobby Darin and others form their careers in the late 1950s and early 1960s.-Life and career:He was born...
, including "Main Title" from Son of Dracula
Son of Dracula
Son of Dracula can refer to:* Son of Dracula , a 1943 horror film starring Lon Chaney Jr.* Son of Dracula , a 1974 film starring Harry Nilsson and Ringo Starr, as well as a soundtrack album of the same title....
(1943); "Visitors" from It Came from Outer Space
It Came from Outer Space
It Came from Outer Space is a 1953 science fiction 3-D film directed by Jack Arnold, and starring Richard Carlson, Barbara Rush, and Charles Drake. It was Universal's first film to be filmed in 3-D.- Plot :...
(1953); "Main Title" from Tarantula
Tarantula (film)
Tarantula is a 1955 science fiction film directed by Jack Arnold, and starring Leo G. Carroll, John Agar, and Mara Corday. Among other things, the film is notable for the appearance of a 25-year-old Clint Eastwood in an uncredited role as a jet pilot at the end of the film.-Plot summary:The plot...
(1955); "Winged Death" from The Deadly Mantis
The Deadly Mantis
The Deadly Mantis is a 1957 science fiction film produced by William Alland for Universal-International Pictures. It was directed by Nathan Juran from a screenplay by Martin Berkeley, and starred Craig Stevens, William Hopper, Alix Talton, and Pat Conway...
(1957); two cues from This Island Earth (1955), "Main Title" and “Shooting Stars;" and three cues from the Creature from the Black Lagoon trilogy: "Monster Attack" from Creature from the Black Lagoon
Creature from the Black Lagoon
Creature from the Black Lagoon is a 1954 monster horror film directed by Jack Arnold, and starring Richard Carlson, Julia Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno, and Whit Bissell. The eponymous creature was played by Ben Chapman on land and Ricou Browning in underwater scenes...
(1954); "Main Title" from Revenge of the Creature
Revenge of the Creature
Revenge of the Creature is the first sequel to Creature from the Black Lagoon. The film is notable for being the only 3-D film to be released in 1955; the only 3-D sequel to a 3-D film; and for being the first screen role for Clint Eastwood. The movie was released May 11, 1955, in the United States...
(1955); and "Stalking the Creature" from The Creature Walks Among Us
The Creature Walks Among Us
The Creature Walks Among Us is the third and final installment of the Creature from the Black Lagoon horror film series from Universal Pictures, following 1955's Revenge of the Creature. The film was released April 26, 1956, in the United States....
(1956).
Casting
Joe Dante has cast character actor Dick MillerDick Miller
Richard "Dick" Miller is an American character actor who has appeared in over 100 films, particularly those produced by Roger Corman, and later in films of directors who started their careers with Corman, including James Cameron and Joe Dante, with the distinction of appearing in every film made...
in each of his movies to date, casting him here as one of the men protesting the monster movie's release, and as a soldier holding a sack of sugar. Also appearing in supporting roles are both William Schallert
William Schallert
William Joseph Schallert is an American actor who has appeared in many films and in such television series as The Smurfs, The Rat Patrol, Gunsmoke, The Patty Duke Show, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The Waltons, Bonanza, Leave It to Beaver, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Love, American Style, Get...
and Robert O. Cornthwaite
Robert O. Cornthwaite
Robert O. Cornthwaite was an American film and television character actor who began his acting career in 1937, appearing in a college production of Twelfth Night, while attending Reed College in Portland, Oregon....
(each whom have appeared in scores of low-budget films of all genres); Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy
-Politicians:*Kevin McCarthy , United States Representative from California's 22nd congressional district*Kevin McCarthy , member of the Iowa House of Representatives...
(perhaps best remembered for his role in Invasion of the Body Snatchers) as well as Robert Picardo
Robert Picardo
Robert Picardo is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayals of Dr. Dick Richards on ABC's China Beach, the Emergency Medical Hologram , also known as The Doctor, on UPN's Star Trek: Voyager, The Cowboy in Innerspace, Coach Cutlip on The Wonder Years , Ben Wheeler in Wagons East, and as...
, both of whom have appeared in several of Dante's movies. John Sayles
John Sayles
John Thomas Sayles is an American independent film director, screenwriter and author.-Early life:Sayles was born in Schenectady, New York, the son of Mary , a teacher, and Donald John Sayles, a school administrator. He was raised Catholic and took to labeling himself "a Catholic atheist"...
, who collaborated with Dante on earlier movies, appears as one of the men protesting the monster movie's release.
Film within a film: The Shook-Up Shopping Cart
Although Matinee is set in October of 1962, its film within a film, the family-oriented gimmick comedy The Shook-Up Shopping Cart (featuring an anthropomorphicAnthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
shopping cart), is a reference to several color Disney comedies that actually came later in the decade: The Love Bug
The Love Bug
The Love Bug is the first in a series of comedy films made by Walt Disney Productions that starred an anthropomorphic pearl-white, fabric-sunroofed 1963 Volkswagen racing Beetle named Herbie...
(1969) in particular, and The Ugly Dachshund
The Ugly Dachshund
The Ugly Dachshund is a 1966 Walt Disney Productions feature film starring Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette in a story about a Great Dane who believes he's a dachshund. Based on a 1938 novel by Gladys Bronwyn Stern, the film was written by Albert Aley and directed by Norman Tokar...
(1966); Monkeys, Go Home!
Monkeys, Go Home!
Monkeys, Go Home! is a 1967 Disney film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen. The movie stars Maurice Chevalier and Yvette Mimieux. Dean Jones plays Hank Dussard, the new owner of an olive grove, who brings in chimp labor, upsetting the other workers...
(1967); Blackbeard's Ghost
Blackbeard's Ghost
Blackbeard's Ghost is a 1968 live-action fantasy comedy Disney film starring Peter Ustinov, Dean Jones, and Suzanne Pleshette, directed by Robert Stevenson. It is based upon the novel of the same name by Ben Stahl and was shot in Walt Disney Studios. The Disney Channel aired this film until the...
(1968); The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit
The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit
The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit is a 1968 film directed by Norman Tokar....
(1968); The Million Dollar Duck
The Million Dollar Duck
The Million Dollar Duck is a 1971 Disney comedy film that was directed by Vincent McEveety, and stars Dean Jones, Sandy Duncan and Joe Flynn.-Plot:...
(1971); Snowball Express
Snowball Express
Snowball Express is a 1972 screwball comedy film made by Walt Disney Productions about a man who leaves his desk job to run a hotel left to him by his uncle.-Plot:...
(1972) and The Shaggy D.A.
The Shaggy D.A.
The Shaggy D.A. is a 1976 film sequel to 1959's The Shaggy Dog by Walt Disney Productions. It was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Don Tait, based on the original film and inspired by the long out-of-print Felix Salten novel, The Hound of Florence.It starred Dean Jones as the adult...
(1976) in general.
Reception
Matinee was well received by film critics and has a 91% rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film three and half out of four stars and wrote, "There are a lot of big laughs in Matinee, and not many moments when I didn't have a wide smile on my face". In her review for the New York Times, Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for The New York Times. She served as the Times film critic from 1977–1999.- Biography :...
wrote, "Matinee, which devotes a lot of energy to the minor artifacts of American pop culture circa 1962, is funny and ingenious up to a point. Eventually, it becomes much too cluttered, with an oversupply of minor characters and a labored bomb-and-horror-film parallel that necessitates bringing down the movie house". Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave the film a "B+" rating and Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman is an American film critic for Entertainment Weekly, a position he has held since the magazine's launch in 1990. From 1981–89, he worked at the Boston Phoenix....
wrote, "In Matinee, Dante has captured the reason that Cold War trash like Mant struck such a nerve in American youth: The prospect of atomic disaster was so fanciful and abstract that it began to merge in people's imaginations with the very pop culture it had spawned. In effect, it all became one big movie. Matinee is a loving tribute to the schlock that fear created". In his review for the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, Peter Rainer wrote of Dante's film: "He pulls out his bag of tricks and even puts in an animated doodle; he's reaching not only for the flagrant awfulness of movies like MANT but also for the zippy ardor of the classic Warner Bros. cartoons. He does everything but put a buzzer under your seat". In his review for the Chicago Reader, Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum is an American film critic. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for the Chicago Reader from 1987 until 2008, when he retired at the age of 65...
wrote, "At the same time that Dante has a field day brutally satirizing our desire to scare ourselves and others, he also re-creates early-60s clichés with a relish and a feeling for detail that come very close to love". In her review for the Washington Post, Rita Kempley wrote, "In this funny, philosophical salute to B-movies and the B-moguls who made them, Dante looks back fondly on growing up with the apocalypse always on your mind and atomic mutants lurking under your bed". In his review for the USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, Mike Clark wrote, "Part spoof, part nostalgia trip and part primer in exploitation-pic ballyhoo, Matinee is a sweetly resonant little movie-lovers' movie".
External links
- Joe Dante interview at DVD Savant