Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Matinee

Matinee is a comedic coming of age story set against the backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the glory days of the B movie. John Goodman plays Lawrence Woolsey, a stand-in for classic B movie mastermind William Castle, who shows up in town with his new monster movie, Mant, and a boatload of gimmicks. Matinee blends together a lot of elements from 1950's and 1960's American culture (cold war paranoia, juvenile deliquency, teen culture, etc.) which muddies up the time frame a bit, but doesn't distract from the movie as a whole. Matinee is Joe Dante's love letter to the bygone era of the B movie.

Rating: 90%

(Image from movieposter.com)

3 comments:

Walter Benjamin and the Mechanical Reproductions (the band) said...

the beat goes on

DCP said...

This was the movie they played on the boat over from the old country.

I.J. said...

John Goodman is the best Manatee.