An underrated film by an underrated director, MATINEE plays like the genial flipside of DR. STRANGELOVE an apocalyptic Cold War comedy whose highly entertaining pop-culture surface is laced with sharp political subtext.
Set in Key West in October, 1962, the story parallels two contrasting but subtly linked forms of nightmare: the Cuban Missile Crisis with its threat of nuclear Armageddon, and the premiere of the cheesy horror film MANT (“Half Man, Half Ant, All Terror!”), personally presented by producer-huckster Lawrence Woolsey (Goodman, irresistible in a role patterned after shlockmeister William Castle). It’s told mostly through the eyes of a group of local teenagers, reflecting the precarious naïveté of an era when covering your head was supposed to protect you from an atomic blast, and your nutrition teacher exhorted you to eat red meat three times a day. 35mm. (MR)
MATINEE
1993, Joe Dante, USA, 99 min.
With John Goodman, Cathy Moriarty
“A delightful comedy and one of the most charming movies in a long time.”
–Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Gene Siskel Film Center
164 North State Street, Chicago, IL
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
https://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/
