Watch: ‘An Overlooked Movie About Movies’ Video Essay for ‘Matinee’

Watch: ‘An Overlooked Movie About Movies’ Video Essay for ‘Matinee’

by Alex Billington
December 22, 2022
Source: YouTube

“Matinee is almost like a thesis on the way that we turn to movies to process on our fears, and about the value of even the junkiest of schlock.” Have you seen this movie? If you haven’t yet, and you’re here reading FirstShowing, then you must find it and watch it tonight. This video essay is the latest from editor Andrew Saladino, who has an entire essay collection called “The Royal Ocean Film Society” – check him out on YT. It’s a tribute to the movie Matinee, an underrated and underseen 1993 comedy directed by Joe Dante a few years after he made The ‘Burbs and Gremlins 2. It’s about a small-time film promoter who releases a kitschy horror film during the Cuban Missile Crisis, set at a junky old movie palace. John Goodman stars as a filmmaker named Lawrence Woolsey, who is pretty much a version of the real William Castle. For some reason Matinee has ended up lost in time and most forgotten, but it’s being rediscovered and re-appraised recently and this video essay does a terrific job of analyzing it. Hopefully this convinces a few more to watch.

Thanks to Twitter for the tip on this video essay. This “The Most Overlooked Movie About Movies” video is created & edited by Andrew Saladino (follow him @andymsaladino) who runs a YouTube channel called “The Royal Ocean Film Society” – view more of their videos. He explains: “The Royal Ocean Film Society is an ongoing series of visual essays that explore film craft and history, and is where the majority of my focus has been for the last several years. The channel started as a fun little hobby during my last semester of college (Royal Ocean Productions was the name of the little production troupe my friends and I formed in college, and when I started the channel, I ported the name over) but has since grown into a larger endeavor that combines together a number of my interests.” Andrew also includes links to a few other articles about Matinee, including this one “You Gotta Keep Your Eyes Open: An Appreciation of Matinee.” For more info, head to YouTube. To watch even more video essays, click here. Are there any big fans of Matinee out there?

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