Matinee

Set in Florida during the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, Joe Dante's Matinee focuses on a schlock movie promoter named Woolsey (inspired by real-life producer William Castle and played by John Goodman) who arrives in Key West with his latest Grade-Z movie, Mant!, about the raving half-man/half-ant product of "science run amuck." Balancing youthful exuberance with the ominous threat of nuclear attack, Dante finds his alter ego in Simon Fenton, who plays a 15-year-old captivated by Woolsey's cheesy showmanship.\nThis affectionate devotion is matched by Dante, who captures the anxiety of the missile crisis even as Matinee delivers an abundance of humour. Director John Sayles and Dante movie veteran Dick Miller have cameos as Woolsey's showbiz accomplices, and Cathy Moriarty plays Woolsey's wise-cracking mistress and Z-movie queen.