On our latest episode, Over/Under Movies takes a look at two different examples of movies about movies. My co-host Ryan Oliver made the picks this time out, and he decided to pit an Oscar winner for Best Picture in “The Artist” in the overrated category against Joe Dante‘s undervalued 1993 charmer “Matinee.” Tune in to hear how we wrangle the two films together for this chat.
Director Michel Hazanavicius‘ “The Artist” was unexpectedly a massive success in 2011, riding a successful premiere in competition at Cannes that year and on to other festivals before getting a late year, awards-friendly U.S. release in theaters. It eventually went on to win five Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director, and Actor for lead Jean Dujardin.
READ MORE: Review: ‘The Artist’ A Joyous, Big Hearted Tribute To Old School Moviemaking
Dante is a favorite of this podcast (we’ve spoke about him before), and his little seen charmer “Matinee” is a film my co-host has been dying to talk about here. Set in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the film is a densely-packed comedy with a big heart that follows a William Castle-esque filmmaker (played by a near-perfect John Goodman) as he premieres his latest B movie gem, “Mant!” at a Key West movie theater. Goodman is ostensibly the lead here, but he’s surrounded by a large cast of characters, most of them kids, as the film wraps a lot of material, themes and just enough nostalgia into its 100 minute duration.
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