Reviews (105)

A Fun Halloween or Anytime Movie, One of the Best.
Three aged witch sisters (Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy) are brought back to life after three hundred years when a teen virgin taking his little sister (Thora Birch) trick-or-treating scoffs at a local legend and lights a black flame while trying to impress a girl.

It is light-hearted and fun but a little scary for a Disney flick as the witch sisters must find children and suck the life from them to regain their own youth.

Good vehicle for Midler and Parker as the bumbling witches wisecrack their way through an action-filled Halloween night. Ten-year-old Thora Birch (American Beauty, Ghost World) is typically witty and very cute.

Some themes are a bit racy for a Disney feature and very young children might find some scenes a bit scary, but these are what help make this movie entertaining for the whole family. It's Halloween fun.

Any witch way you slice it...Hocus Pocus is fun!
I never understood the negative reviews for Hocus Pocus. We went to the theatre anyway and thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Bette Midler is hammy, yes, but it's Bette! She's playing a beaver-toothed, child chasing 17th century witch in a Disney flick. What else is there but hammy?! Kathy Nijimy, with her Dairy Queen hair and lopsided grin, is a hoot. And Sarah Jessica Parker, the curvaceous, third sister, does Sex In the City...Salem-style! (stictly PG of course!) Thora Birch has yet to reach her brooding, raven-haired American Beauty stage, so she's still adorable! And to top it off, there is Zachary Binx, the talking black cat...an obvious inspiration for Sabrina, the Teenage Witch's Salem! My seven-year-old daughter loves this movie! I finally purchased the video today (we had been holding out for a DVD release) to save myself the video rental fees! If you're not a "serious student of film" and can sit and watch and just enjoy a fun movie...rent Hocus Pocus for a test drive...and then buy it!

Glorious For Anyone Who Loves Halloween
If you grew up where I grew up, Halloween was THE biggest event of the year - and all these (45) years later, I still love the sights, smells and spirit of that most magical night.

In Hocus Pocus, you might not find true horror, blood and guts, body parts and roaming zombies (um, wait...), but you do feel the gorgeous allure of the season through the crunchy-leafed scenery, the equisite set design, costuming, innocence of youth and the somewhat corny (if not over-acted) witchy zeal of the wonderful Sanderson sisters. Okay, the plot wouldn't win a Pulitzer Prize, but for sheer fun and enjoyment, let Hocus Pocus transport you to a time and place where witches ruled and moms still impersonated Madonna in cone cupped bustiers. PS: Did I mention I have my own black cat named Zachary Binx?

Disney wrost movie.
This movie shoud be on MST3000.

"This are my three ugly sisters."

"She flying a what?"

"You she her this moring."

It's time to run a-muck!
I, personally, find this movie to be hilarious. The acresses are great and very funny. The whole cast is great. The story is very funny as well. ... Read more

Amazon.com

For anyone who craves the adrenaline rush of maximum velocity, Speed is a thrill ride custom-made for superior home-theater systems. Like any IMAX film, this popular 30-minute program suffers from home-theater reduction, but its crisp images and flawless audio (especially in DTS mode) provide adequate compensation as James Burke (lively host of the classic science/invention series Connections) narrates a brisk survey of speed, from the earliest push-pedal bicycle, to the Stanley Steamer, internal combustion engines (including a nod to pioneering hot-rodder Bill Vukovich), jets, rockets, and beyond. From Chuck Yeager's breaking of the sound barrier in 1947's Bell X-1, to the supersonic SR-71 "Blackbird" spy-plane, the Apollo missions, rocket-powered dragsters, and the Blue Angels precision-flight team, this MacGillivray-Freeman production delivers a breathtaking blaze of color, sound, and historical perspective, finally suggesting--with a "stargate" sequence reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey--that "the final frontier" of speed lies within the realm of imagination. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (3)

the music is awful!
Terrible Music.... dumb movie but still fun to watch if you like this kinda scripts. For better music try The Living Sea music by Sting ...

Well produced, fun experience
As with all the other HD IMAX titles, "Speed" is a fun ride.The WMV High Definition quality is excellent, the story is engaging, and the production quality is top notch.

A Definitive IMAX Experience
Okay, let's face it. This film came out before my time. I wasn't around in 1982 to see this when it premiered in big screen theatres. I only managed to catch wind of it thanks to an old DOS Educational program from Knowledge Adventure that featured the film itself. But ever since I was little, this film has never failed to capture my imagination.

It is definitely a great experience for those who can manage to catch it on an IMAX big screen as I had the chance to in May, (In fact, I think the Ontario Place Cinesphere in Toronto is the only theatre in the world still showing this film!) but this film DEFINITELY lives up to its title.

It is a rather short lived film (as most IMAX films are, due to the limitations of the format, around 40 minutes) with this particular title weighing in at around 30 minutes. For the time that it does last, the movie takes you through a whirlwind of information about the history of speed, some of its various uses, and how the technology has progressed today. Tie it off with a nice 2001: A Space Odyssey like sequence about travelling faster than light, and you have yourself a not so detailed, but fun introduction to various forms of speed. The film bases its success widely on the variety of shots that it uses from aerial cameras with the Blue Angel Precision Flying Squadron, to the front of a rollercoaster.

An overall good film, but more suited to children around ages 8 and up. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Matinee offers one of the best matches of director and screenplay that you're ever likely to find. Raised on a steady diet of 1950s monster movies, Joe Dante later contributed to the genre with such films as Gremlins and Explorers, but it was Charlie Haas's script for Matinee that gave Dante a perfect platform for comedy, dramatic context, and nostalgic homage. Set in Florida during the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, the movie focuses on a schlock-movie promoter named Woolsey (inspired by real-life producer William Castle and played to perfection by John Goodman) who arrives in Key West with his latest Grade-Z extravaganza, Mant, about the raving half-man/half-ant product of "science run amuck." (This movie-within-a-movie is a perfect tribute by Dante, who cast B-movie stalwarts in the kind of roles they'd built careers on.)

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. This affectionate devotion is matched by Dante, who captures the anxiety of the missile crisis even as Matinee delivers an abundance of humor. Director John Sayles and Dante-movie veteran Dick Miller have cameos as Woolsey's show-biz accomplices, and Cathy Moriarty is brilliant as Woolsey's wisecracking mistress and Z-movie queen. All of this makes Matinee a polished gem that's sweetly entertaining while staying true to the serious context of its story. It's the movie Joe Dante was born to direct. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Serendipity Cinema #10
A film you may never have heard of, but really should see. Trust me. If you grew up at the movies, like I did, this film is a slam-dunk. You went to the shows and devoured films like "It, The Terror From Beyond Space," & "Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers." The kid in this film is you (or me) and Lawrence Woolsey played by John Goodman is the guy who gave us our favorite junk movies. And add to that that it all takes place in Southern Florida during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and you have a deliciously fun film(I see that look in your eye and you'll just have to trust me on this) Fine performances all around and Joe Dante (a heroically underappreciated director) directing. Goodman's character is based on real-life producer William Castle who was known as much for his stunts as his movies. He gave us "The Tingler" crawling under the seats of the audience, and on one film actually gave the audience mild shocks through wires in their seats. He also issued "Death by Fright" Insurance policies in the lobby, and had an actress dressed like a nurse on duty,
just in case you had a heart attack. It is all gloriously remembered here. They even lets us see portions of the film he's trying to sell. "Half Man! Half Ant! He's Mant!" You'll see a bunch of stars of the B-Movie heaven here, but I'll let you find them, that's the fun. Even the clever little send-up of Disney films of the '60's ("The Shook Up Shopping Cart," with dead Dad coming back as a shopping cart and trying to solve crimes.) would make this worth seeing. This is not an epic, this is just a great little find. My friends, you put the joy of movie hokem next to the true terror of a world on the edge of Nuclear war, and you have a little film that has a lot to say, but never forgets what it is, and what it is meant to do. Goodman's character sums it all up when he tells the teen hero: "You think grown-ups have it all figured out? That's just a hustle, kid.
Grown-ups are making it up as they go along just like you. You remember that, and you'll do fine."

Matinee a filmbuffs treat
Matinee is a little gem of a movie, directed by Joe Dante (Gremlins, The Burbs, The Howling) the film is set in a coastal town in Florida during the Cuban missile crisis. Shock film maker Lawrence Woolsey (John Goodman)a take off character of shock film maker William Castle, comes to the small coastal town in the time of kaos to show his new B-film Mant! The film is shown through the eyes of a young teen who loves B horror films. The film is a fun innocent romp in an era of great change.
For film buffs this is a treat and shows Joe Dantes love of B-films. The film may not be for everyone but watch it anyway, you might enjoy it.
I actually only heard about this film when it came on home video it was never released in theatres in Australia. Being a huge fan of Dante's and a huge film fan I loved it. Matinee is a gem to watch, Joe Dante's best I believe.
John Goodman is perfect in the role as are the young actorsin their roles. Dante features his regular actors Robert Picardo (Gremlins 2, TV's Star Trek Voyager) and Dick Miller (Gremlins, The Howling) also.

A real treat
This movie really surprised me. It gets generally good reviews, but so do a lot of films these days that I don't think much of. So I wasn't expecting too much, not wanting to be disappointed again. Man, what a shock! ...Or should I say, Mant, what a shock!

What's best about Matinee is that it is pure unadulterated fun. Yes, the teen romances seem to drag at the beginning, but the storyline about the Cuban missile crisis, and your curiosity about just exactly what this John Goodman character is up to, have already established an underlying tension that sticks with you and holds your attention.

Your patience is rewarded, because when the long balyhooed Key West preview of "Mant" finally begins, this movie ROCKS! Yes, a lot of what happens in this flick is not exactly like things were in the early '60s, but who cares? Personally, I noticed several errors in dialog -- expressions being used that did not exist in 1962, but again, who cares! This comedy is fun, fun, fun and just keeps going and going, right up to the end of the world! (on screen, at least)

By the way, much is made of "Mant," the movie within this movie, and rightfully so. It is almost as riveting as the main movie, which of course is "Matinee." Getting confused? -- look closely near the end and you will see a movie within a movie within a movie!!! This all gets very complicated, in a way, and there are several side stories going on too, but it all moves so fast and blends so well, you really don't mind, because no one in the movie knows what's going on either! It's just total chaotic entertainment.

I haven't enjoyed a movie this much in a long time. I like it so much, I bought a second copy as a backup. It's not Citizen Kane, but it's a ton of fun, and also rather charming in its own way, so it gets a rare five stars from me.

Matinee is better than "Lobsterman from Mars"
This movie has the same concept of spoofing most of our favorite bug movies. It also has an underlying script, which changes this movie from a "Lobsterman From Mars (1990), ASIN: B0000065S5 to more of an "A Christmas Story (1983)" B00000JKNP feel. You could have been there in the 60's. And footage is shown from the real films that it is spoofing. And once again the MANT (man-ant) has his appendages where they don't belong.

Great film
By turns poignant, nostalgic and hilarious. John Goodman, as a William Castle-type quickie-monster movie maker, rolls into town during the Cuban Missle Crisis to promote his lastest film, "The Mant" (the title says it all -- half man! half ant!)And "The Mant" is really not that bad! It's played during the movie -- a movie within a movie. And it shows what these cheapo horror films were like during the early '60s': theaters packed with sceaming kids as "The Mant" menaces everyone. This film is a pretty good reprensentation of that time -- for example, the silly bomb shelters (the theater manager has one built in the basement of the theater), and the leather-jacketed, duck-tailed juvenile deliquent (who barely has two brain cells to rub together). I had a copy of this movie. I lent it out. Not surprisingly, I never saw it again. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The heartland of the American Midwest traditionally has been held up as everything from wholesome to stiflingly dull. This makes it a natural backdrop for this terrific, tongue-in-cheek juvenile fantasy, a place that looks like a squeaky-clean 1950s sitcom suburb but hides more secrets than Blue Velvet: Elvis lives down the street and Bigfoot roots through the neighborhood trash bins. Omri Katz (Matinee) and Justin Shenkarow (TV's Picket Fences) are a pair of adolescent Hardy Boys stuck in "America's capital of weird," a mix of The X-Files and Kolchak: The Night Stalker spun into a comic Twilight Zone. Creative consultant Joe Dante directed two of the episodes in this collection: "Forever Ware," about a demonic plastic container that keeps everything fresh and young forever--even people--and "The Retainer," where tinsel-teethed teens overhear the dreaded conspiracies cooked up by the neighborhood dogs. The third episode, "The ATM with a Heart of Gold," explores just how friendly the friendly neighborhood electronic teller can be. Clever, spirited, and directed with a tongue-in-cheek playfulness, this 1991-92 series looks more contemporary than ever in the wake of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Maybe it was just ahead of its time. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more