I’m a movie fan. I love off-beat films, films that pay tribute to older films, films that make me laugh out loud. But I especially like films that make me stop and think. Years ago, I saw a couple of flicks like that. One was called Matinee, with John Goodman as a schlock movie producer, trying to promote a cheesy horror film in the midst of the Cuban Missile Crisis. It seemed that most people had a little too much on their minds to appreciate the finer points of rubber monster costumes, fake blood and the like. So Goodman’s character dreams up a scheme to get the town interested. He goes big with his ads and gimmicks, including installing trick seats in the theater, a nurse and ambulance stationed to help anyone that faints from the excitement of the film, and so on. But his best trick comes when concerned parents stage a protest before the film even opens. The crowd is whipped up to a frenzy, when Goodman challenges one or two of the townsfolk to screen his film before they condemn it. But it turns out the entire protest is a sham – the rabble-rousers actually work for Goodman (and don’t even hail from the town in question). It’s a trick to stir up interest in the film. He creates controversy by creating a conflict where there was none.
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