Search - Jerry Goldsmith :: Matinee (1993 Film)

Beautiful music recalls B-movie (and childhood) golden age.

Chadwick H. Saxelid | Concord, CA United States | 09/06/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Jerry Goldsmith is to Joe Dante what Bernard Herrmann was for Alfred Hitchcock and John Williams is to Steven Spielberg, a composer that beautifully captures the musical essences of the filmmakers vision, no matter the nature of the material.Matinee's score is as sweet and good-natured as the movie for which it was created. Beatnik jazz, monster movie themes, and the popular cues of the era are blended perfectly to recapture a special time for movies and the Baby Boomer generation. Listening to it always makes me smile. This is one of Goldsmith's better lighthearted works, coming close to capturing the silly beauty of his work for Dante's black comedy classic The Burbs. Highly recommended."

Pleasant

Stuart M. Paine | Arlington, VA USA | 11/21/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"MATINEE is an amusing Joe Dante tribute to film producer/director William Castle and his over the top in-theater gimmickry of the late 1950s (think House on Haunted Hill or The Tingler). John Goodman plays a Castle-type coming to town to prep the local theater for the premiere of his latest spectacle, "MANT" (half man/half ant), and the kids are all excited to help out and share in the experience. It's young love and hokey-but-cool horror B-flicks - with a Cold War backdrop.



Jerry Goldsmith provides three principal themes. The first, which opens "Coming Attraction", is generally playful, but on occasion slows down and becomes pensive. The second theme opens the second track, "Hold On", and sits atop a humorous clopping bass reminiscent of the Grand Canyon Suite's "On the Trail". The third debuts midway through that same track and faintly recalls Max Steiner's massive 1959 hit, "Theme from A Summer Place" - the biggest selling record of the year. It's violins singing over an accompaniment of winds and piano in triplets and is very sweet. The remaining cues are all constructed from these melodies and most all of the music is calming or touching. Track 5, "The Scam", opens with a lounge jazz rhythm section. Late in track 6, "Halfway Home", there's a short parody of "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You". Track 7, "Showtime", has a :12 allusion to horror film music (one of only two in the score, surprisingly) beginning at the 3:10 mark. The music becomes more animated in track 8, "The Wrong Business", but it's not until track 9, "This Is It", that things really liven up and we hear what Jerry can do. The finale, "The Next Attraction" (at 7:56, the longest track), offers a recap of the score's highlights.



MATINEE isn't one of Goldsmith's most remarkable scores, but it's pleasant and sweet and shows a master's touch.



PS: There's 1:10 more music on the disc than is indicated on the back cover. Track 2 is actually 3:18, not 3:08, and track 3 is 3:27, not 2:27."