High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Matinee is a 1993 period comedy film directed by Joe Dante. It is an ensemble piece about the home front in the Cuban Missile Crisis combined with a tribute to independent filmmaker William Castle. The film stars John Goodman, Cathy Moriarty, Simon Fenton, Omri Katz, Lisa Jakub, and Kellie Martin. A then unknown Naomi Watts has a small role as a character in a film within the film. The film was written by Jerico Stone and Charlie Haas, the latter portraying Mr. Elroy, a schoolteacher.