THE HUDSUCKER PROXY & MATINEE

September 4, 2026
Joel Coen’s THE HUDSUCKER PROXY
(PG, 1994, 111 min)
“You know, for kids!” In the frozen winter of 1958, business tycoon Waring Hudsucker leaps from the 44th floor of his Art Deco empire, leaving the corporate world in a tailspin. To devalue the company’s stock and stage a hostile takeover, the cynical board of directors, led by the ruthless Sidney J. Mussburger (Paul Newman), appoints the ultimate "fall guy" as the new president: Norville Barnes (Tim Robbins), an idealistic, mailroom-clerk "dope" with a simple idea for a circular toy. But the board gets more than they bargained for when Norville’s invention becomes a national craze, and a fast-talking, Pulitzer-winning reporter (Jennifer Jason Leigh) goes undercover to expose his secrets. A visually stunning, hyper-stylized homage to the screwball comedies of the 1940s, The Hudsucker Proxy is a whimsical, kinetic masterpiece of production design and rapid-fire wit. It’s a classic American "from-rags-to-riches-to-the-ledge" fable that proves even a man at the bottom can have a circle of luck.
TRAILER: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vTqjG8880o
Followed by:
Joe Dante’s MATINEE
(PG, 1993, 99 min)
Set during the frantic height of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, Matinee is a brilliant, heartfelt love letter to the "Golden Age" of B-movie monster flicks and the art of the cinematic gimmick. John Goodman stars as Lawrence Woolsey, a cigar-chomping, independent producer and huckster (inspired by the legendary William Castle) who arrives in Key West, Florida, to premiere his latest masterpiece: MANT!—a film about a man who transforms into a giant ant after being exposed to radiation. As the world teeters on the brink of nuclear war, Woolsey uses the local panic to his advantage, rigging the theater with "Atomo-Vision," vibrating seats, and live actors in rubber suits to give the terrified townspeople a thrill they’ll never forget. Starring a young Simon Fenton and Cathy Moriarty, Joe Dante’s film is a nostalgic, witty, and perfectly crafted tribute to the power of the movies to help us face our real-world fears by screaming at the screen. It’s a "movie-within-a-movie" delight that proves that sometimes, the only thing more explosive than a nuclear warhead is a well-placed smoke machine in a crowded theater!
TRAILER: www.youtube.com/watch?v=S06Uv_3oHic