Episode 5

The Garbage Pail Kids Movie (1987)

Published on: 18th February, 2022

A story about 80's fashion, toxic relationships, peeing one's pants, and farts.

Listen in as me and returning guest Dan take a pee-soaked, snot-strung stroll down memory lane with this horrific example of a "family film."

Directed by Rod Amateau (Son of Hitler, Drive-In, Gilligan's Island) and written by Amateau and Linda Palmer (Legion of Fire: Killer Ants!, The Garbage Pail Kids Movie), TV Guide Magazine called the film "stunningly inept and totally reprehensible," and The Globe and Mail said "it is charmless, humorless, cynical and mean-minded." Man, oh man. Sure, I was a child when I used to watch this, but it can't be *that* bad... can it? Let's find out!

It tells the story of a apparent 14-year-old orphan named Dodger (Mackenzie Astin, giving it his all) who lives/works for Captain Manzini (Anthony Newley, who brings some sense of grace to the proceedings), and is constantly bullied by a trio of twentysomething thugs. Tangerine (Katie Barberi), the girlfriend of ringleader Juice, finds herself kind of endeared to Dodger then flat out using him for clothing made by the titular oddball children. Captain Manzini has been keeping them captive in a garbage can in his store because that's what one does. Look, it doesn't make any sense, okay? But there is a State Home for the Ugly, really bad animatronic suits, and lots of farts. Be honest, that's why you're here, right? It's the farts.

The film is currently available on Amazon Prime, DVD, and Blu-ray.

Be sure to check out Dan's awesome podcast! You can find it at http://justonethingpodcast.com

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About the Podcast

Subversive Cinema
The show about the weird, whacky, and downright wrong entries in cinema history.
There are a lot of films out there, so it's only natural that a decent amount of strange content exists. These are the films we examine.

Each week, I sit down with a guest and we take a look a one of these weird, whacky, or downright wrong cinematic entries. Each of them has something about it that makes it special — I call it the "Subversive Sauce" — and that is recipe we try to break down.

Is it scientific? Absolutely not. Will you learn things you didn't know? Maybe. Might you hear about films worth checking out? Most definitely.

Tune in and see what the subversion is all about!
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About your host

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Art Hall

Art started in the podcasting ecosphere back in 2007 with the outrageous, yet short lived, scripted variety show "WBKR: Buckwilde Radio," which claimed listeners from over 20 different countries. After hanging up his headphones and heading west to move to Los Angeles, he kept podcasting in his heart but only made appearances rather than producing or hosting. It only took a global pandemic, boredom, and the pleading from his buddy, Joe, to get back into the mic booth.