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Though the summer movie season of 1988 would not officially begin until the May 20 opening of Ron Howard and George Lucas' "Willow," movie buffs hungry for spectacle after enduring an unusually weak spring (led by Tim Burton's "Beetlejuice" and Oscar-winning holdovers like "The Last Emperor" and "Moonstruck") were eagerly looking forward weeks in advance of this kickoff and wondering which of the studios' big-ticket offerings would satisfy as wholly as "The Untouchables," "RoboCop," and "Predator" had done the previous year. Amid the glut of mostly unpromising sequels, there were two seemingly sure things (Robert Zemeckis' "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and the Eddie Murphy vehicle "Coming to America") and a smattering of originals toplined by some of the biggest stars in the industry.

And then there was "Die Hard."

As you likely know, John McTiernan's classic was initially viewed by some as a looming folly based on 20th Century Fox...

Sci-fi legend Jack Arnold directed a majority of "Gilligan's Island," with plenty of prolific names like John Rich, Leslie Goodwins, and even "Superman" director Richard Donner all steering multiple episodes.

The origin of "Gilligan's Island" is a fascinating story already, with creator Sherwood Schwartz allegedly singing the theme song to a gas station attendant to see if the show sounded like something the average person would watch, but just as interesting is how groundbreaking the show was behind the camera. 

Namely, by inviting decorated actress and history-making director Ida Lupino to helm a few episodes.

Although Rod Amateau is credited as directing the pilot for the series, CBS comedy show supervisor Sol Saks was quoted as claiming in William Donati's "Ida Lupino: A Biography," that Lupino had been brought in to help shape a struggling show. "It was 'Gilligan's Island,'" Saks said. "It wasn't even on the air yet.

Making just about any episode of television can be a fraught experience. There's never enough time or money to perfectly achieve the ideal version of what a showrunner envisions, but the inevitable limitations one encounters -- whether it's a shocking number of frogs piled up outside of a writer's door, or being forced to write through unimaginable pain -- can still result in something special. In the case of "Gilligan's Island," the team behind the show eventually produced a series that stood the test of time and became one of the most beloved sitcoms ever ... but not before one of those limitations had the director of the show's pilot worried for his life.

After creator Sherwood Schwartz pitched the show to a random gas station attendant, then to executives at CBS and got the resources to make a pilot, he and his collaborators prepared to depart for Hawaii to film the episode.

Capelight Pictures & Altitude have this week released the 1980s cult classic The Garbage Pail Kids Movie as a 3-Disc Limited Collector’s Edition Media Book from 6 May. The snotty trading card film adaptation – yes, you read that right – oozes a pure 80s feeling! The Mediabook includes the film on Blu-ray (for the first time) and DVD, a 24-page booklet with a text by Marco Heiter. Special features include the documentary “30 Years of Garbage: The Garbage Pail Kids Story” (a great documentary in its own right), released for the first time in the UK as well as interviews with cast and crew.

Meet the Garbage Pail Kids: Nat Nerd, Messy Tessie, Greaser Greg, Windy Winston, Foul Phil, Valerie Vomit and Ali Gator! They look as strange as their names and have come all the way from outer space to land their garbage can rocket straight into Captain Manzini’s antique shop.

The Garbage Pail Kids will return via HBO Max. Per a new report from THR, the WarnerMedia streaming service has partnered up with Topps, Torante, and Danny McBride's Rough House Pictures to develop a new animated series based on the gross characters from the 1980s trading cards. While some of the original trading cards are a little risque, the idea is for the new cartoon show to be family-friendly and appeal to audiences of all ages.

McBride and his Rough House partner David Gordon Green were inspired to reimagine Garbage Pail Kids because of their love for the original trading cards and Saturday morning cartoons. The duo, along with Josh Bycel (Solar Opposites), will write and co-create the animated series for HBO Max. McBride, Green, and Bycel will also executive produce alongside Rough House's Brandon James and Torante TV's Noel Bright and Steven A. Cohen. No names have been announced for the voice cast.

Joseph Baxter Feb 21, 2020

Goosebumps author R.L. Stine is tackling the generation-defining Garbage Pail Kids cards as a series of twisted books.

Garbage Pail Kids may be best known as a purposefully-puke-inducing trading card parody of a specific moment of mid-1980s ennui in the aftermath of the Cabbage Patch Kids toy phenomenon (notably the 1983 holiday retail riots it caused), but the franchise is still kicking in 2020. Moreover, this ‘80s icon is about to be tackled by a mainstay of 1990s culture, Goosebumps author R.L. Stine, for a new book series.

The Topps Company, perennial producers of the classic crude sticker cards, is teaming with author R.L. Stine for a three-book deal with the children’s division of publisher Abrams Books to produce a middle-grade-aimed series of books based on the Garbage Pail Kids, as EW reveals. The first of the initial trio, Welcome to Smellville, is already set...

Retired Hollywood talent agent and casting director Tom Jennings has died. He was 81.

Jennings lost his life in an accidental house fire on Bainbridge Island in Washington state on April 18, his family said in a statement to Deadline.

According to the Kitsap Sun newspaper, the fire broke out in a condominium unit that Jennings shared with his wife Jill. The fire department later determined the blaze was caused by a candle that set a couch on fire. The Jennings attempted to extinguish the flames but were unsuccessful. Jill made it to safety, but Tom died of a heart attack during the fire.

Before moving to Washington, Jennings had a lengthy career in Hollywood. He represented actors, comedians, and musicians including Julian Fellowes, Burl Ives, Lee Van Cleef, David Carradine, Cheryl Ladd, Marion Ross, Gene Simmons (of Kiss fame), and many others.

Jennings was born in Evanston, Illinois in 1937, and his family moved to Santa Barbara,...

As you might imagine when it comes to being a horror movie fan, on top of loving and having an encyclopedia-level knowledge of directors and actors and scream queens, even the casual fan also takes great notice of the people behind the scenes of the make-up effects. One such hero of the gore galore genre is actor, writer, producer, director, special effects artist John Carl Buechler. And today we have the unfortunate news that after being diagnosed with Stage IV prostate cancer in 2019, Buechler has passed away at the age of 66.

As mentioned-above, Buechler is best known for his work as special effects makeup designer on such creepy classics as Luca Bercovici's Ghoulies, Troll, Crawlspace, TerrorVision, Stuart Gordon's Dolls and From Beyond, Cellar Dweller, and Renny Harlin's Prison. He also contributed effects to Brian Yuzna's Bride of Re-Animator, Adam Simon's Carnosaur, and Adam Green's original Hatchet.

Summer is upon us. That is, summer as defined by movie studios which, in the 40 years since Star Wars was released, on May 25, 1977, have valiantly tried to stretch the boundaries of summer, content-wise, from the traditional June-July-August definition to include the other nine months of the year as well. (Mission pretty much accomplished, gentlemen. Thank you for your efforts.) As far as the actual summer movie season, it’s now more or less accepted that everything starts on the first weekend of May, and so it most certainly is this year. In case you hadn’t heard, a modest little picture called Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 debuts this weekend at an art house near you, and everyone you know, including you, have probably already bought advance tickets to see it. Me, I’m less similarly inclined. Despite my raised expectations from reviews and audience reports, I found the...

11 Drive-in Movie Movies (in alphabetical order):

Blue Thunder (1983) One key sequence in this thriller about a high-tech urban surveillance helicopter is staged (during the daylight hours) at the Pickwick Drive-in in Burbank, California, which was razed in 1990. The Pickwick, due to its proximity to the local movie studios, hosted many movie premieres, most famously that of Blazing Saddles in 1974, for which everyone in attendance was on horseback.

Brokeback Mountain (2005) In one scene after his return from Brokeback Mountain, Ennis (Heath Ledger) takes his wife Alma (Michelle Williams) on a date to a drive-in movie theater, which is lovingly (if briefly) recreated in the film. And it’s a very effective moment of movie magic too—the scene wasn’t filmed at a drive-in at all, but instead a converted softball field in Alberta, Canada.

Cars (2006) During the end credits, the cars are shown at the drive-in cinema enjoying parodies...

Every so often, a film gets made that is so singularly baffling, so misguided and so wrongheaded that it is a kind of terrible miracle—something that should not be and yet is. The Garbage Pail Kids Movie is exactly that kind of film.

On paper, it makes sense: a studio sees the success of the wildly popular line of Topps trading cards during the mid-’80s and determines a movie is there. The rights were snatched up by the Atlantic Entertainment Group and co-writer/director Rod Amateau was hired to bring the Garbage Pail Kids to the screen. Legendary effects man and sometimes director John Carl Buechler designed animatronic heads to be worn by little people actors and about $1 million was spent to make what would become The Garbage Pail Kids Movie, now widely regarded as one of the worst movies ever made. It’s now available in high-def...

Collectors of the Garbage Pail Kids trading cards are in for a treat this winter when Scream Factory releases their Collector's Edition Blu-ray of Rod Amateau's The Garbage Pail Kids Movie. Ahead of the film's December 8th home media release, we have a look at the cover art and its full list of special features:

Press Release: This holiday season, your favorite grime bandits – Windy Winston, Messy Tessie, Foul Phil, Valerie Vomit and rest of the raucous crew come to life with outrageous personalities and irreverent humor when The Garbage Pail Kids® Movie Collector’s Edition arrives on home entertainment shelves on December 8, 2015 from Scream Factory™. Based on the wildly popular trading cards, The Garbage Pail Kids® Movie stars singer/songwriter Anthony Newley (Doctor Dolittle), Mackenzie Astin (Iron Will, Wyatt Earp), Katie Barberi (The Bronx Zoo). This grossly entertaining cult classic features great makeup effects by John Carl Buechler (Troll,...

Coleen Gray in 'The Sleeping City' with Richard Conte. Coleen Gray after Fox: B Westerns and films noirs (See previous post: “Coleen Gray Actress: From Red River to Film Noir 'Good Girls'.”) Regarding the demise of her Fox career (the year after her divorce from Rod Amateau), Coleen Gray would recall for Confessions of a Scream Queen author Matt Beckoff: I thought that was the end of the world and that I was a total failure. I was a mass of insecurity and depended on agents. … Whether it was an 'A' picture or a 'B' picture didn't bother me. It could be a Western movie, a sci-fi film. A job was a job. You did the best with the script that you had. Fox had dropped Gray at a time of dramatic upheavals in the American film industry: fast-dwindling box office receipts as a result of competition from television,...

Coleen Gray actress ca. 1950. Coleen Gray: Actress in early Stanley Kubrick film noir, destroyer of men in cult horror 'classic' Actress Coleen Gray, best known as the leading lady in Stanley Kubrick's film noir The Killing and – as far as B horror movie aficionados are concerned – for playing the title role in The Leech Woman, died at age 92 in Aug. 2015. This two-part article, which focuses on Gray's film career, is a revised and expanded version of the original post published at the time of her death. Born Doris Bernice Jensen on Oct. 23, 1922, in Staplehurst, Nebraska, at a young age she moved with her parents, strict Lutheran Danish farmers, to Minnesota. After getting a degree from St. Paul's Hamline University, she relocated to Southern California to be with her then fiancé, an army private. At first, she eked out a living as a waitress at a La Jolla hotel...

Coleen Gray actress ca. 1950. Coleen Gray: Actress in early Stanley Kubrick film noir, destroyer of men in cult horror 'classic' Actress Coleen Gray, best known as the leading lady in Stanley Kubrick's film noir The Killing and – as far as B horror movie aficionados are concerned – for playing the title role in The Leech Woman, died at age 92 in Aug. 2015. This two-part article, which focuses on Gray's film career, is a revised and expanded version of the original post published at the time of her death. Born Doris Bernice Jensen on Oct. 23, 1922, in Staplehurst, Nebraska, at a young age she moved with her parents, strict Lutheran Danish farmers, to Minnesota. After getting a degree from St. Paul's Hamline University, she relocated to Southern California to be with her then fiancé, an army private. At first, she eked out a living as a waitress at a La Jolla hotel...

The Garbage Pail Kids Movie (1987) Director: Rod Amateau Stars: Mackenzie Astin, Phil Fondacaro, Katie Barberi A sweet coming-of-age story about a young boy and his group of—Kill Them All! Kill Them With Fire! Dear merciful Lord; what did I just watch?!? For the lucky uninitiated, The Garbage Pail Kids were a trading card parody of the insanely popular Cabbage Patch Kids from the 1980s. They complimented the sweet, saccharine nature of the...

Steve Franken, the actor who portrayed playboy dilettante Chatsworth Osborne Jr. on "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis" and multiple characters on "Bewitched," died Friday, Franken's agent told TheWrap. He was 80. Franken had been battling cancer, his wife Jean told the New York Times. Born in Brooklyn, Franken was discovered by "Gillis" producer Rod Amateau while performing in a Los Angeles stage production of "Say Anything." His portrayal of Osborne was followed by a decades-long career that found Franken landing roles on a multitude of...

The Garbage Pail Kids are returning to the big screen. Deadline has word that Pes, an artist best known for his short films, will direct an all-new feature-length adaptation through The Tornante Company. Relative newcomer Michael Vukadinovich will provide the screenplay.

First released by the Topps Company in 1985, Garbage Pail Kids were a series of trading card stickers that, parodying the popular line of "Cabbage Patch Kids" dolls, offered gross-out character designs based on simple puns.

Turned into a film in 1987, the original The Garbage Pail Kids Movie was directed by Rod Amateau and featured dwarf actors in puppet costumes as the Garbage Pail kids themselves. There's no word on what approach Pes will be taking, but his below film, "Fresh Guacamole", offers a solid example of what he's been working on recently...

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Just when you thought that Hollywood's obsession with '80s nostalgia couldn't get any worse, well... someone goes and decides to make a new movie based on the the Garbage Pail Kids. As you may know, Garbage Pail Kids were a series of collectible trading cards produced in the '80s that parodied the wildly popular Cabbage Patch Kids dolls. They were the brainchild of Art Spiegelman and had pun-oriented names like Up Chuck, Fartin' Martin and Potty Scotty, accompanied by grotesque and sometimes controversial imagery. They were so popular that they eventually spawned a feature film, The Garbage Pail Kids Movie, which is still hailed to this day as one of the worst movies ever made. Now Michael Eisner's The Tornante Company is setting up a brand new Garbage Pail Kids movie. It seems unlikely that it will be a direct remake, but it is possible that it...

The Garbage Pail Kids are returning to the big screen. Deadline has word that Pes, an artist best known for his short films, will direct an all-new feature-length adaptation through The Tornante Company. Relative newcomer Michael Vukadinovich will provide the screenplay. First released by the Topps Company in 1985, Garbage Pail Kids were a series of trading card stickers that, parodying the popular line of "Cabbage Patch Kids" dolls, offered gross-out character designs based on simple puns. Turned into a film in 1987, the original The Garbage Pail Kids Movie was directed by Rod Amateau and featured dwarf actors in puppet costumes as the Garbage Pail kids themselves. There's no word on what approach Pes will be taking, but his below film, "Fresh...