Picked by Gabriel Wallace, Projection / Co-presented by Kokorokoko Vintage and Bric-a-Brac Records

Urchins Windy Winston, Foul Phil and Messy Tessie help a shopkeeper's (Anthony Newley) helper (Mackenzie Astin) woo a fashion designer (Katie Barberi).

Gabriel Says: Grotesque, pervy, misguided, and unsettling​, this notorious film demands no deep fandom of the titular trading cards - just an open mind and a willingness to surrender. Solipsistic song-and-stage man Anthony Newley turns in a bargain-basement performance as Manzini, an aging junk-shop magic maven who provides succor and shelter for young bullied boys like the not-very-artful Dodger (Mackenzie Astin, at the peak of his Facts of Life/Tiger Beat fame). When six or seven extraterrestrial "kids" (?) emerge from an oozing crash-landed garbage pail and take over the shop with their bad behavior, disgusting habits and extremely disconcerting appearance, things go off the rails quickly until Dodger realizes he can exploit their sewing talents (!) to help him impress the gal of his dreams, Tangerine (Katie Barbieri), a DIY clothier who happens to be getting ready for her Big Fashion Show.

Director Rod Amateau (Drive-In; High School U.S.A) manages to wrangle all these elements into something both sublime and disconcerting, a film that careens wildly among John Waters-ish shock/trash vibes, tired '80s-movie "teen crush" tropes, and charmingly tepid After School Special-style messaging, all with a certain unpredictable "secret sauce" that has kept would-be audiences guessing (and gagging!) for 35 years. Watching all 100 minutes of GPK is like reaching the end of the "camp" rainbow and realizing that instead of a pot of gold, there's only a garbage can filled with slime.