Joe's Apartment (1996)

A nice guy has just moved to New York and discovers that he must share his run-down apartment with a couple thousand singing, dancing cockroaches.

Director:

John Payson

Writers:

John Payson (short film), John Payson (screenplay)

Stars:

Jerry O'Connell, Megan Ward, Billy West

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jerry O'Connell	...	Joe
Megan Ward	...	Lily Dougherty
Billy West	...	Ralph Roach (voice)
Reginald Hudlin	...	Rodney Roach (voice)
Jim Turner	...	Walter Shit / Voice of Cockroach
Pepa	...	Blank (as Sandra Denton)
Robert Vaughn	...	Senator Dougherty
Don Ho	...	Alberto Bianco
Jim Sterling	...	Jesus Bianco / Voice of Cockroach
Shiek Mahmud-Bey	...	Vladimir Bianco
David Huddleston	...	P.I. Smith
Frank Bello	...	Stick-Up Man #1
Lord Kayson	...	Stick-Up Man #2
Alex Molina	...	Stick-Up Man #3
Wayman Ezell	...	Apartment Broker #1

Storyline

Joe comes from Iowa to New York and, being short of money, wants to find an apartment with very low rent. His quest is successful, but he must share the residence with some 50,000 cockroaches. The insects turn out to be Joe's best friends.

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Plot Keywords:

senator | rock band | new york city | apartment | singing | 

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Taglines:

MTV's 1st Movie!

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy | Musical | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for crude humor and a brief drug reference

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

26 July 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Joes lya

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,854,000, 28 July 1996, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$4,611,624, 8 September 1996

Company Credits

Production Co:

Geffen Pictures, MTV Films, MTV Networks

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film is based on the 1994 short of the same name that aired on MTV during commercial breaks.

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Goofs

When Joe and Lily are sitting on his couch after their first date, the color of the wine changes from pink when the roaches move the glass towards Lily to dark red when she is holding it.

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Quotes

[Joe finds a man lying in a pool of blood]
Joe: Oh, my god! Mister, are you alright?
Walter Shit: Two days, seven hours, twenty-three minutes and four seconds. That's how long I've been lying here.
Joe: Are you O.K.?
Walter Shit: 'Course not! I'm an artist!

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Crazy Credits

Filmed entirely in New York City except for one scene we had to go to Newark for.

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Alternate Versions

When Joe's Apartment was aired on network television, the name of the band that Joe became involved with was changed from "SHIT" to "POO"

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Connections

Referenced in The Cinema Snob: Silent Night, Deadly Night IV: Initiation (2014)

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Soundtracks

Rotten Apple
Written by K. Elam, A. Davis, S. Jackson
Performed by Operation Ratification
Courtesy of Guru Productions, Inc.

User Reviews

A wonderfully imaginative movie

Ignore the negative rabble expressed above. Rent the movie, and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. "Joe's Apartment" has more creativity and originality in it than most of the films I've seen in 1999. Great concept, great animation/set designs, great fun.