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:

Sex Bugs Rock 'n Roll.

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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

Last film role of comedian Rick Aviles (voice)

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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

Ralph Roach: Talk? We can sing!
Roaches: Garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage! / The garbage in the moonlight gives off a lovely smell - lovely smell / Sipping sewage with my baby in our little roach motel - please don't tell / zum zum zuma zum zum zum / doot de doot doot doot de doo doot de doot doot doot de doo doot de doot doot doot de doo doot de doot doot doodly doo / Take an ocean trip on our garbage ship with the cockroach I adore / We'll take a taste of the medical waste that washes up on shore / Oh ...

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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 Infected (2008)

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Soundtracks

Loi Sai Da
Written by Moby (as Richard Hall)
Performed by Moby
Courtesy of Elektra Entertainment

User Reviews

laugh your head of

What's wrong with you, people??? Why has this movie such a low rating???

I loved those bugs everywhere. The special effects are OK. The story itself is a bit naive, but, hé, it's a fairy-tale!

Everyone who likes Who frames Roger Rabbit, Ant Z, Thumbelina by Don Bluth (OK, bad example) or over-the-top-sentimental-romance like What Dreams May Come must like Joe's Apartment.

What do we have here? 1: a lonely country-boy in New York; 2: two ugly and dumb bad guys; 3: a sweet girl as love interest; and 4: thousands of bugs who are supposed to be loathsome, but soon turn out to be adorable. The first three items you have seen all before. But the fourth! You've never seen something like this, and you will never forget you saw it.