Joe's Apartment

Last updated

Joe's Apartment
Joe's Apartment.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJohn Payson
Written byJohn Payson
Based onJoe's Apartment
by John Payson
Produced by
  • Diana Phillips
  • Bonni Lee
Starring
Cinematography Peter Deming
Edited byPeter Frank
Music by Carter Burwell
Production
companies
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date
  • July 26, 1996 (1996-07-26)
Running time
80 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$13 million
Box office$4.6 million [1]

Joe's Apartment is a 1996 American musical black comedy film written and directed by John Payson (in his feature directorial debut), based on his 1992 short film of the same name, and starring Jerry O'Connell and Megan Ward. The first MTV Films production, it was the only one not to involve Paramount Pictures (the 2019 film Eli , which was distributed by Netflix, still had the involvement of Paramount). It was also the first film Blue Sky Studios was involved in.

Contents

The main focus of the story is the fact that, unbeknownst to many humans, cockroaches can talk, but prefer not to, as humans "smush first and ask questions later". They also sing and even have their own public-access television cable TV channel. Actors providing the roaches' voices included Billy West (in his feature film debut), Jim Turner, Rick Aviles (in his final film role before his death), Tim Blake Nelson, BD Wong, and Dave Chappelle. The film received generally negative reviews from critics and was a box office failure.

Plot

Penniless and straight out of the University of Iowa, Joe F. moves to New York needing an apartment and a job. With the fortuitous death of Mrs. Grotowski, an artist named Walter Shit helps Joe to take over the last rent-controlled apartment in a building slated for demolition by convincing everyone that Mrs. Grotowski was Joe's mother. If Senator Dougherty can empty the building, he can make way for the prison he intends to build there, and uses thug Alberto Bianco and his nephews, Vlad and Jesus, to intimidate tenants.

Joe discovers he has twenty to thirty thousand roommates, all of them talking, singing cockroaches who are grateful that a slob has moved in. Led by Ralph, the sentient, tune-savvy insects scare away the thugs in an act of enlightened self-interest that endears them to their human meal ticket. Tired of living on handouts from mom back in Iowa and after a series of dead-end jobs ruined by his well-intentioned six-legged roomies, Joe finds himself the unskilled drummer in Walter Shit's band. Hanging posters for SHIT, he encounters Senator Dougherty's daughter Lily, promoting her own project, a community garden to occupy the vacant site surrounding Joe's building.

A gift to Lily while working on her garden is enough to woo her back to Joe's apartment. However, the cockroaches break a promise to keep out of his business and a panicked Lily flees, only to discover the garden she'd worked on has been burned to the ground. During a fight with his roommates over his spoiled romantic evening, the building suffers the same fate as the garden. A mutual truce between the hapless and now homeless roommates leads the cockroaches to "call in favors from every roach, rat and pigeon in New York City" to try to make amends to Joe. Overnight, the roaches scour New York to gather materials to convert the entire area into a garden and take care of all the necessary paperwork to ensure harmony reigns over all.

Cast

Cockroach voices

Production

John Payson originally created the short film Joe's Apt. in 1992, which aired on MTV as filler in-between commercial breaks. [2] Payson said he was inspired by a 1987 short film called Those Damn Roaches and the 1987 Japanese film Twilight of the Cockroaches , the latter crossing hand-drawn animation and live action. After the short received a CableACE Award, MTV executives were impressed enough to discuss producing a feature adaptation with Payson. In 1993, MTV made a deal with Geffen Pictures during development to produce films based on the network's properties and release them through Warner Bros. While Joe's Apartment was put into production with a $13 million budget, a feature film adaptation of Beavis and Butt-Head was also put into development. [3] [4]

Joe's Apartment was the first feature film Blue Sky Studios was involved in, having previously produced company logos and animated commercials. [5] Under Chris Wedge's supervision, Blue Sky produced animated sequences of the cockroaches. [5] The film also blended them with scenes of puppetry, real cockroaches, and stop-motion animation (including the TV roach porn). [6] Executives at 20th Century Fox were impressed enough with Joe's Apartment to acquire Blue Sky, and eventually the studio became a feature-animation company.

Reception

Even with the enthusiastic billing as "MTV's first feature movie" and the support of the company, Joe's Apartment was a box office failure when it opened on July 26, 1996. Opening in 1,512 theaters but earning a dismal $1.8 million, the film closed all screenings in the middle of August and finished with only $4.6 million. [1] Warner sold distribution rights for later MTV Film productions back to MTV's parent company, Viacom, not long after.[ citation needed ]

Reviews were almost universally negative, mostly distaste at the blending of grimy gross-out gags and up-beat musical humor. Roger Ebert gave the film one star out of four, stating "Joe's Apartment would be a very bad comedy even without the roaches, but it would not be a disgusting one. No, wait: I take that back. Even without the roaches, we would still have the subplot involving the pink disinfectant urinal cakes." [7] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "B+" on a scale of A+ to F. [8] Joe's Apartment has an approval rating of 19% based on 27 professional reviews on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 3.9/10. Its critical consensus reads, "Audiences will want their security deposit back from Joe's Apartment, a lame comedy whose dancing cockroaches are more charming than the human characters." [9]

Related Research Articles

Beavis and Butt-Head is an American adult animated sitcom created by Mike Judge. The series follows Beavis and Butt-Head, both voiced by Judge, a pair of teenage slackers characterized by their apathy, lack of intelligence, lowbrow humor, and love for hard rock and heavy metal. The original series juxtaposes slice-of-life short subjects—in which the teens embark on low-minded misadventures in their Texas town—with the pair watching and commenting on music videos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alien Ant Farm</span> American rock band

Alien Ant Farm is an American rock band that formed in Riverside, California in 1996. They have released six studio albums and sold over 5 million units worldwide. The band's cover of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" topped the Billboard Alternative songs charts in 2001, and was featured in the film American Pie 2.

Chappelle's Show is an American sketch comedy television series created by comedians Dave Chappelle and Neal Brennan, with Chappelle hosting the show and starring in the majority of its sketches. Chappelle, Brennan, and Michele Armour were the show's executive producers. The series premiered on January 22, 2003, on the American cable television network Comedy Central. The show ran for two complete seasons. An abbreviated third season of three episodes aired in 2006, compiled of previously unreleased sketches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guillermo Díaz (actor)</span> American actor

Guillermo Díaz is an American actor. He is known for films Half Baked (1998), 200 Cigarettes (1999) and Stonewall (1995). He is best known for his role as Diego "Huck" Muñoz in the drama series Scandal. Díaz has made guest appearances on Chappelle's Show, Law & Order, Weeds, ER, Broad City, and Girls.

<i>The Real World: New Orleans</i> (2000 season) Season of television series

The Real World: New Orleans is the ninth season of MTV's reality television series The Real World, which focuses on a group of diverse strangers living together for several months in a different city each season, as cameras follow their lives and interpersonal relationships. It is the first season of The Real World to be filmed in West South Central States region of the United States, specifically in Louisiana.

Blue Sky Studios, Inc. was an American visual effects and computer animation studio based in Greenwich, Connecticut. It was founded on February 22, 1987, by Chris Wedge, Michael Ferraro, Carl Ludwig, Alison Brown, David Brown, and Eugene Troubetzkoy after their employer, MAGI, one of the visual effects studios behind Tron, shut down. Using its in-house rendering software, the studio created visual effects for commercials and films before dedicating itself to animated film production. It produced 13 feature films, the first being Ice Age, released in 2002 by 20th Century Fox, and the final one being Spies in Disguise, released in 2019.

<i>CKY</i> (film series) 1999–2002 video series by Bam Margera

The CKY video series is a series of videos produced by Bam Margera and Brandon DiCamillo and other residents of West Chester, Pennsylvania. "CKY" stands for "Camp Kill Yourself". The series was part of the basis for what eventually became Jackass.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick Aviles</span> American stand-up comedian and actor (1952–1995)

Rick Aviles was an American stand-up comedian and actor of Puerto Rican descent, best remembered for portraying the villainous Willie Lopez in the film Ghost.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MTV Entertainment Studios</span> Film and television production arm of MTV Entertainment Group

Showtime & MTV Entertainment Studios is the film and television production arm of the MTV Entertainment Group, itself a subsidiary of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. It primarily produces content aimed at adolescent and adult audiences, including original productions for the namesake cable channel and its siblings, or theatrical films released through Paramount Pictures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brandon DiCamillo</span> American television personality (born 1977)

Brandon DiCamillo is an American former television personality, actor, stunt performer and filmmaker. He was a founding member of the CKY crew and rose to fame through appearances in the CKY video series and MTV's Jackass, Viva La Bam, and Bam's Unholy Union series.

<i>Beavis and Butt-Head Do America</i> 1996 film by Mike Judge

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America is a 1996 American adult animated comedy road film based on the MTV animated television series Beavis and Butt-Head. The film was co-written and directed by series creator Mike Judge, who also reprises his roles from the series; Demi Moore, Bruce Willis, Robert Stack and Cloris Leachman star in supporting roles. The film follows Beavis and Butt-Head, two teen slackers who travel the US and unknowingly become fugitives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madagascar hissing cockroach</span> Species of cockroach

The Madagascar hissing cockroach, also known as the hissing cockroach or simply hisser, is one of the largest species of cockroach, reaching 5 to 7.5 centimetres at maturity. They are native to the island of Madagascar, which is off the African mainland, where they are commonly found in rotting logs. It is one of some 20 known species of large hissing roaches from Madagascar, many of which are kept as pets, and often confused with one another by pet dealers; in particular, G. portentosa is commonly confused with G. oblongonota and G. picea.

<i>Cartoon Sushi</i> American animated showcase program

Cartoon Sushi is an adult-animated showcase program that aired on MTV from 1997 to 1998. It was developed by Eric Calderon and produced by Nick Litwinko, and was the successor to Liquid Television. The title screen opening was illustrated by Ed, Edd n Eddy creator Danny Antonucci. Each episode featured internationally produced cartoons, along with some original material created for the show.

<i>Capitol Critters</i> American animated series and sitcom

Capitol Critters is an American animated series and sitcom produced by Steven Bochco Productions and Hanna-Barbera in association with 20th Century Fox Television for ABC. The show is about the lives of mice, rats and roaches who reside in the basement and walls of the White House in Washington, D.C. Seven out of the show's 13 episodes were aired on ABC from January 28 to March 14, 1992. Cartoon Network later aired all 13 episodes from 1995 through 1996. 20th Television currently holds the rights to the show.

<i>Jackass Number Two</i> 2006 film by Jeff Tremaine

Jackass Number Two is a 2006 American reality slapstick comedy film directed by Jeff Tremaine, and produced by Tremaine, Spike Jonze, and Johnny Knoxville. It is the sequel to Jackass: The Movie (2002), both based upon the MTV series Jackass. Like its predecessor and the original television show, the film is a compilation of stunts, pranks and skits, starring the regular Jackass cast of Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Dave England, Ryan Dunn, Chris Pontius, Wee Man, Steve-O, Preston Lacy, and Ehren McGhehey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xilam</span> French animation studio

Xilam is a French animation studio which specializes in making animated television series and feature films. Marc du Pontavice and his wife Alix founded it in 1999 as a replacement for the animation division of Gaumont Multimédia, which was itself an offshoot of the company's television division Gaumont Télévision, a company he co-founded in 1990. Gaumont continued to have a deal with Xilam until 2003. Gaumont Multimédia was a video game publisher until closing in 2004.

Because of their long, persistent association with humans, cockroaches are frequently referred to in art, literature, folk tales and theater and film. In Western culture, cockroaches are often depicted as vile and dirty pests. Their size, long antennae, shiny appearance and spiny legs make them disgusting to many humans, sometimes even to the point of phobic responses.

<i>Twilight of the Cockroaches</i> 1987 film

Twilight of the Cockroaches is a 1987 Japanese fantasy drama film written and directed by Hiroaki Yoshida that combines live-action footage with animation. The plot concerns a society of cockroaches who live peacefully in the apartment of a bachelor named Saito, until a woman moves in and the humans begin to exterminate the cockroaches. The cockroaches are depicted through animation, and the humans are depicted through live-action footage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Frantz</span> American filmmaker

Joseph Frantz is an American producer, cinematographer, director, and former member of Bam Margera's CKY crew. His body of works includes the CKY video series, Haggard: The Movie, reality television shows such as Viva La Bam and Bam's Unholy Union, Jackass Number Two, Jackass 2.5, Jackassworld.com: 24 Hour Takeover, Jackass 3D, and Jackass 3.5, and music videos for bands such as HIM, CKY, Clutch, and the 69 Eyes.

Ramesses "Leatherface" Nightingale is a professional wrestler and actor. In his early years, his work included acting roles in Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman and Walt Disney's Under Wraps. He gained a high level of popularity after his appearance on Viva La Bam Season 2, Episode 7 "Tree Top Casino". He has also appeared in music videos such as Bloodhound Gang's "Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss" and Papa Roach's "...To Be Loved". His most current work is feature film Miles to Go (2018) where he plays a brutal killer, with fellow actors Christian Kane and James Duval.

References

  1. 1 2 "Joe's Apartment". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  2. ↑ Svetkey, Benjamin (July 23, 1993). "Joe's Apartment becomes a movie". EW.com . Archived from the original on May 22, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  3. ↑ Marx, Andy (July 7, 1993). "Geffen and MTV pair on 'Apartment'". Variety. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
  4. ↑ Eller, Claudia (January 17, 1997). "The Geffen Camp Heh-Hehs All the Way to the Bank". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 22, 2015. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
  5. 1 2 "Celebrating 'Joe's Apartment' and Those CG Cockroaches". beforesandafters.com. July 26, 2021. Archived from the original on May 22, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  6. ↑ Dilworth, John R. "The Cockroaches of Joe's Apartment". awn.com. Archived from the original on May 22, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  7. ↑ Ebert, Roger (August 2, 1996). "Film Review: "Joe's Apartment"". Chicago Sun-Times . Archived from the original on July 9, 2014. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Cinemascore". Archived from the original on December 20, 2018. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Joe's Apartment". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved October 6, 2021. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.