''Flicks'', also known as ''Loose Joints'', is a 1981

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

consisting of a series of comedic segments themed after Saturday afternoon matinées.

Segments

No Way, Jose

A parody of coming attractions where a trailer for a film called ''No Way, Jose'' makes lofty promises of an all star cast and extensive location shooting before saying it was too expensive to actually make.

Cat and Mouse at (the) Home

A parody of

Tom and Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series ...

cartoons, a cartoon cat and mouse reminisce about their careers chasing and beating each other up at a retirement home for cartoon characters while lamenting the diminished quality of modern cartoons which leads them back into their old habits.

News 'R' Us

A parody of

Newsreel A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news, news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a Movie theater, cinema, newsreels were a source of cu ...

filmstrips featuring stories such as the collapse of a spice factory from every employee sneezing at once, Siamese twins being compressed into one single individual, the cartoon duo of Cat and Mouse announcing their retirement, and the sensation of "whacking" (with paddleball toys) takes the world by storm..

Lost Heroes of the Milky Way

A commander on board a space station deals with small-scale annoyances from mechanical breakdowns and striking staff.

Cast

Joan Hackett Joan Ann Hackett (March 1, 1934 – October 8, 1983) was an American actress.Obituary, '' Variety'', October 12, 1983. She acted in film, television, and theatre. She played roles in '' The Group'' (1966), '' Will Penny'' (1968), '' Support Yo ...

Richard Belzer Richard Jay Belzer (August 4, 1944 – February 19, 2023) was an American actor, comedian, and author. He was best known for his role as BPD Detective, NYPD Detective/sergeant and investigator John Munch, whom he portrayed for 23 years in the NBC ...

as Stoner *

Martin Mull Martin Eugene Mull (, August 18, 1943 – June 27, 2024) was an American actor, musician, and painter. He became known on '' Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,'' its spin-off '' Fernwood 2 Night,'' and '' America 2 Night.'' Other notable roles included ...

as Tang the Tasteless

Phillip Alien. Space Detective

A space-themed noir segment following an insectoid alien detective

House of the Horny Corpse

A married couple buys an old Victorian house only to discover it is haunted by a man who mails surgically removed parts of himself to his neighbors.

Cast

as Arthur Lyle * Betty Kennedy as Beth Lyle

Production

The idea for the film originated with Peter Winograd who took the concept to ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' writers David Hurwitz and Larry Arnstein, and ''

The Groove Tube ''The Groove Tube'' is a 1974 American independent comedy film written and produced by Ken Shapiro and starring Shapiro, Richard Belzer and Chevy Chase. It features the song " Move On Up" by Curtis Mayfield in its opening scene. The low-bu ...

'' Lane Sarasohn with whom Winograd routinely played basketball. Following troubled preview screenings, United Film Distributors recut the film without input from Winograd and re-titled it ''Loose Joints''. The animated segment ''Cat and Mouse at (the) Home'' was animated by Mark Kausler and directed by Kirk Henderson.''

Giannalberto Bendazzi Giannalberto Bendazzi (17 July 1946 – 13 December 2021) was an Italian animation historian, author, and professor. Life and career Born in Ravenna, Italy, and raised in Milan, Bendazzi started his career as a journalist and at the same time a ...

(2016)''
Animation: A World History: Volume II: The Birth of a Style - The Three Markets
at

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

, p. 148 The four and a half minute long short took six months to produce, and was made by

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

based animation studio Colossal Pictures.

Release

The film was released on videocassette on May 23, 1987.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0093033, Flicks
The entire animated segment ''Cat and Mouse at the Home'' posted by Ironic Times on YouTube
1982 films American anthology films American independent films American parody films