Josie and The Pussycats (2001)

"Oh my God, I'm a trend pimp!" cries rocker Josie McCoy (Rachel Leigh Cook) when she discovers that she and her best friends Melody (Tara Reid) and Val (Rosario Dawson)--collectively known as the Pussycats--have been recruited in a plot to brainwash America's youth into a frenzy of mindless consumerism. Unbeknownst to the Pussycats, subliminal messages in their chart-topping hit "Pretend to Be Nice" are forcing kids to follow the latest prefab trends as if their lives depended on it. Josie's going to be the Next Big Thing, and to her manager (Alan Cumming) and Megarecords mogul Fiona (Parker Posey), the other Pussycats are expendable baggage in their scheme to dictate the cool quotient of teenagers everywhere.

Shrewdly concocted by codirectors Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan, this wildly comedic update of the Archie comic book (and early-'70s cartoon show) is a deliriously entertaining assault on pop-cultural flotsam, with a disposable boy-band (aptly named "Du Jour") and cross-product marketing ploys that perpetuate blind conformity among gullible teens. Blatant product placements dominate virtually every colorful scene as Josie gamely embraces the cultural blight it claims to criticize, but this isn't Hollywood hypocrisy. Elfont and Kaplan willfully bite the hand that feeds them, and they're having loads of fun while advocating independent opinion. Cook and her pals are more honestly sexy than Britney Spears, and they make genuinely catchy music (although Cook's vocals were dubbed). It's pure fluff, but Josie and the Pussycats was conceived in such high spirits that it's hard to imagine how it could be improved. Even the obligatory end-credit outtakes are utterly irresistible. --Jeff Shannon Amazon.com

Great movie for a Sociology class

One of my students recommended this movie for my "Advertising and Society" sociology class. I cannot personally identify with this movie, I would not watch it just to watch a movie, but to explain concepts, and theories, and critiques, and paradigms for the advertising class, this is really perfect. The constant, in-your-face display of brand names is phenomenal. Students will identify, after a few minutes, all the "hidden" ads contained in our environments; they have a great time with the teenies who decide that one color is out, and the other is in. When watched in conjunction with a good textbook (such as Twitchell's ADCULT USA), it is blatantly apparent that indeed, advertising is culture, and culture is advertising. What a great movie to show for this class. I highly recommend it.

SocProf June 28, 2008

(3.5): A Zoolander for Young Girls (and Boys...)

I'm not sure whether this movie came out before or after Zoolander, but it certainly shares many things in common. You have your Derek Zoolander type character(s) embodied in Josie and the Pussycats themselves, who were discovered out of nowhere by a music agent who needed a new band to act as a front for the music industry and its use of subliminal messages to get young people to consume products and buy into every fad alive. It really is a good set-up and one that is a great modern reinterpretation of the original Archie Comic (I would have loved to have a cameo of Archie and his friends). The movie follows a one week or so change of fortunes for Josie and their friends as they go from playing at a bowling alley where they are each paid $5 to be ignored by old men bowling strikes to being number one on Billboard. All the while, they are being used to make money. Of course, we have the classic fight between band members and ultimate redemption followed by the chance to play for real, without the subliminal messaging in front of thousands of people. And of course, sprinkle in some love and a moral or two. It all adds up to a relatively entertaining movie from the decade that spawned the "teen movie." Unlike some of the others, this at least has some redeeming and touching moments and I think it will definitely appeal to a younger audience. June 24, 2008

Smarter than you would imagine

At first glance, "Josie and the Pussycats" looks like yet another brainless movie aimed at 12 year-old girls. In fact, it is a very clever satire of the whole teenage pop-music industry. The plot centres on an "evil" organization (led by Parker Posey and Alan Cumming) that is hiding subliminal messages in pop-music in order to get teenagers to buy things that they don't really want, with girl band, Josie and the Pussycats (Rachel Leigh Cook, Rosario Dawson and Tara Reid), becoming unsuspectingly involved in their scheme.

In many ways this film reminded me a lot of "The Brady Bunch Movie" in that both of these films are films that don't take their subject matter too seriously and don't underestimate the intelligence of their audience (and are all the better for it). Both films are also filled with an ample supply of jokes (which are very funny) and "Josie and the Pussycats" has the added advantage that the songs that the Pussycats play are actually worth listening to (I also own the soundtrack and love it). The only drawback of this film is that there are too many musical montage sequences, particularly in the first half of the film, but that's just a minor matter and would not stop me from re-watching this film. May 15, 2008

A dude who can admit it: I love this movie!

This movie is HILARIOUS, thank you and good night. Its mix of dry wit and wacky comedy is completely underrated.

I should state that I am not 13 year old girl, which is who this film was unfortunately marketed toward. I am a dude, but I love it!

I originally saw the movie because of the music in the preview, and was really pleased to find myself laughing hysterically throughout. The performances from the cast are funny and endearing at the same time.

The highpoints are:

-All the scenes with the fake boy band Dujour, which is composed of most of the male leads from Clueless "That's wiggidy-wack, Wyatt!"
-The villainous tag team of Parker Posey and Alan Cumming who make this movie what it is with their over-the-top outrageouesness.
-The soundtrack is all original material and it is fantastic pop-punk with vocals by the amazing Kay Hanley, who is the lead singer of the band Letters To Cleo that sing "I Want You To Want Me" at the end of "10 Things I Hate About You." (Again, I'm a dude-but that's an ok movie, too.)

I guess I'd have to put this movie up there with Napoleon Dynamite, you either get it or you don't. If you don't buy the movie, at least buy the soundtrack, it's quality rock and roll.

And may I remind you, I'm a dude. April 8, 2008

Horrible!! Stupidest Movie I Have EVER seen..

You don't get much dumber than this movie.. seriously it was horrible.

The only reason that I watched this was because it had a pretty good review on this website, where I get most of my reviews but I guess that reviews don't tell you everything.

Seriously, if you decide to watch this movie.. god help you, it is so bad and should never have been made.

Please, for the sake of your mental health, NEVER. EVER. EVER. watch this movie. February 18, 2008

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