Josie and the Pussycats
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DVD details
Actor: Alan Cumming, Rachael Leigh CookBrand: Universal
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 98 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-08-14
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Universal Studios
DVD Reviews of Josie and the Pussycats
DVD Review: Take the Chevy to the Levy
Summary: 3 Stars
Josie and The Pussycats is a movie based on a comic book that was a spin off of the Archie series. I had a suspicion that it was really no good, but I wanted to watch it anyway because I like Rosario Dawson (Rent), Rachael Leigh Cook (She's All That), Parker Posey (The House of Yes), Alan Cumming (Romy and Michele's High School Reunion), and Seth Green (Party Monster). It was kind of cute in spots, but it was born under a misbegotten moon.
First there was a parody of a boy band, called Du Jour, and Seth Green and Breckin Myer were in it. It was just kind of lame, as far as parodies go. This was mercifully brief, and then another story emerges. Wyatt Frame (Alan Cumming) and Fiona (Parker Posey) are part of a conspiracy to plant subliminal messages in music to get teenagers to buy stuff. The government is in on it, and even Carson Daly (played by himself) and Mr. Moviefone are part of the nefarious plot.
---------
Mr. Moviefone: Conform! Free will is overrated! Jump on the bandwagon! There is no such place as Area 51!
When Du Jour gets wise to what is going on, Wyatt and the pilot parachute out of the plane leaving the boy band to pull a Buddy Holly:
[to pilot]
Wyatt: Take the Chevy to the levy.
Silly as it sounds, the subliminal message subplot is actually an improvement over the boy band parody. It is sort of fun for a very brief while, but it soon grows tedious. In this spoof on consumerism, they have over 73 product placements. Yet, they were not paid for any of it, nor were they given any free samples. Though this speaks to the film maker's integrity, it is really kind of stupid. Compare and contrast to the scam Madonna pulled off when she was paid millions by Pepsi to make a commercial and gave them Like a Prayer. The commercial played maybe once before being pulled due to disturbing Catholic imagery. Madonna got the money, the publicity, and then her brand wasn't cheapened by being used to tout sugar water. That was really a successful attack against rampant consumerism. Josie and the Pussycats, the movie, was not.
Wyatt needs a replacement for Du Jour, so he finds The Pussycats. He scoops them up and signs them, and within about a week they are at the top of the charts with millions of screaming fans. The subliminal messages also promote the band itself. An inside joke, one of the messages that scrolls on a marquee says "Can't Hardly Wait' was underrated." The writer / director team of Deborah Kaplan & Harry Elfont were responsible for that movie, too. I actually liked the musical segments with Josie and The Pussycats. Rachael, Rosario, and Tara were sent to band camp, and were actually playing (though I really doubt that it is them on the soundtrack, and Josie's lead vocals are dubbed by the singer for Letters to Cleo).
I love Parker Posey, but this was no The House of Yes. One cute bit of trivia is that Carson Daly, who played himself, hooked up with Tara Reid on the set. They were engaged, even, though they later broke up.
---------
Carson Daly: If I wasn't a key player in this whole conspiracy to brainwash the youth of America with rock music, we could totally date!
Bottom Line is that Josie and The Pussycats was cute in parts, but the cuteness wasn't enough to make up for the majority of the movie that was totally lame. Can't Hardly Wait showed promise for the team of Deborah Kaplan & Harry Elfont but they squandered their good will with Josie and The Pussycats.
Alexander Cabot: You know what? I still don't understand why you're here.
Alexandra Cabot: I'm here because I was in the comic book.
Alexander Cabot: What?
Alexandra Cabot: Nothing.
Down to You (2000) Rosario Dawson was Lana
She's All That (1999) Rachael Leigh Cook was Laney Boggs
Cruel Intentions (1999) Tara Reid was Marci Greenbaum
The Big Lebowski (1998) Tara Reid was Bunny Lebowski
Can't Hardly Wait (1998) Written & Directed by Deborah Kaplan & Harry Elfont; Seth Green was Kenny, Breckin Meyer was Walter - Lovebürger Lead Singer (uncredited)
The House of Yes (1997) Parker Posey was 'Jackie-O' Pascal; Rachael Leigh Cook was Young 'Jackie-O'
Spice World (1997) Alan Cumming was Piers
Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997) Alan Cumming was Sandy Frink
Basquiat (1996) Parker Posey was Mary Boone
Kids (1995) Rosario Dawson was Ruby
-------
[to pilot]
Wyatt: Take the Chevy to the levy.
Description of Josie and the Pussycats
The high energy story about three newly discovered small-town musicians who get tangled up in an evil plot to control the youth of america. A psychotic studio executive is manipulating the lucrative teen market by mixing subliminal advertising messages into the music of her bands. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 06/01/2004 Starring: Rachael Leigh Cook Alan Cumming Run time: 99 minutes Rating: Pg13 Director: Harry Elfont"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
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