Josie and the Pussycats: Classic or Dud

Classic: The Soundtrack album is amazing. It's not punk. It's pure, pure power-pop. All punk is powerchords; Not all powerchords are punk.

Classic: The fact that Kay Hanley sings vocals is the worst kept secret in movie history.

Dud: Underdevloped love story. I always assumed You Don't See Me was gonna be used only about Josie and Alan M... It would have been better if it was.

Dud: The Evian ad in the aquarium scene. Nuff said.

Classic: Rachael Leigh Cook and her huge, dark, bottomless eyes. Talk about jerkin'...

Oh, I loved the movie, incidentally. Classic. The soundtrack is really good, and that whole "If You're Happy And You Know It" shower scene was worth the price of admission.

Wow, Classic, I'm still giggling like a schoolgirl over Parking-lot of-a-Metallica-gig, even though it's nowhere near the funniest joke in the film. And cool self referentialisms "because I was in the comic". I'm glad they used proper brands instead of Blue Peterising everything.

As for the movie, giving myself over to Hollywood has never been so much fun and so easy. I guess that's what's so eerily brilliant about Josie: it's so many things at once, I'd reckon that Naomi Klein and Richard Branson could both proclaim it as a new cultural landmark.

Absolute classic. The meta practical joke on the companies involved just makes it funnier. And the Blade Runner-like logopolis of New York will stick in the head for a while. Plus, you know, it's funny. And occasionally nasty-funny ("Christina Aguilera, TLC, Hole").

Graham: I wouldn't say begat in polite society or anything, but I still know how to mock up a discussion question. Discussion answers are harder. And back atcha: "Let's get 'em boys... DuJour Style!"

I only the other day figured out that a translation of the film into English would have "wankin'" as the new word for cool. "Let's get that new Gorrillaz album, I hear it's really wankin'!" and so on.

And the Seth Green outtake at the end is great because it's nothing like the rest of the film.

The Doctor Who scene is the best thing in it, although Fiona's party entrance is brilliant as well. And the "let's be girls" scene at the party.

The comic was also extremely classic, especially when they got sent to play at an OLD FOLKS COMMUNITY on the north pole, and the old people partied WAY HARDER than they did.

The film's creators, I forget their names (they also did some "real" teen movie -- Can't Hardly Wait, maybe), have said in interviews that they got no money for the ads and logos.

& speaking of rlc does ne1 kno if she really did the music parts, i mean, not the singing or the playing, but how she pretended to play the guitar, it looked really convincing!

Some SoCal band was brought in to teach the three leads how to play their instruments, so yeah they were actually playing the songs, though obv what we hear are the polished versions recorded by real musicians.

"Backdoor lover," "smells like teen spirit," "puppies die," etc. It is an undeniable classic.

Alexander - You know what? I still don't understand why you're here.
Alexandra - I'm here because I was in the comic book.
Alexander - What?
Alexandra - Nothing.

(i mean i can see yr. argument or a possible one but i don't buy it)

There's a bit near the end when they're standing behind the subliminal message machine in the recording studio, which has round discs on the back wall, and Fiona's harlequin-costumed guards burst in. It's shot-for-shot from a Peter Davison era story (although I can't remember which one, but it's from Adric/Nyssa/Tegan time).

this movie would have been better if it were more like the comic, but it was still great!

I have it on good ol' VHS if you'd like a loan, Kate.

yeah too right - what a complete cunt he is.

i find it strange and funny that the libertarian neoliberal free market types' intersection with red state values cld have so reversed the situation.

"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."
Dwight D. Eisenhower - Republican

I think I saw on the credits that Juliana Hatfield wrote the "Josie and the Pussycats" song, and Google confirms this - YAY!

Parker Posy's character makes good use of Parker Posy's quintessential Parker Posy-ness - that lurching, crazed glamour.

Searched out this thread, as Alice saw it in our local Oxfam for £1 and as it seemed, well, made for her personally, how could I say no? Besides, she paid for it thanks to the tooth fairy.

Any road, Classic for the shower scene (first one involving nubile young girl that avoids any kind of sex reference/nuance?), Alice still doing the 'If you're happy and you know it clap your hands (clap oops stoop)' joke. Less classic for "White Assed Willy. Because he's white. And he has a white ass. And ..." "OK, Alice, you can't say that at the age of 6 ok?" "OK"

Bought the soundtrack yesterday afternoon, pretty much for Backdoor Lover. I want a Dujour prequel.

"I'm in the comic"

^^^^ this

A penny? I thought Alice was doing well getting it for a pound!

I saw this movie tonight. Wow, it is fantastically weird at trying to satirize mainstream pop culture while trying to BE IT at the same time. I was definitely entertained, but man, bizarre!

Parker Posey is wildly amusing in this, but I already like her a lot. Alan Cummings and Missy Pyle also pretty funny.

"I don't know why he's trying the first name last initial thing, it didn't work for Sheila E!"

"three small words" is a fukken jam but that boyband song on the sdtrk is 4EVA

cant remember exactly now but iirc josie was into sum homo with an acoustic guitar - never sympathized more with the man in my lyfe when his representatives shut him out

love this movie to death.

This movie is so, so wonderful

agreed

i agree so, so much xp

aside from the obvious possibly the best tara reid performance ever by virtue of being an enjoyable tara reid performance

the part where alan cumming closes his phone, mutes the bland blonde guy's guitar, re-opens his phone, and resumes his conversation

TAKE THE CHEVY TO THE LEVEE

I'VE GOTTA BUY A SIX-PACK OF ZIMA

dude, you don't drink

I THINK I SHOULD START

and you want to know something else? puppies... turn into dogs... who get old... AND DIE.

it's more like total request dead

sure, these kids have brains like play-doh, just WAITING to be MOLDED into shape... but something else must be going on, right? the chinese guy knows what i'm talking about.

du jour means friendship!

oh my god! that's MR. MOVIEFONE! how did you get him to put that on there?! ahh! you slept with him!

so yeah, classic

I'VE GOTTA BUY A SIX-PACK OF ZIMA

― my Sonicare toothbrush (difficult listening hour), Friday, June 24, 2011 6:32 AM (24 minutes ago) Bookmark

powerlol

<3 this movie btw duh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4WYj4VZBXU

i've never felt more disappointed in a writer than when roger ebert objected to the product placement in this movie

the door to the cabin of the plane that just slides away the center of a giant target logo

the america online hotel where Evil Josie gets a manicure from a silent nordic girl in an america online jumpsuit

last 15 minutes is power boring. i dunno where to take the better parts of the tone of this movie tho! i feel like at least two of them would have to die.

http://a.onionstatic.com/images/articles/article/33511/tara-shower_jpg_300x1000_q85.jpg

-- does anyone else think this is a little off?

-- like what?

-- well like that wyatt guy, for one.

-- yeah, like how he ordered a triple cappuccino and scooped off all the foam? why not just get an espresso? plus how he kept folding his napkin like he's afraid he doesn't have any real friends. just people who want to use him because he's a big music guy.

-- yeah. but i was talking more about the whole record contract thing.

-- it is super sudden.

Searched out this thread, as Alice saw it in our local Oxfam for £1 and as it seemed, well, made for her personally, how could I say no? Besides, she paid for it thanks to the tooth fairy.

Ah, nostalgia.

Also, this is one of those movies (R&R HighSchool being the other) that made Alice the Rock Chick she still is.

i wore out my vhs copy of this movie

Controversy ensued when this movie made a high position in ILX's poll/ballot of "Best Comedy Movie"

is this movie cyberpunk

Controversy ensued when this movie made a high position in ILX's poll/ballot of "Best Comedy Movie"

It wasn't even that high, just #84!

And yet ..

20 years old today.

Nice cast reunion piece here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G08jwulB724

Weird, I was just reading this
https://film.avclub.com/on-the-josie-and-the-pussycats-soundtrack-reality-and-1798254285
Thanks for the link!

it's more like total request dead

― cause i'm close to the edge of glory i'm trying not to lose my hair (zachlyon), Thursday, June 23, 2011 11:39 PM (nine years ago) bookmarkflaglink

thx for that Dan

I wrote about the soundtrack a couple of weeks ago for Stereogum.

Great article! I listened to the best few tracks of the soundtrack loads at the time, but don't remember the others.

Weird that made me aware of - the original '70s songs aren't available anywhere anymore

...Paradise By The Dashboard Light and Love Will Keep Us Together are both widely available on their parent albums and on multiple greatest hits each, not to mention Bat Out Of Hell having already sold enough copies for every man, woman and child in Australia to have one for regular play and one to display. They were never included on the Josie soundtrack CD, though.

I assume Nhex meant the songs from the '70s show, not songs from the '70s in the movie.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71XoZNMw9UL._SX522_.jpg

Or this
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51EikZt58oL.jpg

Oh. Looks like they were completely unavailable from 1971 to 1998 (your first pic), a few came out for the first time in 2001 (your second), and then they've simply returned to their status quo of being unavailable for decades in a row.

(except for a 300 copy private press bootleg 7" of the theme song in Italy in 2015)

That Rhino Handmade comp seems like one of their few sellouts that didn't eventually pop up elsewhere (via Rhino UK, Wounded Bird, or somebody else).

yup, i was talking about the albums Josh put up. sic, you gotsta chill

they were available for three years total out of the last fifty-two, most recently two decades ago - that's a very heavy lift for "anymore" :)

ok, buddy!

Took me long enough to see this and even then it took a Charli xcx review to finally watch it. What a great movie!

“JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS IS THE BEST MOVIE EVER

JOIN THE ARMY”

Double-billing this with They Live next time

i love it!
"we managed to land the plane just fine; unfortunately it was in the parking lot of a Metallica show"