Hey folks, Harry here... well rested and ready for a minor mission to see a film I've been dying to see this year... But before I head off on this mission, I figured I'd give you a whiff of JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS by way of ....
Hey Harry,
Managed to worm my way into another recent preview screening -- this one for "Josie and the Pussycats". A buddy of mine tipped me off to the screening; he didn't know for sure what movie would be screened, but thought it might be "Pearl Harbor". Boy, was he wrong. As I entered the theater and learned that I would, in fact, be watching "Josie" (along with a horde of braindead teenagers who probably had no recollection of the original cartoon series), I thought I'd be in hell for the next hour and a half. No way did I think the movie would be good.
Well, guess what? I was right. I was in hell for an hour and a half. Not only was it not good, it sucked. Big time. Picture, if you can, a cross between "Wayne's World" and "Charlie's Angels". Josie (Rachael Leigh Cook) and her band the Pussycats are a garage band discovered by a bitch-from-hell talent agent (Parker Posey, who, IMHO, has got to stop slumming in these shit commercial movies). The band makes it big. The band is forced to sell their artistic souls (feel free to laugh out loud here). Can the band get back their soul and still be a success? I don't know, and it's not because I particularly care about making this a spoiler-free review, it's because it genuinely didn't give a crap.
Sad part is, this could've been a pretty good movie. Yes, I'm serious. Rachael Leigh Cook and Rosario Dawson aren't bad, considering the shit script that they had to work with, and Tara Reid is pretty funny -- she provided a few enjoyable moments in this flick. (The fact that all three are hot as hell doesn't hurt, either.) Seth Green (of Buffy/Austin Powers fame) is good as well, as are most of the supporting cast, except for Carson Daly (ick -- I personally think he's part of some secret Dick Clark cloning experiment gone horribly bad. Dead turnips have more personality than that asshole). It's not great, but it might have been enjoyable.
What kills the flick is the crass commercialism. While Josie & Co. are struggling to maintain their "artistic integrity", the movie is a mind-numbling montage of fast commercial images -- Pepsi, Taco Bell, MTV, Tommy Hilfiger, whatever. I've seen prominent product placement before, but this was ridiculous. You're supposed to give a shit about Josie & Co while the movie's shilling every product possibly imaginable? Yeah, right. What would've been cool is if the movie had genuinely given MTV the finger . . . if they'd been a little more slick about making fun of sponsors, about denouncing the system instead of strapping on a pair of kneepads and giving the system a free snarling . . . hey, it might have touched a nerve. At least I know I would've have been sitting in the theater thinking "What a sellout piece of shit", but "Whoa . . . cool!"
Yeah, I know it would've never happened, but it was worth a shot.
So, for all moviegoers out there, avoid this one like the plague. Do not see it in the theater, do not rent it. If you want to see Tara Reid, re-rent "American Pie". Don't give the suits a reason to make "Josie and the Pussycats Part 2".
If for some reason you decide to use this, call me the Decepticon with the biggest motor under the hood . . . Galvatron427.
