Josie and the Pussycats
Tags: brainwashing, cute, satire

Plot synopsis:
Wyatt Frame (Alan Cumming) is an executive with record label MegaRecords. The label, headed by the trend-conscious and scheming Fiona (Parker Posey), manufactures faddish pop bands for consumption by the teenage market. Conspiring with the United States government, they add subliminal messages under the music to brainwash teens into buying their records and other consumer products, creating "a new trend every week". The Government's plan is to build a robust economy from the "wads of cash" teenagers supposedly earn from babysitting and minimum wage jobs. When a member of Wyatt's wildly successful boy band, Du Jour, uncovers one such message and asks Wyatt about it aboard their private jet, Wyatt and the pilot (Harry Elfont) parachute out of the plane, leaving it to crash and kill the band members.
Wyatt lands just outside the town of Riverdale and meets an unappreciated rock band, the Pussycats: vocalist/guitarist Josie McCoy (Rachael Leigh Cook), drummer Melody Valentine (Tara Reid), and bassist/backup vocalist Valerie Brown (Rosario Dawson). Because they are struggling financially, the Pussycats accept Wyatt's lucrative record deal despite its implausibility. They are flown to New York City where they are renamed "Josie and the Pussycats", much to the girls' discomfort. All goes well and their first single climbs rapidly to the top of the charts, but Valerie grows increasingly frustrated that all media attention is focused on Josie rather than the band as a whole. Melody, too simple to notice the undue attention Josie receives, uses her uncanny behavioral perception and becomes suspicious of Fiona and Wyatt.
Before Valerie and Melody's suspicions can reveal the conspiracy, Fiona orders Wyatt to kill them. He sends them without Josie to a fake television appearance on the MTV show Total Request Live, where a Carson Daly impersonator and the real Carson Daly assault them with baseball bats. The girls survive due to their attackers' incompetence. Meanwhile, Wyatt prevents Josie from attending a gig by Alan M (Gabriel Mann), Josie's love interest, by telling her it was canceled. Instead, Josie listens to a remix of their latest single. The remix contains a subliminal message track designed to brainwash her into desiring a solo career, and into seeing Valerie and Melody are impediments to that goal. After an argument with her band mates, Josie realizes that the recording caused the fight. Her suspicions are confirmed when she uses a mixing board to make the subliminal track audible, but she is caught by Fiona.
MegaRecords have organized a giant pay-per-view concert, whereby they plan to unleash their biggest subliminal message yet. They force Josie to perform solo on stage by holding Melody and Valerie hostage. The badly injured members of Du Jour—who survived by grounding their plane, but landed in the middle of a Metallica concert where they were severely beaten by Metallica fans—appear just in time to stop Wyatt and Fiona from launching the message. In the resulting fight, Josie destroys the machine used to generate the messages. The new subliminal message is revealed not to promote the band, the label, or a corporate sponsor, but to make Fiona universally popular. Fiona suffers a breakdown and reveals that she had been a social outcast in high school. Wyatt reveals that his appearance is a disguise—that he went to the same high school as Fiona, but was a persecuted and unpopular albino. Fiona and Wyatt immediately fall in love. The government agents colluding with Fiona arrive, but because the conspiracy is exposed, they arrest Fiona and Wyatt as scapegoats to cover-up the government's involvement in the failed scheme.
Josie, Valerie, and Melody perform the concert together, and for the first time their fans are able to judge the band on its merits, free of subliminal persuasion. Alan M arrives and confesses his love for Josie on stage, and she returns his feelings. The audience roars their approval as the film comes to a close.

Review: Since this movie was made we have witnessed the fall out of bands like Back street boys the breakdown of pop-stars like Brittany Spears and a slew of young actors & actresses separated from family & friends whose entire personalities have been written and designed by stylists and are seen battling like some weird "Fashionista" roman gladiators under the tutelage of sycophants and managers.Media/pop culture, with its out of control emphasis on looks and weight over talent and personality, have resulted in actual government legislation regarding model weights and rampant anorexia amongst young starlets.
It is a purely fun film with a rocking soundtrack.Viewers who would most appreciate this would be the ones who have at least a vague memory of the television cartoon series because there are a lot of jokes and references that might go over one's head otherwise--not to say that kids wouldn't enjoy it as well, because they will.There's a lot going on in this film.
And all the performances are first rate--from the cameo performances by Breckin Myer and Seth Green as members of the Boy Band "Dujour", to leads Rachel Leigh Cook and Tara Reid as Josie and Melody, to the supporting players, particularly Alan Cumming and Parker Posey as the record executives.
I never saw the original cartoon but decided to pick up 2001's "Josey and the Pussycats" because Tara Reid's such a cutie and it looked like some fun entertainment.Yes, it's fun and the girls are attractive (also featuring Rachael Leigh Cook & Rosario Dawson) but, surprisingly, "Josey and the Pussycats" shoots for something deeper.
Humorous at certain points and worth watching if your a teenage girl, or especially if you like all the conspiracy theory stuff =)Is meaningful in that it puts emphasis on importance of certain things in our lives, leaves you wanting to download the track and has a light hearted attempt at portraying messages to young people without the boring political side.Josie and the Pussycats is lively and funny at points.
When Du Jour, a top boy band go missing after an "unfortunate" plane accident, manager Wyatt Frame decides that the time is ripe for him to go and find "the next big thing" to sell to the teen market.
However Josie starts to notice something strange about all of this and is soon asking more questions than the label would like her to.I hope my description above gives you an idea of the silly sense of humour that runs throughout this film because, although it could have been a sharp satire, it isn't quite as insightful as it could have been.
I can understand why many were put off it and it doesn't break any new ground but it is still pretty enjoyable and it was nice to see a teen movie actually try to do more than just pander to its audience (well, not much anyway).The actors involved give some clue that the material is up to something despite the weaknesses  Parker Posey doesn't just turn out for every teen comedy that is around you know!
Biggest surprise was that I liked Missy Pyle  normally she is terrible but here she works.Overall this is a strange mix of pop satire and teen movie.
In less capable hands, some of the gags would have fallen flat...but they got me smiling, and even laughing.The soundtrack utterly rocks...the last teen movie I can think of with a soundtrack that was so well matched to the visuals was "Clueless." Songs that could have been just filler really added to the overall energy and appeal of the film.
What's most amazing is that Josie & the Pussycats is a movie with something to say, yet it got its message across in a witty and entertaining way while avoiding being too preachy.I can honestly say Josie & The Pussycats is one of the best TV-to-Film adaptations I've ever seen--very enjoyable for fans of the old series, but remaining accessible for those who weren't..
I think the title of the movie should've been "Josie and the Pussycats on Helium" because of the dumb writing on this thing.
The original cartoon series had more depth and wit than this tired, bloated, unwatchable film.Rachael Leigh Cook is okay, but both Rosario Dawson and Tara Reid are one-dimensional airhead stereotypes.
(And anybody who thinks that Tara Reid can "really" play drums after watching this is out of their mind.)  The big problem -- the story wants to be a tale about being true to yourself and independent, while the movie is the most shameless shill for corporate America in the history of film.
i had heard only bad things about it, but since "the mummy returns" was sold out, and i was still in the mood for mindless fun, i got a ticket to see "josie and the pussycats." it started off great, and i enjoyed dujour, the spoof of boy groups.
good point.i just wish for tara reid to stop acting and for rachel leigh cook to *start* acting, cos it seems that she keeps playing the same incredibly bland and supposedly smart characters.feh.two stars out of ten..
Overall the one thing this movie is worth watching for is the up-and-coming Rachael Leigh Cook, who delivers yet another outstanding performance.So, if you are not a true Rachael fan - don't bother with this one..
Watch this now and you think - "how did they know?" - the tongue in cheek parody of the music industry and teen marketing is amusingly encapsulated in a film with good rock tunes and a stereotypical fun, teen storyline.
It's not overly good.In fact, it's kind of like the Spice Girls Movie...only about a thousand times better...which makes it about as good as your standard direct-to-video sci-fi film.Only with Rachael Leigh Cook which, if you were like me, you were absolutely in love with her and, as a result, you watched it a heck of a lot more than you would even the best direct-to-video Sci-Fi film.So you have a plot about subliminal messaging that would fit better in a '60s era Bond film than a movie like this...except, today the plot and the movie work a heck of a lot better than they did in 2001 when it first came out.In fact, when it was released it really deserved a 4/10 tops and that was really only "I'm in Love with Rachael Leigh Cook" points.Now, in 2017 it actually deserves a 7/10 it is a much better and more relevant movie today than when it was first released.Unfortunately that's not saying anything about the quality of Josie and the Pussycats, it's still really just a better version of the Spice Girls Movie...It's really just saying a heck of a lot about the movies of this current era in Hollywood that even changes the relevance of the film.So, there you have it.
Josie and the Pussycats (2001) Rachel Leigh Cook, Tara Reid, Rosario Dawson, Alan Cumming, Parker Posey, Gabriel Mann, Paulo Costanzo, Missi Pyle, Tom Butler, Alex Martin, D: Deborah Kaplan, Harry Elfont.
The disappointing box office receipts show what a bad marketing decision that was.Almost as revolting were the RELENTLESS product placements (i.e. commercials).Some dumb choices by insulated people screwed up a potentially fun movie.
Based on comic-book characters first introduced in the "Archies" series, Josie, Val and Melody are three rockin' small town girls who want to taste big-time success on the pop charts; enter nefarious--and overly ridiculous--talent scout Alan Cumming (in a poor performance) and soon the Pussycats are on their way.
Satire on the current craze for teen-oriented pop music, "Josie and The Pussycats" is alive and immediate, with trendy jokes and surroundings, friendly gals and intentionally funny product placements.
The second was that I liked how the script poked fun at marketing by excessively promoting products and showing how record companies and the government are trying to control teenagers (and pre-teens?) by placing subliminal messages in pop music that tells the kids to go out and buy the latest fad.
Perhaps since "Hard's Day Night" making fun of the industry is now part of pop music and rock movies: make the kids laugh and feel they're putting a finger up to the companies that want them to buy their products  while they're buying the products.
There are exactly two good scenes in this film that satirize the capitalist notion of the modern pop music industry, and the gullibility of teenagers with too much disposable incomes.
The only silly movie I can think of that had good character development was Austin Powers- where it showed Dr. Evil's childhood and background and gave you a sense of why he was evil.
One of Tara Reid's better movies, with some early Rosario Dawson and "She's All That" herself, Rachel Leigh Cook, both of whom I always like.I've been a big fan of this movie since it was first released.
Unfortunately, Josie and the Pussycats - the movie suffers from the lack of an important element in a movie - a decent story.Writers/directors Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan had hoped to make a satire poking fun at the pop music industry, trend-conscious teens and commercialization of America but the result was a movie that seemed pieced together by paper cut-outs of advertisements and Starbucks coffee cup holders.
I never saw the original cartoon or read the comics on which it was based, but "Josie and the Pussycats" (2001) is fun and the three protagonists are attractive & enthusiastic (Rachael Leigh Cook, Tara Reid & Rosario Dawson).
This film is about The Pussycats, who dream of fame, and who get mixed up in the evil schemes of Wyatt Frame, and his boss Fiona.I think that this film is very clever and brave in the way that it looked at the branding in pop music, though, I don't think this movie could endorse any more products if it'd tried, which annoyed me a little.
I also thought that parts of the storyline were unimportant, and could've been forgotten about, especially a lot of the backstage ending.But I really liked the cast, and thought that Tara Reid was hilarious and amazing, as was Missi Pyle.If you love music, then I think that this movie is definitely for you, as there are a lot of awesome songs throughout the course..
Under the silly is a wacky sense of humor that pokes fun at trends, pop music and culture, conspiracy theories, the original comic book, the movie itself, and everything else within reach.
The Pussycats (Cook, Dawson and Reid) are portrayed well and the fun that the had making this movie together shines through.
I would really like to see another Josie and the Pussycats movie, i would recommend this movie to anyone with a good sense of humor..
One of the most staggeringly bad elements of movie marketing over the last year was the promotion behind the summer film "Josie and the Pussycats".
Perhaps if you are sitting in the theatre waiting for someone's pants to come down you lose the ability to see humor.Josie and the Pussycats stars Rachel Leigh Cook (AntiTrust, She's All That), Tara Reid (American Pie), and Rosario Dawson (He Got Game) as the three band members reprising the 60's/70's comic book of the same name.
The film also stars Alan Cumming as the evil record producer, Parker Posey as the evil (and insane) record executive, and Seth Green as Travis, member of Boy Band DuJour.The movie falls into a strange place in current film genres.
Josie and the Pussycats isn't likely to hold up well over time, so it's best to see the movie while the references are still fresh and highly amusing.
"Josie and the Pussycats" was directed by Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont, who directed that awful teen comedy "Can't Hardly Wait."  It's not surprising that they struck out again with this virtually unwatchable pop culture satire/nauseating teen-bopper flick.It's starts off with a bang, spoofing the whole "boy band" craze with Seth Green, Donald Faison and Breckin Meyer (who are all recycled cast members from "Can't Hardly Wait") all part of a group called DeJour.
Reid, in fact, struck me as miscast; she is several years older than her co-stars Rachael Leigh Cook and Rosario Dawson, and I felt that the film would have worked better with a younger Melody, playing her as a naively innocent teenager as opposed to the more worldly twenty-something Josie and Valerie.
Several other characters from the cartoon, such as the Pussycats' laid- back upper-class manager Alexander, his obnoxious sister Alexandra and Josie's boyfriend Alan are imported into the film, but they all play minor supporting roles and it is clear that they are only there because fans of the original would have been disappointed had they been omitted.
It features the musical features with the super-girls action moments, and the typical American humor we love.Rachael Leigh Cook shines through the movie with her perkiness, beauty and comedic skills.
Tara Reid just needs to look hot.The cast is very good but I think that the plot is what saves this movie from being labeled as "another teen movie"..
It's something of a traditional "rock" movie (will The Pussycats make it to the big concert on time, and in one piece?), it is a perky little film about the importance of friendship, it's a spoof, and its is a rather clever indictment of media manipulation and product placement.
Rachel Leigh Cook gives an endearing performance as Josie McCoy; Tara Reid gives a great performance as the ditsy but sweet drummer Melody, and Rosario Dawson is quite solid, although the script doesn't give her too much to work with.
On a serious level, the film is beautifully post-modern, as can be seen in Allan Cumming's frequent breaching of the fourth wall, and in the rather brilliant line from Missi Pyle's character, Alexandra, who comments that she is in the movie because she's in the comic book.
If YES, see this movie.The BAD - Here's why it's not a 10/10 in my books: 1) goes a little overboard at the end 2) Josie's love interest is not as well developed as it could have been - but not terrible, just not as good as it could and should have been.
So, if you're looking for a movie that will confuse you to the point where you feel like you're looking at a Picasso painting, and you do end up with a lot of colors and good music in your head, then check it out.
If you're a fan of the comic book, a struggling musician in need of some cheer, or you just want a light-hearted film full of laughs, than this is the movie for you.Jerkin'!.
This film is ok but it's not fantastic.The beginning is totally imitating the backstreet boys which is so not funny.There is no story line and you feel like falling asleep half way through.The only good thing about this film is that Tara Reid comes across as a great blonde bimbo..
Josie and the Pussycats is a fun, sassy teen movie, which even though is not bad, it's really quite forgettable.
Rachael Leigh Cook-Josie, (In particular.) Tara Reid-Melody and Rosario Dawson-Valerie do quite good here playing The Pussycats but I think I would of enjoyed the movie a little bit more, if different actress' were playing the parts of Melody (Especially.) and Valerie.
The soundtrack to Josie and the Pussycats is good too, maybe even a little better than the movie itself.
"Josie and the Pussycats" is meant to be a satire on today's popular culture, wondering if teen trends are all due to subliminal messages in pop music.
It brings to mind the old adage, "Just because you pour syrup on something (used in place of a certain four-letter word), doesn't make it a pancake." One film that falls into this category is "Josie and the Pussycats." The paper-thin excuse for a story, which wastes the talents of Tara Reid, Rachael Leigh Cook, Rosario Dawson and Parker Posey, among others, consists merely of a weak "parody" of the outright poisoning of the music industry by the teen-pop craze, which is deflating faster than a whoopee cushion beneath Barry White's backside.
The characters in the movie are cartoon-like in how they act, but not how they look, which is as it's supposed to be.
The Carson daily cameo is pretty funny, primarily because of the little jokes made between him and tara reid (movie was made while they were engaged), and then watching it knowing that whole thing is over.
Josie and the Pussycats (Rachel Leigh Cook, Tara Reid and Rosario Dawson) are hired by a big Record Label to become a great success.
Evil record label Wyatt Frame (Alan Cumming) and Fiona (Parker Posey) are putting subliminal commercial messages in with the music of boy band DuJour.
He quickly signs Josie and the Pussycats (Rachael Leigh Cook, Rosario Dawson, Tara Reid) to replace the lost boy band.The three girls have great chemistry.
The director's decided that they needed fun girls to fill the cast and they did superbly with Rachael Leigh Cook, Tara Reid and Rosario Dawson.
The costumes and sets are good, the music is great and it makes Josie & The Pussycats jump from the small screen (or the comic book depending on how old school you are) to the big screen in a most enjoyable leap..
I loved this movie.I thought it was hilarious.It's a movie poking fun at the music industry but in a funny way.The characters are hilarious.I thought the boy band in it was the best part!
Unfortunately, while those good bits of dry humor are still there, the overall story of the movie gets worse and worse to the point, until the very end where I feel like I'm watching an episode on "Nickelodeon" or something..
What it might cost you may be a price you don't want to pay.This movie, based on the Archie Comics and the 1970s cartoon series, updates Josie and the music of her all-girl group, The Pussycats.