Josie and the Pussycats

Josie and the Pussycats (2001) is a music comedy worth a watch online with the volume up. Three small-town friends — Josie, Melody and Val — bang out power-pop in a garage and just want anyone, anywhere, to hear them play.

Then it happens far too fast. A slick manager yanks the girls to the top of the charts overnight, and fame arrives with a price nobody bothered to mention. The label is lacing its hits with hidden commands, quietly molding teenagers into obedient shoppers. Rachael Leigh Cook, Rosario Dawson and Tara Reid front the trio, while Alan Cumming and Parker Posey ham it up gloriously as the industry villains.

Adapted from the Archie comics, the film takes a gleeful swing at early-2000s consumer culture, turning its own product placement into the joke and leaving behind a soundtrack that outlived the box office. Easy fun for anyone who likes bright, knowingly silly teen comedies with sharp teeth and great songs. Stream Josie and the Pussycats (2001) online on iFILM.