Last week, The Frida opened its doors to Sasquatch Productions for a special double feature of Pink Floyd – The Wall and Josie and the Pussycats. The screening followed a performance by local band Exentrix, during which they played a set of Pink Floyd and Josie songs.
The films themselves are of course very different, and it was clear that there were a lot of people specifically there for one or the other. The Josie fans were wearing little cat ear headbands, and the Pink Floyd fans were mostly older or had the munchies, if you know what I mean. Despite their differences, they actually managed to work pretty well as a double feature, as both movies run around 90 minutes and, oddly enough, feature similar themes regarding the negative impact the music industry has on musicians and consumers.
The pre-show featured videos of Pink Floyd performances intercut with music videos from the Spice Girls and other Josie-adjacent bands. This was followed by the band, who played a couple other songs in between the Pink Floyd and Josie sets (including “Black Sheep” from the Scott Pilgrim soundtrack).
The crowd tended to be a bit more into The Wall, as only about half stayed for Josie. There was, however, an entire row of people wearing cat ears, who showed up only for the second movie, which just goes to show the well-deserved following Josie and the Pussycats has gained over the years.
Guests hanging out in the lobby and checking out the event vendor between movies.
The Wall was definitely a surprise for me. I went in expecting a feature-length music video and left feeling like I saw a lot more than that. Though I do like the early Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, I find the Wall album a little hard to get into. Despite that, it doesn’t stop The Wall from having a really interesting narrative with a lot of cool animation. A lot of the fun of the movie is just trying to figure out what’s going on and how (or even if) it connects to the narrative. I’m pretty sure there was an animated sex scene between two flowers at one point, but honestly who knows.
Josie and the Pussycats is unironically an equally great movie, though one obviously aimed at a different audience. Its satirical take on the music industry may be a little dated (we don’t seem to be as big on boy bands or pop-punk groups anymore), but it’s still a really clever comedy that manages to poke fun at consumerism without acting like it’s trying to teach us a lesson. There’s rarely a shot in the movie that isn’t covered wall-to-wall (or should I say brick-to-brick?) in absurd product placement. And, interestingly enough, none of it was actually paid for by the brands; it was inserted by the filmmakers themselves. It’s sorta crazy to think that such a bold and unique movie was able to make it past the studio, and while it’s unfortunate that the directors haven’t worked since, Josie has found a cult following over the years.
I think the night can be summed up by the moment when halfway through The Wall, I turned around and saw the most stoned guy in the world wearing a shirt that said: “Josie and the Pussycats is the best movie ever. Join the army.”