Hosted by Lewis and produced by longtime buddy Blake Howard, Podcats — very like the movie it’s discussing — is way smarter than you’d anticipate it to be. Every episode is closely researched and scripted, and wrapped in a sound design that will make Radiolab proud.
Lewis travels to the household residence of Archie Comics creator Bob Montana, and interviews his daughter on the enduring legacy of Archie Comics.
Maria Lewis (centre) with the movie’s writer-director group Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont.
She additionally interviews the writer-director group of Pussycats — Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan — who carry alongside the star of the movie, Rachel Leigh Cook dinner, as a shock visitor. This dialogue threads via the sequence, because the trio focus on the tough pre-production, the enjoyable on set, and their shared heartbreak on the horrible reception of the movie.
After which there’s the music, which options a mixture of nineties pop icons and indie darlings; from Beyonce (who was virtually solid because the singing voice of Josie), to Kay Hanley of Letters to Cleo (who did truly sing for the film).
And whereas Lewis treats every interview as a critical work of journalism, she’s continuously pleased to interrupt herself to let you understand she’s in fan lady heaven, assembly her idols. It’s this tone that makes the sequence so joyful for followers of the film.
Just like the beforehand coated podcast Wind of Change, Josie and Podcats globetrotting narrative is an excellent escape from our present state of affairs, and a loving look again to a film that has earned its place as a nineties basic.
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“Oftentimes issues which might be thought of overly feminine get neglected and will not be [taken] severely,” stated Lewis.
“And Josie and the Pussycats is pink and it is glittery or they’re sporting leopard print bikini tops, however the central message of the movie is that this actually biting, sensible evaluation of consumerism and capitalist tradition, and the way the issues that we eat are fed to us. It’s actually intelligent and is one thing that lives on.”