I watched a few good cat movies recently, including The Incredible Shrinking Man. Neither of the other two I saw are in the Criterion programme. Watching both L'Atalante and La Pointe-Courte recently, I was pretty distracted watching the adorable cats play (although the later features one gruesome shot of a deceased cat, it's otherwise full of great cat footage). Agnes Varda also made a two-minute short about her cat Zgougou that was included in the bonus features for Gleaners and I and I honestly think it might be amongst her best work. Personally I'm not a big cat fan, but mostly due to having to avoid them my whole life due to a serious allergy to their fur. I had a conversation with an movie-star friend of mine - who owns a cat despite having a similarly serious allergy - were she posed a question about whether we're allergic to big cats or not. I never intend to get close enough to a tiger to find out, but it's another reason why if I was in the scenario from Life of Pi, I would especially struggle. That's also a good cat movie thinking about it.
Just taught "Rear Window" last week and have been thinking a lot about the animals in that film. There's the well-known little dog (sad), gulls on the rooftop, a few pigeons, and, prominently in the first bit of movement in the film, a cat. Then there are other cats, if you can spot them. What's interesting here (at least to me) is the placement of animals in a built environment. There are no accidental animals in this constructed courtyard. Hitchcock following that opening cat can start to seem meaningful: curiosity, stealth, and so on. Sometimes birds are just birds. Until they aren't.
As an unabashed lover of felines, I heartily enjoyed the hell out of this! The cat footage in that final fight between Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris in The Return of the Dragon is a little bonkers:
Offended on behalf of the entire French New Wave that there's no mention here of DAY FOR NIGHT, where a whole sequence of the movie is devoted to how hard it is to make the stupid cat do what it needs to do for one scene -- which is just to walk over and drink some milk -- to the point where they throw the damn cat at the milk. Great scene, great movie
"Inn used 36 cats, each specializing in one skill, to make Rhubarb because training a cat to do more than one trick proved too daunting."
it probably comes from the same source, but I watched That Darn Cat thinking "this is one truly amazing cat actor!" only to find out the same from wikipedia: it's a series of one-trick cats, not one award-winning cat
We also did a cat movie weekend with many of these! My wife wondered why the cat in THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN would attack his tiny owner when he presumably still had his scent and my answer was much the same as yours - that’s why he would attack! And the multiple cats thing is why I find The Perils of Pauline even more impressive - probably one cat, amazing they could film her roaming outdoor environments without her just bolting for the nearest shelter.
Bell, Book and Candle isn’t part of the cat movies collection for some reason but it IS still on Criterion Channel as an FYI! One of my favorite winter season movies.
Maybe I'm the only one who went right to the King adaptations in the Criterion Channel collection, but just here to show some love to Clovis and General, two very good cats.
I watched "Rhubarb" yesterday and was fascinated by its alternate reality of very unprofessionalized 1950s baseball teams full of jamokes, with like two non-player employees. I kept wondering if it was meant to be a period piece from the deadball era or something, until they mentioned Dewey-Truman.
A few good cat movies that come to mind are “Cat’s Eye” (where the cat is ultimately the hero), “Eye of the Cat” (which I enjoyed until it crapped out at the end), and “The Three Lives of Thomasina” (yet another feline-centric Disney film). And three animated movies: “Gay Purr-ee,” “The Aristocats,” and the much more adult “Felidae.” And if you’re into big cats, “Roar” is a must-see.
I’ve never seen “Walk on the Wild Side,” but I’ve checked out the opening credit sequence that shows a cat slinking around a city neighborhood after dark. Wonder how long it took to shoot it.
I watched a few good cat movies recently, including The Incredible Shrinking Man. Neither of the other two I saw are in the Criterion programme. Watching both L'Atalante and La Pointe-Courte recently, I was pretty distracted watching the adorable cats play (although the later features one gruesome shot of a deceased cat, it's otherwise full of great cat footage). Agnes Varda also made a two-minute short about her cat Zgougou that was included in the bonus features for Gleaners and I and I honestly think it might be amongst her best work. Personally I'm not a big cat fan, but mostly due to having to avoid them my whole life due to a serious allergy to their fur. I had a conversation with an movie-star friend of mine - who owns a cat despite having a similarly serious allergy - were she posed a question about whether we're allergic to big cats or not. I never intend to get close enough to a tiger to find out, but it's another reason why if I was in the scenario from Life of Pi, I would especially struggle. That's also a good cat movie thinking about it.
Just taught "Rear Window" last week and have been thinking a lot about the animals in that film. There's the well-known little dog (sad), gulls on the rooftop, a few pigeons, and, prominently in the first bit of movement in the film, a cat. Then there are other cats, if you can spot them. What's interesting here (at least to me) is the placement of animals in a built environment. There are no accidental animals in this constructed courtyard. Hitchcock following that opening cat can start to seem meaningful: curiosity, stealth, and so on. Sometimes birds are just birds. Until they aren't.
As an unabashed lover of felines, I heartily enjoyed the hell out of this! The cat footage in that final fight between Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris in The Return of the Dragon is a little bonkers:
https://youtu.be/0VJnFDz4VP0?si=CL84YoP292dIBZT_
Apparently I'm not the only one who found it mysterious: https://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/1987/what-is-the-significance-of-the-cat
There's a video game called Stray that is quite good; you'll get your fill of being a cat. 😻
I need to play that. I know Scott's a fan.
Totally family friendly, too, so definitely something you can play with kids. 🙂
My 15yo daughter and I played the game together and actually cheered at the end. We were emotionally invested in that cat!
mainly, but I (an adult) was not prepared for the early sequence when your cat falls and lays injured in the rain
Offended on behalf of the entire French New Wave that there's no mention here of DAY FOR NIGHT, where a whole sequence of the movie is devoted to how hard it is to make the stupid cat do what it needs to do for one scene -- which is just to walk over and drink some milk -- to the point where they throw the damn cat at the milk. Great scene, great movie
Sorry I immediately ctrl-f'd this article for "Jones" and got zero results so I'm not sure I can read it now.
Love Jonesy. A total cat and a stunning omission. I can't blame you.
I'm biased because that's what I named my own Orange Boy. You're lucky substack comments don't support pictures.
no, we're all poorer because of that
"Inn used 36 cats, each specializing in one skill, to make Rhubarb because training a cat to do more than one trick proved too daunting."
it probably comes from the same source, but I watched That Darn Cat thinking "this is one truly amazing cat actor!" only to find out the same from wikipedia: it's a series of one-trick cats, not one award-winning cat
Great article. Reminds me of this Fincher quote from the Gone Girl commentary:
https://twitter.com/NickdeSemlyen/status/863488348261842944
We also did a cat movie weekend with many of these! My wife wondered why the cat in THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN would attack his tiny owner when he presumably still had his scent and my answer was much the same as yours - that’s why he would attack! And the multiple cats thing is why I find The Perils of Pauline even more impressive - probably one cat, amazing they could film her roaming outdoor environments without her just bolting for the nearest shelter.
Me just glad to hear me not only one unimaginative enough to name orange cat Orangey.
(Me did consider renaming him Quentin, because his two favorite things are feet and violence.)
Bell, Book and Candle isn’t part of the cat movies collection for some reason but it IS still on Criterion Channel as an FYI! One of my favorite winter season movies.
What a delightful essay. Thank you!
Maybe I'm the only one who went right to the King adaptations in the Criterion Channel collection, but just here to show some love to Clovis and General, two very good cats.
I watched "Rhubarb" yesterday and was fascinated by its alternate reality of very unprofessionalized 1950s baseball teams full of jamokes, with like two non-player employees. I kept wondering if it was meant to be a period piece from the deadball era or something, until they mentioned Dewey-Truman.
Gotta love vintage jamokes. (Kind of bummer that a Brooklyn team in 1951 was not yet integrated, though.)
You forgot to mention Elliot Gould's cat from THE LONG GOODBYE is the original Morris of 9Lives cat food fame!
A few good cat movies that come to mind are “Cat’s Eye” (where the cat is ultimately the hero), “Eye of the Cat” (which I enjoyed until it crapped out at the end), and “The Three Lives of Thomasina” (yet another feline-centric Disney film). And three animated movies: “Gay Purr-ee,” “The Aristocats,” and the much more adult “Felidae.” And if you’re into big cats, “Roar” is a must-see.
I’ve never seen “Walk on the Wild Side,” but I’ve checked out the opening credit sequence that shows a cat slinking around a city neighborhood after dark. Wonder how long it took to shoot it.