Film/DVD Review by Diane McCurdy - December 2018

November 18, 2018

There is a myriad of films/DVD’s that feature felines prominently but the inspiration for this article came the recent release,

These two films are fresh but cats have a long history of having important cameos. Marlon Brando as the Godfather caresses a cat while he orders other men to be killed as does Stavros Blofeld the villain in several Bond films. Who can ever forget Anita Eckberg prancing in the Fountain of Trevi holding a white kitten in La Dolce Vita? Jones, the ginger cat, is a survivor along with Ripley on that spaceship from Hell in Aliens.

Newer offerings with cat themes range from the ridiculous to the even more ridiculous! Keanu, a cat who was originally called Iglesias, is the pet of a drug czar. He is captured and his owner leads a merry chase to track him down. An orange cat figures prominently in Inside Llewyn Davis, a Coen brothers depiction of the tribulations of a struggling folk singer. Taken from a best-selling book, Bob the Street Cat is another orange cat, a stray who helped his musician care giver overcome addiction. Nine Lives stars Kevin Spacey as a stuffy businessman who gets magically transformed into the body of the family cat by Christopher Walken. Kedi is a really wonderful documentary about the semi-feral cats of Istanbul. They roam the city and are cared for but they are respected for their independence.

These are just a few of the latest offerings but Art Carney won an Academy Award for his “road trip with cat” performance in Harry and Tonto in 1974. The Incredible Journey is the re-enactment of the true story of three animals who travel 250 miles across Canada to re-unite with their family. Then there are the animations: Garfield, The Cat in the Hat, Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots. Look forward to Anne Hathaway who will follow Michelle Pfieffer and Halle Barry as Catwoman.

Unlike dogs cats do not take direction easily so most of the time several animals are coached and coaxed to perform only one action. Mysterious and haughty but purring and loving on their own terms, cats were once worshiped as gods and they are not about to let us forget it.

Alexa Chipman is a member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle and Marquee Theater Journalists Association with a B.F.A. in Digital Art from Dominican University of California. She has danced with Peninsula Ballet Theatre, Marin Ballet, and Marin Dance Theatre and has appeared in local theater such as the Fringe of Marin Festival. She has a background in voice acting for audio drama, graphic design, and writing Young Adult fiction.