August 8 - 21: Movies and Music This week

Tamara's Picks

A purrfectly enjoyable selection of children's music for the kitten crowd:

The Cat's Meow - Time Machine Guitar by Ralph's World

Cat Party - Rad-trospective by Koo Koo Kanga Roo

Funniest Cat Video - Raise Your Hand by The Not-its!

Nobody's Cat - Ready for Rockin' by The Little Rockers Band

Meow Hau-hau - Salsa for Kittens & Puppies by Andy Blackman Hurwitz

This Cat - Office Hours by Jack Forman

Walking My Cat Named Dog - Why? by They Might Be Giants

Watermelon Meow Meow - Rock-O-Matic by the Imagination Movers

What Kind of Cat Are You? - What Kind of Cat Are You? by Billy Jonas

RL's Picks

I love cats, especially orange ones, but I'm very allergic to them and unable to have a cat as a pet and/or best friend. It's a tragedy, really. But what am I going to do, cry all day about it? No! Not all day anyway, I found a couple of movies with awesome, orange cats that help ease the pain.

There is a cute, orange tabby named Milo in The Adventures of Milo and Otis. This is a Japanese film that was released in 1986, but didn't come to the U.S. until 1989, after all the animals learned to speak English. The adventure begins when a floating box Milo climbs into gets loose and drifts downstream. Milo's pug buddy, Otis, tries to rescue him, even fighting a bear in the river! Otis is so brave! Milo meets some new animals after making it out of the river. He comes across a nest with hungry baby birds in it and greets them with little swats to their little heads. After helping a piglet in need, a very hungry Milo gets to suckle with the rest of the pig litter. Milo looks adorable as he wipes his pig milk mustache. You'll never guess who else Milo (and Otis) meet on their adventure and who returns home with them.

Another cute, orange cat named Jonesy appears in Alien. My favorite part of the movie is when Jonesy calmly watches Brett get killed by the Alien. There are 2 nice close-ups of Jonesy's handsome face witnessing Brett's death, with nice editing too, as we see the Alien lift Brett in the air then see Jonesy's eyes follow.

Sarah's Picks

1. Kiki's Delivery Service- Jiji is always by Kiki's side as they both set off for the first time into independant living. It's one of Studio Ghibli's classic animated movies that can be appreciated by all ages.
2. Homeward Bound- Sassy the cat joins her two doggie companions to search for their family when the pets believe they have gone missing in an unlikely, but hilarious adventure. One of the memorable 90s phrases came from this movie: Cats rule, dogs drool!
3. Any music by famous cat-lover Taylor Swift, but especially "Evermore" from the Evermore album. Fans think one of the lines references her stint as a feline in the movie Cats!

Don's Picks

What is it about cats, they are our companions and yet, there is something distant and even a little scary about them. Here are some cats in movies that are both fearsome and companionable!!!

Coraline - In this stop motion animated masterpiece a lonely girl finds a parallel world where people have buttons for eyes and things seem a little too perfect. In the middle of it all, an unnamed cat seems to help Coraline. We're not sure if he's bad or good!

Disney films feature a series of cats that end up influencing the lives of humans. The animated Aristocats made just after Walt Disney's passing, shows a studio struggling to find itself but still manages to charm in a story of a wealthy cat abducted by jealous butler--mayhem ensues!! The familiar voices are by Eva Gabor and Phil Harris.

The Disney film machine was working at peak level when it produced the charming, heartwarming Three Lives of Thomasina. Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber (before they both starred in Mary Poppins) charm in this story narrated by the cat herself as she experiences death and rebirth and brings people in her Scottish town together.

A cat has the key to a crime and manages to turn everyone's life upside down in this latter day Disney comedy, That Darn Cat with the reliably wonderful Christina Ricci.

The sensibilities of director Jacques Tourneur and producer, Val Lewton combine perfectly for the atmospheric classic, Cat People. Does the beautiful Simone Simon transform into a killer black panther or is she having a breakdown with lethal consequences? The film is as silky, and stealthy as the panther as the creepy atmosphere sneaks up on the audience, taking us into another world. Writer/director Paul Schrader directed the much more explicit remake, with Nastassja Kinski as the woman between worlds. Tangerine Dream provided the famously hypnotic score.

Debra's Picks

The Travelling Cat Chronicles is a charming Japanese film, adapted from the international bestselling book with the same title. Told from the point of view of Nana, a very independent cat, and Satoru, who takes him in to care for him after he is injured, we gradually learn of Satoru’s past as these two friends embark on their journey. This is a film that encompasses loss, love and grief but is ultimately uplifting.

A Street Cat Named Bob: I haven’t seen this movie yet, but I’m intrigued. It’s based on a true story which was a bestselling book about a homeless recovering drug addict in London who met a homeless cat and had his life transformed. The real cat, Bob, plays himself in the movie and apparently this movie is NOT sappy! I don’t know if that’s true about the sequel, A Gift From Bob. These movies are also available on dvd and bluray.

I like the song Copy Cat by Melanie Martinez. It’s not really about a cat but that’s ok.

No recommendations regarding cats is complete without a mention of Kedi, the Turkish documentary featuring the many street cats of Istanbul and the people they have adopted who care for them but do not own them Also available on dvd and bluray.

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