Crazy Cat Lady Yearbook
Tuesday, December 23, 2014 at 7:25PM 
Year in review. Two yummy look backs each day.
People often get my name wrong in the comments. I do not answer to "Nate" or "Nathan". "Nat" or "Nathaniel" will do. I also answer to "Crazy Cat Lady".
Cats do not get enough screen time if you ask me but they're not pack animals so there's no cat union to promote their representation in the movies. I actually felt a bit betrayed this summer when Toothless, one of my all time favorite screen cats suddenly seemed almost doggish in How To Train Your Dragon 2. If Dreamworks wants to know why they struggled a bit at the box office there I can only point to Toothless. There was A) Not nearly enough of him in the movie and B) He seemed to have gone to the dog side.
So herewith the four cats from the film year I couldn't love more...
BEST SCREEN CATS 2014
04 Hairy Baby (Big Hero Six)
If Baymax weren't already off-the-charts adorable, it turns out he's also a cat person robot? (Though he probably shouldn't be petting a happy kitty who might well start kneading him since he's already sprung a leak at this point in the movie.
03 Ghibli Cat (The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness)
From my review of the Studio Ghibli documentary...
Particularly wonderful are the many shots of a black and white short tailed cat that wanders freely around Studio Ghibli demanding doors be open for it. This cat, who almost seems like an animated character, strangely never ventures into Miyazaki's workspace as if blocked, staring, by some invisible wall. Still, Miya-san likes him. They share a brief funny moment at a picnic table outside late in the film, the cat sleeping, the filmmaker looking on with envy; Miyazaki has since retired
02 Felix (St. Vincent)
A veritable cloud of comfort in a sea of smelly clutter, cantankarous moods, and unhappy peoples. Felix is so fluffy, docile, well fed and people-loving that even the most misanthropic or lonely of film characters -- that'd be Bill Murray, natch -- can't remotely pretend to not worship him. (Vulture also couldn't pretend indifference, devoting a whole photo spread to him.)
01 The Cat (Gone Girl)
Every single shot of the orange tabby* in Gone Girl is perfection. He's the perfectly detached observer of all things Mr & Mrs Dunne. Even when he's allowing Nick to be comforted by him, not desperately waiting for food, or staring at the throngs of police and press circling his home, he never seems less than cool and in control. His allegiances also beautifully shift with the opposing chapters. For so long he seems to be Nick's man, until suddenly he's not. Note the way, in the film's best shot (yeah, I couldn't wait) he stares Nick down, a perfect unknowable mirror of Amy, standing just behind him, once they're all back in the kitchen. Is this tabby an "emotional marker" for Gone Girl as some claim or is he something more? An omniscient observer, perhaps? Or David Fincher in feline form, prowling around his own movie preternaturally aware of every shadowy corner, shared space, hiding place, and neutral ground.
*the cat is never explicitly named in Gone Girl though Nick calls him "Buddy." In the novel I understand his name is "Bleecker".
Reader Comments (16)
No Buttercup from Mockingjay?
I often wondered, now I know! Nat it is, then. :)
I think I only saw Inside Llewyn Davis past January, so the cat would make my Old Possum's list of 2014 Cinematical Cats, and he'd be number 01, since he is adorable, wonderfully athletic and pivotal to the plot. Besides, orange cats are favorites of mine, because they're the feline equivalent of gingers, so whenever I see one, I wonder if it is Tilda Swinton as an animagus.
Wait until you meet the chubby kitty from A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night. You're gonna fall in love.
I think the cat in A Girl Walks Home Alone should also be in the running.
I saw Foxcatcher for the second time early today, because I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Bennet Miller’s two previous films- Truman and Moneyball. So I gave it a benefit of the doubt and went to see it again after not really enjoying it the first time around: I walked away raving about Ruffalo and thought Channing Tatum was fine. I gained more appreciation for Channing Tatum’s performance, Miller’s direction, the screenplay, the mood, the eerie silence that haunts the movie… everything I ended up loving much more with the exception of Steve Carell’s performance. After seeing it the second time around, I have come into conclusion that Carell’s overtly creepy characterization of John Dupont almost ruined the movie. What could have been a powerful portrayal of a man who has lived a very sad life became the Steve Carell “Creep Show.” It was borderline one-dimensional, and almost, but not quite as bad as Stanley Tucci’s performance in Lovely Bones.
The Gone Girl cat was probably thinking what we were all thinking, "DAMN that's a big schlong."
This list made me so delightfully happy. More cat-related content at The Film Experience, please.
-A request from one Crazy Cat Lady to another
Watching Gone Girl, my friend whispered to me "The cat did it". It was actually quite convincing given how in control he looked :D
Can't believe you compiled this list without seeing The Strange Little Cat.
Amir -- can't see everything and no screener :( i think it played in nyc for one week in August or something?
Jija - this is my new favorite Gone Girl anecdote
This is the best Best of list!
I'm always squeaking when a cat appears on screen. And I'm most intrigued when they just sit or randomly walk around in the background but are never addressed by any character. Does it mean that the director/producer/writer/important person is a cat person and insisted that a cat has to be in the film?
I love the little ear twitch of Hairy Baby in the gif.
Agree with the others above- making this list without having 'considered' the cat from "A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night" is like making a "best of film" list without having considered Boyhood. It's a clear example of where "Best Cat" and "Most Cat" gel perfectly.
A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night!
Hollywood's anti-feline agenda has gone on for far too long.
Awesome list but you're missing the most glorious of them all, the cat in Listen Up Philip: http://i.imgur.com/YOaQ5ZK.jpg
Glenn & Evan -- noted. I did try to watch A GIRLWALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT before doing this but had an issue.
irini -- Oh no. and I saw that movie too.