CAT OF THE DAY 013: PET SEMATARY

Posted on October 31, 2012 by annebillson

CAT OF THE DAY 013: PET SEMATARY (1989)

Happy Halloween! Meet Church. He was hit by a truck. His can-opener buried him in a Micmac burial ground, and now he has come back to life.

But he’s not like he was before. He smells funny and also, you know, the eyes.

Stephen King adapted his own novel for Mary Lambert’s film. I reviewed Pet Sematary for the Sunday Correspondent in November 1989, back in the days when you still had to explain to a general newspaper readership who King was. I’m still rather proud of myself for leading with it and relegating Krzystof Kieslowski’s A Short Film About Killing (which also, coincidentally, features a dead cat) to third place.

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CAT OF THE DAY 012: BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS

Posted on October 30, 2012 by annebillson

CAT OF THE DAY 012: BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS (1971)

“What do you call your cat?”

“I don’t believe in giving animals ridiculous names. I call him Cosmic Creepers, because that’s the name he came with.”

Cosmic Creepers is a very black cat who lives with Miss Price (Angela Lansbury), a novice witch, in the quaint English village of Pepperinge Eye.

He goes a bit CATZILLA/CATSHOCK on the children who have been billeted with her during World War Two, but mostly contents itself with CATPANION reaction shots when, for example, she is trying out her new broom. (See CATEGORIES)

Unexpectedly for a Disney film, Cosmic Creepers never turns cute and loveable. He remains aloof and independent.

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CAT OF THE DAY 011: ENTER THE DRAGON

Posted on October 28, 2012 by annebillson

CAT OF THE DAY 011: ENTER THE DRAGON (1973)

Every evil crimelord should have a Torture Museum. Han (Kien Shih) shows Roper (John Saxon) around his, and invites his guest to place his head on the guillotine. When Roper, understandably, declines, Han places his own white cat there, and babbles the usual supervillain nonsense: “Very few people can be totally ruthless. It isn’t easy. It takes more strength than you might believe.”

Roper, being one of the good guys, picks the cat up off the block, at which it shows its gratitude by biting him and scampering off. Han observes, “Then there is a point you will not go beyond.” What, the point of gratuitous execution of innocent animals? More supervillain nonsense, of course. Hitler probably wouldn’t have let that cat die either.

This is a particularly interesting cat; it starts off like a typical WHITE CAT OF EVIL  before threatening to turn into a CATRIFICE, but then shows a mean streak of CATZILLA before finally settling down into a CATAPHOR.

It also looks as though it’s been at the milk.

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CAT OF THE DAY 010: L’ATALANTE

Posted on October 28, 2012 by annebillson

CAT OF THE DAY 010: L’ATALANTE (1934)

L’Atalante is the name of the barge that chugs along the canals of the Ile de France, and Jean Vigo’s film is the love story of Jean, the young captain, and his new bride Juliette.

But stealing every scene he’s in Michel Simon as Père Jules, the tattooed sailor. He likes cats. Here are some of them:

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CAT OF THE DAY 009: SLEEPWALKERS

Posted on October 27, 2012 by annebillson

CAT OF THE DAY 009: SLEEPWALKERS (1992)

“Sleep’walk’er n. Nomadic shapeshifting creatures with human and feline origins. Vulnerable to the deadly scratch of the cat, the sleepwalker feeds upon the lifeforce of virginal human females. Probable source of the vampire legend.” – Chillicoathe Encyclopedia of Arcane Knowledge, 1st edition, 1884.

Mick Garris directs a Stephen King screenplay. Everyone sneered at this when it came out, but I’ve always been partial to a) Alice Krige b) Mädchen Amick c) The scene in which, if you pause the video, you can see someone throwing the cat into frame, and d) Clovis, the sheriff’s cat, a shining example of the HEROPUSS. Especially a) and d).

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CAT OF THE DAY 008: GO

Posted on October 26, 2012 by annebillson

CAT OF THE DAY 008: GO (1999)

Three loosely linked stories featuring drugs, young grocery store clerks behaving badly and William Fichtner acting weird. In Ronna’s Story, Mannie (Nathan Bexton) swallows a couple of pills without really knowing what they are. While he’s tripping, a black cat says to him (via subtitles) “I can hear your thoughts.” Then it says, “Xiang Kai Shek. Famous Chinese ruler. Starts with ‘X’.”

Then it says – and this is the kicker – “You’re going to die.” Which means we spend the rest of Doug Liman’s zippy Goodfellas Lite on tenterhooks, waiting for the cat’s prophecy to come true.

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CAT OF THE DAY 007: FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

Posted on October 25, 2012 by annebillson

CAT OF THE DAY 007: FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (1963)

By his cat shall ye know him. The White Cat of Evil makes its first of many appearances in the arms of James Bond’s nemesis, Ernst Stavro Blofeld – leader of SPECTRE (Special Executive for Counter-intelligience, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion), evil mastermind and all-purpose supervillain.

In From Russia With Love Blofeld’s arms and torso are played by Eric Pohlmann (voice) and Anthony Dawson (arms and torso), but he’s so evil we don’t see his face till three Bond films later, in You Only Live Twice (1967), in which he’s played by Donald Pleasence. Meanwhile, the White Cat of Evil takes centre-stage.

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CAT OF THE DAY 006: SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION

Posted on October 24, 2012 by annebillson

CAT OF THE DAY 006: SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION (1993)

Stockard Channing (in bed with Donald Sutherland, right) dreams of cats. And Will Smith pretending to be the son of Sidney Poitier. But mostly cats. Mewing.

A prime example of MULTICAT, and, one suspects, a nightmare to wrangle. All those cats in a single room together and, apparently, getting along famously. Imagine…

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CAT OF THE DAY 005: INSPECTOR GADGET

Posted on October 23, 2012 by annebillson

CAT OF THE DAY 005: INSPECTOR GADGET (1999)

No villain is complete without his White Cat of Evil. Sanford Scolex aka Claw (Rupert Everett) and M.A.D. Cat.

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CAT OF THE DAY 004: NIGHT OF THE DEMON

Posted on October 22, 2012 by annebillson

CAT OF THE DAY 004: NIGHT OF THE DEMON (1957)

“Ooh, claws and teeth! Did you bite the man? Oh, shame. I don’t keep you as a watch-cat. I left the book in full sight for him… His name is Graymalkin, a very fashionable name for English cats in the Middle Ages. They were used in witchcraft, you know.”

“It was not that cat!”

“Oh yes it was. You must have awakened him. You shouldn’t have, at the time of the moon when cats wander and witches dance. Oh yes, they do dance, I’ve seen them.”

Posted in Catscallion, Catzilla | Tagged | 5 Comments