Yes, No, Maybe So: "Cats" (and personal "Cats" histories)

by Nathaniel R

All longform discussions of the trailer to Cats must be prefaced with one's own history with the Andrew Lloyd Webber megahit. It's the law. This is why no matter how insane the movie may appear, no matter how much it be instantly mocked on the internet, it will have (at least) a gigantic box office opening. The megamusical has been a phenomenon since 1981, grossing literally billions of dollars on stage, winning awards and selling millions of albums (back when people actually bought such things) with the hit song "Memory" being covered by hundreds upon hundreds of musicians thereafter. 

Cats was my first Broadway touring show which I saw in Detroit (presumably at the Fox Theatre?) as a kid. My parents bought me the t-shirt and later for Christmas the Original Cast Recording. On my first ever trip to NYC in 1989 (?) it was then my first Broadway show. I know I know... I was once a typical tourist who saw something he'd already seen *shakes head at self* while in New York when other surely better and newer things were playing. I was so obsessed Cats that I learned "Memory" on the piano and named my next two kittens "Mistoffles" and "Rumpleteaser". How young and foolish and easily manipulated I was by splashy worldwide sensations as a child. And yet from the 1990s onward I've barely thought of it but for whenever discussions of a possible movie version would come up, most notably all the joking in Six Degrees of Separation (1993).

Okay that's my history. You must share yours (it's the law) and since Cats is such an event brand, we must do the Yes No Maybe So™ breakdown after the jump in real time screencaps rather than trifurcating with our yes, no maybe so headings. Ready?

To quote Judi Dench as "Old Deuteronomy"...

We're about to begin

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How are the nominees introduced in their movies? (A Smackdown '60 appetizer)

The Smackdown panel is meeting this Sunday to finalize the voting and record our conversation. All five films are available on either YouTube or Amazon but for Dark at the Top of the Stairs which you can watch on the link included below. Watch the movies and vote!

While you wait for the Smackdown and its Podcast, we thought we'd do a little exercize we haven't done in a while. Let's look at how the filmmakers introduce these characters within the overall stories. Bear in mind that these aren't the lead characters, so theroetically they don't have to be introduced in a "stop and look at this person!"" kind of way. But were the filmmakers underlining their entrances, preparing you to embrace an future-Oscar-nominated-star-turn, or just going about telling the stories? 

Let's investigate in the order they show up in their movies...

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Not Getting An Emmy Is So Not A Big Deal 🎵

by Dancin' Dan

From the time Rebecca Bunch began to speak
The critics said her show was so unique
Now I'm not saying that's a guarantee
But Lord knows with awards that it should be

Her best friends, her boyfriends, her mom and her boss
They've all endured the same ignominy
The writers, directors, the set and dress makers
Not one of them has been up for an Emmy!

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Outback Chemistry

Marvelling, on a rewatch today, at the relationship Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr conjure in The Sundowners (1960). This marriage is incredibly specific, and they give you their lived-in camraderie, their longstanding grievances, their happy-sex-life vibes, and even their future together constantly. 

What actors have wowed you in terms of conjuring authentic marriage vibes onscreen? 

Unrelated P.S.: It's a pity that Robert Mitchum only ever received one Oscar nomination in his career. His & hers would have not been untenable here and he very obviously should have been in the mix for Night of the Hunter (1955). 

Doc Corner: 50th Anniversary of the moon landing inspires multiple documentaries

By Glenn Dunks

It’s amazing to think that there can still be so much previously unseen footage from the biggest television event in history, and yet here we are at the 50th anniversary of the moon landing with a bus-load of new documentaries claiming new takes, new interviews and, yes, new footage. Don’t ask me what exactly is new to us, though. I watched three such films within days of each other and I, at times, felt like I was going nuts: the subject of one is a talking head in another who happens to be in different footage in the other movie, which is probably just a different angle to footage a few feet to the left in the first movie!

And on top of that, if you’ve watched even just one or two other works about the American space program – whether that be documentaries like For All Mankind, or dramatic features like Apollo 13 – then you will already be familiar with a lot, not to mention the moon landing itself. It’s exhausting. I even saw another moon landing documentary on the tele while I was at the gym the other night. And then there is the six-hour PBS documentary that I, quite frankly, just don’t know if I have the patience for after this triple-play. The three films I have watched all do have something in them that is ultimately worth the time. Especially if you’re in a particularly lunar mood on this landmark date. The best of the three, the most cinematic and effectively rousing, is Todd Douglas Williams’ Apollo 11…

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