This One's For All You Cat People...

Year in Review. Each day a new wrap up list. Today Nathaniel with a litter of cinematic felines...

 It's time for a purrfect top ten list. The following list is dedicated to your editor's beloved and much-missed furbaby, Monty who left us in August. In honor of Monty, the web's first Oscar pundit cat, here are some of the most memorable felines of this screen year on movies and television.

Sorry not sorry to all the dog people out there. Isn't that unconditional love from your pup reward enough? Must you always demand doggy time? Let we, the crazy cat ladies, have the spotlight this time!

10 BEST CINEMATIC CATS OF 16

10 Mountain Lion The Neon Demon
This menacing cameo is primo WTFery and hard to forget but surely I did forgot some other key cats. You'll fill me in in the comments about felines who might have made this list, I'm sure...

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Yes No Maybe So: "The Zookeeper's Wife"

No matter how many times we hear the story of World War II and The Holocaust it seems like we're still susceptible to forgetting their lessons. But at least filmmakers and novelists around the world tried to warn us to never forget. In our current climate where hate crimes are skyrocketing and a demagogue prepares to ascend to his throne after blaming our nation's problems on immigrants, how painful is it going to be to watch World War II movies?

Oh look here's another one...

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Middleburg Day 3: Presidents, Production Designers, and Girl Power

Photo by Mara RoszakSaturday, my final full day at the fest, was a chilly windy day in Middleburg - horseback ride thwarted again! The unplanned theme of the day was girl power. The day began with a lively keynote conversation with AMPAS President Cheryl Boone-Isaacs. The moderator kept mentioning that she was the perfect person to be leading the Academy in these tough times and after listening to her for an hour, we can't disagree! It's quite obvious why they keep electing her. She's extroverted, quite funny, movie-loving, and knowledgeable about Hollywood with quite an interesting storied career behind her in film publicity. After that rousing breakfast conversation, the day ended with a standing ovation for Emma Stone and the dazzling La La Land (it's even better the second time!).

Inbetween those events a 13 year old Kazakh girl inspires in the documentary The Eagle Huntress, a very crowded panel on Presidents in the movies, and a conversation with four time Oscar nominated Production Designer Jeannine Oppenwall...

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World Elephant Day

Happy World Elephant Day!

"Happy" might, alas, be the wrong word given how pachyderms have been treated in this world, practically always shamefully despite so much evidence of their intense family bonds, good natures (unlessly treated cruelly and then who doesn't lose their temper?) and their other cute qualities we may or may not be anthropomorphizing. Elephants may go extinct in our lifetime (which is unthinkable) so here are some charitable organizations you should consider supporting if you can that are fighting to save them. 

Elephant activists also suggests never supporting the ivory trade which is easy and never going to elephant attractions (I once rode on an elephant as a child but I didn't know anything about animal cruelty back then) because most of them have taken from their mothers to train them. If you're interested in a good doc on the subject of elephants in captivity -- or rather the ways their captors grapple with the morality of it and how thinking around the topic is changing, I'd suggest One Lucky Elephant (2011) which is about a circus man giving up the elephant he'd raised and lived with for 16 years. It's both hopeful and sad.

After saying all that it may seem hypocritical to share favorite photos of celebrities with elephants (as these beasts have obviously been trained or been living in captivity) but we aren't perfect and can't resist the combo of movie stars and anything glorious that they happen to pose with. A beauty break with lots more photos after the jump including Lupita Nyong'o, Barbra Stanwyck, and Harrison Ford...

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Beauty Break: World Lion Day

Today is World Lion Day so let's gaze at those utterly majestic felines posing with actors and actresses because it's an excuse to honor them. A beauty break gallery after the jump featuring Kirsten Dunst, Joanna Lumley, Buster Crabbe, Gregory Peck, Cara Delevigne and more...

Tippi Hedren with her pet lion "Neil" in the 1970s

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