When meowing becomes cool

So, I was thinking about my cats and how much I miss them (fine, the oldest one died in 2000, but I still miss him)... so, dedicated to my deceased and very loved pets, Beto and Tata, a list of my favorite "cats" ever.

Garfield
My lord and saviour. The hero of my childhood, and the most accurate portrayal of a cat I've seen. Funny, smart, lazy, infinitely hungry and simply the height of cool, Garfield might just be my favourite [fictional] feline ever.


Cheshire Cat
You wouldn't believe just how much I used to quote Alice in Wonderland, and particularly this lovely and psychedelic little cat, when I was growing up. Completely insane and adorably nonsensical, the cat with the best smile is, besides idly terrifying, one of the most fun cartoon characters ever drawn.

Felix the Cat
The wacky feline with the psychedelic settings, the rock and roll feel and the manic laugh, Felix is not only absolutely hilarious and adorable, but the most recent cartoon version (the one I knew) is a sort of 21st century noirish madness that fits him much too well. The ultimate "bad luck" cat, while not the type you'd necessarily want to run into, makes beyond great comedy... and that bag of his is the dream of any female (hell, it even looks like a Louis Vuitton)

Pyewacket
The ageless witch cat, Pyewacket takes his name from a "familiar spirit" of a witch detected in Essex in the 17th century -but those of us who love the dear kitty know him as Kim Novak's pet and prank partner in the 1958 film Bell Book and Candle. In the movie, Pyewacket is the "means to an end" to Novak's spells, and ultimately the responsible for the film's happy ending... but being a wicked kitty and all, isn't it adowable?

Crookshanks
The moody cat that starts a maniac and ends up a hero in JK Rowling's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and yet another "witch" cat, here is the half-Kneazle Hermione Granger took in her possession during her third year at Hogwarts, the cat that discovered Sirius Black's true identity and gained himself an enemy for most of the book... such a cute little pig face, ain't he?


Puss 'n Boots
Quite possibly the most adorable cat ever to have been filmed, cute little thing that can kick your ass. Arrested for possession of kitty sand, the greatest thief in Santiago de Compostela stole the show from the second he first appeared in Shrek 2 and we are all endlessly grateful to Antonio Banderas for it... who, in return, has stated that Puss has "ruined his life" - the once latin lover has now been overshadowed for a furrier version of himself. Así es la vida.

The Villain Cats
Maybe the most famous "prop" in the history of film, the cat Marlon Brando held in the very first scene of The Godfather has become subject of countless parodies... it does absolutely nothing, but has become iconic in itself just for being there, playing around with the Don as he structures murders... similarly to the gorgeous white cat the great James Bond villain, Ersnt Stavro Blofeld, always held in his SPECTRE meetings...


Catwoman
And finally, last but never least, the great villainess that acquired her cat-like powers after being licked back to life by a gang of alley cats... the goddess of evil and always the sexiest thing in leather: Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman in Batman Returns. Sleek, gracious, vindictive, evil and drowning in sexuality, Catwoman might just be the greatest villainess ever to have existed, and La Pfeiffer most decidedly makes her justice. Meoowww.

The very fab Holly Golightly

I was just watching the endlessly wonderful Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's (for the thousandth time, yes) and, I was, again, so marvelled by all her costumes. Sure, you can put a wrap Audrey up in a towel and she'd look wonderful (actually - she does wear a towel in the movie and pulls it off) but, wow, there's just something magical about the fashion surrounding Audrey's outfits in Tiffany's (or, at the very least, the most famous of them all: la petite robe noire Holly wears at the very first scene) Seeing as she was basically Givenchy's muse, it was him who created the gorgeous, gorgeous clothing she got to wear in the film, and truthfully, Givenchy couldn't have possibly found a greater muse than Audrey.

So I'll leave you with a couple of pictures from Breakfast at Tiffany's, featuring the stunning Audrey Hepburn in her absolute icon-ness...

By far the picture's most celebrated outfit (and, needless to say, one of the most iconic pieces of clothing ever put on film) Givenchy's homage to Coco Chanel's "little black dress" (la petite robe noire) is nothing short of perfection. Of course, it's nearly impossible to pull off looking quite like that unless you are Audrey Hepburn, but everyone can agree that the very idea of the little black dress is made for every woman - it stylizes what needs to be stylized and shapes up what needs to be shaped. Add to that the gorgeous jewelry, hairdo and sunglasses, and you have probably the most timeless look anyone has ever achieved.

Truthfully, though, the sort of figure Audrey had was the type to be able to pull off anything. The model style - by not having such a great figure she looks amazing in anything. So, she basically wore a towel in this one bit and looked absolutely to die for - it's plain simple, Audrey just exuded class.




More of the eternal Ms. Golightly...

Tu me tues... tu me fais du bien

My favorite '50's romance is the wonderful, breath-taking Hiroshima Mon Amour. Beautiful in every aspect and very moving, it's a mix of dreamy fiction and frightening reality. An evocatively romantic analysis of a world still aching with the atomic bomb, Hiroshima Mon Amour is absolute cinematic perfection, and truly heartbreaking in every possible way.

A less-than-cheerful decade, I for one identify the '50's more with blunt passion than with actual romance. After all, it's the decade of the closet feelings, of the inner demons, of the secret affections, of the underground sexual revolutions. And I'll mention the two Pulitzer prize-winning Tennesse Williams plays that were later adapted for the screen as the example of this whole 50's feeling: Elia Kazan's A Streetcar Named Desire and Richard Brooks' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.


Since, in more ways than one, it was indeed James Dean's decade (even if he only was a big name for two years of it - he truly owned it) might just add my favorite of the bunch: Rebel Without a Cause. While probably outdated, it's still effective and reaches its purpose, and it's some of the best work by both Dean and the god-like creature that was Natalie Wood.



For a sexual revolution to be underground, necessarily there must be something covering up for it. That way, the magical era of downright adorable MGM musicals saw its greatest days, with the ever so gorgeous Gene Kelly leading the way. And so two of the best musicals in history were born: Vicente Minnelli's An American in Paris and the Gene Kelly/Stanley Donen wonderful, wonderful Singin' in the Rain (quite possibly the best musical ever made - or, at the very least, the most representative of the genre)


Oh, but there's so much to say for this wonderful, wonderful decade, in just about every possible aspect. As there were passion-driven stories, there were some of the old stories of undying love at first sight. Another fantastic film from this decade is that exactly, but with the characteristic "twist" into a darker theme; George Stevens' A Place in the Sun, with the ever gorgeous pair of Elizabeth and Montgomery Clift.


Also, as far as the classic love story with a twist, Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece and most definitely the one truly strong love story of his filmography, Vertigo. Acted wonderfully by both James Stewart and Kim Novak (specially the latter), it's a story of love, betrayal and deceit, adding some espionage and an "out of this world" spice - and you get Hitchcock perfection.

Now, for the downright sappy, the stand-out "tearjerker" of the decade, An Affair to Remember (possibly most known for being referenced in Sleepless in Seattle as the "chick flick" of choice). Now, while it does venture into cheese in its entirety, the movie doesn't truly lose any points over it - however corny it might be, it's impossible not to adore it... at least if you're female.



A bit about my three favorite romantic comedies of this decade: the first, lovely beyond reason, features the first big role by one of the true goddesses of cinema... Audrey Hepburn in her adorable portrayal of princess Anya in Roman Holiday, one of so many movies that Hollywood has produced to prove, for the millionth time, that there's just something about iconic European cities in summer time...

The wild, silly, and tremendously funny comedy of sex change (no, not Ed Wood's Glen or Glenda) by the amazing Billy Wilder, Some Like It Hot, simply cannot go unmentioned. Most definitely not the same old "boy meets girl" affair, this "girl meets... girl/boy meets... boy" story, while seemingly simple, ends up simply exploding in its own ridicule, and every single second of it is to die for.

Now, for the most fabulous of the Rock Hudson/Doris Day comedies: Pillow Talk. A messy, hilarious story of the best "showy" screwball type. The music, the costumes, the performances - the whole thing, almost 50 years later, remains, still, absolutely fresh and downright cute. And damn, Rock Hudson was a babe.


And, a pic from An American in Paris, because the damn thing wouldn't fit where it was supposed to...

And, yet again...

Two lovers rediscover themselves, submerge in a triangle and maybe even do their best to help save the world... all from the distant and exotic lands of Morocco. A Morocco strangely located in Burbank, California - but movie magic crosses borders at light speed!

So, my favorite romance of the decade is, quite obviously to anyone that knows me, Casablanca. It's not only because of how much I owe the movie... it did introduce me to film, and specially to classics, and for that I'll always be thankful. Casablanca, however, is beyond that... it's the sort of story that, the more I think about it, the more amazing and completely perfect it seems.

It is, however, a wonderful decade for Hollywood romance. My second favorite is probably that with Bette Davis's most endearing performance, the beautiful Now, Voyager, from the same year as Casablanca and co-starring two of its actors, Paul Henreid and the ever wonderful Claude Rains.

Also, the amazing pair of Bringing Up Baby, Kate Hepburn and Cary Grant, appear with the fresh adaptation of the hit show, The Philadelphia Story, also starring the wonderful Jimmy Stewart, that gets awful, awful flack for winning the Oscar that year.

In yet another Jimmy Stewart classic, right after he comes back from the war, Stewart stars in everybody's favorite Christmas story, It's a Wonderful Life. The touching, beautiful, hilarious and incredibly sweet Capra movie that has been loved by many for decades, is the epitome of everything Capra represented, wrapped up in a Christmas setting - just as it should be.

Let's just get it over and done with and go for any of the Tracy-Hepburn marvelous comedies - and my personal vote goes for Adam's Rib, one of the many (I'll admit it) of Katharine's films about the struggle of "modern" women to balance a career with an actual life.

To end this in a slightly more serious note (I do seem to prefer comedies, don't I?), I'll go for the adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's great novel: in the film Ingrid Bergman shot right after Casablanca, For Whom the Bell Tolls, (starring the eternal Hemingway hero, Gary Cooper) love blooms in the middle of a revolution, stirs up Spain and revives hope in the cause... or at least gives it depth. ¡Que viva la revolución!