The Captain’s Log entry: Week of 31 August, the year of our Lord 2025
Cats on film recap, BTS for 25 Cats from Qatar and some critical review of cat-centered films by the team. (We tried.)
Hello hello!!
As summer turns to fall, get ready for the new slate of programming on the tee vee and the big screen…which then becomes the tee vee again, thanks to streaming.
Apropos of the last episode, which we hope you loved - have you seen any good films lately? Were there any cats in them?
In this edition of The Captain’s Log, we are going to share some bits and bobs from behind the scenes (BTS - not to be confused with the huge K-Pop group) of the documentary we discussed in this episode, 25 Cats from Qatar, and then provide a few movie reviews of films featuring cats based on our completely objective, totally unbiased criteria.
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Alrightly. Let’s get into it!
AT OUR LAST PORT OF DISEMBARKATION
In which the editorial director of this newsletter, Captain Kitty reports on our past destinations.
This episode was one of our favorites to research, partly because we are all cinephiles here at 6 Degrees of Cats HQ! We’re so lucky to live in a city - the city of New York, aka The Big Apple, aka Pigeon Pizza Plutocrat Place, aka Rat Central - with so many incredible film institutions - the Independent Film Center, Metrograph Cinema, the Angelika Film Center…and we know more than a few of you listeners are fans of the art form as well!
It was a true happy day to learn from Vulture film critic Angelica Jade Bastién (who publishes an amazing Substack here called Madwomen & Muses - go check it out!) - we hope you appreciated the incredibly informed - and sharply and hilariously explained - takes she had on the best, and laziest, uses of cats on screen. Did you run to watch The Third Man (1939), The Witches (1990), The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957), Bell, Book and Candle (1958), Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986)? Such an apt list - all excellent, all very, very different genres and stories - and all distinct specific perspectives on women and cats!
We hope as well that our little tiny film lesson of the 5 Cs of cinema perhaps granted you a new purr-spective through which to view the ethics of how our beloved felis catus are portrayed. Which all on the team agree, should factor into a film’s merits.
We realize there are those out there who view art as existing in some imaginary, isolated plane that transcends the carnal world, untethered to history and people - the zeitgeist.
Nonsense. Poppycock. Baloney! Art is intrinsically connected to the contexts within which it’s created - and the best of it creates a living connection via impact and conversations. And when a film does right by its subjects by shooting them with dignity, well…that’s some high art in our humble opinions.
Case in point - 25 Cats from Qatar (2025) and Cat Daddies (2022), produced, directed and edited by Mye Hoang and shot by Rob Bennett. As promised, here’s some behind the scenes stuff that Mye and Rob shared:
Qatar has stricter laws regarding what can be filmed, and this required extensive research on Mye’s part, especially since the documentary was, as Rob stated in the podcast episode, shot “guerilla” style - on a small budget with a skeleton crew. “In the beginning of the film, we had beautiful shots of these camels [in front of a building]. It was great. … after the film was done, we learned that it's actually against the law to take pictures of that building because it's a government building.” - Mye
There is a very dramatic scene in the airport after the long flight from Doha to Wisconsin. The 26(!) cats are sitting somewhere in the airport in their crates and the protagonist, Katie, is in the back of what appears to be an hours-long security line. The crew are trying to film the cats. “The whole spectacle of it, I mean, we were there for a few hours, all the cats were being tagged, the crates being tagged and there was just one moment where I had followed Umer. He was going to go speak to someone further back in the airport. I was told, not to film. And so I just turned around, went back to where the rest of the action was. But I think that in a way it felt like the cameras were kind of welcomed at that point just because everybody was pretty interested in what was happening.” - Rob
For street cat shots, a lot of the shooting took place later evening. “[The cats] did not really wanna come out during the daytime, so we had to adjust schedule to do more night and in the middle because that's when [the sun’s] not beating down on them. It's still well over a hundred degrees [Fahrenheit], but at least they're gonna come out more.” - Mye
Thankfully, in order to get in on the movement to shift the cat image from the shady, scary side player stereotype to the magnificent, magnanimous main characters we know them to be, we do not need to have heavy equipment and a film budget or Mye’s editing chops to capture cats on film with integrity and care. As Girls and Their Cats YouTube videographer BriAnne Wills named, you can make it work with your palm-sized recording device! BriAnne shared some good tips on getting the best shots of your cats, including a few of them looking at your camera - the cat ”money shot” (we hasten to mention that this phrase originated in the actual film industry, not the …other film industry. Ahem.) BriAnne shared a few good tips on getting your cats’ best angles, and we hope y’all join us in shifting this cat home video zeitgeist to capture cats at their best - not their worst.
Which is still a thing. Remember the cat cucumber thing? It’s not because cats don’t like cucumber. (In fact, in Japan, people think cats love cucumbers. Mine certainly did. It’s like watermelon. See if yours will chomp on one.) It’s because of the concept of object permanence. Cats think of cause and effect differently to humans (which is partly why punishment doesn’t work for them!) And when an object that isn’t particularly smelly or noisy that wasn’t there before is placed near them, out of their sightlines - it’s as if something suddenly appeared out of nowhere. They're naturally startled. So when you see a video of a cat reacting dramatically around a cucumber, it’s the cat version of a prank video when a person in a scary mask jumps out of a bush in front of a toddler.
Anyway. Moving on -
As promised, Binky, Snuggles and Peanut are sitting in the scratched up critics’ chair with me, and we have some strong feelings about films to share in this next segment - cat film reviews. Voilà.
The Adventures of Milo and Otis (1986)
This lives in my heart as a comfort watch that my family had on VHS because of course we did. With the gentle narration of the same guy who did the 1970s and 80s animated Winnie the Pooh series, we follow little Milo (a tiny ginger tabby kitten) and Otis (a tiny pug puppy) as they find their way back to the farm or something like that. I have heard slightly upsetting news that the animal actors may have been put in more peril than necessary since CGI didn’t exist at the time - there are shots of a kitten in a bucket on a river, which surely wasn’t pleasant for the cats no matter how supervised the set was. If you’re especially sensitive to animals in distress it may be a little much especially for kids, but no intentional violence or anything like that happens. FOUR OUT OF FIVE STARS. - Captain Kitty
I don’t like that ginger. Don’t adopt another kitten mom. - Binky
I hate it outside. The dog was ugly. - Snuggles
I liked the grass! Butterflies! Binky! Binky! Binky! Binky! Hey Binky! Do you want to play? Binky! Binky! - Peanut
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
This film is a hagiography that was clearly edited by the surviving members of Queen, which while understandable is not a great way to make good art. They completely minimized Freddie Mercury’s bisexuality, reducing his significant male partners to near-villains and all but erased his love of cats which was a huge aspect of his identity. He named is band Queen, after all! It’s clear the lead actors disliked cats, especially Ramy Malek who portrayed the man - one so obsessed with cats that he named a whole album after them and gave each cat its own bedroom in his mansion - kissing his cats on the head exactly ZERO times. The wig and veneers were horrible. ZERO stars. - Captain Kitty
Where are the cats. You said there’d be chicken. We sat through that terrible boring movie with no cats and no chicken. - Binky
A whole room to myself would be nice. - Snuggles
Bead CURTAINS!! FRINGE? FUNNNNNNN. Please mom get them now! Hey Binky! Binky! Hey! Hey! Binky! Come playyyy! - Peanut
Keanu (2016)
Any fan of Key and Peele will adore this hilarious, ridiculous and utterly adorable satire of a heist film centered around a catnapped kitten that the lead names “Keanu” by a dangerous criminal kingpin. Watch it for Key and Peele’s always quirky characters and especially for the kitten acting. This was so cute. FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS. - Captain Kitty
If you try to put me in an outfit I will end you. - Binky
(This is scary.) - Snuggles
Oh my gosh this looks so fun look that kitten looks like my sister hmm what happened to her HEY BINKY! LOOK AT MEEEE! - Peanut
Ok, upon review, it’s obvious that the team didn’t really get the assignment. It was hard to keep them awake to watch the films.
I don’t think this is a recurring column. Oh well.
NEWS FROM THE CREW!
Here is where my team will share their updates.
As announced on the last episode, we’ll have an extra week between episodes so our next one will be out on Tuesday 9/1622.
And NYC! Have you gotten your tickets for Meow-loween, a Halloween-themed cat-baret hosted by our friend Gemma Smith of Tails & Tassels Podcast? Last chance to get you and your clowder $15 discounted tickets here with the code MEOWVIP!
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Ok everyone! We love you. We appreciate you. We salute you for being on the side of all things kind and beautiful in this mad world.
🛟 Stay whole, spread love, and remember - everything is connected. 🛟
Captain Kitty, Binky, Snuggles and Peanut
I am extremely jealous that I am nowhere near NYC. MEOW-LOWEEN?!?! Amazing 👏🏾