It's a crazy time in the world, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to play out on a global scale. Health professionals are encouraging the public to self-quarantine, in order to reduce infections. As such, plenty of us are shut in at home, watching whatever content is currently available. In response, studios have been releasing movies on Video On Demand early. The infamous movie musical Cats is one of the projects that arrived early, and actor/writer/producer Seth Rogen got super high and watched it for the first time. Rogen live-tweeted his thoughts, and the results definitely didn't disappoint.
Cats is a long running Broadway musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber which audiences usually really love or hate. Tom Hooper's film adaptation went viral for its use of digital fur technology, which resulted in actors' faces being put on furry bodies and kitty heads. Seth Rogen's introduction to his first viewing experience revealed that he was going to be high AF watching the viral movie. Check it out below.
Seth Rogen's mind might be affected by substances, but he starts off his Cats live-tweet asking a question that plagued so many of us. What exactly is a Jellicle cat? The ensemble of dancers refer to themselves (in song) as Jellicles countless times throughout Cats, but it's unclear what exactly this means. Is that just the name of their gang/family of cats? Perhaps the world will never know.
The Cats movie certainly starts by hitting the ground running, as its opening song is a bizarre speak-sing number called (you guessed it) "Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats." Andrew Lloyd Webber's song perfectly teases the type of movie you're about to see, and things only get more wild from there.
Another common point of contention for Cats is the scale that Tom Hooper used in the movie. Because while the actors are working with giant set pieces, its not exactly the correct scale compared to the size of the cats. Seth Rogen noticed this as well, tweeting:
Legendary actress Judi Dench plays Old Deuteronomy in Cats, a role that it typically played by a male actor. Dench was thoroughly delightful doing press for the movie, and seems to have enjoyed her time filming Tom Hooper's movie musical. But she was also the victim of some bad CGI, and was even nominated for Worst Supporting Actress at the Razzies. Seth Rogen took issue with Dench's role as well, primarily her costume.
Seth Rogen is all of us. The way that the characters in Cats were clothed or nude seemed entirely random. And for Judi Dench's Old Deuteronomy, she was seemingly wearing a fur coat. And as Rogen observed, that should have been extremely offensive to her furry comrades. But perhaps since she makes the Jellicle Choice, she gets special fur privileges.
Cats is relatively plot-less. We see as countless cats appear, sing a song introducing themselves, and vie to be the Jellicle Choice. That winning cat will move to the Heaviside Layer, which is presumably Cat heaven? It looks like Seth Rogen got tired of the movie's predictable format, tweeting out:
He's not wrong. Each track from Cats gives the singer the spotlight, and doesn't necessarily build upon a larger plot. It's more like a variety show that a narrative-driven story, which seemed to rate on Seth Rogen as he watched the movie stoned last night.
Cats was a dizzying experience for moviegoers who weren't high and in quarantine, so it was no doubt a significant experience for Seth Rogen. And after sharing his hilarious thoughts to the public, the acclaimed filmmaker had one last question he was left wondering. And you might have guessed it.
There are some questions that we're just never going to know. Chief among them what exactly a Jellicle cat is. Sure we met an entire group of them played by A-lit actors, but that questions remains. Another one is: what was with those crazy bugs in Rebel Wilson's song?
Cats is currently available via video on demand, and the DVD and Blu-ray is expected April 7th. In the meantime, check out our 2020 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
