SOUTHWEST PREMIERE!

From the makers of EXECUTIVE KOALA and CALAMARI WRESTLER!

It’s a shame that the US translation for NEKO RAHMEN TAISHO is PUSSY SOUP, because that title inspires entirely too much giggling. Still, it’s a better title than RECESSION CAT CONTEMPLATES SUICIDE, which would characterize the first half of this wacky, schizo, based-on-a-manga movie, populated with cat puppets and the humans who love them.

Hard to believe that a movie centered on cuddly toys would have such lofty themes -- fame, shame, daddy issues, a search for oneness with the universe -- but it’s all here, in Shakespearan amounts. Taisho, a young cat-model who cannot live up to his father’s level of commercial success, runs away from home and finds his reluctant calling as a noodle chef. At first a dismal failure, Taisho learns the mysteries of ramen and builds a following, only to find himself once more at odds with an Iron-Chef style hotshot who has set up shop close by. Can you guess who it is? Bet you can!

It’s funny, it’s zen, it has puppets in existential crisis. Come for the cuteness, stay for the angst. NEKO RAHMEN TAISHO is a bowl of crazy fun.