It might be the next Matrix, at least for Asian audiences, what with a television series and a massive merchandising campaign in the works, but I couldn’t make head or tail of this shaggy-cat anime epic from the Japanese art collective "Tree of Life." In this kaleidoscopic pastiche, a vast Thomas Pynchonesque conspiracy unfolds over the millennia from 3500 BC to the early 21st century in an alternative feline universe. A prehistoric kitty cult of Minerva has mutated into the ubiquitous Catty & Co. Corporation, which has insinuated itself into every aspect of feline (and canine, as raffish dogs have their outposts on certain planets) life for the purpose of the eternal cycle of rebirth and destruction of society, or some such thing. The premise fades before the energy and the detail of the execution, with animation styles alternating between a Max-Fleischer-by-way-of-Peter-Max pop primitivism outlining the story of the title sex kitten, who may or may not be an avatar of the destructive goddess Tatla, and ominous CGI passages reminiscent of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. With its relentless network of cross-cultural references ranging from Diane Arbus and Michelangelo to Clint Eastwood and Colonel Sanders, Tamala is a cat’s cradle that deserves at least a couple of viewings.