Summer Shorts '14 Bonus Listen Friday: The Velveteen Rabbit!

Image courtesy of Tantor Media, Inc. & Going Public

"Wasn't I real before?" 
"You were real to the boy because he loved you. Now, you shall be real to everyone."

 Happy Friday everyone! To keep rolling on the JIAM (June is Audiobook Month) party train, today I'm posting the next installment of the Critic's Pick/Bonus Listen Fridays of Summer Shorts '14, a collection, as you read last week, that is the product of a collaboration of Spoken Freely and Tantor Media, Inc. All proceeds from the sales of this collection will go to support ProLiteracy, a nationwide organization to that provides adult learning, content, and programs to help adult learners and advocate on their behalf.

Today features a bonus listen of Margery Williams' The Velveteen Rabbit, narrated by by Cris Dukehart!

For the purposes of full disclosure, while I do work for Tantor, I'm independently promoting this because it is one of my absolute favorite childhood stories - concept of being loved making you "real" is something that still brings tears to my eyes, even as I write this. Written in 1922, it was also published under the title How Toys Become Real and was Williams' first children's novel. Battle armor in ancient Japan was often adorned with rabbits because they are considered a symbol of honor and self-sacrifice, qualities which the brave little bun in this tale displays in spades.  

Original 1922 cover. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

I remember as a child reading an old copy that had the original cover design (see left) and how fiercely I loved my teddy bear which was uncreatively named "Teddy." When I took Teddy to girl scout camp with me, a girl sharing a tent with me snobbily declared, "You're 10 now. You shouldn't be carrying around stuffed animals. He's not real anyway." I remember clutching Teddy protectively to me and, strengthened by Ms. Williams' words, declared "Well, he's real to me!" Talk about fodder for a discussion on childhood existentialism.

 Ms. Dukehart brings a sincere and delicate charm to the retelling of this classic tale that resonates with children and grownups alike. A mother of three herself, she captures the childlike wonder of the retelling with her light, bouyant tones that remains true to the magic of the story without sounding indulgent or patronizing, making it a joy for both adults as well as children to discover for the first time, or revisit and enjoy. Take a listen to the right!

When you're done, head on over to the wonderful book blog A Book and A Latte to read a little more about Ms. Dukehart's experience on narrating this tale and why she loves being a voice actress.

The short stories and essays keep rolling on! You can take a listen to today and tomorrow's new releases by following the link below! 

6/20 & 6/21 Gabrielle de Cuir & Stefan Rudnicki joint, two-day appearance at Joe’s Geek Fest
Selections: Too Far, and Man of Distinction, by Fredric Brown

 And wrap up your literary week right on Sunday with these following selections:

6/22 Heather Henderson, The Curve of Time, by M. Wylie Blanchet @ PostHypnotic Press Blog
6/22 Scott O’Neill, Why I Don’t Believe in Santa Claus, by Matt Rothschild @ Rhonda’s Voice


For the full schedule for the blog hop and how to hear more, please visit coordinator Xe Sands' blog Spoken Freely.

Stay tuned for next Friday's Summer Shorts Critic's Pick!

Summer Shorts '14 Bonus Listen Fridays!

Image courtesy of Tantor Media, Inc. & Going Public

Ah, summer. The time for getting out, hitting the road...and it also happens to be JIAM - short for June is Audiobook Month! What better way to celebrate than to have a collection of some of the best pieces of classic literature bundled into a collection that not only showcases some of the best voices in the audiobook world, but also supports literacy?

 Tantor Media, Inc. has teamed up with Spoken Freely, a group of more than 40 professional narrators to create Summer Shorts '14. All proceeds from the sales of this collection will go to support ProLiteracy, a nationwide organization to that provides adult learning, content, and programs to help adult learners and advocate on their behalf. ProLiteracy also publishes learning materials used in adult literacy and basic education instruction.

Even more exciting - bloggers like me are getting a chance to "host" tracks in an ongoing blog hop that is taking place ALL MONTH LONG. I'll be showcasing each Friday in June my "Critic's Pick" of the theme of the week for a bonus listen! (Full disclosure: although I do work for Tantor in my day job, I had no involvement in the production of this work-I'm independently promoting it because it's a cool project!) We are coming to the end of Poetry Week, and I chose one of my favorite poets (who I also share a namesake with), Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)" that she wrote for her husband and fellow poet Robert Browning and read by Coleen Marlo. Far from being sappy, the line that always stuck like a splinter in my mind is "I love thee with the passion put to use in my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith."I always interpreted that as Ms. Browning's reflection on how true love allows us to redirect our energies away from jaded ideals and embrace the world with new eyes, like those of a child. Take a listen to the right! 

When you're done, head on over to Audio Gals to read the excellent interview they conducted with Ms. Marlo on why she chose that particular poem as her feature in the Summer Shorts.

Poetry week keeps rolling on! You can take a listen to today's new releases by following the links below!

 Katherine Kellgren, Father William, by Lewis Carroll @ Overreader
                    
 Carrington MacDuffie, Al’s Boy, by Carrington MacDuffie @ Beth Fish Reads

And wrap up your week right tomorrow with these selections:

  Diane Havens, So Long, by Walt Whitman @ Author Michael Stephen Daigle’s blog
                   
  John Pruden, The Funny Little Fellow, by James Whitcomb Riley @ Going Public

 For the full schedule for the blog hop and how to hear more, please visit coordinator Xe Sands' blog Spoken Freely.

Stay tuned for next Friday's Summer Shorts Critic's Pick!

The Critic is heading to AnimeNEXT!

Image courtesy of AnimeNEXT.org

Well folks, it's that time of year again, and your favorite critic is off and running to AnimeNEXT in Somerset from June 6-8 in Somerset, NJ. I'll be taking photos, doing some video, and of course reporting back to you right here at the end of it all! If you want to catch me in person, here are the following panels that I'll be participating in, led by Dr. Bill Ellis, Folklore Professor Emeritus at Penn State University and owner of Sensei's Anime Gallery.

You can also read my first impressions of the con all weekend long by following me on Twitter @TheInsatiCritic! 

 

 

 

 

Friday

Collecting Japanese Animation Art
Time: 5:30-6:30 pm 
Location: Panel Room 3 (second floor of the Doubletree Hotel)

Collecting American animation art (Disney, Don Bluth, etc.) has been actively collected for some years, but the same potential lies in cels and sketches used to make important anime series. When a show was wrapped, Japanese studios often released the original art onto the auction market, so cels, original production backgrounds, and original key animators' sketches are much easier to obtain. This panel will survey original animation art that can be found on the market, including those for classic cel-based series and the newer CGI-based anime, and show how collecting these artifacts enhances one’s appreciation of anime as an artform. Strategies for gaining and maintaining animation will be discussed.

 

 Saturday

 

Anime Under the Radar:The Roaring Aughties

Time: 4:30 - 5:30 pm 

Location: Panel 1, Bridgewater

The years 2000-2009 were a booming period for anime, and most fans have a shortlist of favorites made during this era: Fullmetal Alchemist, Ouran High School Host Club, Monster, etc. But many other productions were made that for one reason or another did not make the “Top 50” list of many critics’ retrospectives. This panel will discuss some of the other series or films made during this heady time that received little love yet are well worth another look.

Princess TuTu: A Queered Fairy Tale
Time: 8:30 to 9:30 pm 
Location: Panel Room 3 (second floor of the Doubletree Hotel)

Princess Tutu (Studio Hal, 2002-04) has gained and held a strong fanbase since its release. This series, which describes the rebellion of fairytale characters against the demented undead storyteller who tries to control their destinies, is typical of many series and books that adapt old folktales for a contemporary audience.  This panel will apply concepts from new folkloristics, queer studies, feminism, and Jungian psychoanalysis to deconstruct the multiple narrative layers of Princess Tutu and suggest reasons why its message resonates with so many Eastern and Western viewers.

Photo Contest!!

Contest UPDATE! In celebration of June is Audiobook Month, the winning picture will also receive a copy of Summer Shorts '14, a collection of short stories, poems and essays, in addition to The Insatiable Critic mug! DEADLINE EXTENDED TO JULY 1 AT MIDNIGHT!

My friends Daman and Courtney started a Facebook profile pic trend with "mugshots", a picture of themselves in the act of drinking out of their favorite mug. This gave me an idea, mwhahaha! To get everyone excited about The Insatiable Critic merchandise soon to come, I propose a photo contest! The winner will be the first to get their own Insatiable Critic mug, featuring the site's logo as well as our favorite critic kitty, Sir Toby.

1. Grab your favorite mug.

2. DRINK out of said mug.

3. Take a selfie while doing so.

4. Email the image to lizellis07@gmail.com with subject line: "The Insatiable Critic Photo Contest"

5. See example below.

I moustache you a question - why don't you enter this contest?

Photos submitted will be compiled into a slideshow that will be presented on the blog unless stated otherwise. If you would prefer NOT to have your photo added to the slideshow, please state that in your email along with your photo submission.  Deadline for images is JULY 1. Get snapping!

Spring AudioFile Book Reviews: Shaman and Annihilation

The natural world is coming at us full force with these spring audiobook titles I recently reviewed for AudioFile Magazine! First up, we have the Audio Publishers Association's (APA) Audie-nominated title, Shaman, where the listener dives into the heart of a native, rustic world with the warm tones of Graeme Malcolm taking the lead. In the chilling Annihilation, the narrator of The Hunger Games trilogy Carolyn McCormick takes us neck-deep in terror as the natural world bites back at a dystopian human civilization in a big way.

SHAMAN

Kim Stanley Robinson
Read by Graeme Malcolm

In this sci-fi world, the line between humans and nature is blurred beyond distinction, but narrator Graeme Malcolm's cadence is steady as a heartbeat. His deep bass gives reserved power to a story that glimpses how we lived 30 thousand years ago. For Thorn, the shaman master, Malcolm uses growling, occasionally animalistic, tones, which are particularly effective when Thorn delivers a blistering admonition to younger male tribe members about the power of the female spirit. Malcolm gives Thorn's apprentice a wavering voice that brings the uncertainty of their futures into stark relief. As delivered by Malcolm, this tale of survival is as shocking and coarse as it is sublime and powerful.
E.E. 2014 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

To view this review on AudioFile's Website and listen to an audio sample, click here. 

Image courtesy of Audible, Inc.

ANNIHILATION

Southern Reach Trilogy, Book 1

Jeff VanderMeer
Read by Carolyn McCormick

Area X is a stunning Eden where nature has reclaimed its hold in a crumbling human civilization. The only problem is that humans who attempt to explore it keep dying. Carolyn McCormick narrates increasingly disturbing events with an unwavering calm that makes the listening experience all the more chilling. The latest expedition in the series consists of four women known to us only by their professions; the story is told from the biologist's point of view. McCormick gives a haughty, deep voice to the psychologist, the leader of the group whose intentions may not be what they seem. Her arrogant tone contrasts nicely with the gritty and increasingly anxious tones of the surveyor as the group uncovers deadly secrets better left alone.
E.E. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

To view this review on AudioFile's Website, click here. 

The Hard Goodbye to our Valiant: Remembering Bob Hoskins

A hare-y situation: image courtesy of Cineplex.com

R.K. Maroon: How much do you know about show business, Mr. Valiant?
Eddie Valiant: Only that there is no business like it, no business I know.

I was very distressed to hear news about Bob Hoskin’s passing this morning at the relatively young age of 71 due to pneumonia.Though he announced his retirement from acting in 2012 due to being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, I'm sure many of us hoped we would have the pleasure of his company for awhile longer.

Hoskins singlehandedly revived the film noir genre (one of my favorites) to a whole new audience with his wonderful performance Eddie Valiant, a hardworking/hard boozing flatfoot private eye in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. An unlikely choice for a leading man, barrel-chested and standing 5’6”- but an unconventional film calls for an unconventional hero. I’m hard-pressed to imagine anyone else in the role. Cool World (1992), a similar real world/toon merging trying to ride on the coattails Roger Rabbit’s success, cast the dashing young Brad Pitt for their private eye, but unfortunately due to Pitt’s stilted acting and the horrible quality of the animation, Cool World was destined for the bargain bin. 

Hoskins never rose to the white-hot stardom of the likes of Philip Seymour Hoffman (who also passed away earlier this year, also far, far too soon), but he was always AROUND, embellishing films with his gruff voice and cantankerous charm. While Valiant is Hoskins’ best-known role, my very first exposure to Hoskins was as Iago in the 1981 TV Movie of Shakespeare's Othello (featuring, bizarrely, an overly stuffy Anthony Hopkins as Othello in blackface). Hoskins was the easily best part of the whole performance, impish, growling, and devious as all get-out. If it weren’t for Hoskins,1991’s Mermaids would have been nigh unwatchable. As Cher’s boyfriend, Lou Landsky, he adds a reality check to all the sentimental mush and angst being sprayed around liberally, almost choking the film completely. And was there ever a better live-action Smee to compliment the nefarious charm of Dustin Hoffman’s embodiment of Captain Hook in 1991’s Hook? 

Hoskins in 2012. Image courtesy of CNN.com

I'll wrap up this small tribute with an interview Hoskins gave shortly after Roger Rabbit came out (apologies, but the only link I could find to it has subtitles) that shows not only the dedication to his craft, but the wonderfully kind and good-natured person that he was. When asked what it was like acting around a bunch of characters that weren’t actually there, he explains that he had to “hallucinate” the characters to interact with them, and working with his young daughter, who had invisible friends of her own at that time, to achieve this level of believability in the make-believe. Of course, this would be enough to drive anyone a little batty: 

"After doing it for six months, for sixteen hours a day, I sort of, um, lost control of it. I had weasels and rabbits popping out of the wall at me, you know?"

Toby sez: Rest in peace, Mr. Hoskins. The world will never be the same without you. 

Current Reels: Mr. Peabody & Sherman brings wit but lacks bite

"Now don't touch that, Sherman..." Image courtesy of DreamWorks.

Back when I was a wee pup in oversized glasses not unlike Sherman's, I used to relish the time when the Rocky & Bullwinkle Show would come on the Saturday morning cartoons. It was quick-paced and sardonic, filled with political commentary of the time that generally went over my head, except for the Cold War villains embodied in Boris and Natasha. My favorite short was Mr. Peabody & Sherman, about a particularly precocious time-traveling dog who “owned” a little boy.

In the late 90s and early 2000s, Hollywood tried valiantly to bring Rocky & Bullwinkle and their accompanying sketches to the big screen - with limited success, to say the least. (Let’s not talk about Dudley Do-Right, except to say Brendan Frasier definitely put emphasis on the “Dud.”) In the course of making the material more accessible to current kiddies, the knife-sharp wit and sarcasm of the original show got lost on the cutting room floor.

This happens to some extent in the DreamWorks reboot. Mr. Peabody remains his impassive, unruffled self, but in the process of making him more universally kid-friendly, he does lose some of his acerbic wit. Ty Burrell gives Mr. Peabody a warmer, less nasally tone than the original, which smooths off a few of the rough edges that those of us who remember the original show came to know and love. But director Rob Minkoff (The Lion King, The Forbidden Kingdom) manages to succeed in retaining some of the original caustic quality of the show while bringing Mr. Peabody into the 21^st century. Peabody's no pushover, and still gets his jabs in where it counts, particularly when dealing with obnoxious human parents. His early 1960s-style home and decor, straight from the original source, takes on an appealing hipster retro look for today’s audiences. Sherman is also given more dimension as he struggles to make his way in the world having a dog for a father.

Original Mr. Peabody & Sherman, with the Wayback Machine.

The only true weak link in the film is the character of Penny, who plays the female protagonist that ruthlessly picks on Sherman, only to decide that he is actually cool when she finds out that Mr. Peabody owns a time machine called the “Wayback” (best name for a time machine ever - sorry Tardis). That’s where her character development stops. We never grow to love her in the way that the filmmakers clearly want us to, remaining pretty much a pain in the tuckis most of the way through.
 

As the plot winds up and Penny’s ditzy parents are properly disposed of so we can all get to the fun stuff,  the trio of Mr. Peabody, Sherman, and Penny bounce and careen their way through time, successfully rendering the lightning-quick pace of the original show. They are greeted by a variety of  historical characters voiced by an all-star cast, including Patrick Warburton, his booming barritone a perfect match for the thuggish but well-meaning Agamemnon, and a welcome surprise of the inimitable Mel Brooks as Albert Einstein.

One aspect where the film truly shines is how its nuggets of wisdom are subtly brought forth, rather than spoon fed to us, which is so often the case. The one “a-ha” moment for me is when Sherman takes one of Leonardo da Vinci’s flying crafts and sails it through the air with Penny in tow, and is doing just fine until Mr. Peabody says “Sherman, you can’t fly a plane!”whereupon he loses his nerve and goes crashing into a forest.

It wasn't all it could be, but then spinning a 10-minute segment of a larger show into a feature length film is never an easy task, and it succeeds better than most. If it does well enough for a sequel, however, I certainly hope they give more opportunities for Peabody's bite to be worse than his bark.

Toby sez: A successful reboot of dated source material and a good romp for kids, but leaves adult viewers wanting more.