Brooklyn Gilmore Journal

As a film reviewer I sometimes have difficulty understanding the perception of others especially when it comes to pop-culture, memoirs, and art in contemporary society. The New York Times published a review by Mike Hale called, "In Netflix 'Girlboss,' a Heroine Who's a Tough Sell." About two paragraphs into the review I cry out, "Oh for Pete's sake, did you watch the series?" Hale writes, "If you don't know a woman whom you'll love despite her characteristic anger, obsessiveness, insensitivity and refusal to listen to others, you may dismiss Sophia as a caricature. If you do, one moment after another in "Girlboss" will ring surprisingly true." Hold it. Did Hale actually watch the Netflix 2017 TV series Girlboss because I am having difficulty understanding his critique of Britt Robertson's character Sophia Marlowe. Girlboss is sarcastic, clever, and laugh-out-loud-hilarious minus the imaginative girl fight via...

Imagine screening Fatso with Lorelai and Rory Gilmore along with a smorgasbord of coffee- drinking-teeth-decaying-artery-clogging-food. At every scene the girls' have some kind of smart-alec-two-sense-added-commentary-wise-crack-something-or-other-to-say. And, the audience gobbles this up. So, why not bring live commentary to B-Lister film, Phantom of Space (1953), at the Screening Room during Tucson's 2nd Saturday Downtown. What does a manager, cartoonist, and filmmaker all have in common? A smart-alec-two-sense-added-commentary-wise-crack-something-or-other-to-say. It's taking the "D" out of Dull. It's more or less taking Kathy Griffin off the D-List and putting her on the A-List. The smart-alac-two-sense-added-commentary-wise-crack-something-or-other provides a laugh-out-loud-belly-roar-funny for the entire family. And, the plot takes a turn... Flatulence is apparently a form of methane gas that contributes to radiation, the smoking gun of...

The second book in  The Boots My Mother Gave Me  series,  Sole Sister  picks up several years later, continuing the story of Harley LeBeau and her rebellious sister Katrina ‘Kat’ LeBeau. Relocating to Nashville to be closer to Harley and Miah, Kat aspires to launch her  Sole Sister  fashion line. A gutsy and impromptu plan suddenly lands her on the cover of  The Ville Spill —the local celebrity gossip rag—alongside country music’s latest heartthrob, giving  Sole Sister  the push it needs. But Kat quickly learns that not all press is good press. Years removed from an abusive childhood and teenage pregnancy, the past that Kat never talks about continues to seep into her life and relationships. Still struggling with the images of finding her father after his suicide, Kat forges ahead, vowing to avoid past mistakes. To focus on her career and responsibilities as a single mother, she swears off the disappointments of love. The first man...

There's something in-ev-i-ta-ble about an independent film that gets to me every. single. time. An independent artist pours her soul, passion, blood, sweat, and tears into every frame; every scene. The actors are chosen with precision and extreme caution. Sure, mainstream filmmakers meet all this criteria and some. However, the difference between the independent filmmaker and a mainstream filmmaker is money. An independent artist's passion and drive for recognition is left at the mercy of friends sharing the same the goal and the same dream to make the big-time. To go from a nobody to a somebody in the film industry, a filmmaker aims to submit her work to the prestigious Sundance Film Festival. A successful film bypasses perfection, rather it brings in grit and emotion. First time, screenwriter, Michael Starrbury does just that.  Starrbury, and Director, George Tillman Jr., partner with Alicia Keys to produce the 2013 independent film, The Inevitable Defeat of Miste...

Have you seen the new comedy, Tammy , starring Melissa McCarthy? The trailer framed it as this ridiculously hilarious comedic endeavor about a woman who is dumped by her husband, loses her job, totals her car, packs up grandma along with her $6,700 and spiffy wheels to hit the road. As it turns out, grandma is a sex-feigned, alcoholic, party animal with diabetes. Who says post menopause is a drag? I can't knock the celebrities starring along side McCarthy like Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates and Sandra Oh. Perhaps the let down in Tammy is the lack of hysteria that she brought with Sandra Bullock in The Heat. Sure, The Heat  is McCarthy's debut film as lead actress, but there is something about a veteran sharing a lead role--the two feed off each other and that laugh-out-loud until-your-abs-are-screaming-fiercely-with-tears-streaming-down-your-cheeks , is birthed. The only disappointing factor after viewing this ingenius comedic artwork, because you are left in stitches the ...

In my December 5, 2013 blog titled   Emily Yoffee From Slate Must Read Not Monsters: Analyzing the Stories of Child Molesters , I riff on Yoffee's article about college women drinking too much which places them in a vulnerable situations to be raped. I then compared Yoffee's article to Dr. Pamela Schultz  (2005) book, Not Monsters: Analyzing the Stories of Child Molesters.  
 Not Monsters  is an academic approach to understanding why people commit such monstrous crimes like child molestation and rape. Between 1995 and 2000, Schultz conducted countless one-on-one interviews with incarcerated child molesters and rapists. She uses a self-narrative approach to document, analyze, and to tell the stories of 9 convicted sex offenders. "The focus of this book is to show the troubling statistics surrounding child sexual abuse, and its impact upon victims, perpetrators, and society, take on a new meaning when viewed through the framework of narrative, which captur...

There's something about a memoir...even if it's poorly written. A personal story of struggle leading to triumph triggers something inside of me. Two adjectives to describe  12 Years A Slave (2013), directed by Steve McQueen, are disturbing and brilliant.  McQueen tells a simple story of a free black man, Solomon Northup, from Upstate, New York, whom is kidnapped and sold into slavery. Although the storyline is simplistic, Solomon Northup's personal journey is very complex. McQueen does an outstanding job of encapsulating the torture, angst, anguish, hurt, loss, and inferiority of one's man fight for survival in an unfair battleground in the 1800s.  Northup, a skilled carpenter and fiddler from Saratoga Springs, New York, is kidnapped by Theophilis Freeman, a slave-trader whom sells Northup into slavery in New Orleans. Solomon Northup is bought by William Ford whom forces Northup to work his plantation by picking cotton, buildi...