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When Brookyn the Musical landed on Broadway, many reviewers said that the American Idol sound had come along with it. It¹s hard to disagree, especially when Eden Espinosa, playing the title character, opens her mouth. Espinosa, who learned the performing ropes in California theme parks, is an unfocused belter who mistakes grandstanding melisma for emotion. And overemoting is the last thing you want to do when you have to deliver lines such as "This weight in my heart/This ache in my soul/This yearning in my heart just keeps on going on/There's a voice deep inside/And it cries and it cries." Unfortunately, the tunes (mixing rock, gospel and R&B, and recorded in front of a live studio audience) don't make much of an impact. Newcomers Mark Shoenfeld and Barri McPherson have come up with a well-meaning show that brims with enthusiastic naïveté but ultimately fails to convince. --Elisabeth Vincentelli
Publisher: Razor & Tie
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A gripping tale of three life-long friends struggling with relationships, responsibility and loyalty on the mean streets of 1980 s-era Brooklyn, NY. When the violent influence of the mafia becomes a factor in their friendship, lives will be threatened as the fond memories of the past begin to give way to a potentially grim future.
Produced and directed by Michael Corrente (Outside Providence, American Buffalo) and written by Emmy Award Winning writer Terence Winter (The Sopranos) If Brooklyn Rules, a tale about a trio of good fellas making their way through the mean streets of that New York borough, just happens to remind you of the work of Martin Scorsese, you're not the only one. But even if it's not the most original film in cinematic history, director Michael Corrente's 2007 effort is entertaining enough to hold one's attention for most of its 99 minute running time. Michael (Freddie Prinze Jr., who also supplies the voice-over narration), Bobby (Jerry Ferrara, Entourage's Turtle), and Carmine (Scott Caan, son of James) are the kind of punks who stole money from the church collection plate when they were Catholic schoolboys. Cut to the 1980s, when they're in their twenties, still close pals but following divergent paths: Michael, a smart, ambitious Columbia undergrad, plans to become a lawyer, while nerdy skinflint Bobby ("You're so cheap, if you saw a sign that said 'free slaps in the face,' you'd be the first in line," says Mike) hopes to land a gig at the post office, and the narcissistic Carmine is falling in with the wrong crowd, courtesy of Caesar Manganaro (Alec Baldwin), a captain in the Gambino crime family. Needless to say, conflicts ensue, as Michael scores a WASP girlfriend (an underused Mena Suvari), a mob war breaks out (based on real events, including the murder of big boss Paul Castellano and the ascension of John Gotti), violence strikes tragically close to home, and the f-word is employed liberally. Corrente does a nice job of evoking an era in which Billy Idol and Culture Club ruled the airwaves and Cabbage Patch Dolls were all the rage; and writer Terence Winter, a veteran of The Sopranos, has an ear for colorful, pithy dialogue ("That cardigan makes you look like the Italian Fred MacMurray"… "Depressed? She wouldn't be happy sitting in the lap of Jesus"). But a largely unsatisfying ending underscores the fact that Brooklyn Rules is nothing to go to the mattresses for. Extras including commentary by Corrente and Winter and a video accompanying the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil," which is featured on the soundtrack. --Sam Graham
Publisher: City Lights Home Video
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Author: Marcia Reiss
Publisher: Thunder Bay Press
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Own a little piece of history with American Needle's 1939 Brooklyn Dodgers Cooperstown Cap, a precise replica of what the legendary pros once wore.Features:* Replica Brooklyn Dodgers 1939-57 Home cap* Embroidered front design* 6 panel design with cloth headband* Lower crown* Wool blend* Fitted* Made in the U.S.A.
Publisher: cubworld
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Publisher: Integrity Media
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Here is Arthur Miller on Midwood, Mel Brooks on Williamsburg, Spike Lee on Fort Green. David McCullough sees Truman, F. Murray Abraham deconstructs Brooklynese, Jerry Della Famina describes those hot summer nights, and Nora Guthrie remembers living with her father Woody in Coney Island. There's the West Indian Day parade and the Neptune Parade, Ebbet's Field Sym-phony and Norman Mailer in a homeless shelter, pigeon-racing and parakeets in Green-wood Cemetery, Junior's cheesecake, the judge in the Gotti trial, the world's best handball player, and a wise guy's guide to dining.
BROOKLYN, the book, tells it all. Packed with the accent, the attitude, the smarts, with nostalgia, respect, awe, laughter and news, BROOKLYN taps into one of Brooklyn's best resources-its army of writers-to tell the story of America's home town. For over 250 years immigrants from all over the world have lived in the neighborhood called Brooklyn, and fanned out to the rest of the country. An 81 square mile patchwork of city, college town, quiet fishing village, industrial center, bedroom community, and seaport, Brooklyn is the Dodgers, Walt Whitman, Mrs. Stahl's knishes, the bridge-and BROOKLYN, an obsessive and definitive book that's as colorful, interesting, and quirky as the world it celebrates. Fugehdabboudit! Author: Michael W. Robbins
Author: Wendy Palitz
Publisher: Workman Publishing Company
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Roger Kahn, author of The Boys of Summer , narrates this five-part miniseries on the old baseball team that played at the corner of Bedford Avenue and Sullivan Place in Brooklyn . Interviews with players, authors, and politicians relate the historical hold the Dodgers had on America . Featuring: Roy Campanella , Dave Anderson, Roger Kahn, Duke Snider, Carl Erskine, Pee Wee Reese, Marty Glickman, Louis Gossett Jr., Edward R. Murrow, Mickey Mantle, Larry King, Ernie Banks, Stan Musial.
Publisher: Arts Alliance Amer
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Walking Brooklyn author Adrienne Onofri has created an exceptional guide to and through Brooklyn's most interesting and notable neighborhoods providing a mix of information about culture, history, architecture, places to eat, venues to visit, and more. From a walk through the Russian-influenced Brighton Beach, to the expansive Prospect Park, and out to Red Hook, the site of the future QE2 dock, Walking Brooklyn reveals the many layers and sites of Manhattan's lesser-known neighbor. This two-color book features 30 routes, a clear neighborhood map for each walk, black-and-white photographs, and critical public transportation information for every trip. Route summaries make each walk easy-to-follow, and a "Points of Interest" section outlines a walk's highlights. The 30 walks include trivia about architecture, local culture, and borough history, plus tips on where to dine, have a drink, and shop.
Author: Adrienne Onofri
Publisher: Wilderness Press
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Publisher: Word Entertainment
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