Movie Review: Brooklyn Babylon

Needless to say, this post may contain spoilers.

Brooklyn Babylon
2001, R for language, violence, domestic violence, drug use, and sexual situations
watched via Netflix streaming on XBox

IMDB synopsis:
In Brooklyn's Crown Heights, where West Indian Rastafarians and other Blacks live next door to the Jewish Lubavitch community, ethnic tensions are high. After a minor car crash, the headstrong Judah and other Jewish youths who patrol as vigilantes confront Scratch, a mouthy African-American hustler. Passengers in the cars make eye contact: Sol, a hip-hop musician, songwriter, and artist (Scratch's friend), and Sara, who is betrothed to Judah but wants to go to college and be on her own. Over the next few days, while Scratch and Judah's conflict escalates in violence, Sara and Sol connect in ways that echo Sheba and Solomon.

J thinks:
When the opening scene was shot in a gritty, arthouse film quality, I thought "Oh no, not another low budget film!" but I'm glad I stuck with it. The quality improves :)

"Love is the key to life."

Brooklyn Babylon has a lot going on in it -- determining your own future, racial tensions in New York, Jewish and Rastafarian cultures and religions, the NYC rap music industry, a Romeo and Juliet-type romance that's totally not. I like that the two leads are rational human beings that sometimes blow up at circumstances, but can talk things out and recover from it. The social pressures present in the film are approached in a realistic and very straightforward way, although some of the actions (a molotov cocktail at a car and a club) would have much bigger repercussions in a post-9/11 NYC.

I liked the chemistry between the main actors, however, I have to admit Sara had this tendency to look soul-fully at times instead of using her words, but it was nowhere near Twihard-mouth-breather annoyance inducing. There's a heavy music influence in the movie, with a montage, and the sound can overpower the dialogue at times, but not terribly.

I admit, my heart was in my throat throughout the movie, wondering how they could work within or outside of their two worlds, but if you listen to the last song of the movie, it just pulls it all together beautifully. The last scene made me smile and I think it ends with a message of hope. I wanted more details of their ending, but it feels more universal in the way it does end, so I didn't mind.

Definitely a movie I recommend watching!

Featured Author on the Torquere Blog!

I was the featured author on Torquere Press' blog, Romance for the Rest of Us!

Youthful Gods, Book One: Pretty Pleasures by J. Rocci
317 pages / 64,600 words

Greg Barton has worked at the renaissance faire for years, but it’s Greg’s last season so he’s determined to live it up. Lucky for Greg, Boone, the hot traveling armorer, remembers Greg from previous years and returns his interest. The two reconnect and Greg finds himself tumbling into Boone’s bed, dangerously close to losing his heart.

Only, there’s something not quite right with Boone. From the way Greg kept dreaming about Boone in the off-season to Boone’s overprotective friends, Greg’s light-hearted romance quickly gets heavy. When Greg wakes up to an unexpected sight beside him, his entire world is up-ended. Magic is real and his new lover has more secrets than Greg ever imagined. But Greg has a few secrets of his own, and he has to decide if he wants to be a part of Boone’s world. If Greg has a touch of magic himself… Well, that world just got a whole lot more complicated and dangerous for both of them.

PROMO: I'll be driving the Torquere Social this upcoming Sunday, October 17, so stop by for a chance to win a FREE Youthful Gods T-SHIRT or TOTE BAG!

Maryland Renaissance Faire

So I've been totally MIA the past few weeks, but with good reason! Well, for one, it's really annoying to blog with a crackberry. And two, I've been out and about these past two weekends and I thought I'd share.

Youthful Gods: Pretty Pleasures comes out this Wednesday and takes place at a renaissance faire, which happens to be one of the places I hit. Here's a taste of the Maryland Renaissance Faire, which is not the setting of Pretty Pleasures but did help inspire it!

(I should caveat this with the disclaimer that I don't know any of the people in these pics, and they probably didn't know the pics were being taken...)

The Joust:


The Food (and my boot, non-edible):


The Rides:


The Street Performers:




The Stages:


The Shops: