Brandy McDonnell
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Brandy McDonnell writes features and reviews movies, music, events and the arts for The Oklahoman, Oklahomas statewide newspaper, and NewsOK.com, the states largest news Web site.
Raised on a farm near Lindsay, Okla., she started her journalism career in seventh grade, when she was elected reporter for her schools 4-H Club. Taking her duties seriously, she began submitting stories to The Lindsay News, and worked for the local weekly through high school.
She attended Oklahoma State University, where she worked for The Daily OCollegian and earned her journalism degree with honors.
She worked for three years at small Oklahoma dailies The Edmond Sun and Shawnee News-Star. In 2002, she joined The Oklahoman as a features reporter, writing about movies, the arts, events, families and nonprofits. She moved to The Oklahomans entertainment desk in 2007.
In 2004, she won a prestigious Journalism Fellowship in Child & Family Policy from the University of Marylands Philip Merrill College of Journalism.
Along with her membership in AWFJ, she also is a founding member of the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle.
Articles by Brandy McDonnell
If Bigelow’s low-budget but excellent independent film has to play the proverbial second fiddle to a mega-blockbuster that has become the top-grossing movie of all time, that’s one thing. That’s life. That’s just the way it is. Money equals power.
But please, for the love of the 19th Amendment, tell me that we’re not going to spend the rest of awards season hearing about the big showdown between Cameron and his ex-wife. Read more>>
Essays and Features,
Women on Film
1. “Inglourious Basterds.”
2. “The Hurt Locker.”
3. “Up in the Air.”
4. “(500) Days of Summer.”
5. “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire.”
6. “Fantastic Mr. Fox.”
7. “Up.”
8. “District 9.”
9. “Invictus.”
10. “The Brothers Bloom.”
And, for the annotated version: Read more>>
Essays and Features,
Member News,
Women on Film
Finally, the battle to bring an effective and engaging Iraq war movie to the screen has been won. read more>>
Reviews and Criticism,
Women on Film
Unfortunately, the slogan “more than meets the eye” does not apply to the slam-bang action sequel “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.”
Reviews and Criticism,
Women on Film
As thousands of balloons lift Carl Fredricksen’s house in the new film “Up,” the sky seems to be the limit for Pixar Animation Studios, the still-young Hollywood powerhouse behind the 3-D animated adventure. Read more>>
Reviews and Criticism,
Women on Film
For the good of humanity, someone needs to stop the Wayans clan from procreating — or at least from using their offspring, siblings and other relatives to make bad movies. Read more>>
Reviews and Criticism,
Women on Film
LOS ANGELES — Before he presented the entertainer of the year prize to Carrie Underwood at last month’s Academy of Country Music Awards, Matthew McConaughey regaled the crowd with a story about using George Strait to pick up chicks. Read more>>
Interviews and Profiles,
Women on Film
Even the masterful storytelling of Charles Dickens can’t turn away the “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past” from the dreaded fate of banal predictability. Read more>>
Reviews and Criticism,
Women on Film
As guilty pleasures go, “Fired Up!” ranks right up there with supersize cheeseburgers, trashy romance novels and deep-fried Snickers bars. Despite the by-the-numbers story, the PG-13 teen sex comedy exceeded my low expectations. The charming chemistry between the leads and the crackling and clever one-liners keep the laughs tumbling along. Read more>>
Reviews and Criticism,
Women on Film
