TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

If Captain Chesley Sullenberger thought landing a plane where everyone onboard could land in the middle of the Hudson River was difficult, wait until Hollywood got a hold of his life story.  Sully  could have been a film about the (without a doubt) heroic actions of the captain of that fateful plane, but Hollywood hasn't been kind to real life stories in the past. But when Clint Eastwood and Tom Hanks are the behind the scenes and front in center elements to the recreation of what your life is going to be remembered for, I'd breathe a pretty big sigh of relief. Directing a film about an American hero and portraying a real life man who falls under heavy duress while being the captain of a large mode of transportation is not new territory for Eastwood and Hanks respectively. They're American icons in their own right, and whoever makes the movie about them better give them the justice they gave to Sullenberger in one of the year's best films. As opposed to the film I was...

A lot has been said over the past week about last week's number one movie and best picture nominee American Sniper . It's absolutely unprecedented total of $107 million over the weekend has everyone analyzing its formula, and while its detractors are watching it with falcon eyes I'm sure movie studios have just ordered a slew of military biopics we can expect in the years to come. I have my own reasons why, and they're pretty sound. It was up for six Oscars, which has never hurt a movie's sums. It has arguably one of the best stars working right now in the lead. It appeals to military audiences, Faith-based audiences; Kyle's Christian beliefs are prominently displayed. Red-state audiences.  Action-movie lovers. War-movie lovers. A respectable, certified fresh score of 73% on Rotten Tomatoes. With a demographic as wide is that, how could Eastwood and co. not have hit their mark? But these are summer blockbuster numbers after all. Nobody blinked an eye...

I saw this film this past Saturday, which means I had no earthly clue that Clint Eastwood's American Sniper  would pull in an unheard of $90 million. That's a better weekend than Dawn of the Planet of the Apes , The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies and 22 Jump Street , all blockbuster sequels with established franchises. What's the reason for this unheard of success? Patriotism: people love seeing films about American war heroes. Buzz: Sniper got six Oscar nominations last Thursday including best picture, actor and adapted screenplay. But most importantly: word of mouth. A movie can have great reviews and Oscar nominations, like The Hurt Locker , and nobody will see it until it sweeps the Oscars. But, if not for Bradley Cooper's performance alone, the film's mammoth box-office returns are well justified. The film largely chronicles the time Chris Kyle spent in his oversea tours, mostly in Iraq. After seeing the '98 embassy bombings on TV, Kyle, like a good Am...

You should've seen the enthusiasm on my friend's faces when I asked them if they wanted to go see "Rango" with me: none. They were too busy seeing "Battle: Los Angeles" which I heard got awful reviews. I didn't see "Rango" merely for the acclaim it's gathered, I saw it because I thought it genuinely looked good, and an animated western about a chameleon is better then 2 hours of blowing LA up anyways! The PG rating is a little misleading, not because of the age-appropriate content but it isn't really a kid-oriented film. "Rango" is for adults who can understand its rapid-fire pop culture references, or film buffs (like myself.) There is a pivotal scene featuring a "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" version of Clint Eastwood that guides Rango in the right direction. What 7 yr. old is going to understand that? "Rango" is aimed toward that audience that can catch the cultural riffs but also put up and ju...