TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

What a wonderful, marvelous year it was for the movies. Emphasis on the Marvel: the studio produced three movies this year, and honestly all three could've been added to this list in a weaker year. I think what bonds this list of five films together is uniqueness: each put a spin on either a tired formula or predictable pattern and exceeded everyone's expectations, and brandished interesting and complex faces into the ever-growing, endlessly fascinating world of the movies. For a couple hours at a time I was able to fly with Michael Keaton, investigate with Ben Affleck and drive with Tom Hardy. Movies have such a way of whisking you away for a while, and I think that's why everyone got so up in arms when The Interview was cancelled because of the Sony hackers. Though it's a low-brow bro-humor movie, everyone should be able to have free artistic license with their film, and we ultimately did not bow down. As usual, here are a list of films I either need to see or reg...

In the movie buzz universe, nothing has been making a bigger splash than superhero news. Constant updates on the Batman vs. Superman vs. Wonder Woman vs. Lex Luthor vs. the World  project are going up, a Justice League movie in development, Ant Man ! Never before has the genre been more powerful or successful, especially with Age of Ultron  heading to theaters next summer. It's a good thing Marvel's most beloved superhero will be in it...oh wait a second... While Spider-Man may still be awaiting on a friend request he sent to the Avengers (I think it's actually just because of stupid studio politics he can't crossover) he gets his sequel to the reboot of a trilogy that had two really great films and one bloated villain sandwich of a third. As a kid, it was always Dr. Octopus, the Joker and the Rhino for my favorite bad guys, and seeing the latter two portrayed so well onscreen gave me hope for both the Rhino and Electro in this film, and to a lesser extent Harry Osb...

Entertainment Weekly's recent issue unveiled what new villain Electro would look like in the upcoming "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," and I had...mixed reactions. Jamie Foxx's villain resembles a high-tech "Avatar"-like character on meth, certainly a far cry from the original version of Electro I had growing up as a kid, the one with lightning bolts growing from his face in that ridiculous green leotard. I also find it interesting that while they hired a black man to take over the role of the Caucasian comic book antagonist, it looks like he'll be decidedly indigo for most of the film. Just a bit of a difference But those are mostly nitpicks. The fact that Foxx, one of Hollywood's brightest and talented stars, was employed with no outcry from the fans regarding his color shows progress in tolerance for sure. Mega comic book nerds probably have too much to whine about anyway, giving the "The Amazing Spider-Man's" somewhat polarized rec...