TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

Stop motion is one of the most rigorous, time consuming methods of animation ever, if you've ever seen the little, slight detail put into one of those features, it's jaw dropping.  One of my personal favorite films (not just of stop-motion, but of all time) is Wes Anderson's "Fantastic Mr. Fox."  You see every little ripple of clothing that was moved just an inch, to make it appear like these dolls or moving.  Other brilliant instances of this work are "Coraline," "Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit," and "Corpse Bride."  They're short, but only because it can take up to a year to shoot a simple five minute shot.  Take note that every movie I've listed has either won or been nominated for Best Animated film at the Oscars.  It's quality entertainment. Now add in there actually coming up with funny gags, characters worth investing in to, and having a positive message for kids, though I think a more adult...

What's the last big movie SNL alum Will Ferrell has been in?  "The Other Guys," way back in 2010.  In that film, Mark Wahlberg played the straight man cop in that buddy movie, and Ferrell was the predictably goofy Allen Gamble.  Ferrell plays the Michael Scott-type-person of authority who's not sure how he got the place in power and he's not sure what to do.  In simpler terms, he plays really hilarious idiots.  Of course, not all of his movies land, just look at "Land of the Lost" and "Semi-Pro."  But the reason America's never turned its back on Ferrell and why he's a god in high school kid's standards (you know the type, who can recite "Anchorman" verbatim) is because his shtick totally works, and hasn't really failed.  In "Everything Must Go" Naturally he's capable of more dramatic work, the man's a genius!  His bitingly sad role in "Everything Must Go" was the anti Will Ferrell, a ...

While this summer hasn't exactly been a blockbuster season, some definite big films have come out, some surprising us with their superhero goodness, and some disappointing us with....Johnny Depp as a vampire.  With no further introduction, here's a look at some of the most prolific movies of the summer, and maybe there's one you haven't seen: The summer officially kicked off back in May with "The Avengers" premiering with the biggest box-office weekend ever, eventually getting up to over a billion dollars. While parts of the movie felt a little bloated, I think it was all worth it just to see every Marvel superhero together fighting Loki (except Spider-Man, who always gets left in the dust).  With this mammoth of a franchise left theaters, the dust settled with...well, some major disappointments.  Disappointment number one rolled around with Tim Burton's "Dark Shadows."   When even Johnny Depp seems lame in a vampire movie, you kn...

When things become a sucess, I don't know, I feel like I missed them, I blink, and all of a sudden they're a huge success.  Like the TV show "Modern Family."  I decided I'd give it a chance because I love Ed O'Neil from "Married...with Children," and of course the pilot killed.  By the end of the first season people were declaring it one of the best sitcoms ever, it had enormous Emmy buzz...and I just feel like I missed the moment where "Modern Family" became this massive success.  I love the show though, it's one of the few new things on TV I watch nowadays.  That's why I feel accomplished when I'm able to see a superstar being born in Tom Hardy when I watched "The Dark Knight Rises" last week.  "Inception" already made him a breakout star back in 2010, but his performance as Bane really cemented his celebrity status.  I don't even like that word "celebrity," it cemented his status as a gifted,...