TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

Sadly this is the last of the Oscar-nominated reviews. As has been said in many a year end best of list, 2013 was a magnificent year for movies. And, luckily for me, I closed on a very solid selection, John Wells' adaptation of Tracy Letts' August: Osage County . Wells impressed me with another ensemble comedy I watched a year or so back on cable, The Company Men . There he balanced family drama, work politics and the collective, impressive trio of Chris Cooper, Tommy Lee Jones and Ben Affleck. In August  he grapples with a much larger cast, to the tune of about 10 or so. The original August was three and a half hours long, but the aforementioned Letts adapted his story for the big screen, and it clocks in around the two hour mark. Apparently there was about another hour of footage shot, but for the sake of not repeating a Wolf of Wall Street- esque time duration, it was cut. It's almost a shame it was. I really could watch an additional two hours of this insane family ...

It's been established the Oscars love depressing topics. Last year's front runners involved topics like 9/11, slavery, a boy losing his entire family on a shipwreck, and bipolarity. Luckily this year's Oscars have changed that drag of a vibe, with topics like...slavery, AIDS, child abandonment and possible dementia. I'm gonna need a Prozac to get through next year's Academy Awards. Dallas Buyers Club  falls into that depressing subject category, but its risky subject completely pays off, especially considering it's the true story of Texas electrician Ron Woodroof's fight to live after being diagnosed with AIDS. It may not have the f-words of Wolf of Wall Street  (this film has about 104, compared to Wolf 's estimated 414, according to kids-in-mind.com) or the tenderness of Her , but this is absolutely one of the year's best films, and deserves its ranking among the other fine eight pictures. While watching the SAGs, Globes and Critics Choice Aw...

I've never seen so many people in my life in a movie theater lobby. Apparently the must-see movie of the year (and take in the year is less than 20 days old as of this publishing) is Ride Along , a buddy cop movie with Kevin Hart and Ice Cube. As original as a funny guy getting teamed up with a serious cop going through a series of wacky antics sounds, I chose instead to catch up on my Oscar movies. I'm happy to report that "Nebraska" and "Her" are small, pleasant films for anyone looking to avoid the January movie dumping grounds, and are competing against each other for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. NEBRASKA: There isn't a single moment in Alexander Payne's latest family drama Nebraska that doesn't ring true. Growing up in a small, semi-rural town myself, the relatives of Woody Grant (Bruce Dern) are utterly authentic. You're probably familiar with the premise: Woody gets a notification claiming he needs to go to Lincoln, N...

"Bad Grandpa" and "Lone Ranger" Oscar nominees? Tom Hanks shutout of everything?!? There are nine nominees...AGAIN?!? This morning's Oscar nominations didn't exactly provide an abundance of surprises, mostly a lot of exclusions from already established award show favorites! Without further ado, here is a full list of the Oscar nominations , and here are buzzed about movies that got COMPLETELY shut out by the Academy: SHUTOUT: Rush, Fruitvale Station, Mud, Blue is the Warmest Color, Enough Said, The Butler PICTURE: SNUBS : Where to begin? And why don't they ever use the full 10 slots?! "Fruitvale," "Prisoners," "Mud," "Blue Jasmine," "Saving Mr. Banks," "Inside Llewyn Davis" to name a few. But I was very pleased with all but "Hustle's" astonishing 10 nominations, matching "Gravity" for the most nods. What are critics seeing that I'm not? SURPRISES : I love...

Wow! Nothing was what it seemed last night at the Globes! Tina and Amy predictably killed as hosts, but the film award snubs and surprises are what got my attention. McConaughey winning for "Dallas Buyers Club?" Jennifer Lawrence beating Lupita Nyong'o for supporting actress?!? Things didn't make proper sense until "12 Years a Slave" won the big award of the night, best drama, its only prize. Truth be told, if you look at my predictions right below this post, I got 8/11 right, which isn't a terrible ratio! My thoughts on the awards show with a lot of 7 second delays, rambling speeches, and endless shots of people running to the stage because they sat the TV people so far away! ( Red = the ones I got wrong!) DRAMA: FILM: 12 Years a Slave (I was sweating this big time. Will my second favorite film of the year get shut out?!) ACTOR: Matthew McConaughey- Dallas Buyers Club (I can't properly critique this decision until I watch the movie, which p...

Well, my nomination predictions weren't too hot, but the Globes do tend to switch up genres without notice. ("Before Midnight" a comedy? "Llewyn Davis" a comedy/musical?) But now that it's been established, watch as  I attempt to navigate the major awards wins this Sunday. A list of all the nominees are HERE . DRAMA: ACTOR: There's no weak link here, but Ejiofor is expected to blow everyone out of the water for his performance of an unjustly kidnapped slave. But points for the Globes' originality: Idris Elba's Mandela was a left-field choice. ACTRESS: British modern legends dominate this category, and if it was up to me the prize would be Blanchett's for her arresting, spot-on American, whiny performance, but I see Hollywood rewarding Bullock for her turn as a panting astronaut (I'm kidding, she was great, too). FILM: If "Gravity" wasn't released this year, it would be a "12 Years" landslide, but the visual ...

I'm happy to report 2013 was another fantastic year for cinema, making the top five list and the honorable mentions a difficult but wonderful chore to select from. For me, it was not a strong year for superhero movies, (except "Man of Steel," which was underrated in my opinion) though with the likes of "The Dark Knight Rises" and "The Avengers" last year, it is pretty hard to follow up.  On this list you'll find superheroes of a different sort, men and women undergoing hardships, tight situations and impossible circumstances, some rising, some falling. It was a great year for movies with characters against unthinkable adversity. Keep in mind I'm not a professional critic, and only count movies I've seen from 1/1/13-12/31/13. I'm still heavily anticipating seeing critical favorites like "Her," "August: Osage County," "Dallas Buyers Club," "Nebraska" and "Inside Llewyn Davis." Now tha...