TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

Unlike me, the Washington Post rarely gives out four star reviews, and when they do it's for sure a movie to be taken notice of. Their most recent one to my knowledge was Guardians of the Galaxy , a very fitting rating for such a fantastic piece of pop art. So back when, around April or so, I saw Locke  got it's highest possible rating, I added it instantly to my list of movies to check out for later. When I finally got the opportunity to watch it, I popped it in with eagerness, anxious to see how if it's praise and lauding was legit...and I've never been so thankful for the Washington Post. This review may be short, as describing what Locke concerns is giving away the movie's very element of surprise, how it creeps up on you. How you slowly, and this is all I'll say, start to realize that, however confident and reassuring his Ivan Locke may appear, Tom Hardy plays a man who in the course of a few hours begins to experience his life deteriorate before him, va...

It completely disheartened me to read a text last night informing me comedic legend Robin Williams died of an apparent suicide. I commented on the death of Phillip Seymour Hoffman as a warning sign to those struggling with addiction, I commented on the death of Michael Clarke Duncan because he was in my all-time favorite movie The Green Mile . Not since the latter's death have I felt such remorse and sadness for a celebrity's demise, and this time it's so much worse. As a tween going into middle school, a school where I knew pretty much no one do to circumstantial events, I went to a very kind woman's house every day in the morning as a sort of daycare. She would pop in a movie every day for me, then when the bus came paused it, and the next day I would finish it up. On average it took me about three days to finish a film if it was about two hours, which was the longest the children's movies she played ever were. I really got into movies after the Oscar season of ...

Hype for a movie varies a lot nowadays. Social media, and websites like this one, blogs and whatnot, can carry a movie a long ways. Movie stars aren't enough in today's world I don't believe. You don't really need an A-listers presence to tell a good story anymore, and the ushering in of special effects has also helped in this. Websites like Metacritic, IMDb and primarily Rotten Tomatoes tell you if you should invest your $8.50 into a couple of hours of entertainment. Part of Boyhood's strategy, at least some of it anyway, of getting butts into seats was toting its incredibly rare 100% Rotten Tomatoes score, which has since dropped to a much less impressive 99% after two critics disliked it. And you can listen to those two people, who I'm sure have very valid opinions...or you could listen to the other 176 people, make that 177 now including me, who are citing Boyhood as one of the finest movies this year, and an accomplishment in the world of cinema. It'...

It was almost bittersweet going to see GOTG. My most hyped about non-Oscar movie, featuring a cast of characters I know nothing about by the director of an extremely weird 2006 horror movie backed by the biggest movie studio in the galaxy right now. I'll still go see  Thor 23 and all the other sequels but I love nothing more than seeing a new superhero movie, and this folks, is one for the books. Adding to the magic and mythos of this excellent movie was coupled with the fact that it was my very first film I've seen before the general release date...not a midnight movie (it was only 7:50) but wow it was a cool feeling buying those tickets online. I don't even think I've seen a movie opening day, but my friends and I decided it was simply the only way to go to see a movie of this caliber. Gleefully diving into the unknown, we got seats third from the front (get there early, boys and girls) and took in a deep breath as the last of the 80 trailers ceased playing. The l...