TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

When I was young, and had no friends, and wrote comics as a kid ripping off Spider-Man, I always took a huge delight in figuring out who my villain would be that issue (issue meaning two pieces of looseleaf paper I stapled together and only I read). 90% of them would be plagiarized, but I still enjoyed adding the little quirks or potential powers from my villains who would be introduced with little backstory, then about a page of crudely-drawn action, then they would usually get killed. I guess I had a very black and white sense of justice in those days. But while my protagonists stayed fairly static, it was always a blast thinking up villains when I sat down to write and draw. Antagonists can be the most memorable part of your movie (take note, Marvel), but can a whole movie full of them come off as too bloated? David Ayer answers that question in Suicide Squad , a definitely flawed but firecracker time in the theaters. When you go to college you take a lot of personality tests, and...

Full disclosure before you read the review of the Kevin Spacey cat movie, which right there should tell you what I'm going to think about it: I went in to see this movie with a friend as a joke. There were six people total in the theater, including my friend and I, along with a mother and a daughter (preteen-ish) and an older married couple who got quite comfortable during the screening. Does awful comedy bring a marriage together? So, as will be explained later on in this review, I know full well that Spacey's riveting turn as Mr. Fuzzypants will not bring the actor his third Academy Award. But in a time where either Hilary Clinton or Donald Trump is going to lead our country for the next four years, sometimes it's okay just to sit back and realize you're about to enter a disaster, because laughing at that disaster takes some of its power away. Nine Lives  is a soulless, money-grabbing concept of a film that has no idea of who it's trying to entertain. But I'...

Over three years ago, when this blog was my biggest commitment (college will knock a lot of things over in it's savage quest to consume your time) I talked about how this film had the possibility of being a disaster. My biggest fear was that they would Materize the sequel by putting in a sidekick as the main star of the film. Many folks thought the rusty redneck truck was irritating on the first go round, but Dory the blue tang absolutely stole the show amidst Australian sharks, Californian surfer turtles and a crazed dentist. So where does  Dory  land along side Pixar's other sequels? Well let's just say it's more  Toy Story 2  than  Cars 2 . With a less obvious title than it's predecessor,  Finding Dory  finds Dory finding herself, where she came from, how she was raised, and her search for her parents. I guess  Finding   Mr. and Mrs. Dory  doesn't have the same ring to it. Marlin and Nemo pop up of course, this time in supporting ro...