TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

The powers that be at the Academy have spoken, and these are the nine films they've chosen as the finest of the year. I have my beef with a couple picks, but I can't say there's a truly weak one in the bunch, unlike past years (here's looking at you Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close  and War Horse ). To celebrate, I chose the best quotes from each of the films, a brief 6 word review on them, and their best scenes, no spoilers I assure you. Enjoy! 12 YEARS A SLAVE BEST QUOTE: Northup : I survive. I will not fall into despair! I will offer up my talents...I will keep myself hardy until freedom is opportune. SUMMARY: Heart wrenching because it actually happened. BEST SCENE: After a certain character attempts to hang Northup unsuccessfully, Solomon simply stands there, with no help whatsoever from anyone, dangling from a noose, trying to make his feet connect with the muddy ground. It's horrifying. AMERICAN HUSTLE BEST QUOTE: Irving : She was the Picasso of ...

"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...

The Golden Globe, SAG Awards and Critics Choice Awards have all gone nuts over a little David O. Russell picture called "American Hustle." Exceppt for Jeremy Renner, there isn't a cast member among those Big 3 that hasn't been up for something, probably taking into account that Renner's character, Carmine Polito, is the most upright/righteous among this stellar cast of rather deceptive con folk. So here's my job, to deliver to you good people: is "American Hustle" worth the hype, and the rivalry status it has against "12 Years a Slave" for the Best Picture race this January? In a word, no. "American Hustle" is the more entertaining of the two, obviously, but it's nowhere near as accessible as director David O. Russell's proceeding, realistically charming romantic dramedy "Silver Linings Playbook." Its setting is the polyester, toupee, plunging neckline world of the 1970s. If "Hustle" and Russell did o...

Looking back on my 2012 predictions....I really didn't do too shabby! I'm taking my predictions now, the snowed-in Tuesday before the nominations announcement this Thursday, where last year I got all but three right more than a month before the announcements. Hurray for being increasingly less reliable and accurate! This really is one of the hardest awards shows to call....for comedy. There are literally 25 movies that could be eligible to be put into the five slots and I wouldn't be surprised at all. This Oscar race is riDICULOUS. So don't expect too many accurate picks in comedy...or even the overstuffed drama category. My money's actually only with animated film... Bale needs a Globe for this picture alone in "Hustle" BEST DRAMA: 12 Years a Slave (all right, this and the next movie will indeed be easy to predict. But the other three are literally interchangeable as the hours pass)  Gravity Captain Phillips (you can always bank on a Hanks movie...