TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

#OscarsSoDiverse? I'm hoping the Oscars will set the correction straight on this one, hopefully rewarding the actions of people of color like Barry Jenkins, Ruth Negga and Mahershala Ali. That's just amidst others, Ali and Fences frontrunner Viola Davis are on their way to supporting actor glory. Octavia Spencer and Denzel Washington, already Oscar-winners, are poised to be nominated once again! But the film that I predict will get nominations in the double digits goes beyond color to deliver one of the century's finest musicals; I've called it since I saw it on December 27th that La La Land will make a clean sweep, hold for Ryan Gosling, who'll deservedly lose to Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea . Check out the rest of my picks for this coming Tuesday morning in all the major categories. BEST DIRECTOR: Chazelle is the clear frontrunner, but it'll be nice to see Jenkins, who might be only the fourth black director nominated in this category. Let's ho...

Some things change in the Golden Globes, some will always remain the same. For instance, I expect to see some color in the Crayola Box of nominees this year, with strong contenders like Moonlight and Fences sure to go toe to toe in the dramatic categories. What's unsurprising: seeing Globes favorites Amy Adams and the unstoppable awards magnet Meryl Streep in their respective categories. Florence Foster Jenkins has weirdly been getting a lot of buzz, and I just don't get it...is it because Streep's in it? But I'm getting ahead of myself, the nominations don't come out 'til this Monday the 12th! Down below is some educated guesses, but mostly stabbing in the dark. BEST COMEDY/MUSICAL: (The Globes are infatuated with the Coens, and their latest Hail, Caesar! will be the one movie that gets the best picture nod with nothing else. The rest are probably going to be a gaggle of indies, no offense Office Christmas Party , but I'll call right now that La La Land ...

Something bothered me right before I watched Denis Villeneuve's new film  Arrival : the trailer to the upcoming sci-fi flick Passengers . It's a film I've been anticipating for quite some time, and perhaps I'm going in with blind admiration for it's two leads, Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt, the current gods of movies. The trailer hooked me; these two in a spaceship already promised my butt in the seat. But then it kept going, revealing more and more about the plot that I would have gladly wanted to find out when I was seeing it for the first time. Hollywood trailers revealing too much gets enough publicity though...the ones that don't need more press for the ones that do to not succeed. The marketing for Arrival was perfect: it revealed the most sensational, attention-grabbing aspect of its product (an alien invasion) but gave you no more, and no less. So when you see Arrival , don't come expecting Independence Day 3 , expect a quiet, somber exercise in ...