TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

It's been a hard year, y'know? Nothing made me happier than to ring in the new year last night with friends and family. I know what you may think: years are arbitrary markers of time, what difference does it make? Even if 2017 isn't an automatic clean slate for us all, it's what it represents, isn't it? And that's all the cinema is, life represented. This year offered a lot of hope...and superhero movies. In my personal selections of the five greatest films released this year (1/1/16-12/31/16), you'll see reoccurring themes of grief, family, hope, identity. It was a stellar year for the movies, and the fact that I had to leave gripping films like Love & Friendship , Nocturnal Animals , Hacksaw Ridge and Sausage Party (my ultimate guilty pleasure) off the final cut. And I still haven't movies I've been dying to see like Fences , The Lobster or Hell or High Water . Revel in the new year with me and enjoy my list! 5. SING STREET I nodded knowingl...

It seems like people are always facing off in Zack Snyder films. With 300 , it was the Spartans v. the Persians. With Watchmen it was a batch of old superheroes against the effects of time. With Man of Steel , he pitted Kal-El against the insanity of General Zod (though some could argue Michael Shannon didn't realize he was in a Superman movie and the cameras kept rolling). And with Batman v Superman , Snyder is dramatizing the ultimate battle: himself v. the source material v. the studios v. setting up a franchise v. fans' expectations v. making a coherent blockbuster (in March?!) that additionally serves as a sequel to Man of Steel v. establishing a new Batman. Oh and Wonder Woman's in it. And Lex Luthor. And Holly Hunter? Spoiler alert: I'm afraid Snyder lost this fight. I was initially very disappointed walking out of the film, thinking of the things they could have cut, other heroes they could've introduced (how many times do we have to see Lex Luthor onscree...