TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

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...

"No, don't stop! I haven't seen it yet!" "Shhhhhh... lalalalalalala I'm not listening, I'm not listening!" "AHHHP! AHHP AHHP AHHP! Don't say another word, you will not ruin this for me!" All of the above are common phrases you will hear when you begin to try to talk about David Fincher's latest film Gone Girl , an adaptation of Gillian Flynn's ubiquitous, bestselling novel of 2012. I couldn't go anywhere on vacation without seeing a copy of it in a tourist's hands, that sable cover with wisps of a woman's hair taunting me to come and pick it up. It's length alone intimidated me. So when I heard critics and people online saying "How can you NOT have heard of all the plot twists?" I just cupped my hands over my uncultured hears and pressed the red X at the top of the window. I was not having this movie ruined for me. And thats why I'm sympathetic with you, the reader, who may be going through my...

Wow, wow, wow!  That was a truly remarkable Oscar awards!  First off, congratulations are due to first-time Oscar host Seth MacFarlane, who knocked it out of the park, and only had one joke who didn't land for me: the Lincoln joke.  You know which one I'm talking about.  MacFarlane and the hilariously placed William Shatner predicted what today's headlines would read, and attempted to alter it by providing classy dances, while MacFarlane had previously made a sock-puppet version of "Flight," made out with Sally Field, and a song dedicated to....the risque women of cinema, to put it politely! MacFarlane was a welcome presence when commenting on the length of the show, saying 85-year-old Emmanuelle Riva had been Quvenzhane Wallis' age when the program began!  But what I really came for was to see the race between "Argo," "Lincoln" and "Life of Pi," the presumed front-runners.  The awards started off great though, with Christop...

Feel lucky, ladies and gentlemen, for we're witnessing the peak, the pinnacle, the highest point of Ben Affleck's directorial career so far.  I can't obviously speak for his next project, but Affleck can't stop winning when it comes to directing.  Who knew a guy who starred in "Gigli," "Pearl Harbor" and "Surviving Christmas" could pull off a second act in Hollywood.  His debut feature, "Gone Baby Gone," was a grimy look at Boston's underworld, and had an extremely strong ensemble and a heartbreaking ending, the cast consisting of greats like Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, and Amy Ryan, who won an Oscar nomination for her bold work.  When his second effort "The Town" rolled out two years ago in the summer of '10, I was disappointingly too young to attend the hard-R flick.  It amassed even higher lauding, and Affleck directed another one of his costars into a supporting Oscar nomination: Jeremy Renner.  So now, the bi...