TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

It's 2013!  Hooray!  It's that time again for me to gather the films I've seen this year, and somehow sort them into a dignified list of the most quality films I've seen in 2012.  As noted already, in the history of cinema, 2012 has been one of its greatest years, financially or otherwise.  Bloated sequels and bland remakes still crowded the cinemas, but the majority of films managed to blow me away.  Keep in mind I'm not a professional critic, and only count movies released this year I've seen from 1/1/12-12/31/12.  On my wish list are "Zero Dark Thirty," "Silver Linings Playbook" and "The Impossible," but I welcome criticism.  Let's begin, and don't forget to see the ones that juuuuuuust missed the mark, and the ones that were, well.... un remarkable. 5. BERNIE I didn't review this or the following film on my list because I saw them way too late, but I caught it on DVD over winter break.  Jack's nomination fo...

While this summer hasn't exactly been a blockbuster season, some definite big films have come out, some surprising us with their superhero goodness, and some disappointing us with....Johnny Depp as a vampire.  With no further introduction, here's a look at some of the most prolific movies of the summer, and maybe there's one you haven't seen: The summer officially kicked off back in May with "The Avengers" premiering with the biggest box-office weekend ever, eventually getting up to over a billion dollars. While parts of the movie felt a little bloated, I think it was all worth it just to see every Marvel superhero together fighting Loki (except Spider-Man, who always gets left in the dust).  With this mammoth of a franchise left theaters, the dust settled with...well, some major disappointments.  Disappointment number one rolled around with Tim Burton's "Dark Shadows."   When even Johnny Depp seems lame in a vampire movie, you kn...

Most movies, at least it seems nowadays, people don't care who's directing a film.  Although Joss Whedon is a respected name in Hollywood, you think a billion people saw "The Avengers" for the sake of Joss Whedon? No.  Last year's "Hugo" suffered the opposite fate; legend Martin Scorsese was at the helm, it got massive critical acclaim (deservedly) and it still earned less than its budget.  So here's the question: are directors selling points to movies anymore? The answer: maybe, but Tim Burton is certainly the exception.  An array of beautiful, eccentric characters comes to mind, most of them featuring Johnny Depp, the Thelma to his Louise: the Mad Hatter in Wonderland, Edward Scissorhands cutting paper, Beetlejuice terrorizing homeowners and Sweeney Todd giving "haircuts."  Just thinking of his movies puts a smile on your face.  While not all his projects are on par, like his remake of "Planet of the Apes," even when his movie...