TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

I'm happy to report 2013 was another fantastic year for cinema, making the top five list and the honorable mentions a difficult but wonderful chore to select from. For me, it was not a strong year for superhero movies, (except "Man of Steel," which was underrated in my opinion) though with the likes of "The Dark Knight Rises" and "The Avengers" last year, it is pretty hard to follow up.  On this list you'll find superheroes of a different sort, men and women undergoing hardships, tight situations and impossible circumstances, some rising, some falling. It was a great year for movies with characters against unthinkable adversity. Keep in mind I'm not a professional critic, and only count movies I've seen from 1/1/13-12/31/13. I'm still heavily anticipating seeing critical favorites like "Her," "August: Osage County," "Dallas Buyers Club," "Nebraska" and "Inside Llewyn Davis." Now tha...

Let me completely preface this with a review with the fact that, despite my low-ranking social status in high school, I never have been a nerd about much except for movies.  Film provides an escape for me, which is really why I got into it. So before I get into my thrashing of this movie, I want to make it clear I've seen all of the Marvel Phase 1 movies in theaters only ONCE. I do not re-watch them, I do not read the comic books they're based off of or ever desire to, I'm purely interested in the cinematic adaptation.  The strongest I've ever felt connected to a superhero is Spider-Man, who was a pasty nerd like myself. (And the Hulk to some extent, I was an angry kid.) And I fully realize I'm in the minority when I say I didn't enjoy "Iron Man 3," a sputtering, one-line firing disappointment of a trilogy finale. There's obviously a way of doing them right, take my #2 favorite film of last year, "The Dark Knight Rises," a dark, gritty ...