TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

When I was young, and had no friends, and wrote comics as a kid ripping off Spider-Man, I always took a huge delight in figuring out who my villain would be that issue (issue meaning two pieces of looseleaf paper I stapled together and only I read). 90% of them would be plagiarized, but I still enjoyed adding the little quirks or potential powers from my villains who would be introduced with little backstory, then about a page of crudely-drawn action, then they would usually get killed. I guess I had a very black and white sense of justice in those days. But while my protagonists stayed fairly static, it was always a blast thinking up villains when I sat down to write and draw. Antagonists can be the most memorable part of your movie (take note, Marvel), but can a whole movie full of them come off as too bloated? David Ayer answers that question in Suicide Squad , a definitely flawed but firecracker time in the theaters. When you go to college you take a lot of personality tests, and...

With the snow that's currently pummeling Virginia, it's a relief to say I was able to sleep in and miss a day of school, giving me an additional day to reflect on last night's Oscars! First and foremost: my predictions were correct! Happy to say that all my major predictions were correct, but on the technical side, I underestimated the power of Gravity ! I'm not sure if I've written this anecdote before on this blog, but when I saw the very first sneak preview trailer of it in theaters, I rolled my eyes at Bullock's constant panting and was sure it'd be ridiculous. Pass the salt because I'm eating my words...$700 million and seven Oscars later,  Gravity has turned into a true phenomenon, and had 12 Years a Slave  been released this year it surely would've taken home it's eighth prize for Picture. Jared Leto and Matthew McConaughey, both sporting an unorthodox white, took the trophies for Dallas Buyers Club , deserved entirely, which also picked...

With the Oscars being tomorrow, there's no better time than to choose and decide which films will take home the gold, and which were unjustly snubbed! I choose the films that SHOULD win a miniature statue, and the ones that WILL, for better or worst, take the trophy. BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: (Blue Jasmine, Nebraska, Dallas Buyers Club, Her, American Hustle)   Should Win: Nebraska. Her has the flashiest concept, and very well written, quirky dialogue coming out of a mousy Amy Adams and a mustachioed Joaquin Phoenix. But everything in Payne's Nebraska felt real to me, and his filmography deserves a third writing Oscar for Bob Nelson's genuinely rural sounding work. Will Win: Her. Spike Jonze is up for three awards; producing this film, writing "The Moon Song" and penning this script. This'll be the one he gets the Academy Award for. BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: (12 Years a Slave, Philomena, The Wolf of Wall Street, Before Midnight, Captain Phillips) Should/W...

It's been established the Oscars love depressing topics. Last year's front runners involved topics like 9/11, slavery, a boy losing his entire family on a shipwreck, and bipolarity. Luckily this year's Oscars have changed that drag of a vibe, with topics like...slavery, AIDS, child abandonment and possible dementia. I'm gonna need a Prozac to get through next year's Academy Awards. Dallas Buyers Club  falls into that depressing subject category, but its risky subject completely pays off, especially considering it's the true story of Texas electrician Ron Woodroof's fight to live after being diagnosed with AIDS. It may not have the f-words of Wolf of Wall Street  (this film has about 104, compared to Wolf 's estimated 414, according to kids-in-mind.com) or the tenderness of Her , but this is absolutely one of the year's best films, and deserves its ranking among the other fine eight pictures. While watching the SAGs, Globes and Critics Choice Aw...

I've never seen so many people in my life in a movie theater lobby. Apparently the must-see movie of the year (and take in the year is less than 20 days old as of this publishing) is Ride Along , a buddy cop movie with Kevin Hart and Ice Cube. As original as a funny guy getting teamed up with a serious cop going through a series of wacky antics sounds, I chose instead to catch up on my Oscar movies. I'm happy to report that "Nebraska" and "Her" are small, pleasant films for anyone looking to avoid the January movie dumping grounds, and are competing against each other for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. NEBRASKA: There isn't a single moment in Alexander Payne's latest family drama Nebraska that doesn't ring true. Growing up in a small, semi-rural town myself, the relatives of Woody Grant (Bruce Dern) are utterly authentic. You're probably familiar with the premise: Woody gets a notification claiming he needs to go to Lincoln, N...