TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

What was I complaining about in the last post...horror films? Well, in the middle of October, as Halloween is just around the corner...we still haven't gotten a true horror movie. Crimson Peak comes close, but director Guillermo del Toro has described it more as a Gothic romance, a very accurate description, though many times throughout the film I did find myself squirming and jumping from anticipation or jump cuts...both fairly effective. Something a great director (an Eastwood, a Kubrick, a Spielberg) most have is a particular, identifiable style. In that sense, del Toro is on his way. I've seen his Blade II, Hellboy and Pan's Labryinth , all dripping with his signature macabre and creative style. Hellboy is the most accessible and enjoyable out of those three, while PL is the best in terms of story quality. The man's been attached to so many projects it's hard to keep count: he was so close to directing the Hobbit trilogy (that would've been an interesting ...

If you can hark back to the ancient days of Oscar season 2011, you'll remember that like this year, there were nine nominees, with one 9/11-themed movie as well: "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close."   "ELIC" was the odd man out of last year's nominees, with critics not so polarized as they were flat out displeased with it.  That movie dealt with post 9/11 trauma in a completely different way, but Thomas Horn's whiny protagonist and Jessica Chastain's B.A. spy do have one thing in common: they are completely and utterly obsessed with their subject; his finding his father's last message and her....bin Laden. Is there a 17 year old version of her? The movie opens, surprisingly not with the torture sequences you've been hearing so much about, but with 9/11 emergency calls made on that day.  It's a lividly intense few minutes, even if the screen is completely back, and you realize listening to that audio is all the evidence one needs...