TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

If James Franco's Alien from "Spring Breakers" had Leonardo DiCaprio's Gatsby's millions and Christian Bale's foul mouth from "American Hustle"...they still wouldn't come close to the living extremity of a man that is Jordan Belfort. The cocaine-devouring, hooker-purchasing, finance exploiting stockbroker with a rags-to-riches past is the latest examination of Martin Scorsese in this explicit, bonkers 80's-set epic. Like the aforementioned Gatsby, DiCaprio shows us with his third consecutive thrilling performance (also as a conniving slave owner in "Django Unchained") why he's one of Hollywood's greatest, currently or otherwise. "WOWS" begins, as movies typically do, with a number of stockbrokers hurling a helmet-clad dwarf against a large target bathed in money signs, and here's the thing: it sets the tone for the next three hours. That's right: 180 minutes. It is single-handedly the movie's vital ...

Host Ricky Gervais proved tamer and even funnier this time around with the 69th Golden Globes held last night!  The night had a few surprises, but at the end here's what I really got: George Clooney, Octavia Spencer and Christopher Plummer are definitely winning Oscars this year after victories at both the Globes and the Critic's Choice Awards.  Also "The Artist," which I just saw, will most likely be taking home Best Picture.  Really the only wild card is Best Actress.  Meryl Streep won best actress in a drama last night for her outstanding role in "The Iron Lady" and Viola Davis won Best Actress for "The Help" on Critic's Choice Awards night.  Two very deserving ladies, I can't wait to see how it'll end up. THE COMPLETE LIST: DRAMA FILM: The Descendants (though I'd like to think this might win, "The Artist" pretty much has Best Picture on lock) ACTRESS: Meryl Streep- The Iron Lady ACTOR: George Clooney- T...

There are some cynics out there who call "Hugo" boring, saying it will be uninteresting to kids alike, who are used to being shoveled lame sequels like "Cats & Dogs 2" & "Spy Kids 4."  If you want your kid to be interested, play Frisbee with them!  Once you find a good taste in movies, go see this fantastic drama as soon as you can! "Hugo" really isn't for kids.  It's kid-friendly, I suppose, featuring a refreshing amount of innocence most movies lack.  What makes this interesting is the director, legend Martin Scorsese who's responsible for some of cinema's most violent films.  I read in an interview he wanted to make a film his children should watch.  When you make a movie just so it has a PG rating for your kids, you know you've made it in the business.  Scorsese's direction is well-used in "Hugo," he gets a great performance out of Asa Butterfield.  Even Sacha Baron Cohen delivers a finely tuned per...