TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

One of the great tragedies of being in Britain at this time, which I'm sure you're all sick of hearing of, and even to my fellow Americans they must be tired of hearing of...is that Finding Dory comes out over a month later over here. I have to wait until returning to the States to see the sequel to one of Pixar's best! One of the upsides however, is I do get to see some films that look like they'll just be getting a theatrical release in the UK . One film I doubt is going to compete with Dory and the sure to be Oscar-winning Independence Day: Resurgence is Florence Foster Jenkins , a story about a woman whose life was destined to be portrayed on the silver screen. Having Meryl Streep fill the glittery sequins of your life is a pretty good consolation prize for Miss Jenkins, who could easily be considered the world's worst opera singer. I don't encourage you to look at the real Mrs. Jenkins' Wikipedia page until after you've seen the movie. If you thin...

Who says musicals are dead? Well, probably anyone who's seen this year's  Annie  that's over the age of 10. But I'd like to make a case for the art that is, at least, attempting to come back to life! Rob Marshall, the director of Into the Woods , essentially revitalized the genre with 2002's Chicago , an adaptation of the stage play. It took home the Oscar for Best Picture, beating much better films like The Pianist and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers . It also won the ancient Golden Globe category of Best Comedy/Musical, which has nominated such hilarious classics like Pride & Prejudice , My Week with Marilyn and The Tourist . It turned out to be a fluke for the genre, until Marshall again tried to wow us with Nine , a box-office failure. It wasn't until 2012's Les Mis , (which I saw twice!) that really excited people and brought theater geeks and casual film fans alike in drove to the box office to watch Hugh Jackman steal bread and hear Russel ...

In a year where the most anticipated movie franchise is The Hunger Games , the movie coming out this weekend is The Maze Runner , and  Divergent is one of its more successful films, what a wonderfully refreshing surprise it is to see The Giver , a sci-fi action(ish) movie based on a beloved young adult book. They're really changing things up here in 2014. All joking aside, I was actually pretty excited to hear a few months ago that "The Giver"   was finally getting its dues. The novel we all had to read sometime or another as tweens (for me it was fifth grade) gets the silver screen adaptation. And full disclosure, that is the last time I've read "The Giver." For me it was a complicated time, and I have memories of lying on my beanbag chair, reading that final chapter, wondering what the book was all about. It certainly wasn't "Magic Treehouse" or "The Bailey School Kids," no this was definitely a young adult book, emphasis on adult...

Sadly this is the last of the Oscar-nominated reviews. As has been said in many a year end best of list, 2013 was a magnificent year for movies. And, luckily for me, I closed on a very solid selection, John Wells' adaptation of Tracy Letts' August: Osage County . Wells impressed me with another ensemble comedy I watched a year or so back on cable, The Company Men . There he balanced family drama, work politics and the collective, impressive trio of Chris Cooper, Tommy Lee Jones and Ben Affleck. In August  he grapples with a much larger cast, to the tune of about 10 or so. The original August was three and a half hours long, but the aforementioned Letts adapted his story for the big screen, and it clocks in around the two hour mark. Apparently there was about another hour of footage shot, but for the sake of not repeating a Wolf of Wall Street- esque time duration, it was cut. It's almost a shame it was. I really could watch an additional two hours of this insane family ...

I'm going to shock a few people with this opener: besides "Fantastic Mr. Fox" I've never seen a Wes Anderson film. Feel free to take some time to gasp, I know, it's surprising.  No "Rushmore," no "Royal Tenenbaums," nothing.  I myself find it a little puzzling, but a quick analysis on IMDb clears things up a little, they're all rated R up to "Fantastic Mr. Fox."  If this film is any indication of Anderson's work, I know for sure he'll become my new favorite director. He already is, but I suppose it isn't fair to judge on one film alone.  But based on his trailers, a theme is steadily approaching in my mind, full of quirkiness and men wearing tweed jacket, and Owen Wilson.  Like Scorsese and Tarantino, I see Anderson reuses many of his stars, and the Rotten Tomatoes ratings don't lie, you know, he's fairly acclaimed.  I'm reviewing one of his best rated films, and one of my favorite animated films, because...

I'm very behind on this but I figured I'd cover it anyway!  There were some surprises after all, I was shocked to see Clooney not get his 2nd Oscar. I hate to say it but it is very unlikely Jean Dujardin, or should I say Oscar-winner Jean Dujardin will become a big Hollywood star, but whatever.  Meryl Streep won her 3rd Oscar, Christopher Plummer got his prize, but Octavia Spencer seemed the most overjoyed out of all of them. I think it a great thing favorite Viola Davis was the first to give Streep a standing ovation, I'm sure there'll be further nominations for her in the future.  I was glad to see Woody Allen and Alexander Payne to win for their great scripts!  I'd accepted "The Artist" was going to win Best Picture long ago, so I was...happy to see it win. Well, now that all the buzz has settled it's starting to look like another promising Oscar year with Pixar's "Brave,"  Nolan's final "The Dark Knight Rises" and Ri...

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...