TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

As a lover and proponent of original filmmaking, I seem to have found myself in a bit of a hypocritical stance. This year alone I have seen four superhero films, a reboot of a Disney movie...and The Nice Guys . Let's stop now, and keep reading to see my review of the threequel to a rebooted franchise of the now eight-strong X-Men films. The movie starts (in a startlingly cinematic epic fashion I hadn't seen in an X-Men movie thus far) with an ancient Egyptian landscape, where the world's first mutant En Sabah Nur (Oscar Isaac) is worshipped by practically all of CGI Egypt. After betrayal by his men who see him as a false god, Grandaddy Mutant is trapped in the rubble of a pyramid, until 1983 rears its retro head, and some...culty people (??? it's never explained ???) are able to summon up from his slumber. En Sabah Nur (who's actually never called Apocalypse come to think of it) like Ultron and countless others before him is unsatisfied with machinery, weapons and...

One of the most uncomfortable viewing experiences I've sat through is last year's gripping thriller "Compliance." Without spoiling the film, I found myself yelling at my computer screen a number of times in protest to the character's actions. "12 Years a Slave" makes "Compliance" seem like a trip to Disney World. It's going to take me a long time to recuperate after seeing this unflinchingly brutal work of art, and likely years before I even consider giving myself the thought of a second viewing. It opens with the soon to be nationally revered Chiwetel Ejiofor and a handful of other slaves in a cane field, being instructed by an unnamed master. Why not include one of the many whipping scenes as a shocking opener to this picture? Director Steve McQueen wants to put you in the shoes (or lack thereof) of a slave, being instructed to do menial work in the blazing southern heat with the impending crack of a whip alongside your back in the fore...