TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

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...

Kicking off the feel-good movie of the year that is Denis Villeneuve's "Prisoners" is a scene where your typical blue-collar family (Hugh Jackman, with a perfect American accent and Maria Bello with their son and young daughter) visits another typical blue collar family (with Viola Davis and Terrence Howard as the parents) for Thanksgiving. After a walk where the two girls pick off icicles on a large white van, they excuse themselves from listening to Terrence Howard's horrendous trumpet playing to pick up a red whistle they left at Jackman's daughter's house. When the parents go back outside, poof, the children have disappeared. This remarkably grim, depressing and involving film is a surefire for the upcoming Oscars, and is one of the year's best thrillers by a landslide. With it's lengthy two and a half hour running time, one would expect there to be a significant amount of character study, and the actors, along with a labyrinthine script from Aar...