TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

Wow, wow, wow!  That was a truly remarkable Oscar awards!  First off, congratulations are due to first-time Oscar host Seth MacFarlane, who knocked it out of the park, and only had one joke who didn't land for me: the Lincoln joke.  You know which one I'm talking about.  MacFarlane and the hilariously placed William Shatner predicted what today's headlines would read, and attempted to alter it by providing classy dances, while MacFarlane had previously made a sock-puppet version of "Flight," made out with Sally Field, and a song dedicated to....the risque women of cinema, to put it politely! MacFarlane was a welcome presence when commenting on the length of the show, saying 85-year-old Emmanuelle Riva had been Quvenzhane Wallis' age when the program began!  But what I really came for was to see the race between "Argo," "Lincoln" and "Life of Pi," the presumed front-runners.  The awards started off great though, with Christop...

It's that time of year again, the Oscars are less than a week away!  I have to admit choosing the "will wins" have been particularly difficult to choose.  So let me not dilly dally, time to discuss what will win the coveted Oscar on February 24th: ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: ( Lincoln, Life of Pi, Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Silver Linings Playbook) Should Win: "Lincoln"'s poetic and difficult, 19th century jargon really deserves it.  It flowed so beautifully, and was the only movie this year that made me feel that way.  Just listen to Tommy Lee Jones bashing a congressman who's anti-13th amendment! Will Win: "Pi," "Playbook" and "Beasts" all had wildly original premises, and executed perfectly, but "Lincoln" should have this award.  Look for "Playbook" to pull an upset though; Russel won a BAFTA for it. ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: ( Moonrise Kingdom, Django Unchained, Flight, Zero Dark Thirty, Amour) ...

AAAAAHHHHH!  Call it sad if you like, but I was hyped all day for the Oscar nominations, and in between classes I printed out the list.  In no way was I disappointed....the nominees for this year (you can find the full list here ) have some of the best variety I've seen from the Oscars, though of course there were a few I just couldn't let go of.  Without any further ado, here are my personal surprises and snubs of the 7 major Oscar categories: PICTURE: Surprises:  HOLY MOLY AMOUR!  Where did this little film from Austria come from?  Not only did oldest nominee ever Emmanuelle Riva get a nod, but the film garnered 4 more nominations including Best Picture! This was on my radar for foreign film, but in no way could I have ever expected this!  Also, "Beasts of the Southern Wild!"  This tiny indie with an even tinier star we'll get to later on got 4 nods, all in big categories.  I couldn't be happier for both of these Davids...

Here is the blessing and the curse of awards season: you see these extremely well received films you hear so much about, that are going to go down in film history possibly....and some of them disappoint you.  I had the problem with "War Horse" in 2011, with "True Grit" in 2010 (it was just like the original!) and "A Serious Man" in 2009.  All of those were up for Best Picture...and you know...they were OK.  You can't help it!  Going into these Oscar hopefuls, your expectations are insurmountably high, and when they don't deliver, boy, is it a letdown.  David O. Russell's "Silver Linings Playbook" doesn't have that problem, however. The film opens pleasantly enough in a mental hospital, where Pat (Bradley Cooper) is just being released from.  His friend Danny, (Chris Tucker, who retrospectively doesn't add much to the film besides diversity, but he's still funny!) hops a ride with him and his mom, Oscar nominee Jac...