TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

While this summer hasn't exactly been a blockbuster season, some definite big films have come out, some surprising us with their superhero goodness, and some disappointing us with....Johnny Depp as a vampire.  With no further introduction, here's a look at some of the most prolific movies of the summer, and maybe there's one you haven't seen: The summer officially kicked off back in May with "The Avengers" premiering with the biggest box-office weekend ever, eventually getting up to over a billion dollars. While parts of the movie felt a little bloated, I think it was all worth it just to see every Marvel superhero together fighting Loki (except Spider-Man, who always gets left in the dust).  With this mammoth of a franchise left theaters, the dust settled with...well, some major disappointments.  Disappointment number one rolled around with Tim Burton's "Dark Shadows."   When even Johnny Depp seems lame in a vampire movie, you kn...

This isn't so much an announcement like the MTV Movie Awards post was.  This is more of an area to vent my frustration for awards shows like this.  Apparently teens vote (14-17) on these ridiculous categories, which is mostly broken down by genre, sci-fi actor, drama actress, etc.  At the time recieving a massive surfboard might be cool, but in theory, it sounds extremely lame.  Since they have about 3 million categories for film, I'll just list the ones that were of a particular note of interest to me: BEST ACTION MOVIE: Abduction Wait what? Hold up.  Let's stop the list right there.  "Abduction?" "ABDUCTION?!?!?!  The movie with a 4%  approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes?  A movie so bad critic Steve Newall called it "...like watching Pinocchio with abs." Said abs must the only logical explanation a movie like "Abduction" got a best action nomination. Act of Valor Mission: Impossible- Ghost Protocol Red Tails Sherlock ...

A good writer must always be willing to realize he made a mistake, and I've realized one has occurred.  In my review of "The Hunger Games" I stated that it was the most buzzed about movie of the year.  I was wrong.  It is obviously "The Avengers." Realistically it'll probably be "The Dark Knight Rises" coming out in a few months, but at the moment, "The Avengers" is the only thing people want to talk about, the only thing they want to see, the only thing they want to think about.  I haven't seen my peers, fellow critics, and others more excited about a superhero movie since the original "Dark Knight."  To say my hopes weren't at an all time high for this is an insult to my hopes. That said, (I feel terrible, writing about the film this late, but I was told people were sitting on theater steps during it's gargantuan opening weekend, so I didn't even attempt) the buzz is 100% accurate, but I can't call it t...

AAAHHHH! My inner nerd (who am I kidding, I'm nerd inside and out) has exploded.  "The Hunger Games" was incredible, "Dark Knight Rises" looks incredible, and now "Avengers" TV spots are popping out everywhere.  I won't lie, between the 3 superhero movies coming out this year (the other being the Spider-Man reboot) "Avengers" lands at a solid #2.  Why not 1? Well...it took a couple of reasons to truly realize how great "The Dark Knight" was.  I had a similar experience with "Inception," you have to see Nolan's movies a few times to soak in.  There's no denying "TDKR" will break insane sales and might get a Best Picture nomination to make up for the predecessor's loss.  Any other year "Avengers" would be at the top, though.  Since 2008 when superhero movies were saved (Iron Man, Hulk reboot, TDK) the suspense has been building up to this film, and I've tried to avoid the online trai...