TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

I'm happy to report 2013 was another fantastic year for cinema, making the top five list and the honorable mentions a difficult but wonderful chore to select from. For me, it was not a strong year for superhero movies, (except "Man of Steel," which was underrated in my opinion) though with the likes of "The Dark Knight Rises" and "The Avengers" last year, it is pretty hard to follow up.  On this list you'll find superheroes of a different sort, men and women undergoing hardships, tight situations and impossible circumstances, some rising, some falling. It was a great year for movies with characters against unthinkable adversity. Keep in mind I'm not a professional critic, and only count movies I've seen from 1/1/13-12/31/13. I'm still heavily anticipating seeing critical favorites like "Her," "August: Osage County," "Dallas Buyers Club," "Nebraska" and "Inside Llewyn Davis." Now tha...

Here's the irony I had walking into Baz Lurhmann's "The Great Gatsby:" most people who I've talked to refer to "Gatsby" as that book that they had to read in their high school English class.  As someone who's currently enrolled in a high school English class...I've never read "The Great Gatsby," mostly because I'd assumed we'd have gotten to it by now, but...nope.  We did however watch half of the 1974 Jack Clayton version starring Robert Redford, which was, to say the least, romantic but dry.  I was hoping this version wouldn't share these undesirable qualities. Luhrmann, the real star of the film Wow, is it good to be right. Luhrmann's "Gatsby," which was moved from December 2012 to now for some reason, is a gorgeous film with enormous scope and, dare I say, brave decisions.  All my peers had raved about the "Gatsby" adaptation, but then again they did the same for "Iron Man 3," and ...

It's been a hectic last few weeks, but just yesterday when coming up blank on ideas to post on this blog, I thought I was going to be attending a screening of "Evil Dead" with some friends, but that didn't pan out.  Not to fear, I looked at the calendar and realized that it was April 25th!  This date might not mean anything to you, but to me it's one of three very essential dates: my stab in the dark at what might be nominated for Best Picture come January.  I partake in this every 4/25, every 9/1 and every post-Golden Globes day.  It's stupid, but sometimes the little things are what keep you going in life! BEST PICTURE NOMINEES 2013: (I do it out of 10, even though the range could be 5-10 films nominated, though ever since this bizarre system came into fruition its been 9) The Great Gatsby (actually on the list last year, but it was delayed til summer '13) The Wolf of Wall Street ( a safe Scorsese bet) August: Osage County...

Bane from "TDKR" Although it's outrageously early, I like guessing next year's Best Picture nominees!  I do it 3 times a year; I chose 2 random dates (April 25 and the first of September) and the day after the Golden Globes (Usually I'm most accurate on the last date.)  Last year I guessed 4 out of the 10 movies I chose both dates.  Let's see how I do this year. BEST PICTURE NOMINEES 2012: (I do it out of 10, even though it could be 5-10) The Dark Knight Rises Prometheus The Hobbit Brave To Rome with Love Les Miserables Life of Pi Django Unchained The Great Gatsby Moonrise Kingdom Woody Allen working on "To Rome with Love" So I'm thinking 2012 might be the Oscar year of blockbusters!  There are also the inclusion of great director's work, Tarantino ( Django ), Wes Anderson ( Moonrise ) and Ang Lee ( Pi ).  Pixar has also had 2 Best Picture nominees in the race in the past few years, so "Brave" is a strong ...