TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

My 1st Woody Allen film was a little movie called "Annie Hall," Allen's Best Picture-winning film from 1977, which famously beat out the 1st "Star Wars" movie for the top prize. I don't agree with that choice, but the "little movie that could" was clever, a little snarky, but had some majorly good messages of love and how hard it is to keep relationships alive. "Midnight in Paris" keeps some of these themes, but does it in what I'm tempted to say is in an even better format. "Midnight in Paris" was the first gem for me in 2011 cinema. The one movie I was fascinated by though was Terrence Mallick's "The Tree of Life," which sounded alot like last year's "Inception" in that people weren't really sure what it was about and when they left the theater they still weren't entirely sure what they saw. I respect and love movies that have that effect on people. "Tree of Life" was in lim...

Who ever thought we'd be calling Jonah Hill and Kristen Wiig Oscar nominees?  Who thought "Young Adult," "Shame" and "J. Edgar" would be left with nothing?  Not me.  I review the major categories in surprises and snubs. SURPRISES: Picture- While every predictor seemed set on 7 nominees this year, the academy turned in another twist with 9 nominees.  While "The Tree of Life" and "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" both came as shocks to people, I'd just like to mention this Best Picture list is the Critic's Choice Award Best Picture nominees minus "Drive," which I'll get into later. Actor & Actress - It's an understatement to say Demian Bichir of "A Better Life" getting nominated for best actor, beating out Leonardo DiCaprio, Ryan Gosling and Michael Fassbender.  Who is this guy?  We'll find out as award season progresses I suppose. Gary Oldman's inclusion was good to here, for ...

It is the day before the Oscar nominations are being announced!  I'm excited for tomorrow, I'll post the nominees as tradition since 2010.  Another tradition I have to uphold is predicting the Oscar nominees for the best movie of 2011 right before they come out.  This year it's going to be a lot trickier, so I'll do it like this: THE SHOO-INS: The Descendants The Artist (and the winner) Hugo The Help (a BAFTA nomination for Best Picture helped its outlook) and Midnight in Paris Like I said, this is where it gets harder.  Though there won't be 10, many are saying 7 or 8, there is always that possibility the Oscars will throw us a curve-ball.  So, if there are: 6.  War Horse 7.  Moneyball 8.  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 9.  Bridesmaids/Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (if they're going all out they'll want to include a blockbuster favorite) 10.  The Tree of Life  So, in hopes I don't lo...