TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

It's 2013!  Hooray!  It's that time again for me to gather the films I've seen this year, and somehow sort them into a dignified list of the most quality films I've seen in 2012.  As noted already, in the history of cinema, 2012 has been one of its greatest years, financially or otherwise.  Bloated sequels and bland remakes still crowded the cinemas, but the majority of films managed to blow me away.  Keep in mind I'm not a professional critic, and only count movies released this year I've seen from 1/1/12-12/31/12.  On my wish list are "Zero Dark Thirty," "Silver Linings Playbook" and "The Impossible," but I welcome criticism.  Let's begin, and don't forget to see the ones that juuuuuuust missed the mark, and the ones that were, well.... un remarkable. 5. BERNIE I didn't review this or the following film on my list because I saw them way too late, but I caught it on DVD over winter break.  Jack's nomination fo...

Last year, Woody Allen made what some people would call a "comeback."  Is it really a comeback though, when you're Woody Allen?  Woody Allen's been making virtually a movie a year, and a lot of times he makes good movies, but not to the point of success that "Midnight in Paris" did.  I loved "Paris," but I also loved what some consider one of his misses, the Larry David comedy "Whatever Works." (But that could be because I love "Curb Your Enthusiasm.")  Overall I'm just a big Allen fan, although I've seen maybe 6 of his films at the most, he's become one of my favorite directors, due to his obvious style in cinema. "To Rome with Love" is the third (and supposedly final) installment of his European trilogy (along with "Paris" and the exquisite "Vicky Cristina Barcelona").  Allen is like Picasso in that way, when he goes through a period of films.  The fact that he could just go on a...

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 ...