TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

If Captain Chesley Sullenberger thought landing a plane where everyone onboard could land in the middle of the Hudson River was difficult, wait until Hollywood got a hold of his life story.  Sully  could have been a film about the (without a doubt) heroic actions of the captain of that fateful plane, but Hollywood hasn't been kind to real life stories in the past. But when Clint Eastwood and Tom Hanks are the behind the scenes and front in center elements to the recreation of what your life is going to be remembered for, I'd breathe a pretty big sigh of relief. Directing a film about an American hero and portraying a real life man who falls under heavy duress while being the captain of a large mode of transportation is not new territory for Eastwood and Hanks respectively. They're American icons in their own right, and whoever makes the movie about them better give them the justice they gave to Sullenberger in one of the year's best films. As opposed to the film I was...

Sugar and spice may run through "Saving Mr. Banks'" veins, but certainly not everyone in it is nice. Emma Thompson plays "Mary Poppins" author P.L. Travers with a Sheldon Cooper type of emotional unawareness, except she's much thornier and frostier to everyone: including the head of the Mouse himself, Walt Disney. Disney's played by soon-to-be "Captain Phillips" Oscar nominee Tom Hanks, who, with the help of the mustache, does nail that late Disney founder's appearance, but you can't help but realize it is  Hanks playing Disney instead of just ol' Uncle Walt in the flesh. Does he nail his voice/cadences? The jury's still out for me, as I always distanced myself from Walt Disney the man as a younger child; he was sort of the wizard of Oz of all my favorite childhood animated films. The story is Disney was hounding Travers for the rights to her beloved novel, with the preface of keeping a promise to his daughters to adapt the ...

Like one of last year's strongest movies, "Argo," "Captain Phillps" for sure takes some liberties to its story, including the titular character's heroic actions. The real crew of the hijacked Maersk Alabama and comparisons between this film and the real Phillips' autobiographical account of the whole tale have made that clear. While it is important to realize these distinctions, it's my job to review what's been presented before me. And wow, what a picture to be presented before me. Told in a similar strategy used to tell his severely more bleak "United 93," Paul Greengrass shows the relationships between the attacker and the victim. Instead of focusing simply on Hanks' character, an easy tactic since he's the biggest living actor, he also shines light on the disparity of the Somalian community that houses many, including four angry, confused and money-starved soon-to-be pirates. An additional four are brought along as well, b...

There's no easy way to review a movie about 9/11 without bringing up views that are going to offend some people.  So let me start this out with something a little unorthodox: a quote from rapper Lil Wayne.  I'm not the biggest Weezy fan but I did watch his "Behind the Music" special a few years ago.  Regarding Hurricane Katrina back in 2005, Wayne said: (and I'm paraphrasing because it was a while ago) "Why should y'all  care about Katrina?  That's my hometown.  Why are y'all so worried about it?" Wayne meant why did anyone who wasn't from New Orleans care about what had happened so much?  The same thing could be applied to 9/11:  We weren't in the World Trade Center. Why should we care? Sorry if the quote seems a little out there, but I think Wayne had a point, and I can solve it.  It's nationalism.  When terrorists come on to American soil and take down a symbol of not only New York but America, we feel angry, hurt and mos...

I have been so hyped about this movie through friends, TV, the enormous box-office numbers and of course the Internet that I was afraid I would walk in the movie and just positively hate it. Luckily , Pixar is too smart for that. Pixar has never once created a bad film (see my above blog post) but they have had a few not-as-good ones. Once you make a movie like "Toy Story" to start out with, it's hard to reach that bar. They've reached it and far above so many times now it's ridiculous. Now they're taking a break from originality (long overdue) and are churning out sequels (Cars 2 and Monster's Inc. 2 are due '11 and '12 respectively). "Up" was a beautiful blend of kiddie comedy and adult themes, and was one of my favorite films last year. It went on to win 2 Oscars and was up for the biggest of them all: Best Picture, which "Hurt Locker" took home as we all know. It was only the 2 nd time in history an animated movie'...