TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

I'm doing 'em all this year! Bold indicates my personal preference, red is what I think will win. NOTE: I will only include my preference if I've seen at least 3 out of the 5 nominees. BEST PICTURE: It gets under my craw that some are complaining that nothing happens in Chloé Zhao's soon-to-be-Oscar-winning Nomadland . The film depicts nothing less than the journey of a spirit, the chronicling of grief and the experiencing of a shift of the American mindset. But sure, let's focus on Frances McDormand defecating in a bucket. Won't the haters feel like a poop-bucket when Nomadland makes a clean sweep of the BAFTA's, the Globes, the Critic's Choice, and now the Academy Awards.  The Father Judas and the Black Messiah Mank Minari Nomadland   Promising Young Woman Sound of Metal The Trial of the Chicago 7 BEST DIRECTOR: Everyone is worthy. Fincher should've won a decade ago for Social Network (maybe we could've avoided that year's winner Tom Ho...

When I was young, and had no friends, and wrote comics as a kid ripping off Spider-Man, I always took a huge delight in figuring out who my villain would be that issue (issue meaning two pieces of looseleaf paper I stapled together and only I read). 90% of them would be plagiarized, but I still enjoyed adding the little quirks or potential powers from my villains who would be introduced with little backstory, then about a page of crudely-drawn action, then they would usually get killed. I guess I had a very black and white sense of justice in those days. But while my protagonists stayed fairly static, it was always a blast thinking up villains when I sat down to write and draw. Antagonists can be the most memorable part of your movie (take note, Marvel), but can a whole movie full of them come off as too bloated? David Ayer answers that question in Suicide Squad , a definitely flawed but firecracker time in the theaters. When you go to college you take a lot of personality tests, and...

Kicking off the feel-good movie of the year that is Denis Villeneuve's "Prisoners" is a scene where your typical blue-collar family (Hugh Jackman, with a perfect American accent and Maria Bello with their son and young daughter) visits another typical blue collar family (with Viola Davis and Terrence Howard as the parents) for Thanksgiving. After a walk where the two girls pick off icicles on a large white van, they excuse themselves from listening to Terrence Howard's horrendous trumpet playing to pick up a red whistle they left at Jackman's daughter's house. When the parents go back outside, poof, the children have disappeared. This remarkably grim, depressing and involving film is a surefire for the upcoming Oscars, and is one of the year's best thrillers by a landslide. With it's lengthy two and a half hour running time, one would expect there to be a significant amount of character study, and the actors, along with a labyrinthine script from Aar...

A wide variety of films are up for Best Picture this year, including one that got some pretty bad reviews, cough cough, "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close."  I take a look at what will win and (IMO) what should win: BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: (The Ides of March, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Hugo, The Descendants, Moneyball) WILL WIN: While "TTSS" got this award at the BAFTAs, last year's winner Aaron Sorkin has got it again this year for "Moneyball." SHOULD WIN: Moneyball.  It deserves it because it made an odd topic like baseball statistics seem interesting, and the character development is top-notch. BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: (The Artist, Midnight in Paris, Margin Call, A Separation, Bridesmaids) WILL WIN: Midnight in Paris. SHOULD WIN:  Midnight in Paris.  It really doesn't get any more original from the mind of Woody Allen, who most likely won't even be there to accept it. BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: (Christopher Plummer, Nick Nolte, ...

Host Ricky Gervais proved tamer and even funnier this time around with the 69th Golden Globes held last night!  The night had a few surprises, but at the end here's what I really got: George Clooney, Octavia Spencer and Christopher Plummer are definitely winning Oscars this year after victories at both the Globes and the Critic's Choice Awards.  Also "The Artist," which I just saw, will most likely be taking home Best Picture.  Really the only wild card is Best Actress.  Meryl Streep won best actress in a drama last night for her outstanding role in "The Iron Lady" and Viola Davis won Best Actress for "The Help" on Critic's Choice Awards night.  Two very deserving ladies, I can't wait to see how it'll end up. THE COMPLETE LIST: DRAMA FILM: The Descendants (though I'd like to think this might win, "The Artist" pretty much has Best Picture on lock) ACTRESS: Meryl Streep- The Iron Lady ACTOR: George Clooney- T...

I saw "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" last week and was pretty impressed by it.  I was going to write up a review talking about how much I liked it and how great Andy Serkis was as Caesar, the ape responsible for the whole "Planet of the Apes" thing and how the characters came in 2nd to the awesome visual effects, but then I saw "The Help" just yesterday.  And it blew my mind. The film, as one might already know, is the adaptation of the "wildly popular" bestselling novel about maids in the South and how one rambunctious woman tries to put their predicament into a book and reach the nation to tell how these maids are struggling.  The novel was probably popular with adults, no one my age that I know of has ever read or heard of the book "The Help."  Maybe due to its subject matter; the book is very racially charged and has several uses of racist terminology. The movie's mood reminds me of several other racially charged films, ...