TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

Between my English major and my Film Studies minor, there is a lot to be said about formula, specifically film formula. The formula of the romantic comedy is what is used as an example of something simplistic, a boy meets girl, meet-cute, conflict, big conflict, resolution, happy ending. Also in college, I've found that this genre has the most return value for people my age. There's something safe in a romantic comedy, like a chocolate bar, without nutrition, but you eat it and you feel good. I'm not a fan of this type of movie, which is not to say I dislike the rom-com, but I dislike what a lot of rom-coms represent, and if you scroll through the rest of this blog you might not find one reviewed for a while. Michael Showalter's The Big Sick is technically a romantic comedy, but it dives well out of its generic boundaries to deliver one of the year's most timely stories. On the poster alone, with star Kumail Nanjiani posing with co-star (but she's not really ...

One of the great tragedies of being in Britain at this time, which I'm sure you're all sick of hearing of, and even to my fellow Americans they must be tired of hearing of...is that Finding Dory comes out over a month later over here. I have to wait until returning to the States to see the sequel to one of Pixar's best! One of the upsides however, is I do get to see some films that look like they'll just be getting a theatrical release in the UK . One film I doubt is going to compete with Dory and the sure to be Oscar-winning Independence Day: Resurgence is Florence Foster Jenkins , a story about a woman whose life was destined to be portrayed on the silver screen. Having Meryl Streep fill the glittery sequins of your life is a pretty good consolation prize for Miss Jenkins, who could easily be considered the world's worst opera singer. I don't encourage you to look at the real Mrs. Jenkins' Wikipedia page until after you've seen the movie. If you thin...

The odd couple troupe is one of the oldest cinema can offer: but if it ain't broke, right? The joy of The Nice Guys , a good turnaround for acclaimed writer/director Shane Black, who we last saw helm Iron Man 3 , is seeing these two Oscar-nominated actors play the camera for laughs. You don't think belly laughs when you think of Russell Crowe. Ryan Gosling was in last year's Oscar-winning comedy The Big Short , and he was pretty funny it, and we know he has chops from his "SNL" appearance. But they're generally seen as dramatic actors, so the joy of seeing them drive around 1970's L.A. with a hallucinatory creature is pretty spectacular. The plot (for a mystery, anyway) is much pretty straightforward, with a few curves and backtracks to make it juicy. Healy, a "hit man," as I like to call him, because he pretty much just punches you in the face (Crowe) comes to private eye Holland March's (Gosling) door, breaks his arm and tells him to not ...

I have to confess the only thing I'd ever seen Melissa McCarthy up to this point was her hilarious guest appearances on "SNL," the peak performances trumping with her physical slapstick. I've always wanted to see "Bridesmaids" to see that Oscar-nominated performance of hers, but in all honesty, "Identity Thief" and "Mike & Molly" looked silly to me, and I never watched "Samantha Who" or "Gilmore Girls." All I had to judge on was reviews claiming she carried "The Heat" on her shoulders, and those choice over-the-top delicious roles on "SNL." The verdict: she's hysterical. Indeed McCarthy does something fascinating: everything coming out of her mouth is nearly always funny (to the degree of  funny is debatable), profane and rapidly paced. She is the sole reason the movie works, well, to give her co-star credit, the chemistry between her and Sandra Bullock is pretty darn good too. In a bett...