TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

Unlike me, the Washington Post rarely gives out four star reviews, and when they do it's for sure a movie to be taken notice of. Their most recent one to my knowledge was Guardians of the Galaxy , a very fitting rating for such a fantastic piece of pop art. So back when, around April or so, I saw Locke  got it's highest possible rating, I added it instantly to my list of movies to check out for later. When I finally got the opportunity to watch it, I popped it in with eagerness, anxious to see how if it's praise and lauding was legit...and I've never been so thankful for the Washington Post. This review may be short, as describing what Locke concerns is giving away the movie's very element of surprise, how it creeps up on you. How you slowly, and this is all I'll say, start to realize that, however confident and reassuring his Ivan Locke may appear, Tom Hardy plays a man who in the course of a few hours begins to experience his life deteriorate before him, va...

It completely disheartened me to read a text last night informing me comedic legend Robin Williams died of an apparent suicide. I commented on the death of Phillip Seymour Hoffman as a warning sign to those struggling with addiction, I commented on the death of Michael Clarke Duncan because he was in my all-time favorite movie The Green Mile . Not since the latter's death have I felt such remorse and sadness for a celebrity's demise, and this time it's so much worse. As a tween going into middle school, a school where I knew pretty much no one do to circumstantial events, I went to a very kind woman's house every day in the morning as a sort of daycare. She would pop in a movie every day for me, then when the bus came paused it, and the next day I would finish it up. On average it took me about three days to finish a film if it was about two hours, which was the longest the children's movies she played ever were. I really got into movies after the Oscar season of ...

Hype for a movie varies a lot nowadays. Social media, and websites like this one, blogs and whatnot, can carry a movie a long ways. Movie stars aren't enough in today's world I don't believe. You don't really need an A-listers presence to tell a good story anymore, and the ushering in of special effects has also helped in this. Websites like Metacritic, IMDb and primarily Rotten Tomatoes tell you if you should invest your $8.50 into a couple of hours of entertainment. Part of Boyhood's strategy, at least some of it anyway, of getting butts into seats was toting its incredibly rare 100% Rotten Tomatoes score, which has since dropped to a much less impressive 99% after two critics disliked it. And you can listen to those two people, who I'm sure have very valid opinions...or you could listen to the other 176 people, make that 177 now including me, who are citing Boyhood as one of the finest movies this year, and an accomplishment in the world of cinema. It'...

It was almost bittersweet going to see GOTG. My most hyped about non-Oscar movie, featuring a cast of characters I know nothing about by the director of an extremely weird 2006 horror movie backed by the biggest movie studio in the galaxy right now. I'll still go see  Thor 23 and all the other sequels but I love nothing more than seeing a new superhero movie, and this folks, is one for the books. Adding to the magic and mythos of this excellent movie was coupled with the fact that it was my very first film I've seen before the general release date...not a midnight movie (it was only 7:50) but wow it was a cool feeling buying those tickets online. I don't even think I've seen a movie opening day, but my friends and I decided it was simply the only way to go to see a movie of this caliber. Gleefully diving into the unknown, we got seats third from the front (get there early, boys and girls) and took in a deep breath as the last of the 80 trailers ceased playing. The l...

Reading the reviews of Richard Linklater's Boyhood , you just start to get emotional simply getting the feel of what the movie is going to be about. For a while it had a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, a feat movies like The Godfather  have only accomplished on the site. There's no negative backlash yet, nothing that could hurt the chances of everyone on board. Boyhood  has all the elements of a movie that will win Best Picture at this year's Academy Awards. Look at the facts: every single Best Picture nominee last year was released from October on, kicking off with the special effects extravaganza Gravity . A movie hasn't won Best Picture since 2009's The Hurt Locker , which got an extremely low-key limited release in the summer. I remember wanting to see it, then seeing it explode into pop culture once the Golden Globe nominations weren't released. The bottom line: you have to have your movie released later for the voters to remember you. But Boyhood  seems...

Anyone who knows me or has read this blog knows I'm a big James Franco fan, but I don't worship the guy. I love his zany performances in Spring Breakers and Pineapple Express , respect his more serious work in excellent dramas like the first two Spider-Man  movies and especially 127 Hours . But here's the weird thing I noted in my Oz the Great and Powerful  review: he's been upstaged by primates: twice. The first came courtesy in Rise of the Planet of the Apes , where Franco had the spotlight easily taken from him by Andy Serkis' masterful creation: Caesar. The other problem with the 2011 prequel to the superior 1968 original was, though it was building up to it, it still focused too much on humans when all we want to see were the apes. I am very happy to say this film took note of our laments, and corrected them. Caesar is a father now, his wife just giving birth to another baby boy, along with his other son, Blue Eyes. It's been a decade since humans have ap...

Getting "TFIOS" for my 17th birthday It's only too easy to dismiss TFIOS as a chick flick if you are unfamiliar with the source material. While it does sound a bit sappy that two cancer stricken kids would meet together and fall in love, I suggest you familiarize yourself with the works of John Green, and his signature, smart alec wit. There hasn't been a wrong note in his novels, Looking for Alaska  probably being the most deserving in my book. Avoiding most cliches of the hospital drama, Green instead chose to go the route of love, not pandering at all to his fan base, who appear to be nearly as intelligent as the rapid, word churning YouTube vlogger himself. The big question to nearly every adaptation in the business: is it as good as the book? Honestly...nearly. The film isn't flawless like your teenage daughter will tell you, but it's a very solid addition to not only the teenage romance canon but to cancer movies, which can be partially indistingui...