TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

In my last review, I spoke of my desire to jump at the chance to go to another film opportunity at my college. I'm very happy to say that I was able to: the French Club funded a quick day trip to Charlottesville's Paramount Theater, where Abderrahmane Sissako's latest film Timbuktu was screening. For Oscar enthusiasts like myself, the name struck out as being nominated as one of the five best foreign language films at this past Academy Awards! Sissako himself was there, and while I would've loved to hear him talk about his film my group was on a strict time schedule. I can confidently say that this was my first Mauritanian film experience, but that probably goes without saying. Timbuktu , though its narrative structure is not solely driven on a particular set of characters, concerns the impact a group of Muslim jihadists has on the very remote titular city. Primarily it involves the affairs of Abdelkerim and his wife Satima, their two small children and their herd of...

Here at old Randolph College, I take whatever chance I get to partake in a moviegoing experience. I'm currently enrolled in a French 102 class for my Gen Ed. requirements, and was given the opportunity to attend the 23rd Annual French Film Festival in Richmond, Virginia. I was a little reluctant at first, I'd never attended a festival of any sorts before, another tick against a guy who calls himself a so-called "movie buff"! It consisted of a full Thursday to Monday schedule of a medley of short films and feature-length films, with the directors of these movies attending the screenings and answering questions afterwards. Embassy Sutites Hotel (very Grand Budapest) We were able to stay in the beautiful Embassy Suites (pictured here), and I personally had to attend at least four sessions of films at the Byrd Theater, located in the tres chic Carytown of downtown Richmond. Saturday morning at 8, six short films were shown: among my favorites were Son seul , Sam...

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: (Edward Norton, Ethan Hawke, J.K. Simmons, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Duvall) Should Win: J.K. Simmons or Edward Norton. Simmons, similar to his band teacher Fletcher, has been dominating this category since day one. It's his to lose, but I wouldn't be sad if Edward Norton pulled a huge upset. His Mike was an endlessly interesting actor with a massive ego. Will Win: J.K. Simmons. BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: (Patricia Arquette, Meryl Streep, Laura Dern, Keira Knightley, Emma Stone), Should/Will Win: Patricia Arquette. Laura Dern was delightful in Wild , but Arquette had the strongest role out of all these ladies as a very human mother. When you can make the audiences sympathize with you after you refuse to see your kid off to college, you deserve an Academy Award. BEST ANIMATED MOVIE: ( Big Hero 6 , How to Train Your Dragon 2 ,   The Lego Movie ,  The Boxtrolls , Song of the Sea , The Tale of the Princess Kaguya ) Should Win: I've only seen How t...

Here's the first thing I can tell you about Jon Favreau's sixth directorial effort: consume it on a full stomach. Maybe let this be your family's post-Thanksgiving meal, because regardless of whether or not you dig Chef , I assure you that you will want to strap on an apron and try being Paula Deen for the next few days. Favreau had food truck owner Roy Choi (the creator of Korean BBQ, which I've tried and enjoyed!) prep him on all aspects of the movie's culinary creations, and it more than pays off. Stick around for the end of the credits and you'll see Choi school Favreau on how to make the perfect grilled cheese! Besides leaving me physically famished, Chef also left me hungry for more. Or, perhaps, a little less. Everyone knows Favreau's got the chops to make big special effect movies: Zathura and the first couple Iron Man 's. What I really dug was the meta-plot of the film. Favreau's Chef Carl Casper has been working at a high-class restaurant...

Now that the unforgiving season of January is over, let's movie on to 2015. Now, some forewarning before you cheat and scroll down and see two very large absences from the list. Besides the 1977 original, I haven't seen any other Star Wars movie, and I also haven't seen Mel Gibson's Mad Max trilogy. I am very much looking forward to Force Awakens and Fury Road, because I plan on binging the whole series of both before they come out. It's just I'm looking forward to them right now, I'm not sure if my interest will diminish after what I hear are rough prequels. There are a few sequels on here, and they're all to movie franchises I've seen and greatly enjoyed. Without further ado, here are some picks that might surprise but hopefully there'll be at least one you'll research and want to scope out as well. AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON This list is alphabetical, but this my number one. I saw the Pinocchio themed teaser in The Battle of Five Armies , ...

A lot has been said over the past week about last week's number one movie and best picture nominee American Sniper . It's absolutely unprecedented total of $107 million over the weekend has everyone analyzing its formula, and while its detractors are watching it with falcon eyes I'm sure movie studios have just ordered a slew of military biopics we can expect in the years to come. I have my own reasons why, and they're pretty sound. It was up for six Oscars, which has never hurt a movie's sums. It has arguably one of the best stars working right now in the lead. It appeals to military audiences, Faith-based audiences; Kyle's Christian beliefs are prominently displayed. Red-state audiences.  Action-movie lovers. War-movie lovers. A respectable, certified fresh score of 73% on Rotten Tomatoes. With a demographic as wide is that, how could Eastwood and co. not have hit their mark? But these are summer blockbuster numbers after all. Nobody blinked an eye...

I saw this film this past Saturday, which means I had no earthly clue that Clint Eastwood's American Sniper  would pull in an unheard of $90 million. That's a better weekend than Dawn of the Planet of the Apes , The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies and 22 Jump Street , all blockbuster sequels with established franchises. What's the reason for this unheard of success? Patriotism: people love seeing films about American war heroes. Buzz: Sniper got six Oscar nominations last Thursday including best picture, actor and adapted screenplay. But most importantly: word of mouth. A movie can have great reviews and Oscar nominations, like The Hurt Locker , and nobody will see it until it sweeps the Oscars. But, if not for Bradley Cooper's performance alone, the film's mammoth box-office returns are well justified. The film largely chronicles the time Chris Kyle spent in his oversea tours, mostly in Iraq. After seeing the '98 embassy bombings on TV, Kyle, like a good Am...