Bria Lou Reviews

Hey Guys x This isn't going to be a long post, but something I did last year was to write out my 'Statistics' - i.e. a list of the things I kept track of over the year, and like last year, I want to share them here, so that I can compare them to last years! Movies Watched:  431 TV Shows Started:  24 TV Shows Finished:  14 Cinema Trips:  29 Books Read:  17 Celebrity Crushes:  10 Fanfic Chapters Uploaded:  156 Blog Posts Written:  118 I feel like I went to the cinema more times than I made a note of, but either way, here's a numerical account of my year! I hope that I feel as satisfied next year with my list as I do now. So, that's the end of 2018 on Lou's world. Have an amazing New Year's Eve, an incredible New Year's Day, and I'll see you in 2019! HAPPY NEW YEAR! Lou

Hey Guys x Welcome to my last favourites post of the year! It's been really fun to look back through all the things I've watched and listened to to decide which I'd include in this post. But it was really hard to decide for a lot of things, and I definitely forgot some things. Either way though, this is a long post! So let's get started! Favourite Movie (1): A Star Is Born I'm not gonna spend too long on this film, because I've mentioned it on here so many times since I saw it, and I'm sure that I'll be talking about it a lot in the new year (provided it gets nominated for the accolades that it deserves... hello Oscars!) but it's definitely one of my favourite films of the year! (2): Atonement Not only did I love this film, but it's here because it bled into both my personal life and my uni life. I loved the film so much that I read the book and chose to write one of my final essays for university on it - and that essay helped me ...

Merry Christmas guys! As usual, this is going to be the shortest of short posts because I'm not writing this on Christmas, and no one's taking the time to read this on Christmas day. But I hope you had a really great December leading up to Christmas, and I hope that you have an amazing Christmas day, whether you celebrate it or not. There's nothing else to say, but thank you for reading, whether it's just this post of all of my Blogmas posts, it means a lot. I'll be posting again before next year, but for today, I'm out! Have a great day! Lou

Happy Christmas Eve guys! When I was deciding what film to review for Christmas Eve, I thought it would be more than fitting to write about a film that takes place on an 'eve'. And what better film than the third in a trilogy that I love? This film is the third film in the Valentines Day/Mother's Day franchise, both of which I thought were really interesting and love to watch repeatedly. But as you can guess, this story captures the lives of a set of New Yorkers on New Year's Eve. For some, they couldn't care less about the end of a year, but for others, it's the most important night of their lives. It's hard to give a more detailed description than that because each person's story is quite short, and I don't want to give anything away about any of the particular stories. The thing that this trilogy as a whole does really well is that each of these movies does a good job of setting up the characters. You don't get a lot of time with a...

Happy Blogmas Day 23! Here's another rambly post for you - and the last Christmas-based post before actual Christmas, as tomorrow I'm uploading a film review. It's so weird that I'm this close to the end of Blogmas when last month, I wasn't even sure that I was going to do it. And I guess that's what this post is about. I have no idea what's going to happen this time next year, but of course it's entirely possible that next year is the year that I give up Blogmas. As much as I hope that it's not, I don't want to forget how much time writing all these posts took, and the effort that it took to come up with 25 ideas and watch 12 movies specifically for this purpose. And next year, I might decide that it's not something I want to do, or I might decide that doing Blogmas is exactly what I need to do. But if it's not, then this will be one of my last ever Blogmas posts. So I wanted to think a bit about what Blogmas has meant to me o...

Happy Blogmas Day 22! This is one of those films that I've heard a lot of people talk about, but for some reason I just never thought about watching it. But like 'Midnight Sun', it's on Amazon Prime, so I thought that I'd give it a chance and add it to my Blogmas watch list. Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a pharmaceutical salesman who knows just what to say to impress the ladies. That is, until he meets Maggie (Anne Hathaway), a woman with Parkinsons who he takes an instant liking to. But as their relationship develops, and becomes something real for the first time in both of their lives, can either of them handle a serious commitment? The film begins by showing Gyllenhaal's character having dinner with his family, and this made me instantly warm to the film. In the moments where the characters were arguing and making snide comments and talking over each other, it felt real, like you were getting a peek into someone's real family dinner, which se...

Happy Blogmas Day 21! I love winter. Every time we get to Blogmas, I go on and on about how much I love this time of year and my love for the winter never lessens. So for one of the last actual Blogmas posts before Blogmas is done for the year, I thought I'd talk about how I like to spend winter days, particularly those indoors, when there's nothing to do and it's too cold to go outside. Let me know in the comments how you spend winter days! Watch Movies Based on the amount of movie reviews I do, I think it's clear that watching movies is without a doubt one of my absolute favourite things to do. So of course, on winter days this is how I spend a lot of my time. But even if you're not as into movies as I am, is there anything better than having a Christmas movie on in the lead-up to the big day? Binge TV Shows This is something that everyone loves to do, and the Christmas period is the perfect time to do it. If you have nothing else to do, finish of...

Happy Blogmas Day 20! I can't even remember when this came out, but it's now on Amazon Prime, and as I remembered seeing the trailer on TV ages ago, I decided to include it in Blogmas! Katie (Bella Thorne) has a rare condition that causes her to have to avoid sunlight at all costs. So she becomes nocturnal, staying home during the day, every day, and coming out at night, when she plays her guitar under the cover of darkness. But one night, she meets Charlie (Patrick Schwarzenegger), a boy that she has liked from afar for years. As they go on night dates and fall deeper for each other, Katie has to decide whether or not to reveal her secret. But how can she have a normal life, when she's stuck in the dark? This movie wasn't what I thought it would be. When the trailer first came out on YouTube, a lot of people were comparing it to the film 'Everything, Everything', which does have a similar premise. But even with it's similar premise, these are two va...

Happy Blogmas Day 19! Don't you just love that picture? I love snowflakes so much that even looking at pictures of them makes me feel really happy inside. But anyway, on with the post. I'm just gonna be completely honest. I have planned every day of Blogmas, and so far I've completely stuck with the plan. But today's... I just don't know. I'd been putting it off for like a week, and today I made the decision that I didn't like the idea and wouldn't be writing it. But that meant that I had no idea what I was going to for today's post. And I still have no idea. Like, literally nothing. So, as this post is called 'festive ramble', I decided that I'd just write whatever came into my head, no matter how uninteresting it may be. Because, truth be told, Blogmas, or blogging every day at any time of year, is hard! I haven't blogged as much this year as I have in previous years, so I guess that might make it a bit harder. But I ...

Happy Blogmas Day 18! I heard a lot about this film when it first came out because it got a lot of awards buzz, and so many people were talking about it and praising it. But I wasn't as into awards back then as I am now, so I managed to miss the major hype surrounding it. But now I've seen it (thanks to Netflix!) and I wish I had seen it when it first came out! Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller) has one goal - to be one of the best Jazz drummers in the world. But he can't do it alone, so when he's picked out by legendary teacher Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), he thinks that all his dreams have come true. But Fletcher knows what it takes to get to the top, and he'll work Neiman as hard as possible to get him there - even if it costs them both everything they've worked for. This film is amazing. Right from the first second, the film packs a punch. It begins with a drum solo and completely pulls you into the story without you even realising that the drum beat...

Happy Blogmas Day 17! I found a Christmas Tag on the website 'Root Report', which you can check out HERE ! I do a tag every year during Blogmas, and for the most part, none of the questions looked familiar, or like I'd answered them before. So I thought that this list of 30 questions was the perfect thing for me to do today! 1. As a kid, did a sibling ever receive a present that you wished was for you? Not to my knowledge. My sister and I are four and a half years apart, so for the most part, we got age appropriate gifts that the other wouldn't want. Having said that, when she got video games for Christmas (for some reason, I never did) I spent way longer playing them than she did! 2. Be honest: do you like giving gifts or receiving gifts better? Probably a controversial opinion, but definitely receiving. For me, giving gifts is really stressful, particularly when you're a broke student. You end up buying gifts for people who never even thought about gi...

Happy Blogmas Day 16! Like some of the others that I've reviewed this month, this movie was on my to-watch list for such a long time, but I never got around to actually watching it. So I added it into my Blogmas schedule so that I'd have no choice but to watch it! Two strangers on a train to different destinations share a look, then a word, then a whole conversation. And suddenly they're exploring Vienna together, knowing that they only have one night before they have to go their separate ways. But is one night enough time to make a connection? And what happens when they have to leave each other? The meeting scene between these two people happens so quickly that you're completely thrust into their lives. Coupled with the fact that their conversations become deep and important really quickly, it feels like you know them minutes after meeting them - which is replicated in the way that the feel about each other. You also feel completely comfortable with them right ...

Happy Blogmas Day 15! I have been watching so many Hallmark Christmas movies lately (I've discovered that the UK equivalent of the Hallmark channel in the US is Christmas 24 - or Movies 24 at all other times of the year)! Rather than doing 10+ posts of reviews of films with very similar plots, I decided to just put my favourites into one big post, so you can see for yourself which Hallmark movies are worth watching over the festive period. The Sweetest Christmas When a pastry chef enters a gingerbread competition, she can't even explain how much winning would mean to her. But when her oven breaks just before Christmas, it feels like her dream has been cruelly snatched away. That is, until she runs into her ex-boyfriend, who happens to own a restaurant with a working oven. But is she too focused on the competition to let the sparks fly between the two old flames? This was a really cute movie. I'd call it predictable, but I'd be using that word far too often in t...

Happy Blogmas Day 14! Today's review is of Netflix film 'Sierra Burgess Is A Loser'. I heard a lot of people talking about this when it first came out, and it got praised and slated in almost equal measure. I waited until now to watch it so that I could include it in Blogmas, and I have to say that, it wasn't what I thought it would be. When Veronica (Kristine Froseth) gives cute 'loser' Jamey (Noah Centineo) the number of another loser in an act of high school bitchiness, the romance that unfolds between him and Sierra Burgess (Shannon Purser) is something that no one expected. Something interesting about the movie is that you don't see the first few texts between Jamey and Sierra, you hear about them second hand. Because of that, the audience is thrust right into the main plot of the film with relatively no time to adjust. This mirrors the way that Sierra fell into the situation, and why it was able to spiral out of control. There is an interesti...

Happy Blogmas Day 13! Today's post is all about Christmas music! For me, Christmas music is the main thing that gets me in the festive spirit, and unlike many people, I have no problem listening to them all year round. But there's something to be said for listening to a Christmas playlist while wrapping presents, or drinking hot chocolate. So here's a list of some songs that get me in the festive spirit! Mistletoe - Justin Bieber I used to be obsessed with this song! But I was only re-introduced to it recently and I fell in love with it all over again. It's such a beautiful, romantic song, and it's definitely the perfect song to listen to at Christmas time! Fairytale Of New York - The Pogues This is one of the ones that I listen to all year around. To me, it's one of the best Christmas songs ever, I love every second of it. I don't know what it is about it, because it's quite unconventional I guess. But I love it so much, and if ...