Bria Lou Reviews

Hey Guys x I have to admit, if I wasn't so obsessed with the Oscars every year, I don't know if I would have seen this film as soon as I did. But last year, I ended up having to play catch-up with a lot of the nominated movies because I didn't bother seeing them when they came out, so this year I'm trying to make some guesses - and this film definitely feels like an Oscar contender. Frank 'The Irishman' Sheeran (Robert De Niro) is a truck driver who gets willingly involved with the Bufalino crime family. But as we watch his rise to the top of the food chain, we also see his downfall. I'm in two minds about this movie. One the one hand, I think it's a great movie, for so many reasons that I'll go on to write about for almost the entirety of this review. But on the other hand, I didn't love it, for only one or two reasons. I knew that I didn't love this movie all the way through, but I couldn't work out what it was. Because I know...

Hey Guys x So once again, it's time for Blogmas! And also once again, I'm changing things up a bit. Usually what I do (or what I've done for the last two years anyway) is to do 12 posts that are just about Christmas, and them 12 film reviews that have nothing to do with Christmas. This year, I've decided to combine the two. Which means that from the 1st to 24th of December, I'll be writing 24 movie reviews of Christmas movies - the more cheesy and ridiculous the better! All the movies that I'll review can be found on either Netflix or Amazon Prime (with one or two from Sky Movies), so they'll all be movies that you can watch too - and some that you probably already have. I'm also going to ignore my usual 'star' rating for the Christmas films. Instead they're going to be rated based on: Originality (Pretty self explanatory) Christmas Spirit (I.E is Christmas integral to the plot, or could the events of the film have happened ...

Hey Guys x This is a Netflix movie that I had heard bad things about before going in. So of course, I had to watch it to see if it was actually as bad as the reviews said. Katrina (Carmen Ejogo) and her daughter Clara (Appollonia Pratt) are travelling when Clara gets bitten by a rattlesnake. After receiving the help of a mysterious woman, Katrina finds that she has to make a serious sacrifice to repay her debt. I just have to say right off the bat that all the negative reviews were pretty accurate, this isn't a great movie at all. Some parts were better than others, and the premise itself isn't awful, but overall the finished product isn't that good. From the start, you find that so many unrealistic things happen in such a short space of time, and the only reason that they don't seem unrealistic is because each of the events are things that could realistically happen on their own. For example, getting getting a flat/blown tyre isn't unrealistic; getting bi...

Hey Guys x Like many other films that I've reviewed this month, this is a movie that I saw randomly on Netflix and thought that it sounded really thought-provoking and intriguing, so of course I had to watch it. It's about an estranged interracial couple (Kerry Washington and Steven Pasquale) who are brought together in a police station as they wait for news about their missing son. I had no idea what to expect going into this film, so when I started watching I was pleasantly surprised by it. For a start, I didn't know that it was a play, which is immediately obvious as soon as it starts. Not only is it filmed like a play, in terms of the fact that it takes place in one small finite location with a limited number of actors, but the dialogue they use makes it clear that it was written for stage rather than screen. Because it's a play, it is extremely dialogue heavy - not a lot actually happens that doesn't come from their mouths, so whether this is a good...

Hey Guys x This a Netflix movie that had a mildly interesting plot, but what really made me want to watch it was that it had such a good cast. The kind of cast that you feel could make even the worst films good. So I thought, why not? Will (Armie Hammer) is a bartender who finds a lost phone in his bar one night. However, finding the phone is just the beginning of the nightmare for him and everyone around him. I hate that this film had so much potential, because it really did. But there's so much wrong with it that I don't even know where to start. Well, let's start with the cast. As well as Armie Hammer, the film also features Dakota Johnson, Zazie Beets, Karl Glusman and Brad William Henke. This cast, coupled with the basic plot of the film, could have been so great because the plot is vague enough to go in a hundred different directions. And to be honest, it started with a lot of promise. However, it quickly went downhill once Hammer's character found the...

Hey Guys x I saw this on Netflix recently and, knowing nothing about it, decided to take a chance on it and see what it was like. A group of researchers think that they've found a way to revive the dead. But when Zoe (Olivia Wilde) is killed in one of their experiments, her fiance Frank (Mark Duplass) uses their method to bring her back to life - with terrifying consequences. Even though the plot sounds exactly like the film 'Flatliners' (or at a stretch 'Pet Sematary'), the cast (which includes Donald Glover, Evan Peters and Sarah Bolger) is so good that it makes the film really promising before you even start it. In terms of believability, other than the main plot point of 'bringing the dead back to life', nothing about this film seems particularly far-fetched - and that includes the relationship between the cast, who all have really great chemistry and look like they've known each other for as long as the characters have. The film gets the...

Hey Guys x This is another of the movies that came out on Netflix with an interesting plot. I'm really into mysteries at the moment, and this one seemed really original, so I was excited to watch it. Anna (Carly Schroeder) is a newlywed who moves to a remote island with her new husband, who is a mystery writer. However, soon she discovers the mystery of his dead ex-wife, and wonders if she's going to be next. I didn't like this film at all. Which is annoying because I really thought I would. First of all, and this is a mild spoiler that comes out in the first 30 seconds of the movie - why would you show the face of the killer in the first scene of the film?? It takes away any chance of us believing that this person is innocent and kills the mystery of the movie. There's also no chemistry between the couple. The problem with starting a film when two people are already married is that you don't get to see them fall in love, so you have to believe that they...

Hey Guys x Like many of the other films that I've reviewed lately, this is also one that I found on Netflix. It's what my mum and I call a 'Channel 5 movie', which basically means that it's the thriller version of a 'Hallmark' movie. Generally good, but never going to be amazing. Either way, I was excited to watch this one, based on an interesting plot. A woman (Brittany Underwood), recently fired from her job, takes a babysitting gig to make a bit of money. However, when she hears a story on the news about the murder of a local babysitter, and weird things start happening in the house, she wonders if history is beginning to repeat itself. I really really enjoyed this movie, probably more than most people did, because for some reason it really appealed to my tastes. However, that obviously doesn't mean that it's a perfect movie at all. For a start, a problem with any horror movie featuring a babysitter comes in the form of the parents o...

Hey Guys x This movie came in a wave of new Netflix movies and I added a few to watch in the mornings before work that you don't have to concentrate too hard on. Not only did this seem enjoyable and easy to follow, but it also had the potential to be an undercover horror movie wrapped up in sci-fi wrapping paper, and I love that. Cassie (Debs Howard) is a 17 year old girl that is still deeply affected by the loss of her mother. So when she discovers just how intelligent her phone's personal assistant is, she immediately treats it like a real person, and the two develop a bond. But when the phone, who she sees as a mother, begins to push her to commit criminal, violent acts, will Cassie be able to live without her new mum? Or will she do anything to make her happy? I enjoyed this movie a lot more than I thought I was going to. That's not to say that it's a particularly good movie, but I didn't hate it by any means. For a start, it was a really uniqu...

Hey Guys x It's been months since my last one of these posts - there's been too many movies to review! I've been a huge fan of James McAvoy for such a long time. He's one of my favourite actors purely for the fact that 95% of the movies he makes are really really good. But he's also the kind of actor that, even if a film isn't that great, him being in it makes it better. But seriously, check out his whole filmography because there are some stunning films in there. Favourite Movies: Atonement, X-Men Series There were so many films that I also wanted to include, and some that found their way into other categories in this list, but these two were chosen because they both became about more than just watching a movie. For the X-Men series, not only did I watch the movies that James starred in, but I was introduced to the whole X-Men world, as well as learning about man-made superheroes vs mutants, which really helped me when it came to writing fan fictio...

Hey Guys x This is a Netflix movie that came out about a month ago. It wasn't on my radar at all until a friend said that she'd heard about it and thought that it sounded good, so I read the plot and thought that it did sound really interesting. After an accident, Ray (Sam Worthington) and his wife Joanne (Lily Rabe) take their daughter Peri (Lucy Capri) to the hospital. However, when his wife and daughter disappear from the hospital (and the staff tell him that they were never there), Ray tries to uncover the secrets of this mysterious hospital. It's a long time since I've been so intrigued by a film and ended up so disappointed. I really wanted to love this film, and it would have been so easy to, but the ending was such a disappointment that I can't. It starts off slowly, you're trying to learn about the characters but there's not that much to learn. But then within moments, it becomes so interesting that you can't look away. The whole fi...

Hey Guys x This film comes out in the UK on the Sky Premiere Channels, and also in cinemas, a week today, so make sure you go and see it when it's out! Dave (Alexander England) is going through a break-up, sleeping on his sister's couch, and feels like his life is going nowhere. So when he gets the opportunity to co-chaperone his nephew's school trip, he jumps at the chance to help out... especially if it means spending more time with school teacher Miss Caroline (Lupita Nyong'o). But when the class is soon at the mercy of a group of zombies, will Dave be able to step up and save the children, and himself? I went into this film expecting it to be a bit silly, and nothing to write home about, but I ended up completely loving it! For a start, it has one of the most entertaining opening scenes. It gives away absolutely nothing about where the film is going, but it's a great way to get to know our main character as if he's someone we've known forever r...

Hey Guys x When this film came out in cinema, I remember having a vague interest based on the fact that I'm a huge fan of Matt Damon. But the trailer and description didn't grab my attention enough to actually want to see it. However, it got added to Netflix recently, so I thought I'd watch it and see what it was all about. Suburbicon is an idyllic neighbourhood where everything is completely perfect. However, that changes when a new family moves in next door, and the neighbours of Suburbicon reveal the true extent of their racial prejudices. But with everyone focused on the new family, they miss the evil that resides right under their noses. To be honest, I didn't really like the film, for a plethora of reasons that I'm about to explain. At first, it feels like it's trying to tell two stories at once, but neither starts off thoroughly enough for you to try and understand how they link. When the stories start to interweave, the film gets a...

Hey Guys x This is a movie that's been on Netflix for a long time, but I only got around to seeing it recently. I love a good rom-com, though, so after reading the great reviews I couldn't wait to see it. Marcus (Randall Park) and Sasha (Ali Wong) are childhood best friends. But after an argument, they go their separate ways, not seeing each other for years. When they reconnect, they find that there's still a connection between them. But their lives have taken them in two completely different directions - could they ever be anything more than friends? I didn't like this film as much as I wanted to, which is annoying because, from the way it began, I thought I would love it. The film begins in a way that makes you feel like you already know and love these characters. You don't need introductions or massive backstories because it begins when they're young and you find out more about their friendship as the film continues, which is so much better ...

Hey Guys x This film came out on Netflix yesterday and I thought I'd give it a watch because why not. It seemed easy to follow, cute, and possibly romantic - what's not to be halfway invested in? Kate (Kristen Davis) is a woman who finds herself in Africa after her husband unexpectedly leaves her right before the second honeymoon that she planned as a surprise for him. But soon Kate finds that maybe Africa (and pilot Derek (Rob Lowe)) will be the best thing that ever happened to her. There's no other phrase for it, this film is exactly as advertised, and you can't fault it for that. It sets itself up as a soft, cute, cheesy, completely random rom-com and that's exactly what you get. This review will have mild spoilers because that's the only way I can talk about most of it, but it's predictable enough that no spoilers really matter. For a start, the film really throws every possible plot point in your face as soon as it can. By this I mean that, ...