Bria Lou Reviews

2021 has been a weird year. I can't remember the last time a year has gone so quickly. Even though things have happened, it feels like the end of 2020 could have been yesterday!  Here are my 2021 stats: Movies Watched:  384 TV Shows Started:  18 TV Shows Finished:  13 Books Read:  25 Blog Posts Written:  144 I'm really happy with my numbers this year. I definitely didn't realise how many shows I'd finished or Blog Posts I'd written! For next year, I'm really hoping that my book numbers go up - I'm really looking forward to getting into my 2022 reading list! And that's it for 2021 on the blog! I hope everyone reading has an amazing new year!  

If you read yesterday's post, you knew what today's would be. As you can see, this post is my 2021 Favourites, which is one of my favourite posts of the year to write. I have more Favourites than I thought this year! Favourite Movie (1): The Prom This was my absolute favourite film of the year, without a doubt. I saw it quite early in the year and I am still obsessed with both the film and its soundtrack. My full review of the film is HERE . Favourite Movie (2): The Broken Hearts Gallery This is another film that I reviewed ( HERE ). I thought this was just going to be a cute rom-com (which it was), but I didn't expect to love it as much as I did. I loved the characters, I loved the writing, and I can't wait to watch it again. Favourite Film (3): The Rocky Saga For some reason this year, I decided to watch all of the Rocky movies. I was already a huge fan of the two Creed movies, but I had never seen anything before them. I didn't expect to love the entire franchise...

It's crazy to me that it's almost the end of the year! Like last year, I'm uploading this 3 Month Favourites post, and tomorrow I'll upload a 2021 Favourites post, so I hope you enjoy this slightly shorter post! Favourite Movie (1): Dear Evan Hansen I saw this in the cinema when it first came out and instantly loved it. I then watched it again and loved it even more the second time around, so it's definitely a firm favourite. I didn't know much about the film before seeing it, but I already loved the soundtrack, so being able to see the songs sung in their intended context just made the soundtrack even better. You can check out my review of the film HERE . Favourite Movie (2): The Nice Guys This isn't a new film, but I only saw it for the first time in the last couple of months and just fell completely in love with it. It's about an enforcer and a private detective who team up to find a missing girl. The best thing about the film for me is the comedy, an...

  Rather than doing a normal post round-up this month, I thought it would be better (and more fun) to do a round-up of this year's Blogmas posts! Love Hard | Blogmas Day 1  - Blogmas Day 1 started with this Netflix movie, which I really enjoyed. It isn't as Christmassy as some of the other movies, which made it the perfect film to start with. Office Christmas Party | Blogmas Day 2  - This is a Christmas comedy that didn't end up being that funny, but it was still somewhat enjoyable. Throwback Holiday | Blogmas Day 3  - This film had a really interesting concept, but the execution wasn't that great. Too Close for Christmas | Blogmas Day 4  - This was a generic Christmas rom-com that didn't work well because of the lack of chemistry between the romantic leads. The Princess Switch 3: Romancing the Star | Blogmas Day 5  - The third of the Princess Switch trilogy wasn't as captivating or interesting as the first two. Snowed-Inn Christmas | Blogmas Day 6  - ...

  It's Christmas Eve! And as it's Christmas Eve, what better film to end Blogmas with than a film that's literally about, and titled, Christmas Eve! Two college sweethearts, Corrine (Kyla Pratt) and Rob (Brooks Darnell) part ways when career opportunities take them in different directions, promising to meet again the next Christmas Eve. Years later, they reconnect while planning a Christmas wedding. This film is almost exactly the same as the film 'Merry Matrimony' that I reviewed on Blogmas day 11. They are both about couples who break up for one reason or another, and are brought together 7 years later to plan a Christmas wedding. The only difference between this film and 'Merry Matrimony', is that this film was good. Because I didn't like the other one at all, but I really liked this one. For a start, the couple have such natural chemistry, which makes them really fun to watch. In fact, I loved all of the characters, even the minor ones that I didn...

  It's Blogmas day 23! As mentioned in yesterday's post, today's review is the sequel to 'A California Christmas', which I reviewed yesterday. I didn't love the first film, but I was hopeful for the second. A year after the events of the first film, Callie (Lauren Swicard) and Joseph (Josh Swicard) as are happy as they could be. But when obligations pull Joseph back to the city, and Callie with him, they discover that city life could destroy their relationship. Like the first, this film was also a bit 'meh'. I enjoyed seeing the minor characters from the first film that were given a bit more of a storyline this time around. Manny (David Del Rio) and Brandy's (Raquel Dominguez) storyline was adorable. However, this film highlights why Christmas romances are unrealistic - the characters don't know each other, and in this case, weren't that compatible. I also liked both of the characters a lot less this time around. When you see the cracks in th...

  It's Blogmas day 22! This is a Netflix movie, and I mainly picked it because I saw that there was a sequel coming out this year, and I thought it would be cool to review both of the movies one after the other. So tomorrow, I'll be reviewing the sequel. A wealthy man (Josh Swicard) poses as a ranch hand to convince a farmer (Lauren Swicard) to sell her family's land. The film has an interesting premise - however, it basically tells you exactly what's going to happen in the first 10 minutes - particularly what the act 3 conflict will be. There were a few too many storylines. For only a small amount of characters, there is way too much happening. The characters are all likeable enough that the film is somewhat entertaining even if you don't love the premise, or you find it too predictable (because it is very predictable). After a while I found myself watching just to see the characters finally get together. Not only did I care about the two main characters while watc...

  It's Blogmas day 21! I found this film on Disney+ and picked it for two reasons. One, I love Tia Mowry (who plays the main character), and two, it was a musical, which I also love. When Holly (Tia Mowry) doesn't get into her neighbourhood Christmas singing group, she and her co-workers form their own group, The Mistle-Tones. This was the Christmas musical that I had been waiting for this year. I've seen others, but none where the story and music are both important, and both good! The story is unique and interesting - particularly because of the character of Holly, who is sweet and endearing from her first second on screen. Speaking of the characters, I completely loved all of Holly's co-workers. They didn't get a lot to do, but they rounded out the story really well and were so fun to watch. Now the songs. This film takes Christmas songs that we already know and remixes them slightly. They're not unrecognizable, but they're different from what we hear ever...

  It's Blogmas day 20! I added this film to my Netflix watchlist as soon as I was able to because I loved the concept. It wasn't completely original, but it looked like it would be a modern, fun watch - perfect for Blogmas! After a break-up right before Christmas, Peter (Michael Urie) persuades his best friend Nick (Philemon Chambers) to go home with him for Christmas, posing as his boyfriend. But this gets complicated when Peter's family gets involved in his love life. I really liked this film, though it wasn't what I thought. At first, I assumed the movie would completely focus on fake dating, which would have been interesting (if a bit overdone), but actually, that doesn't really come to fruition at all, and I was pleased that the film went in a different direction. I really loved the characters. Yes, Nick and Peter were great, but for me Peter's family was the best part of the film - I loved every one of them. Not only are they all well-written, three-dimens...

  It’s Blogmas Day 19! This is a Lifetime movie, which I picked because I really liked the premise, and it looked different to most of the other Blogmas movies that I’ve reviewed so far. When Christy (Kelley Jakle) has to learn about Hanukkah at work to land a big account, she enlists the help of Jonathan (Jake Epstein), who needs to learn about Christmas to impress his girlfriend's father. Even before starting the film, the concept is original – not only because of the mix of Christmas and Hanukkah, but also because the main characters are in separate relationships when the film starts. The idea of the story feels fairly realistic – not necessarily the reasons for these people needing to learn about the other’s culture, but just the idea of two people teaching each other about their worlds and falling for each other as they learn more about each other. I love that. The actors, and their characters, have good chemistry and are fun to watch. I have mentioned that the main characters...

It’s Blogmas day 18! This is a film that I found on Disney+. Not only did it look cute, but it added a time-loop film to my Blogmas list, which I didn't have previously, so I definitely wanted to include it. After a bad blind date on Christmas Eve, Kate (Amy Smart) finds herself reliving the day over and over again. I quite like the concept of the film. You want to see how Kate develops, and you want to know how her life will change as a result of the loop. The dialogue in the film isn't great, and I found myself getting distracted by it a few times. There were a few instances where the characters just didn't sound like real people. This film is definitely driven by plot rather than character, and because of this, the characters felt a bit underdeveloped, and I never really warmed to them. However, when I actually did get to know the characters, I think it ended up having the opposite effect than was intended, because I really didn't like Kate. She was selfi...

  It’s Blogmas day 17! This was probably my most highly anticipated film of Blogmas (because yes, I was a huge High School Musical fan back in the day). I thought I would miss it because it premiered in America before the UK, but fortunately, it came out in the UK a couple of weeks ago.     Childhood dance partners Lucy (Monique Coleman) and Barrett (Corbin Bleu) reunite to re-create a beloved Christmas tradition in their hometown. I really enjoyed this film. The characters have great chemistry. It may be because I had already seen them act together (albeit more than a decade ago), but they seemed very natural together, and like an obvious pairing for a romantic movie. They are a cute pair, and it is easy to root for them. Having said that, one problem that I had with the characters was that they didn't ever feel like they existed outside of this world that was created for them. They never felt like they could be real people – I would have liked to believe that this ...

  It's Blogmas day 16! This film was on the Lifetime Movies website. Not only did it look interesting, but I haven't seen enough gay Christmas movies in my life, so it's always nice to be able to add them to the Blogmas list. When Hugo (Ben Lewis) and his best friend Madelyn (Ellen Wong) go back to Hugo's hometown for Christmas, he finds that his mother (Fran Drescher) is trying to set him up with old classmate Patrick (Blake Lee). The description is quite straightforward, although it does seem to suggest that not much happens, and unfortunately, it is right. Not a lot happens in this film. The two leads are cute, and have good chemistry (they're married in real life, which might help), but neither of the characters have enough personality to carry the film. It feels like the story never really gets going - we are waiting for something to happen and nothing ever really does. Ultimately the film was a bit boring, which is saying something considering there are about ...

  It's Blogmas day 15! I picked this movie because, despite it being quite old now, I've never actually seen it. It's also the first (and probably the only) animated movie that I'll be reviewing this Blogmas. A boy who has stopped believing in Santa Claus takes a trip to the North Pole on the Polar Express. The first thing I'll say after watching this film is that I waited too long to see it, because I'm definitely not the target audience for it, and that definitely affected how I saw it. Having said that, even before watching the film, this is such a lovely idea for a children's Christmas movie. The film makes you want to re-capture the magic that Christmas had when you were a child. Not enough Christmas movies (particularly for adults) have that magic in them that Christmas had when we were younger. Not only are the characters really sweet and well-written, but the voice cast was amazing. As I said, I'm not the target audience, so there were parts of t...