Bria Lou Reviews

I haven't decided whether I will write reviews for long TV-shows - as up until now I have only reviewed limited shows. But whether I continue or not, I finished Girlfriends two weeks ago, and I really wanted to write about it. Girlfriends is about four (technically five) friends - Joan (Tracee Ellis Ross), Maya (Golden Brooks), Toni (Jill Marie Jones), Lynn (Persia White) and William (Reggie Hayes) who navigate the ups and downs of life together. This show first aired from 2000 to 2008, and I didn't catch any of it at the time (due to being about 11 when it finished in 2008), so when it came out on Netflix, I got to watch it all from scratch. I absolutely loved this show! First of all, I feel like I've been severely deprived of Black sitcoms, so I definitely had room for this in my life, and it didn't disappoint.  But I also loved these characters. This is a character-driven show, and these characters are what made the show, and has kept the show, so popular. They were ...

This is an Amazon original, and I had been aware of it for a while because I'm a fan of Tessa Thompson, but all I really knew about it was that it was a love story. And I'm always ready to see a love story. In the '50s, Sylvie (Tessa Thompson) and Robert (Nnamdi Asomugha) meet when Robert takes a job at Sylvie's father's record store. This meeting sparks a deep connection that changes their lives forever. I heard a lot of amazing things about this film before I saw it, but I was actually a bit disappointed with the end result. But I'll start with the things that I liked. There's something really innocent and pure about these two characters and their story. They feel transparent - what you see is what you get, and I really liked that about them. Music is a big part of the film, and it does a really good job of keeping the audience in the right time period. You almost feel like you live in the 50s/60s too. There is amazing chemistry between our lead actors. Th...

This has been on my to-watch list for a really long time. The premise immediately attracted me to the story, and I'm really glad that I finally got the chance to see it. Amber (Auli'i Cravalho) is preparing to go to college while keeping a huge secret - she is homeless and lives on the school bus that her mother drives. But as Amber's life spirals out of control, will she be able to keep her secret? I loved this film. I had no idea it would be as powerful as it was. The characters that make up this film are all great. Not only do they all feel really important to the progression of Amber's story, but they're all great characters in their own right. And while this is true of Amber's friends, this is particularly true for her mother. Amber's mother, Becky, is played by Justina Machado, and there is such good chemistry between the two actors. Their relationship, particularly early on in the film, is the heart of the movie, and I loved watching them. My favourit...

  I had heard so much about this show that I was desperate to watch it by the time I actually got around to it. The show is on Apple TV+, and is short enough that you can watch it within the free trial if you don't want to pay for the service. Assistant District Attorney Andy Barber (Chris Evans) and his wife Laurie's (Michelle Dockery) lives are changed forever when their 14-year-old son Jacob (Jaeden Martell) is accused of murder. I knew that I was going to enjoy this show, due to the subject matter, but I had no idea how much I was going to love it. For a start, the show is 8 episodes long, which means that it takes off with a running start and doesn't stop running until the credits roll on the last episode. We are thrust into the action from the beginning, and the show manages to hold our interest for the entire time. The thing that makes this show work so well is the characters, and the way they are portrayed by the respective actors. Not only are we interested in the ...

  Karen M. McManus is an author that I have really liked for a while. I have read the three books that she released before this one, and based on them, I pre-ordered this one as soon as it was announced.  Milly, Aubrey and Jonah Story are cousins who hardly know each other. When they're invited to spend the summer on the resort of the grandmother that they've never met, they use this invitation as an excuse to finally discover why their grandmother disowned their parents. But when they uncover secrets that they never should have known, will they discover the whole truth behind the mysterious Story legacy? I loved this book! For a start, these are great characters. Not only do we have the three Story cousins, who are such interesting characters in their own right, but we also have their parents, and the legacy that takes over the entire resort. It would have been really easy for these characters to morph into one another - particularly when you're dealing with at least 8 mem...

I hadn't heard that much about this film before it came out, but I became intrigued about it after seeing Viola Davis speaking about it on the Graham Norton show - not the mention the great reviews it's been getting. When Blues singer Ma Rainey (Viola Davis) joins her band for a recording session in 1927, tensions reach boiling point and lives change forever. I really enjoyed this film. Well, enjoyed almost feels like the wrong word, but I appreciated it. My expectations may have been a bit higher than what I saw, due to all the amazing reviews, but it was good nonetheless.  The first thing I could tell about the film is that it was based on a play. It was extremely dialogue-heavy and set in limited locations, and I liked that about it. You get to know the characters through their conversations and banter. A lot of the time through these conversations, it does feel like you're just waiting for something to happen, but your enjoyment of this will be based on your own persona...

I remember ticking the 'remind me' box on Netflix, so that I could watch this as soon as it came out. And that was based solely on how interesting the premise was. When a home birth ends in tragedy, a woman finds herself picking up the pieces of a life that she no longer recognises. Of course I knew that this film was going to be full of emotion and grief, but it's really hard to go into the film expecting the things that it hits you with. The first scene in and of itself contains so much. It's half an hour of a harrowing, heart-breaking, almost chilling situation. But from an external, critical perspective, it is so well done in terms of writing, directing and acting. It goes from joy to despair so quickly that you almost get whiplash, and this scene is amazingly powerful even without the rest of the film backing it up. The portrayal of grief was really interesting, mainly because we got to see it from the point of view of so many characters. Speaking of characters, th...

  I never usually review TV shows, but I think this is something I'm going to start doing this year - not only because I'd only get to talk about TV shows in a 'Favourites' post, but also because I never get the chance to talk about shows that weren't favourites. So I'm starting with 'A Teacher'. If you want to watch this in the UK, all 10 episodes are on BBC iPlayer Claire Wilson (Kate Mara) is a teacher who has started working at a new school during a time when she is dissatisfied with her marriage. However, everything changes when she meets and bonds with one of her students - 17-year-old Eric (Nick Robinson). But soon, Claire and Eric's relationship changes. And what started as a moment of weakness sets the pair on a path that destroys everything around them. Will either of them ever be able to recover from the pain and damage they've caused? The reason that I started off with this show was because of the simple fact that, as I was watching, ...

  I've only been subscribed to Shudder since the middle of December, and it is already one of my favourite subscription services. They have a great range of both original and well-known horror movies, and this is one of the originals. Max (Ryan Guzman) and Drew (Kyle Gallner) live-stream exorcisms on the internet. The catch? All of their exorcisms are fake. That is, until Drew's fiancée Lane (Alix Angelis) stands in for a missing actor. Suddenly, Max and Drew's fake exorcism becomes real, as Lane is possessed by a demon. But can they save Lane, and themselves, before it's too late? I remember being really excited and intrigued by the premise of the film. So overall I'm really disappointed with the end result. As I've said, I found the premise really enticing. There were so many chances to flip the 'demonic possession' genre on its head and do something completely different. Because these characters are knowingly putting themselves into this situation, yo...

  I've started meditating recently.  When I say 'recently', I mean that I've been doing it on and off for about a month, but I've been taking it more seriously in the new year. I guess the main reason that I started was to deal with stress and anxiety, but even without any of that, I've heard it's a good way to stay present, and to shut out negative or intrusive thoughts. But ever since I've started meditating, I've noticed that I have a real problem with focusing. I can't turn off my brain. I'm good for maybe 3-5 minutes, and then my mind wanders, I can't concentrate on what the 'soothing voice' is saying, and I keep opening my eyes when I shouldn't, just to check how long I have to keep doing this. Like my mind thinks I'm being punished for something by being made to focus. Some nights I do quite well, and others... there's just no point. Take last night, for example. I was meditating using the free app that I use ev...

  I reviewed the first 'After' movie when it premiered on Netflix UK back in 2019. I was familiar with the original 'After' story, so I wanted to see how the film turned out. It wasn't a great film, but I did enjoy it. Here we have the sequel to Tessa and Hardin's story, which came out last year on Amazon Prime Video. After being apart for a month, Tessa (Josephine Langford) and Hardin (Hero Fiennes-Tiffin) are trying to move on from their break-up. But the couple quickly find themselves drawn to each other all over again. As their relationship becomes more complicated than ever, with everything standing in their way, can Tessa and Hardin find their way back to each other? So, as I said, I didn't think the first film was great, but I did enjoy it. This film, as well as not being that great, also wasn't that enjoyable. It was an easy watch, and it was interesting to see the next stage in Tessa and Hardin's relationship, but the film doesn't do mu...

This film arrived on Netflix UK recently. I was in two minds about whether or not to review it, but when I started watching it, I found that there was quite a lot I wanted to say about it. Nina (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is a comedian. On-stage, she seems confident and put-together. Off-stage, her life is a mess. But when she meets Rafe (Common), and is forced to confront her past, will Nina be able to let Rafe into her life? I really didn't expect to enjoy this film as much as I did. The film starts with a bang and immediately puts the audience in the centre of everything. We see how (for want of another phrase) messed-up Nina's life is in the first 10 minutes. She is messy and complicated, and we are rooting for her. The interactions between Nina and Rafe are not only really nice, but also necessary. These conversations allow the audience to see Nina let her walls down. We get to know her as Rafe does, and we see a different side of her. The actors have great chemistry, and th...

I'd been wanting to see this film for quite a while, but there was no news about it for so long that I just assumed it wouldn't be getting a proper release. However, at the end of last year it appeared on Netflix, which I'm really grateful for.  Daphne (Shailene Woodley) is trying to find herself after a break-up, when she meets two men at a party. As she falls deeper for both of them, she discovers that they are friends. But will either of these men be the key to changing her life? There were some good things about this film, but there were also a lot of problems with it. The beginning of the film, without doing much, gives an interesting insight into Daphne's character. The audience gets to know her without realising it. However, this is different for our two male main characters - Jack (Jamie Dornan) and Frank (Sebastian Stan). They are introduced in really similar circumstances, and immediately have different relationships with Daphne, but it still takes a while for...

  As I write this, it's 1.25am on what has just become the 1st of January, 2021.  I've written a post about 2020, but I also wanted to write one about 2021. I don't know what's going to happen in 2021, but one thing I've decided is that I want to focus on my blog a bit more this year. For the last 2 years, all of my posts have either been film or book reviews, or have been film related. And as much as I love doing that, I miss when I used this blog to write. Whether that's rants, rambles, or anything else that I felt like posting.  So I want to do a bit more writing on the blog this year. I still want to do a lot of reviews (I have a whole line-up of films ready to watch and review), and my love of films is as strong as ever so I don't see that changing. But I also want to use this blog to reignite my love of writing. But more than that, I want to go back to treating my blog as a priority. Since I finished uni and started working, everything unrelated to wor...