Bria Lou Reviews

It feels like ages since I've done a Favourites post, and yet I don't have as many favourites as I thought I would. Favourite Movie (1): The 'Fear Street' Trilogy I've already said it on the blog more than once, but I absolutely love this trilogy. I reviewed the films HERE , HERE and HERE , and I can't wait to watch them again! Favourite Movie (2): Black Widow This movie is on here due to how surprised I was by it. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did, and I definitely didn't expect to love it. You can check out my review HERE . Favourite Movie (3): The Glass House This isn't a new movie - in fact it's about 20 years old. I had been meaning to watch it for a while but only got around to it in July, and I loved it. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary, the plot has been tried and tested, but it ended up being right up my street. I'd definitely recommend it if you're looking for an interesting thriller. Favourite TV Show (1):

  I remember seeing the trailer for this film ages ago and being really interested in it, so I was really excited when it came out on Sky Cinema. The morning after his wedding, Teddy (Rafe Spall) wakes up to discover that it is actually a year in the future, and every few minutes, he loses another year. As he sees his future play out before his eyes, Teddy discovers what he is about to lose, and does everything to stop it from happening. I really enjoyed this film. I knew it wasn't going to be anything profound, but I was surprised by how thought-provoking I found it. I loved the opening scene. It did a great job of setting up the entire film, and thankfully the film kind of kept the same tone the whole way through, which I enjoyed. I absolutely adore these two characters, Teddy and Leanne (Zahra Newman), both individually and as a couple. I loved the way they were written, and I loved the way the actors portrayed them. The film doesn't waste any time whatsoever, and I would ha

Welcome to another post Round-Up. I uploaded quite a few posts in August, so please check out any that you haven't read. Review #87: The Shelf by Helly Acton - This was my first post of August. I really enjoyed reading this book, and over a month later I still have really fond memories of reading it. Fear Street Part One: 1994 ,  Fear Street Part Two: 1978 , Fear Street Part Three: 1666  - I reviewed these movies on three consecutive days in August. Not only did I really like them all individually, but I loved the trilogy as a set and I can't wait to re-watch them. Black Widow | Film Review  - I hadn't anticipated liking this movie that much, so I was really surprised that I loved it as much as I did. It wasn't perfect, but it was what I wanted a Black Widow movie to be. Review #88: The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides  - My next book review was 'The Silent Patient'. I didn't love it while I was reading it, but the more time I have away from it, the more

  I am such a big fan of the original 'Wrong Turn' movie - and I still watched the rest of the movies, even when the sequels got worse and worse. So when I heard about this reboot, I was more excited than apprehensive, because the basic concept is one that I love. A group of friends hiking the Appalachian Trail encounter a mysterious community that live in the mountains.  I am really disappointed with this film, for quite a lot of reasons. However, I didn't start off disappointed. I really liked the modern setting, and feel that this story can almost suit any time period. The film makes a big deal out of the accomplishments of these characters (they include a doctor, successful business owners, a girl with many degrees etc.), but these characters looked and felt really young to be so accomplished. Maybe there was some exaggeration, or maybe they were supposed to be older than they looked, but it felt like some aspects of these characters weren't written for these actors

  This is the third in a trilogy of books that I am a huge fan of. You can read my reviews of ' A Good Girl's Guide to Murder ' and  ' Good Girl, Bad Blood ' here, but I was so excited for this book to finally come out, and I couldn't wait to read it. Pip is haunted by her last investigation. Now that she is preparing to leave for university, it's finally time to put the past behind her. But after an online threat, a couple of dead birds, and some chalk drawings connect Pip to a man jailed for a crime that he may not have committed, Pip is pulled back into the world of investigating. But this time, Pip's life is on the line. And if she doesn't discover the truth, she will be the one who disappears. Unfortunately, I didn't love this book. It is a good standalone book, but it was my least favourite of the trilogy.    I really liked the idea of seeing the effects of Pip's previous investigations. It's realistic that the things she's been

I love the story of Cinderella. I love the story, I love the Disney movie, and I always have time for a remake, so I was always going to watch this movie.  This modern musical-take on the classic fairytale sees Cinderella (Camila Cabello) as an ambitious, aspiring business owner who tries to make her dreams come true while under the thumb of her step-mother. But will things change when she meets Prince Robert (Nicholas Galitzine)? I'm struggling with this. I don't want to say that this is a bad movie, because I know some people will really enjoy it. But from my point of view, there are many other Cinderella movies that are much better than this one. From the start, I couldn't tell whether the film was supposed to be taken seriously or not. I just couldn't work it out. I was confused about the time period, whether this was supposed to be modern, or old-fashioned. I think this would have been better if the film had either been completely modern (including the clothing and

This is a film that came out recently on Netflix. Not only was the premise interesting, but it also felt quite original, and like it could potentially be something new, so I was really excited to watch it. Rain (Madison Iseman) has schizophrenia, which makes it hard for her to tell the difference between fantasy and reality. When she begins to believe that her neighbour is hiding a child in her attic, Rain enlists the help of classmate Caleb (Israel Broussard) to discover the truth. But can Rain trust her own mind? The premise of this film is much better than its execution, which is just okay. It had quite a slow start. The beginning didn't get into the story as much as I wanted it to, and I found myself getting a bit bored waiting for things to happen. There are many elements of the story that feel unrealistic. Why is Rain not receiving any help, aside from medication that isn't working? When the story gets going, around 40 minutes in, it gets a lot more interesting, and you b

  I've had this book on my TBR for such a long time. It's funny, I actually mentioned this book in two blog posts back in 2015 - one in a Book Haul , and one in my 2015 Summer Reading List - and yet it took me until 2021 to read it. 6 years later! But either way, I'm glad that I've finally read it.    When Grace's husband, Ted, hires a new assistant, Beth walks in and turns their lives around for the better. But soon, Grace begins to feel like an intruder in her own life. Is Grace paranoid, or is Beth too good to be true?  I liked this book a lot. At first I thought it would be a unique take on this tried and tested plotline, but it wasn't as unique as I wanted it to be. At first I couldn't work out what this book would be, either a drama or a thriller, and that was mainly because of the character of Ted. I won't give anything away, but he is not at all who I thought he would be. The book isn't particularly long, but it feels long because a lot of t

  This film came out on Netflix a few weeks ago. It looked like a typical action/revenge thriller, which I don't usually love, but I'm a big fan of Jason Momoa, and am becoming a huge fan of Isabela Merced, so I thought I'd give it a try. A man (Jason Momoa) tries to exact revenge on the people responsible for his wife's (Adria Arjona) death, while protecting his daughter (Isabela Merced) from those against them. This is an alright movie. I liked it, but it wasn't anything special. From the start of the movie (actually about 3 minutes in), I felt like I really knew who these characters were, and could empathise with what they were going through. There was great chemistry between Jason Momoa and Isabela Merced. They worked really well together, and they were really believable as father and daughter. Their relationship elevated the film. The concept of the film was interesting, and somewhat unique. Of course, the basic premise of a revenge thriller isn't anything

  This is a remake of the 1999 movie 'She's All That'. I only saw that film for the first time at the beginning of 2020, so I don't have a huge connection with it. Nevertheless, I was intrigued to see how the remake would turn out. There are some small spoilers in my review - especially if you know nothing about the story.  An influencer (Addison Rae) makes a bet that she can turn an unpopular student (Tanner Buchanan) into Prom King. This film is exactly what you expect. It was cute, but not anything groundbreaking. I understand the need to make the story an original update from the first version, but for me, I didn't love the fact that Padgett (our main character) was a semi-famous influencer. To me, it made Cameron's easy trust of her a bit unrealistic. It also made both of the characters feel a bit unbelievable - though to be honest, none of the characters were particularly believable. I really liked Cameron as a character, particularly at the beginning of

  This is a horror film that recently came out on Netflix. It had a really interesting premise, and I recognised both of the main actors, so I was excited to see if I'd like it. Amid marital problems, Kevin (Shawn Ashmore) and Natalie Dadich (Ashley Greene) move into their discounted dream house, despite the house's dark history. But when unexplainable things start happening, is there more to the house's history than they know? There were a lot of good things about this film, but almost in equal measure there were a lot of things that didn't work. First of all, just in terms of the sense of realism, there is no way they would have bought this house in real life - who would? Horror movies like this only work when the people in them ignore all of the strange occurrences. But as much as this is necessary for the plot to move forward, it makes the characters seem stupid and frustrating. There is not one character in the film that doesn't make stupid decisions. I liked t

  This was another Carrie Hope Fletcher recommendation. I bought it back in March but only finished it recently, for reasons that I'll get into in the review. Birdy Finch is jobless, on the verge of homelessness, and doesn't have much going on. So when her best friend, and wine expert, Heather turns down a job as a sommelier at a luxury Scottish hotel, Birdy decides to go in Heather's place. Can Birdy keep this new job, and stop herself from falling for chef James, while pretending to be someone else? This book was fine, but I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. Which was a shame because I really liked the premise. I actually ended up taking a really long break from this book. I read the first half, didn't love it, and wasn't that interested in where it would go. I put it down and didn't plan to finish it, but after re-reading some of my childhood favourites, and not being quite ready to jump back into my reading list, I decided to finish it, and I&