Bria Lou Reviews

 I can't believe we're on another 'Goodbye' post - 2022 has gone so quickly! I know it feels like that every year, but this one feels especially quick for some reason. Here are my yearly stats: Movies Watched: 401 TV Shows Started: 18 TV Shows Finished: 15 Books Read: 15 Blog Posts Written: 113 My numbers are a bit weird this year. I've watched more films than last year, but I've read fewer books and written fewer posts - a definite sign that I've been feeling less creative this year. So that's my goal for the next year - to be more creative. I want to write more (posts and other things), and I definitely want to read more. But I'm very happy with the number of films I've seen. And that's 2022 on Lou's World! I hope you all have an amazing new year - bring on 2023!

If you read yesterday's post, I mentioned that today's would be my 2022 favourites, and here they are! Let me know what some of your favourite things have been from the last year! Favourite Movie (1): tick, tick... BOOM! This was one of the first films I watched in 2022, and I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it. You can read my review HERE , but it's still one of the best films I've seen this year. Favourite Movie (2): Free Guy I still can't get over how much I loved this film. I reviewed it HERE , and I still love it as much as I did when I wrote that review. It was original, so much fun, and definitely one you can re-watch without getting bored. Watch this if you haven't! Favourite Movie (3): Les Miserables: The Staged Concert I'm not sure this counts as a movie but I've included it anyway. This is the concert version of the Les Miserables stage show, which came out in 2019. I haven't seen the stage show, but watching this made me feel like I...

 I can't believe we're almost in 2023 - It's crazy. Like I've done for the last couple of years, I'm going to be uploading a short 3-month favourite post, and tomorrow I'll be uploading a much longer 2022 favourites post. Favourite Movie (1): Smile I haven't watched many movies in the last three months that weren't Christmas related, but this is definitely one that stands out. I love a horror movie, and even though I only saw this one once, I really enjoyed it. I'm definitely going to watch it again in the new year! Favourite Movie (2): The Noel Diary As I said, I've only really been watching Christmas movies lately, and looking back on Blogmas, this is probably the movie I'm most excited to watch again. You can find my review HERE . Favourite TV Show: She-Hulk I also haven't been watching a lot of TV lately, but one of the shows that I enjoyed was She-Hulk. I didn't love every episode, and it took a bit of time to get into, but by th...

I wanted to do another round-up of this year's Blogmas posts as I did last year. So here are the films I watched in December! Falling for Christmas | Blogmas Day 1  - This was my first film of Blogmas, which wasn't the best to start off with. Christmas Is Canceled | Blogmas Day 2 - The next film of Blogmas wasn't very enjoyable. Mistletoe Mixup | Blogmas Day 3  - This was a cute, somewhat enjoyable movie, with a cast I loved. Christmas In Tune | Blogmas Day 4  - I loved this movie! It was really festive and the music was great! Godmothered | Blogmas Day 5  - This film had an interesting premise but ended up being disappointing. Christmas With You | Blogmas Day 6  - This had an interesting premise (which was a lot like another film), but also ended up being disappointing. The Flight Before Christmas | Blogmas Day 7  - This is a lifetime movie that I'd been meaning to watch for a while. It was enjoyable while being exactly what you'd expect. The Christmas Si...

  It's Christmas Eve! I left this film until last because it was the one I was most looking forward to seeing. I saw the trailer and was really intrigued by how the events would play out, and I was already a fan of the two main actors. Thankfully it was a great choice for Christmas Eve because it surpassed my expectations! When two gift bags from Tiffany's get accidentally swapped, Rachel (Zoey Deutch) is given an engagement ring meant for someone else, and Ethan's (Kendrick Sampson) proposal is ruined. Can they swap back and each have the perfect Christmas, or was the swap a blessing in disguise? I loved this film. The concept in itself is fun and cute. It didn't have to be about Christmas and could cause a variety of different outcomes, making it more unique than the average Christmas movie. I really liked all of the characters, whether they were main or supporting. The film also stars Shay Mitchell, Ray Nicholson and Jojo T. Gibbs, but the standout performer, without...

  This is another one that I was particularly looking forward to. Not only was the concept original, but I've seen and liked Alfred Enoch and Kaya Scodelario in other projects, so it was nice to see them in something together. When Adam (Alfred Enoch) realizes that he takes the train with the same commuters every day, he enlists the help of Emma (Kaya Scodelario) to throw a party for the passengers. I really liked this movie.  I'll start by saying the only thing I didn't love about the film was the main character, Adam. He was fine as a character, but if I knew him in real life I think I'd find him really annoying. Maybe I'm just cynical? I liked the love interests as a couple, but one thing I don't like about romance movies is when they make the love interest's partners into villains to justify the break-up (or sometimes cheating) that occurs. This film was guilty of doing this, and it wasn't really necessary in my opinion. I really liked the idea of th...

This is a Freevee original movie, and what attracted me to it more than anything was that I have enjoyed seeing the two main actors in other projects, so I wanted to see them in something different. I don't think I looked at the description before putting it on. As hotel manager Georgia (Madelaine Petsch) is caught between the hotel chef (Mena Massoud) and an ex-prince (Max Lloyd-Jones), the other hotel workers and guests have their own holiday dramas to worry about. I didn't like this film that much. It was okay, but a few elements didn't really work for me. It never spent time making me care about any of the characters - neither the main characters, or the background characters who had their own side stories. In terms of the main character Georgia, I kind of felt like she didn't really have chemistry with either love interest, which made things feel a bit inauthentic. As mentioned, there were a lot of characters with side stories, but none of these felt particularly i...

  I had been looking forward to this movie for such a long time! Not only am I a fan of Asa Butterfield, but the premise looked really original and fun, so I was excited to see how it would play out. Students Hayley (Cora Kirk) and James (Asa Butterfield) surprise each other for Christmas by travelling to each other's homes for the holidays, leaving them trapped with each other's families for Christmas. I loved this movie! At this point in Blogmas I was starting to get Christmas Movie fatigue (which happens every year), and this film cured that in the first 5 minutes. The actors and characters had a chemistry that was so believable, they didn't even need to spend the movie together to feel authentic. In fact, they had more chemistry apart than a lot of Christmas Couples have together! Not only is the story unique, but it's also really interesting, and would be interesting without the Christmas backdrop. The humour works really well - the funny moments are actually funny...

  This movie became available on Netflix recently. The plot was quite generic in terms of Christmas movies, but it wasn't a plot I've reviewed for this year's Blogmas yet, so I added it in. A realtor (Rukiya Bernard) falls for the property developer trying to buy her father's inn. I didn't have particularly high hopes for this one, but it still didn't meet them. All of the characters are likeable, particularly our two main characters, but I never really warmed to or liked them that much. I noticed that there wasn't a lot of background music in the film, Christmassy or otherwise. This made some scenes feel a bit stilted and bland. You know exactly where it's going from the first few moments. This isn't unusual with a Christmas movie like this, but the problem was that I didn't care enough about it to be interested in how it would end. The characters (and actors) have good chemistry but the story is weak. It would be interesting to see how these tw...

  I picked this movie for day 19 without realising that the premise is similar to the movie for day 18, but thankfully, this one is a bit better than yesterday's! On a photography holiday retreat, fashion photographer Gaby (Tatyana Ali) and wildlife photographer Sean (Henderson Wade) find out that their room has been double-booked, so they have to spend the holiday together. I really enjoyed this movie. It was actually a lot better than I thought it would be. The events at the beginning of the film, before getting to the retreat, happen a bit too quickly. We don't really get the chance to know our main character. I liked the banter and chemistry between the main characters as soon as they were on screen together, which contributed to why I liked the film as much as I did. The film combines three or four common romance movie tropes, but does it in a way that makes them feel fun and unique. The characters' backstories could have been a bit more interesting, but watching them ...

  It feels like Christmas movies where one of the characters is a writer are a staple of Hallmark, so of course I had to have one this year. A romance novelist (Krystal Joy Brown) falls for an author (Curtis Hamilton) while reviving her late mother's holiday writing retreat. This wasn't anything special. For some reason, I liked every character apart from the love interest. There was just something about him that I never warmed to. While the film is about this writing retreat, it takes too long to actually get to the retreat, and I didn't care about the unnecessary build-up. The aesthetic of the movie was great - things felt very cosy and festive, and there was a definite family feel to it. I never liked the main couple. There wasn't a lot of chemistry between them and they weren't believable. It felt ironic that a film about writing wasn't written very well. Overall, if you're looking for Christmas movies to watch, I'd give this one a miss. Originality ...

  This is the plot that most felt like a Hallmark Christmas movie. I feel like I've seen this exact story at least twice before, although this did have the bonus of being sapphic, so I had to add it to the list. When Haley (Laur Allen) returns to her family's ranch to save it from going under, she falls for ranch-hand Kate (Amanda Righetti). This was adorable. Of course it is very similar to a lot of other Christmas movies, but it plays into this well. There's really good chemistry between the two main characters. They are believable together, and they have a cute, fun relationship that's really enjoyable to watch.  While Christmas is a major theme, the film itself wasn't particularly festive or Christmassy.  There were quite a few music montages that could have been cut out. The film felt a bit longer than it needed to be and this was probably why. The story itself was fine, but the characters are really what we're watching for. Overall, this film was cute, fun...