Bria Lou Reviews

  The premise of this film is what initially intrigued me. It was a familiar concept with enough differences to make it sound original and interesting. When a teenage girl (Kathryn Newton) accidentally switches bodies with a serial killer (Vince Vaughn), she has 24 hours to get back into her body before the switch becomes permanent. I really enjoyed this movie. Yes, body-switching has been done again and again, but this has a really fun and unique premise attached to it. It's different enough that you don't really connect it to other body-switching movies. The opening sequence was great. It gave the audience enough to understand what direction the film would go in, while not really giving anything much away. It also had some unique death scenes, which were fun to watch. Some of the dialogue is a bit cringey, but once you get used to the characters, you also get used to the way they speak. So, while it sometimes sounds like someone in a writer's room saying 'this is how ...

As soon as this show was announced, I was immediately excited about it. I am a huge fan of the original Sex and the City series and re-watch it as often as I can. So the fact that it was getting a continuation was something that I couldn't wait to watch. There will be a few spoilers in this review. Years after the events of Sex and the City, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) are back, and navigating life, friendships and relationships in their mid-50s. I don't know exactly what I expected this show to be, but what we got was not at all what I expected. And I didn't really like it. For a start. it is clear that the writers felt like they needed to modernise their world, but I feel like they went about this the wrong way. Rather than deciding to gradually move towards the world as we know it today, they decided to just thrust literally everything at these characters and their audience.  And while it is realistic in New York t...

I wasn't actually going to review this film, because I had assumed that it would be very Disney, very outside of my demographic, and I have never really been into the original 101 Dalmatians story, so I never thought it would be my kind of thing. In fact, I only watched it on a whim in the first place. But as I was watching it, I found that I did have a lot to say about it. After going through a tragedy as a child, adult Estella (Emma Stone) is trying to make a name for herself in the fashion world, with the help of a couple of thieves. But when Estella meets a Baroness (Emma Thompson), and finds a connection to her childhood tragedy, she embraces the dark part of herself that she was taught to hide. I really really liked this movie, so much more than I ever expected to. For a start, this is such a different version of the character than has ever been shown in previous Disney movies. This is a character that we can get to know from scratch, and I loved that she never really turns i...

  Welcome to my first round-up post of 2022. January already feels like it was so long ago! Here are my January posts. tick, tick... BOOM! | Film Review  - This was the first film I reviewed in 2022, and the year got off to a great start because I absolutely loved this film. I'm listening to the soundtrack as I write this and I've seen the film at least three more times since I wrote the review. This is definitely one to check out! Book Review #96: You'll Be The Death of Me by Karen M. McManus  - This was my first book review of the year, and while McManus is one of my favourite authors, I didn't love her latest book. Don't Look Up | Film Review  - I watched this film because of how much it had been talked about. I enjoyed it more than I expected, but overall it wasn't anything special. The Lost Daughter | Film Review  - Again, I had heard a lot about this film before seeing it. I liked the concept, and what it explored, but I didn't love the film in and of ...

I had been looking forward to seeing this film for such a long time. I remember when I first read the description and was immediately excited because it felt exactly like something I would fall in love with. A couple, Tusker (Stanley Tucci) and Sam (Colin Firth), go on a road trip as a dementia diagnosis threatens to derail their relationship. This didn't touch me as much as I wanted it to, but I still enjoyed it. I loved the relationship, and the banter, between the two characters. If anything, I wished that there could have been a flashback or two so that the audience could see what their relationship was like before the diagnosis. I also think a flashback would have helped us to understand a bit more about who these characters are. The dialogue throughout the film felt really authentic and real. I didn't expect the film to be quite so dialogue-heavy, and so reliant on the words being spoken, but thankfully the dialogue is good enough to carry the film. Having said that, whil...

When I first heard about this film, I was really intrigued by the premise. Not only did it seem interesting, but it's the side of a story that we don't often see or hear about, in films or in real life. Years after a school shooting, the parents of a victim and the parents of the shooter meet to have an intense conversation about their sons. I liked this film a lot. As I said, I loved the premise of the film. Even before seeing it, I could tell how powerful it was going to be.  The first thing that struck me about the film was that it felt like it could be a play. In some ways, once the conversation gets going, it feels more like a play than a film, and at times, I felt like it was better suited for a live theatre format. I'd love to see it on stage. Because the film is based on this one conversation, the most important thing about the film is the dialogue. I thought the dialogue was great. You really believe in everything that all four of these people are saying. It is rea...

This is my third Jasmine Guillory novel. I read 'The Proposal' and completely fell in love with it, then I read 'The Wedding Date', which I liked. This novel exists in the same world as the first two, and I was excited to read about these characters again. Theo and Maddie hate each other, but they love their mutual best friend Alexa. After an 'accidental' night spent together, they resolve to make sure that it never happens again. But when Alexa gets engaged, and both Maddie and Theo are asked to be in the wedding party, their accidental night becomes a regular occurrence which they agree to stop after the wedding. But when the wedding is brought forward, will either of them be able to get out of their fling with their hearts intact? This book was okay, but it wasn't my favourite of Guillory's. However, I loved jumping back into this world, and learning more about these characters. I also loved hearing about the characters that the other two books focuse...

I heard nothing about this film before it came out on Amazon Prime Video, and ultimately I watched it as soon as I did because I'm a huge fan of James McAvoy.  When Edmond Murray (James McAvoy) finds out that his 7-year-old son has gone missing, he and his ex-wife Joan (Claire Foy) do everything they can to find him. The gimmick of this movie is that, everyone involved in the film was given a script apart from James McAvoy. His performance is completely improvised. And as amazing as that is, I didn't actually realise this fact until I had already watched and made my mind up about the film - so I'll definitely be giving it another watch! While the film was somewhat interesting, I didn't really enjoy it. James McAvoy and Claire Foy have great chemistry, and make a really good team, both within the film and as an acting duo. The film is tense and uncomfortable. There are multiple times, particularly in the first half-hour of the film, when you are on the edge of your seat ...

I put off watching this film until I could watch/re-watch all of the Spider-Man films leading up to this one, and while I'm really glad I did, I'm so happy that I've now been able to see it! This review will contain spoilers, though I assume most people who want to see the film have already seen it. Following the reveal of Spider-Man's identity, and the effect that this has on his friends and loved ones, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) asks Dr Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) for help. But when a complicated spell goes wrong, and Peter is faced with the villains of multiple universes, can he restore the multiverse before it's too late? I absolutely loved this film. I knew before going in that I'd like it, that it would be enjoyable, but I never thought I would love it as much as I do. For a start, I love that the film begins as soon as the previous film ended. There is literally no time taken, we have to see Peter deal with everything that is thrown at him on the spot....

I remember hearing about this film during Oscar season last year, but I didn't really pay that much attention to it. However, when it came out on Amazon Prime Video recently, I decided to see what it was about. A man's (Anthony Hopkins) grip on reality starts to unravel as he ages, and soon he begins to doubt his own mind. I loved this film. I went in without knowing anything, so I wasn't sure what to expect. The dialogue throughout the film is amazing. Everything feels so real and authentic. The way the film uses Anthony's (Hopkins) mind as a tool to tell the story is so interesting and unusual. When we are allowed to see through his eyes, we fully understand the devastating reality of his life. We as the audience are almost put in the same position as Anthony - we are unable to trust our own eyes, and our own memories.  You instantly have empathy for, and sympathise with both Anthony and his daughter Anne (Olivia Colman). Even if you have never been in a similar situa...