Bria Lou Reviews

  This is another of the Bucket List movies that I wasn't really looking forward to. I've seen this movie quite a few times now, trying to understand the hype, and I never got it. There's been a bit of a trend with these classic movies in that usually the ones I didn't previously like, I've ended up liking after the re-watch. With this one, while I think I did like it a bit more this time around, I still don't get the hype, I don't understand why it's so beloved, and I have no idea why it's considered such a classic when there aren't that many romance movies on the list. There are so many better romance movies out there that should be considered classics! My main issue was that I didn't find Allie and Noah that compelling. And yes I understand the twist is probably what made it popular, but that didn't really grab me either. This is probably the first one on the list that's been disappointing, but at least it wasn't a surprise!

A year after a Black Friday event ends in tragedy, a masked villain sets out to terrorise those who caused the accident. I first saw the trailer for this while watching Killers of the Flower Moon and immediately wanted to see it. I can't remember the last non-Scream slasher that came out, but it feels like cinema has been really overdue for one! I liked this movie. I definitely had some major issues with it, but it's essentially what you think it will be, which isn't a bad thing! The opening scene is absolutely wild. And I loved it. The only thing I didn't like about the opening (and by extension the whole film) were the main characters. I kind of hoped they'd all die in the beginning so we could start again with better characters. I didn't take a liking to any of them and thinking about it now, I still don't really like them. The acting wasn't great. Now, it's not like anyone's competing for an oscar or anything, but at times the dialogue felt s...

  I have no idea how many times I've seen this movie, but it's definitely at least 10. I love the concept of the Halloween movies, and even though some of the sequels have gone down their own path, the fact that this simple idea has managed to spawn so many movies is kind of cool! Now, is every movie good? Definitely not. Is this movie an impressive feat of filmmaking to a 2024 audience? Probably not. But for when it was made, and the doors it opened for the horror world, it definitely deserves its place in this classics list. This time around wasn't my most enjoyable viewing of this movie (I probably need to give it a bit of a break) but I definitely still liked it, as I always do. Laurie Strode is widely regarded as one of the most iconic 'final girls', and with good reason! She's a great character, and I love that her story continued for so long. I'm always glad when there's a horror on the classics list, and this is a great one to have.

  Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) are childhood best friends who are torn apart when Nora's family emigrates from South Korea. Twenty years later they reunite and are forced to confront what their relationship means. I really wanted to see this when it first came out, but I missed it at the cinema. So I'm really glad I've finally seen it! I loved this film. I liked it instantly upon seeing the opening scene. Not only is the dialogue voicing what the audience is also thinking, but there's a really interesting contrast between seeing the characters across the bar, and then being directly transported into their childhoods. Speaking of which, the child actors were fantastic. The younger versions of the characters were played by Seung Ah Moon and Seung Min Yim and they were both amazing. I really wanted to see more of them! But the acting all around is great, and the main actors are also great as these characters. The acting across the board feels really real and aut...

  Next up for the Bucket List was Fight Club. To be honest, this isn't one I was looking forward to. I watched it for the first time last year (already knowing the twist) and I didn't really get it. It was just 'okay', so I wasn't enthusiastic about seeing it again. So I was really surprised that I liked it so much more this time around! I think the first time I was looking for clues of the twist, and just generally trying to understand why it was so popular. So this time around I didn't have to do any of that and was just able to enjoy it for what it was. And it was such a better experience! The only thing I regret, which can't be helped, is that I knew the twist. I think everyone whether they've seen the film or not probably knows the twist - it's one of the most well-known plot twists of cinema history. But I would love to know what it would be like to watch it knowing nothing. Because I really think if I had no idea of the twist I might have love...

  Ever since Simon died in detention, everything has changed for the Bayview Crew. But when one of their own goes missing, it seems like a new game has begun. But this time, no one knows the rules. I always start the year with Karen M. McManus's latest book. And while I love her writing, I've been more of a fan of her standalone novels lately, so I was a bit apprehensive to join the Bayview Crew for the third time. But I shouldn't have worried, because this book was great! Considering I read the first book maybe 4 years ago, it was really easy to slot back into the characters' lives. At 30 pages in, I was already enjoying it a lot more than I enjoyed the second book, 'One of Us is Next', and ultimately I do believe this one was better than the second (though definitely not better than 'One of Us is Lying'). Usually, the use of multiple points of view in a book doesn't really work for me, but because I was already familiar with all of the characters, ...

Kora (Sofia Boutella) is tasked with creating a team of fighters to save her planet from an invading army. I was really looking forward to this one. I'm a fan of a couple of the actors, plus I like Zack Snyder as a director, so this was one I had my eye on for a long time. I absolutely loved the trailer so I hoped I'd like the movie as much. Thankfully I really liked the film. It wasn't perfect, and there were some major things I didn't like that I won't spoil, but overall I was really entertained by it and thought it did a good job of creating these characters and their world. The opening scene was great - it made you care about the characters really quickly and as the audience, we immediately understand the stakes. I also really liked the premise and was excited to see how it would play out. I loved the characters. They all had great introductions and I really wanted there to be a found-family feel to them. I didn't exactly get that, mainly because there wasn...

  This was a rewatch for me, and I picked it so early on because I already know and love it. For a start, I love Simon Pegg as an actor (check out 'Man Up' if you haven't), and while I love other performances of his more than this, the best thing about this film is the writing. I don't often watch horror comedies, but if I'm in the mood for one, this is definitely a go-to. The humour is expertly written. The characters are amazing in the sense that they are well-rounded and authentic while absolutely not fitting into a zombie-slaying world, which just makes the film all the more funny. This is so much fun to watch. It allows you to be worried about the characters as you laugh along with them, and sometimes laugh at them. The horror-comedy genre definitely doesn't get as much love as it deserves. To be able to balance two competing genres in this way takes expert writing, direction and acting, and this film had all of those in spades. If you haven't seen this...

  There aren't that many horror movies on the 100 Movies list, so those are probably the ones I'm most looking forward to. But unfortunately, I wasn't looking forward to this one, for reasons that were my own fault. I've seen the 2013 'Evil Dead' and the sequel, 'Evil Dead Rise' and didn't really enjoy either of them. But for some reason, I thought I had also seen this one and not liked it, so I started watching this thinking it was a rewatch. But I absolutely had not seen it, because this film is wild! It's the same story as the remake, so it was familiar, but there's something about older horror movies that just feel so authentic and fun, and this definitely has that. I don't really get scared by older horror movies, so I wasn't watching this expecting to be scared, but I was definitely more entertained than I thought I would be. That's not to say I loved the film - I don't think the overall plot is something that really app...

Travelling to China for a business trip, Audrey (Ashley Park), is joined by her best friend Lolo (Sherry Cola), her former college roommate Kat (Stephanie Hsu) and Lolo's cousin Deadeye (Sabrina Wu) for a mundane trip that quickly becomes the bonding experience none of the girls ever expected. I was so excited to see this movie. I knew based on the premise alone (reminiscent of Girls Trip and Rough Night) that I would probably like it, but I didn't know how much. Thankfully I loved it! I loved it from the first scene. The characters were set up well and we got to know them really quickly. I thought that I would love the two main characters more than the two that were introduced later, so I was pleasantly surprised to find myself loving all four of the characters equally. They all have really distinct personalities and are very different people, so it was really fun taking time to get to know them individually. It was genuinely funny. As well as the characters being distinct, th...

The next movie I picked for my Bucket List challenge was Drive. To be honest, the reason that I picked this next was because it was short and I could get it out of the way - I've seen it twice (maybe three times) and wasn't looking forward to seeing it again, as I didn't enjoy my last re-watch. However, for whatever reason, I loved it this time around! It was so much better than I remembered! I wish this had been my first time seeing it, because I've never liked it as much as I did this time. The writing and direction were great, as was the acting. I'm a fan of Ryan Gosling as an actor, and this is definitely one of his best performances. But I completely forgot Bryan Cranston and Ron Perlman were both in it, so that was a nice surprise! When I saw this movie on the list, I was surprised that it was considered a classic, but after watching it, I get it. Definitely one to watch if you've never seen it before!

  During World War II, J. Robert Oppenheimer and a team of scientists create the atomic bomb that leads to the world's first nuclear explosion. I wanted to see this back when the whole Barbie vs Oppenheimer thing was happening in the summer, but only got around to seeing Barbie. But Oppenheimer was always on my radar and I'm glad I've finally seen it. Honestly, though, because of all the hype surrounding the movie, I was a bit disappointed. I liked it, but I wasn't as invested as I wanted to be. The cast was great. Every time you look up there's another unexpected recognisable face on the screen. I thought I knew everyone that was in it because of social media, but there were still some surprises. The cinematography was the thing that really stood out for me. Of course it's not unusual for a Christopher Nolan film to be beautifully shot, but this is no exception. I was interested in the story, and stayed engaged for the whole three hour runtime, but I wasn't...

Oliver (Barry Keoghan), an Oxford University student, becomes obsessed with his rich classmate Felix (Jacob Elordi) when invited to stay at his family's estate. So many people were talking about this film that I had to watch it as soon as possible! I didn't really know what it was about, but from the reactions on Twitter, I knew it would probably be a weird one, and I didn't know how I'd feel about it. I was so surprised that I ended up absolutely loving this film. I had no idea I would like it so much! The opening scene was great. It was very intriguing and gets the audience involved in the world really quickly. A weird, eerie, tense atmosphere was created so well from the very beginning, and this remained throughout the events of the film. All of the characters, whether likeable or not (which more weren't), were really interesting and well-written. There were a couple of characters that I felt could have done with more development, but overall I think they were cr...

When her dog is kidnapped, Anne (Awkwafina) and her estranged sister Jenny (Sandra Oh) attempt to save him by competing on Anne's favourite quiz show. I'd seen this film come up a few times on Disney+ but never really looked into what it was about. Honestly, the only reason I put it on was because I love Sandra Oh, and I'm so glad I did! I loved this movie! I loved the characters from the very beginning and this love stayed until the credits rolled. I don't typically tend to love the characters Awkwafina plays, so this was a really pleasant surprise. The actors have great chemistry despite their clashing personalities and play really believable sisters.  Speaking of the characters, I've never seen Sandra Oh in a role like this before, and seeing this just reminded me once again of how brilliant she is. The story is simple, but not only was it entertaining, it was also really engaging. And so much more thrilling than you'd guess a film about a quiz show would be....

The first movie of my 100 Movies Bucket List challenge was 'The Wizard of Oz', which I watched at midnight on 1st January. I've seen this film so many times, so it felt like a safe one to start with. I knew that I'd like it, but I hadn't seen it that recently, so I could still get something out of it. I had a really good time. I know the movie really well - I've been watching it since I was a kid and have always loved it. And there's not much else to say about this one. It's an absolutely classic that everyone should see, and it was a great start to the challenge!

Twenty years after their romance captivated the nation for all the wrong reasons, a couple's relationship changes when an actress (Natalie Portman) researches them for a movie about their lives. I heard so much about this movie that I watched it as soon as I could. I had no context, and no idea what it was actually about. I liked this film, though 'like' is a really trivial word when you know what it's about. This is a really interesting story, told in a unique and intriguing way. I didn't know what to expect and was more invested than I thought I would be. The characters are fascinating and complex. They are coming from three very distinct points of view, and it's really interesting to see the story through each of their eyes. The acting is great from all three of the main actors, but Charles Melton is a definite standout and played his role so well. The film moves slowly but is never boring. At times I found that even though there wasn't much happening, I ...

  An assassin (Michael Fassbender) uses a methodical approach to hunt and kill his targets. But when his next job becomes personal, he finds himself on an international manhunt to exact revenge. I watched this film so long ago now! I wanted to get Blogmas out of the way before going back into normal reviews so there will be a few older films being reviewed in the next couple of weeks! I liked this movie more than I initially thought I would. I didn't love everything about it, but I had a good time with it. From the first second, everything moved so quickly, which took me a little while to get used to. The character of the killer is weird (as he's supposed to be) but really fun to watch. He's also played really well by Michael Fassbender, who carries the film with ease. I loved that the film never tried to make the character sympathetic or likeable. In many ways, it was more like a character study than a piece of entertainment - though it was very entertaining. The revenge p...

Happy new year! I was given a '100 Movies Bucket List' poster for my birthday. It's a list of 100 classic movies to watch, and after you watch a movie, you scratch it off the poster to reveal a picture underneath. I immediately decided that I'd watch all 100 movies from this Bucket List in 2024 as a challenge for myself, but I wasn't sure whether I'd write anything about it on the blog. After thinking about it, I've decided to document the movies, but not as full reviews. I won't do star ratings and I won't really take notes. It'll just be a way to remember what I've watched and to get my thoughts down. I've already seen 46 of the 100, but will be watching them all again. So if some of the posts are just 'I've seen this before and I liked it/didn't like it', that's why! I've added a page specifically for this challenge on the blog, and I hope that once I've finished the year, I'll get another one to do for ...