Bria Lou Reviews

It always feels too soon when another Favourites post comes around, but I really can't believe it's the end of June already! Favourite Movie (1): Sting I reviewed this film HERE  and it is undoubtedly my favourite film of the last three months! It's exactly what I wanted it to be, I loved it and I can't wait to rewatch it again! Favourite Movie (2): IF This was my biggest surprise of the last three months. I paid no attention to this because I didn't think I'd like it, and then I ended up absolutely loving it! I'll be uploading a review at some point, but it's definitely one for both kids and adults. Favourite Movie (3): The Royal Hotel This is another review that I'll be uploading eventually, but I really really enjoyed this movie. It wasn't really what I was expecting, and I can understand why some may not like it, but it had a lot of tension and was overall a great watch for me. Favourite Movie (4): The Dark Knight Trilogy These obviously aren...

Next up was another re-watch that felt like a first-time watch! I know I had seen this movie once before watching it for the Bucket List, but it never had a huge impact on me and I didn't really remember much about it. And this time around was kind of the same. For some reason, this film just isn't memorable to me at all. I didn't care about either the characters or the plot, and while I enjoyed it while watching, once it finished I didn't think about it again until I sat down to write this post. I think one of the reasons I didn't love the film was because I didn't buy the romantic chemistry between the two leads. They were both played very well, it just never seemed like they would last as a real couple. As far as Bucket List rom-coms go, this is another disappointment. There are so many amazing romance movies that, in my opinion, should be considered classics. So for my tastes, the romance movies included in the list, for the most part, have left a lot to be ...

Writer Michael Ausiello (Jim Parsons) tells the story of his relationship with his husband Kit Cowan (Ben Aldridge), including Kit being diagnosed with terminal cancer. I can't remember when I first heard about this film, but it was always on my radar, so I was really glad when it finally came out on the Sky Premiere channel. I loved this movie. It was really really beautiful. For a start, this film includes what I think is the cutest first date I've ever seen!  I took an instant liking to both of the main characters, as well as all of the supporting characters. Whether romantic, familial or platonic, all of the characters had great chemistry. And by extension, so did the actors, who all worked really well together. The relationships between the characters were so sweet! That was probably the best thing about the film, just being able to watch the characters interact. The main relationship felt really authentic, which I guess comes down to this being a true story. Nothing was ...

This was a weird one! It was a second-time watch, but definitely felt like a first! I watched this a couple of years ago and just didn't take it in at all. I watched it with my sister and we both didn't like it. For whatever reason, probably us not watching it properly, we didn't get it.  And because of that, I wasn't looking forward to watching it again. But I knew there was a twist I couldn't remember, so ultimately I did want to re-watch it. I'm so glad it was on the list because I loved it the second time around! And because I didn't know the twist, I kind of count this as the first time watch. The story was really well done, even without knowing the twist beforehand. But knowing the twist just highlights exactly how well this was written and made. But in addition to that, the acting!  I've been a fan of Hugh Jackman for years but his dramatic performances outside of the X-Men movies always catch me a bit off guard because of how good he is!  And of ...

When Angela (Lidya Jewett) and Katherine (Olivia O'Neill) go missing in the woods and return 3 days later displaying strange behaviour, Angela's father (Leslie Odom Jr.) seeks help from Chris MacNeil (Ellen Bustyn), who went through a similar experience with her daughter 50 years prior. I actually watched this film quite a while ago, wrote notes for a review, and then completely forgot to review it - which might give you a hint about how I found it! More often than not, exorcism movies (or movies that feature exorcisms) have been a miss for me recently. I've never loved the genre, but lately, it's felt a little bit saturated and not always good. So I went into this one a bit sceptical. The film gives the audience a good first impression of the characters, and I was invested in their lives very quickly. The acting was great - particularly the girls playing Angela and Katherine. They were amazing! The story starts off as being a lot more original than other movies of the ...

This was a first-time watch. And one I can't imagine watching if it hadn't been on the Bucket List. Which is crazy, considering how good it is! I had no idea I would like it as much as I did! For a start, war isn't my genre of choice, so whenever I'm watching a war film I always go in a bit apprehensive, and a lot of the time my apprehension is right because I don't like the film as much as I want to. But this time was the complete opposite! I loved the story, the characters, everything! I didn't really know what the film was about before seeing it, as I'd never paid much attention to it, but the premise really grabbed me. There was so much going on, so many themes being explored. Also, having not been a Tom Hanks fan before starting the Bucket List, I'm slowly but surely being converted. Between this and The Green Mile, I've loved his performances! But in saying that, all of the performances were great. And I had no idea how many recognisable faces ...

  12-year-old Charlotte (Alyla Browne) finds a small spider in her apartment building and decides to keep it. But when the spider starts growing at a rapid rate, she soon discovers her new pet isn't what she thinks it is. I would say that of all the films I've seen in the first half of the year, this was probably my most highly anticipated. And if not, it was right near the top! One of my absolute favourite genres is creature features, especially when the creatures are giant, so I couldn't wait to see this one! Thankfully, I absolutely loved it! For a start, the opening scene was great. It introduced the setting, it was intriguing, and more than that, it was actually quite scary! You don't exactly know where the film is going from this scene, but you're definitely along for the ride! And along with the opening scene, came the opening credits, which were really imaginative and fun, and gave me a good feeling about what the rest of the film would be like. I loved the ...

  Next up was a highly-anticipated first-time watch! I have a weird history with this one. One of my favourite books in the world is 'Nobody's Girl' by Sarra Manning. In the book, the main character is obsessed with all things French, including the film Amélie. So for years I had known about the film and was looking forward to watching it. I was really happy to see it was on the Bucket List, and assumed that, because of how much I loved the character in 'Nobody's Girl', I'd love the film. Unfortunately I didn't really love it. I liked it, it was fine. There were some really sweet moments, and Amélie was a really interesting (if sometimes frustrating) character. But it didn't connect with me as much as I wanted it to. It didn't make me feel wistful or peaceful, it didn't make me fall in love with France, it didn't make me love the characters, it was just... okay. It's worth watching, and I'd definitely watch it again, but I'm d...

When her daughter announces her engagement, Lana (Brooke Shields) is shocked to discover that the groom's father is the ex who broke her heart (Benjamin Bratt). I was looking forward to seeing this one! It looked fun and cute, and it had some great actors, so at the very least I thought it would be somewhat enjoyable. Thankfully, this was what I thought it was going to be - and what I wanted! I loved that it got straight into the story without feeling the need to set too much up. We learnt about the characters' relationships as we went along and that was really beneficial in terms of allowing the audience to build their own relationships with the characters. While the idea was quite far-fetched, it was still enjoyable. The characters themselves are interesting and well written, but unfortunately none of them (whether romantic or otherwise) have any real chemistry. Which again adds to the film feeling far-fetched. And in addition to that, the parents are the only actually likeab...

  Next up was a Hitchcock classic! I'm a huge Hitchcock fan, so I had seen this movie (as well as the other Hitchcock movie on this list, coming up at some point). This is a great movie - though probably my least favourite of the Hitchcock movies I've seen. But great nonetheless! I think the best thing about it is the storytelling, the way the plot unfolds. You're invested from the very first moment and as things get more and more intense, you're completely along for the ride. And the more invested you are, the more you don't see the twists coming, which just makes everything all the more entertaining. It's also visually stunning, and filmed in a really interesting way in order to capture the extent of vertigo the main character has. So yes, this is a great movie, and definitely worth watching! But more than anything, it made me really excited to watch the other Hitchcock movie on this list!

  Kettle Springs is a town that is divided, adults on one side, kids on the other. When Quinn moves there, and the town's clown mascot Frendo goes on a homicidal rampage, she and her friends have to find a way to save themselves before it's too late. After reading a great book with horror elements last year, I really wanted to get more into horror books as it's a genre that I haven't really explored in this medium. So I bought three horror books to read this year and this was the first. I absolutely loved this book! The prologue, while a bit too long for my liking, was enjoyable and set the scene well. Though having said that, I don't think it was particularly relevant to the main story, and probably could have been cut out. I loved the narrative voice, it made the story really enjoyable and easy to read. Although, it did feel like the characters were being kept at arm's length from the reader. I would have liked to get to know them better and more quickly. The ...

A group of criminals get more than they bargained for when they kidnap the 12-year-old daughter (Alisha Weir) of a powerful figure. I was looking forward to seeing this film for a while, but my interest was piqued when I heard so many positive reviews! Unfortunately, I liked the film, but not as much as I wanted to. Though, I was very happy that the premise was original and unique, and I'm always here to support original, risky ideas. The dialogue was well-written, particularly in the first half of the film. A lot of the humour is genuinely funny and fun to watch. It ended up being more of a comedy than a horror. Music and sound were used really well throughout. I also feel like the film would have been better as a complete surprise, without seeing the trailer. Once you know what it's about, you're just waiting for the 'thing' to be revealed. It was clear from the get-go that the characters weren't as important as the story. And while this was fine, when this ha...

Next up for the Bucket List was a re-watch. I must have seen Jaws multiple times throughout my life, but for whatever reason, after watching it, I can never remember anything meaningful about it. So because of that, I wasn't really looking forward to watching it again. Other than the shark, the only thing I remembered about the film before this re-watch was that I've never really liked it that much. And this time around it was pretty much the same. I didn't particularly connect with the film, and I didn't really enjoy it. Like with a lot of the films on the list, I understand and appreciate why it's regarded as a classic. For its time, it's well-made, entertaining and has an original story. But it's never been a movie I've loved, and that's no different now.

  A group of rebels helps a colony fight against a tyrannical ruling force. I reviewed the first 'Rebel Moon' film HERE , and enjoyed it. I thought it was really fun, and I was looking forward to seeing the second. And although the reviews for the sequel have been awful, I still wanted to see it (although maybe a bit less). Compared to the first film, this one isn't great. And as a standalone film, it's really not good. For a start, the story is a lot less interesting than the first one. Not only was it not interesting, it was weird. The first film didn't try too hard to make us care about and understand the secondary characters, so I have no idea why they tried so hard to make us care this time around. It was too late. Both of the films could have been one 2.5 hour movie, and probably would have been a lot more coherent. In fact, I kind of feel like this second instalment added nothing to the first story and didn't really need to exist. The scenes where the cha...

  This was a second time watch, which feels weird considering how much of a horror fan I am. I definitely should have seen this a lot sooner! I liked this film, though I must say I liked it a lot more the first time around. It opened a lot of doors for the horror world, and was a great exploration into themes of religion, paranoia, oppression and, of course, satanism, which is wild for a film made in the 60s.  My only issue with the film was that, and this is probably because I'm watching it from the lens of 2024, where films have action or drama or horror in every other scene, but it felt like nothing really happened for a while.  And that didn't take away the enjoyment of it, but it wasn't as scary as you would probably want it to be. But in saying that, I'm always happy when there's a horror movie on the Bucket List, and this is probably the most popular classic horror outside of Hitchcock, so it definitely deserves it's place on the list!

When a nun (Sydney Sweeney) joins a convent in Italy, she soon discovers sinister secrets and finds herself trapped in a horrifying nightmare. All I knew about this movie before seeing it was that it was a horror movie starring Sydney Sweeney that was getting great reviews, so I was looking forward to seeing it. Unfortunately, I didn't really like it. For a start, for me personally, religion-based horror movies, exorcism horrors and horrors based around nuns/convents feel a bit overdone. But having said this, once I knew what the film was actually about, it was definitely more original than other similarly themed movies. It took quite a long time to really get into the story, which could be a bit frustrating at times. The film was very tense but was never as scary as it could have been. There were definitely times when it could have leaned further into the horror. The characters are quite one-note, and their personalities, while distinct, aren't particularly fleshed out. Some p...

This was a first-time watch. I think I'd heard of it once or twice when people talk about great parodies, but I had no idea what it was about. This one wasn't for me. I've watched a few movies for the Bucket List that I didn't really like, or that I feel like I need to watch again, but this one is the first that I think just isn't for me at all. It's lauded as one of the funniest rock movies, and funniest parodies of all time, and I just didn't get it. I didn't find it particularly funny, and even the parts that were entertaining, I wasn't particularly interested in. I thought the acting was great - especially knowing that the dialogue was largely improvised.  But other than that, I honestly felt a bit bored. I never felt interested or invested in the characters individually or their band as a whole. And because that interest never came, there wasn't anything in the film that I really cared about. I'm glad I've seen it, especially knowing...

When Solène (Anne Hathaway) takes her daughter (Ella Rubin) to a music festival, she finds herself falling for the lead singer of a boyband (Nicholas Galitzine). I was really looking forward to seeing this one! I've seen a few bad fanfiction-based movies, but this one had an interesting concept, and it had Anne Hathaway in the lead role, so I was immediately invested! I really liked this film! I knew I probably would, but it was a lot better than I thought it would be. I loved Solène as the main character. I took an instant liking to her because she's well-written, likeable and authentic. Even if you can't relate to her life, you immediately want to be her friend. And this is true of most of the characters. One of the biggest plot points of the film are issues surrounding the age gap between the couple, but for me this never felt particularly weird. I think if there was a more visually noticeable age gap between the main actors, this could have worked against the film. But ...