Bria Lou Reviews

  I had heard of this film (and the book), but I never really had an interest in seeing it. Not only did I not know what it was about, but it seemed like one of those inaccessible stories that's really hard to understand. So I can't say I wasn't a bit apprehensive when I chose this one. Thankfully, it wasn't as inaccessible as I thought it would be. In fact, I ended up enjoying it much more than I thought I would. That being said, I didn't find the plot as interesting as I wanted to. Watching people uncover a mystery is in itself quite interesting, but I was a lot more interested in the characters than I was in what the actual mystery was.  And for me this was because the mystery was locked up in a lot of lore, mostly rooted in religion and art among other things that I wasn't particularly interested in, and so the deeper we got into this background, the less I cared about the story behind the mystery. But as mentioned, I did really like the characters. I enjoye...

When Lauren goes to pick up her daughter Evie from university, she discovers that not only is Evie not there, she hasn't been there for weeks. As Lauren unravels the mystery of where Evie has gone, she soon finds herself and her family in grave danger. I'm always excited for the next T.M. Logan book. He's my favourite author, and I always pre-order his upcoming books. This one in particular had a really interesting premise so I was a bit more excited than usual. This wasn't my favourite of Logan's novels, but I enjoyed it! It was really engaging from the very beginning. A few chapters in I already really cared about the characters and felt completely invested in the mystery. You get to know the characters really quickly, and that makes everything much more interesting. However, it takes a really long time for anything substantial to happen, and even then there are a lot of red herrings that lead nowhere, which ultimately makes the book feel longer than it is. Though...

  An astronaut (Casey Affleck) struggles to maintain his grip on reality while embarking on a potentially fatal mission. This was a really random choice, as it wasn't something I heard much about before it came out, and I don't really love movies set in space. But I'm a fan of the actors involved so that was reason enough to check it out! I liked this film more than I thought I was going to, but that doesn't mean it was that good! The film kind of tells two stories, the one about what's happening in space with the crew (Affleck, Laurence Fishburne and Tomer Capone), and the past love story on Earth between John (Affleck) and Zoe (Emily Beecham). I was a lot more interested in the love story than the space story until the last maybe 30 minutes of the movie. I wanted to see so much more of it. But in saying that, whether we're focused on the love story or the space story, none of the characters had enough chemistry. And while their performances were great, you don...

  Next up was a much-anticipated re-watch! I saw this film for the first time a few years ago, and while I remember enjoying it, I couldn't really remember too many specific details about it, so I'm glad it was on the list - especially because it's one that I would have expected to be on the list last year. I also had no idea until writing this review that I actually reviewed this film back in 2019, so it was really interesting to go back and read that! The first thing that has to be pointed out is how great the acting is. Robert De Niro is obviously amazing in this role and the supporting cast are great too. But in particular, Jodie Foster, who was only 12 years old when she played her role(!) did an incredible job. And despite the controversy of the role, the character was able to have a great arc and an interesting relationship with Travis, which is part of what makes the story so interesting. And ironically, Scorsese's small cameo is one of the best-acted scenes in ...

Kraven's (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) complicated relationship with his father leads to him becoming one of the greatest, most feared hunters in the world. I heard such bad things about this film before seeing it, the reviews were horrible! So I unintentionally put off watching it for a while. But I'm glad I finally got around to it. I don't know if it's because of all the negative reviews, but I ended up having a great time. Now, that's not to say this was a great film, but I had a lot of fun watching it. For a start, I thought the story was really interesting, especially because we got to see a significant portion of Kraven's childhood before we get to present day (though the 'past' section could have been a bit shorter). At almost an hour in I had no idea where the story was going, but I was enjoying the journey. And this stayed the same the whole way through, I didn't really know what was happening but I had fun with it. I really loved seeing the way t...

  At first I thought this was a re-watch but about 40 minutes in I realised that I don't think I'd seen it before, so I'm glad it was on the list! I find disaster movies a bit hit-or-miss. There are some that I really love and will watch repeatedly, and others that I never want to see again. I didn't love this movie, but I didn't hate it either. I feel quite neutral about it. I didn't know who was in the film before watching, outside of Will Smith, so it was nice that there were a lot of familiar faces, all of whom did a great job with their characters. I also didn't remember exactly what the film was about - I thought it was more of a straight natural disaster movie than an alien invasion disaster movie.  I really liked the variety of stories and characters that we follow. We see this situation through different points of view, following different characters and each one is as interesting as the next. As someone who doesn't typically love films centred ...

New Captain America, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), finds himself at the centre of an international disaster. But can he find the true mastermind before it's too late? I'll admit I haven't kept up with the MCU post-endgame, but with the current slate of new movies I'm really excited to get back into it.  I tried to ignore reviews and go into this film with no expectations, and I ended up liking it. For a start, the cast is great! The film stars Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Carl Lumbly, Giancarlo Esposito, Shira Haas and Harrison Ford, and they all did a great job with their characters. It was particularly great seeing Mackie, Ramirez and Lumbly reprise their roles from the 'Falcon and the Winter Soldier' TV show. Mackie and Ramirez had great chemistry, which was really fun to watch. But as good as the actors were, it would have been nice to get to know some of these characters a bit better, especially if you never saw the show. The story was genuinely an interesting one...

  There are quite a few duplicates between this year's list and last year's, but so far this is the only one that warranted a second review. I'm really glad I watched this again. For whatever reason, I couldn't connect with it when I watched it last year, and my review showed that. This year has been a much more successful re-watch. The performances in this film are widely considered to be iconic, and with good reason. All of the actors do an amazing job, but Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins play off each other so well. They are perfect in their individual roles, but also have the perfect chemistry together to make this work. But the story itself is what's most interesting. There's so much going on, with two equally entertaining storylines running alongside each other. On the one hand we have the serial killer storyline, which by itself would be a really interesting movie through the element of solving a mystery. And then we have the Hannibal Lecter storyline, w...

Army veteran Merit (Sonequa Martin-Green) struggles to adapt to ordinary life due to the presence of her dead best friend Zoe (Natalie Morales). I saw this trailer a while ago and immediately wanted to watch the film. It had a unique premise, a fun tone and seemed like it would be a great mix of comedy and drama. While I liked the film, it wasn't exactly what I was expecting from the trailer. But one thing the trailer did well was show the chemistry between the two main characters. Martin-Green and Morales worked really well together and were immediately believable as best friends. And this chemistry was present between all the actors. The film also stars Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, Gloria Reuben and Utkarsh Ambudkar, and they were all great in their roles. This is a film about relationships, and it's lovely to see the way the characters interact. The story goes back and forth between the past and present, and while this is completely necessary to understand who these characters...

  Next up for the bucket list was Kill Bill (volume 1)! I was in a bit of a Tarantino mood and watched this after rewatching Pulp Fiction, which I love. I was actually surprised Kill Bill wasn't on last years' list (though I'm really glad Reservoir Dogs was). Despite having heard of this film, as it's one of the most well-known, popular Tarantino films, I didn't really know what it was about, and I may not have watched it if it wasn't on the list. The first thing that stuck out to me from the first scene was how good the acting is. All of the supporting cast are great but Uma Thurman really carried this and did an incredible job with it. From her first second on screen you're told so much about this woman, and the more you watch, the more impressive the performance is. The story is told in such an interesting inventive way, from the non-linear narrative, to the animated section, it keeps you engaged and entertained the whole way through. As with all Tarantin...

  After being plagued throughout their childhood by a murderous toy monkey, adult twin brothers Hal and Bill (Theo James) reunite to destroy the killer toy. I'd been looking forward to this one! I didn't love the trailer, as it looked a bit more outlandish and comedic than I would have guessed from the description, but I was still really excited to see it. This was an interesting film. It wasn't exactly what I expected, and there were things about it that I didn't like, but overall it was a fun experience. I really liked the opening scene. I think it set the tone of the whole film well, gave us a hint of what we were in for and allowed excitement to build. One thing that threw me off was the split between the past and present. For a while, I was really enjoying seeing the past as a prequel for what the present characters would be dealing with. But as the film continued, I realised the past scenes were given as much importance as the present. And yes, I understand why it...

  This was one of the biggest surprises on the bucket list for me. Because while I really like this film, just from a fun creature-feature perspective, I had no idea it was a cult classic, and so when I saw it on the list I was just really confused! But nevertheless, I was really happy to give it another watch. The thing that made me watch the film in the first place was how interesting the cast is. I mean, when you think of a cheesy movie about a giant snake, you don't picture JLO, Ice Cube, Owen Wilson or Danny Trejo, but it just works! They're so much fun to watch and work really well together. I loved the setting - the visuals are great! And speaking of visuals, while the visual effects aren't amazing, they're fun and really entertaining. Every time you see the anaconda, you just want to see more of it! I think it's written well, particularly the 'villain', who could easily have just been thrown in for the sake of being evil. Even though we don't get...

  This is the story of an ordinary married couple with a mysterious history and a dangerously dark secret. Every description I've read after finishing this story gives something away or leads you to guess things you otherwise wouldn't, so I've kept my description really simple. I first heard about this book through a YouTube video where I was promised an amazing ending, and that's the only reason I picked it up. But I'm always on the lookout for thrillers so I'm glad I found it! The first chapter is great. It completely sets the tone for the rest of the book, gives us a real insight into our main character and ends perfectly. And only after reading this do you truly understand what the book will be about. The premise is such an interesting one. It was a great idea to put the reader into this character's head. Whether we're supposed to humanise him I don't know, but seeing a story like this from the opposite point of view is really captivating. He...

  On the last night of 1999, a group of high school students are left fighting for their lives against their electronics when Y2K becomes a reality. It took me a while to actually sit down and watch this film - the premise wasn't that interesting to me and I mostly watched it because of the cast. Because while the film wasn't great, the cast was fun and quite unexpected! The film is led by Rachel Zegler and Jaeden Martell, and also stars Julian Dennison, Kyle Mooney, Mason Gooding and Alicia Silverstone. There is a huge sense that the filmmakers were trying hard to lean into the nostalgia of the 90s, and while this didn't work well for me in terms of the setting or dialogue, it worked really well in the music they used. The songs were picked really well, suited the scenes they were used in and were genuinely nostalgic. Hands down the best part of the film was the soundtrack. Because everything else was a bit... lacking. The story starts in quite a generic place - we know wh...

While searching for a lost family heirloom, O'Dessa (Sadie Sink) meets Euri (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), and instantly falls in love. But in order to save Euri's soul, she must use her love of music to try and change the world. To be honest, the main reason I watched this film was because it stars Kelvin Harrison Jr. I don't think it would have been on my radar otherwise. This was a weird one. I definitely didn't hate it, but I don't think I could say it was a great film or really recommend it. And to be fair, it was clearly made to be weird, and it leans really heavily into its weirdness. Another reason I was keen to watch it was because it was a musical, and music plays a huge part in the story. But while the songs themselves are nice, and do a good job of driving the story forward, they're not songs that stick. You probably won't look up the soundtrack once the film's finished. The relationship between O'Dessa and Euri was the best part of the film. The...

This was a first time watch for me.  The film is talked about a lot in pop culture, a lot of references are made to it, but I never really knew what it was about and picked it blindly. Thankfully I really liked it! It was really engaging from the first moment. The character of Rambo is one that you feel compelled to watch, follow and root for. In particular I really liked the way the film depicted Rambo's trauma. It allows us to understand the reasons for his actions, to sympathise with him, and again, to really root for him. Especially in the ending scene, which was amazingly well done. The story itself is an interesting one - action movies with substance are usually fun watches and this one is no different. You really get into it and find yourself truly invested in the journey towards the ending. The acting was great too. I love Sylvester Stallone's performances in everything I've seen him in so liking him in this wasn't a surprise, but the supporting cast also did a ...