Bria Lou Reviews

This year has felt both slow and quick at the same time - I've been in such a rush to get to Christmas, and now that we're here it definitely feels like it went too quickly.  I have no idea what any of my stats are - but before I look them up, I'd guess that I watched more movies than last year, but probably watched less shows and read less books, so let's see! Movies Watched: 510 New TV Shows Started: 16 TV Shows Finished:  9 Books Read: 21 Blog Posts Written: 220 And I was right - I've watched less shows this year than last year, and finished even less! I'm halfway through watching so many different shows that I'm surprised I've even finished 9! That said, I've really enjoyed most of the shows I've started this year and hopefully for next year's post some of them will be included in the finished section! But all in all, I'm happy with my numbers. Reaching 500 films without rewatches was pretty much the only goal I set for myself and ...

 And just like that, it's time to think about what I've been loving this whole year! Favourite Film (1): Weapons It was such a great year for film, so it was really hard to narrow down my favourites, but this one was probably the easiest choice. I reviewed this film HERE , and it's absolutely my favourite film of the year. I loved everything about it and with three re-watches, it's been better each time! Favourite Film (2): The Life of Chuck This was the other contender for the top spot. I reviewed this HERE , and while I put Weapons at number one through pure enjoyment and originality, this film is definitely the one that had the biggest effect on me. Of all the films I've got as favourites, this is the one that deserves so much more love! Favourite Film (3): One Battle After Another This is probably the most popular movie I've picked. I reviewed it HERE  after seeing so many positive reviews and they were all completely true because this was such a good film! ...

 I always try to keep the Oct-Dec favourites post on the shorter side because I've got a longer one going up tomorrow, but I still managed to find 10 things/people to write about! Favourite Movie (1): The Long Walk I've got a review of this going up in the new year so I won't say too much here, but I wasn't expecting to like this film as much as I did, so it was definitely a pleasant surprise. It's worth watching if you haven't seen it yet, though it won't be for everyone! Favourite Movie (2): Wicked: For Good And in contrast, one that I knew I'd probably like. Again, a review is going up in the new year but after hearing mixed reviews I was a bit apprehensive. But thankfully I really liked it. I know the play well so I knew what I was getting into and it completely met my expectations in a great way. Favourite Movie (3): The Running Man And what was probably my biggest surprise of the last few months! I hadn't heard great things so I didn't rush...

  Here are the movies I watched for this year's Blogmas! Christmas on Duty | Blogmas Day 1 - Fine, but not the best start to the Christmas season. Joy to the World | Blogmas Day 2 - The movie I should have started Blogmas with, and my yearly dose of Chad Michael Murray Christmas movies! Baking Spirits Bright | Blogmas Day 3 - Pretty average. The first of a few baking/cooking movies. A Merry Little Ex-Mas | Blogmas Day 4 - Loved the characters, didn't love the story. A Keller Christmas Vacation | Blogmas Day 5 - The first movie this Blogmas that I genuinely loved, and the first of two great Jonathan Bennett movies! Christmas Under the Northern Lights | Blogmas Day 6 - Boring, generic, not enough Northern Lights! It's a Christmas Thing | Blogmas Day 7 - The second genuine love, I want to see more of this couple! The Holiday Proposal | Blogmas Day 8 - No chemistry and not particularly Christmassy. I'm Glad it's Christmas | Blogmas Day 9 -Sweet couple, great mu...

  It's Christmas Eve! Reporter Charity Jones (Amber Stevens West) investigates a story about a man (Marco Grazzini) who insists the gifts he distributes to the town for Christmas come from Santa Claus himself. This movie was originally going to be for yesterday, but when I watched it, it was so festive and I liked it so much that it just felt right to have it as the Christmas Eve movie. The best thing about the film is how Christmassy it is. Christmas is absolutely integral to the plot, and a plot point being that Charity has to participate in multiple Christmas traditions just makes things so festive. If you're not in the mood for Christmas this will definitely push you in the right direction. The story itself is great. All of the characters are interesting, written well (for the most part), they all work well together, and their relationships feel real. In particular, Charity and her best friend Tisha (played by Cherion Drakes) feel like actual best friends. Conflict is creat...

  It's Blogmas Day 23! Old school friends Grace (Keshia Knight Pulliam) and Anthony (Brad James) work together to redesign a home while spending Christmas with his family in New Orleans. I picked this one solely because of the actors involved. The story itself seemed okay, a bit generic, but I was interested enough in the cast that I wanted to see it no matter how generic the story was. As well as Pulliam and James, the film also stars Patti LaBelle and Tim Reid, and that second love story in particular was one I really wanted to see. This could have, and should have, been a lot more festive. Yes we're told that it's Christmas and we see people putting decorations up, but nothing in the plot suggested it was Christmas, and the events of the film could have happened at any time of year. I didn't know before I picked the film that Pulliam and James are married in real life, but it made complete sense because their characters had really good chemistry. It was really nice w...

  It's Blogmas Day 22! A weather reporter (Valery Ortiz) is assigned to host her network's Christmas Eve festival alongside the network's morning talk show host (Brandon Quinn). This was a late pick, and the only thing about it that caught my eye was the fact that I recognised the love interest from a TV show but hadn't seen him in anything else. The story itself wasn't something I was particularly looking forward to. This film was okay, but definitely not one of the best. It's more of a classic Hallmark Christmas movie than some of the others I've watched. And yes that made it feel more generic, but it can be nice to watch movies with a more classic nostalgic feel. There was a mention of faking friendship, and that made me wish so badly that this had been a fake dating story. I didn't get to see that trope in any of the movies I picked this year and it would have worked well with these characters. As it was, the plot was a bit bland. But at least there ...

  It's Blogmas Day 21! After losing her job at a record label, Skye (Lanie McAuley) instead becomes the manager of a famous country singer - her estranged father (Bailey Chase). This was a late addition to Blogmas, mainly because it felt more original than some of the others I've watched, and I'm always looking for the opportunity to add more music-based Christmas movies to the list. It was interesting to see this one from the point of view of the music industry. I wish it had stayed closer to this, instead of becoming more generic. As with most musical Christmas movies, the best thing about the film is the songs. And they get a bonus point for actually singing Take Me Home, Country Roads! The characters aren't particularly interesting, but they do have chemistry so that was fun to watch. I didn't care much about their backstories, though. The story itself is quite bland, even with the music. One of the main focuses of the film is the family drama, but the issues be...

  It's Blogmas Day 20! In desperate need of a job, single mum Taylor (Alexandra Breckenridge) disguises herself as Santa in the hope of being hired by a ski resort. This is the last of this year's Netflix movies that I'm reviewing for Blogmas this year, and even though I didn't love this film, I definitely saved the best 'til last! The concept was really interesting, and original-ish. Because yes it's basically a gender-swapped Mrs Doubtfire, but that idea isn't really used for Christmas movies so it definitely feels fresh. It would have been great if the filmmakers had played more into the humour of the situation. Instead, it is mostly played completely seriously with a few humorous moments thrown in, when the concept is actually funnier than they give it credit for. Another thing I would have changed is that it felt weird to make the character an ex-band member and hardly have her sing. Yes it was part of the plot but it just felt like such a waste. The st...

  It's Blogmas Day 19! While babysitting his niece and nephew over the holidays, Sam (Jonathan Bennett) enlists the help of neighbour Jason (George Krissa). This is the second Blogmas movie this year starring Jonathan Bennett, and he must be the secret ingredient of Blogmas because both movies have been great.  This one may actually be the best of Blogmas - I loved it so much! These kind of stories, two opposites thrown together, always tend to be quite fun, so I was looking forward to seeing it. I liked it almost instantly because the introductions to all the characters were really good. I felt like I got to know them really quickly and became invested in their lives before the story even got going. And this made me really excited for the characters to meet! Thankfully it was worth the wait because the actors worked really well together and had great chemistry - definitely some of the best chemistry I've seen this Blogmas! The filmmakers made an effort to instil Christmas int...

  It's Blogmas Day 18! When Annie's (Ava Jarque) wish makes a princess ice sculpture come to life, she must keep the truth about Jade (Emily Sweet) a secret from her father (Brando White). I had this film on the Blogmas list last year and swapped it out for something else, so I definitely had to include it this year. I liked this one a lot more than I thought I was going to. For a start, it was really nice to have a single-parent story with an older child. Jarque played her part so well and essentially carried the story. But what made this work so well, and by extension what made the film good, was the relationship between father and daughter. Jarque and White worked so well and had such believable parent-and-child chemistry. Even without the ice princess angle, these two were so interesting to watch by themselves. Yes this is essentially another 'snowman coming to life' movie, but something about it feels really original. Whether it's because it was a woman coming ...

  It's Blogmas Day 17! Culinary school teacher Alicia (Tia Mowry) decides to compete in an annual Christmas cooking competition with the help of mentor Logan (Luke Humphrey). Did I pick this movie just because the title reminded me of The Bear? Maybe, but it was also a food one that focused on cooking rather than baking, so that was another fun thing. I liked this movie. Yes there are a good few movies this year based on baking or cooking, but this is the only one that's based on a competition, which makes things interesting. The main couple are really sweet together. Their chemistry isn't as strong as it could be by any means, but there's definitely something budding there, and it's really nice to watch. That being said, it was definitely pushing the enemies-to-lovers- trope a bit too hard, given that the characters mildly disliking each other for maybe 15 minutes doesn't really make them enemies. I liked that the characters, particularly Alicia, had a life out...

It's Blogmas Day 16! Two strangers (Olivia Holt and Connor Swindells) team up to rob a London department store on Christmas Eve. This was one of the ones I was most looking forward to this year. Not only does Netflix have an interesting slate of new movies, but this one had a really unique premise, so I wanted to see how everything played out. Unfortunately, it wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. But as I've said, I was impressed that the premise was so unique, and the film itself is definitely one of the most original movies of Blogmas. The actors are great and they have good chemistry, but their chemistry didn't work for what they were. They were supposed to be strangers, but they didn't seem unfamiliar at all. It felt like they'd known each other for years, so I never quite believed that these were strangers who were forced to work together. Speaking of which, the romance doesn't really develop as the film progresses, it just appears after a while, almos...

  It's Blogmas Day 15! A newscaster's (B. J. Britt) life changes when he meets a single mother (Tamera Mowry-Housley) and her son ( Elijah-Justus Lewis) . I didn't know much about this one before picking it, but the little I got from the description interested me enough to add it to the list. I really liked this film. For a start, it finally gave me a single-parent story where the kid is not only the best part of the film, but a really good actor. He made the film as original and entertaining as it was. But I liked all the characters. They were fun, well-written and the actors worked well together. It took a while for the chemistry to develop between the love interests, but because I was already invested in the story from early on, I didn't mind having to wait before I could really buy these two as a couple. That being said, this allowed the chemistry to build slowly, which really made you believe that these two were falling in love. It was worth the wait to make things...

  It's Blogmas Day 14!  A ranch owner (Melissa Joan Hart) feels a connection with a single father (Duane Henry) and his children when they come to stay at her ranch for Christmas. This was a late addition to Blogmas, and I didn't know before watching this that I've now included two Melissa Joan Hart movies this Blogmas, so that's interesting! Unfortunately this wasn't one of the best ones. I knew instantly, pretty much as soon as I put the movie on, that I just wouldn't connect to these characters and I was right. There was just a disconnect, and it didn't change the whole way through. It's obvious that the filmmakers were trying to be original, and I appreciate that, but this setting just didn't work for a Christmas film. Maybe it's because no one made an effort to actually make it feel like Christmas. This could have taken place over the course of a week in July and it wouldn't have made a difference. There was never any chemistry between t...