Bria Lou Reviews

  I was looking forward to this one. I must have watched it years ago but I had no memory of it before this re-watch so it was like watching it for the first time, which was fun. I liked this film. The first thing I have to say about it is that it popularised found footage movies, and that alone makes it iconic. Even though it wasn't the first, it paved the way for so many amazing modern movies, some of which are favourites of mine, such as most of the Paranormal Activity franchise. One of the best things about the film is the commitment to realism. The actors were playing versions of themselves and their dialogue was improvised, which makes everything about the film feel really real. You believe everything that's happening because so much effort was put into making it authentic. The dialogue is one of the best things about the film. The actors do a really great job with their characters - not only do we get to know them despite only seeing them in this context, but we feel lik...

  The story of Robert Grainier (Joel Edgerton), a logger whose life takes many unexpected turns in the early 20th century. I'd heard great things about this film, but it's probably not one that I would have chosen to watch had it not been for the awards buzz. The premise was vague and not particularly intriguing. That being said, I'm glad I watched it because I did like it. I went in blind, which I'd definitely recommend, as the less you know about a story like this, the easier it is to become truly invested. It takes a while to get used to the characters and their world. For me the voiceover that's throughout the entire film took me the most time to get on board with. There was great chemistry between the actors. This was most obvious between Edgerton and Felicity Jones, who played Gladys, but it's present in all the relationships Grainier makes. Speaking of the actors, while I'm not surprised that the film received the nominations it got, I was surprised t...

  I've seen this film twice and hated it both times, so here's hoping third time's the charm! Unfortunately I still didn't like it. It had been so many years since I'd seen the film that I didn't really remember much, which was good because it almost felt like coming to it fresh. One thing I absolutely didn't remember was how, for want of a better word, annoying the character of Sam is. Noah Wiseman plays him really well, but I never felt as much sympathy for the mother, Amelia (played be Essie Davis) as I did on this re-watch. That being said, there's not one likeable character, or one that you can really connect with. And in the case of the mother it's completely clear why, but whatever the case, it makes it harder to engage with the story. Every time an ad came on, I was happy to just have a break from this family. I couldn't wait for the film to be over! Not much happens during the film, which was probably why I didn't like it the first t...

  A year after the incident at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, Abby's (Piper Rubio) desire to reconnect with her animatronic friends sets into a motion a series of events that put her, Mike (Josh Hutcherson) and Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) in grave danger. I liked the first film. It wasn't a masterpiece, but I had a good time with it. So even though I was apprehensive about this one due to the bad reviews, I did want to see it. And I'm glad I did because I had a great time with this one too! I thought the opening scene was really well done, and honestly scarier than the entirety of the first movie. I liked the characters more this time around - now that we know who they are and what their pasts were, we're able to just enjoy the film rather than trying to figure them out, which makes way for more fun and scares. There were some great additions to the cast, though all of them were completely underused. The kills and scares were really fun. I really loved seeing Skeet Ulrich and...

  Poppy (Emily Bader) and Alex (Tom Blyth) are best friends who go on vacation together every summer. But after two years of not speaking, Poppy has one chance to connect with Alex again, before they lose their friendship for good. I've owned the book this film is based on for years but only read it a few weeks before the film came out. I was interested enough in the book to look forward to the film, but I didn't love the story as much as I wanted to. I enjoyed the movie as much as I thought I probably would. I have to admit, I was sceptical about the casting based on the book, but I really loved these two together! The chemistry was good and the actors work well together. Their friendship was lovely to watch and the best thing about the film. The romance was okay, but it only really worked because of how strong their friendship was. And actually, their chemistry worked much better for a friendship than a romance. As with all adaptations, there were fundamental changes from the...

  Every Summer, best friends and total opposites Poppy and Alex go on holiday together - until two years ago when everything fell apart. Now Poppy has one chance to make things right. One last vacation to fix what broke between them. But can she fix them before her feelings get in the way? I’ve had this book for ages now. I’ve opened it a few times but never went past the first page. So when I heard that a movie had been made and was coming out in January, I suddenly really wanted to read it. I liked this book, but it definitely felt on the more average side of romance novels. I really liked the introduction to the main characters. We fall in love with them and their relationship almost instantly. One thing that took me out of the story was that the timeline felt really odd. The characters were using extremely modern slang during a meeting that took place 11 years ago. And while that isn’t an extremely long time ago, things evolve and it definitely felt like that conversation would...

  This was one I hadn't heard of, but looking at the description and some of the reviews, it seemed like 'classic ghost story' horror, so I was excited to see it. I really liked this movie. The characters are great. They start off so endearing and likeable that you're immediately interested in them and willing to become invested in their story. It takes the time to really let the audience become connected to these people. It doesn't start with horrors or scares, but instead slowly draws you into their world, to get to know them, before the scares really start.  And even then, the horror aspects of the film begin in a really subtle way, which is great because we're really experiencing everything at the same time as our main character. We have no idea where it's going, or what the secrets are, and neither does she. It's easy to see how films like this influence modern horror. There are so many things here, not only in the horror elements but also in the ac...

  Scientist Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) brings a mysterious creature (Jacob Elordi) to life and is forced to deal with the dangerous consequences. It took me way too long to finally see this film - but I'm glad I got to watch it and form an opinion before it got Oscar nominations! I liked this film, though I knew I probably would. I don't have a huge amount of experience with Frankenstein beyond reading the book and seeing an adaptation or two, but I've always loved the story, so I'm here for all the future adaptations! The cast is definitely one of the most interesting things about this version. They're all fantastic in their roles. The visuals were amazing - it's such a beautiful film to watch and was clearly crafted with care and intention. I liked that it took the time to flesh everything out. We really get to know this world before we even start to get into the main crux of the plot. Seeing the creation of the creature was interesting, but this is whe...

  After finding millions of dollars during a home raid, a group of Miami police detectives begin to question their loyalties to each other, as they discover that they can't all be trusted. As the biggest fan of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, both individually and as a collective, I'm always really excited to see what their upcoming projects are, so when this one finally came out I was seated! I liked this film - it was essentially what I thought it was going to be, which was great. I loved that it got right into the action. It didn't spend time explaining the characters and their relationships, and instead allowed us to learn this through their interactions. Even at the beginning when you don't really understand what's happening, it's still entertaining and engaging. So when you do start to get what's happening, you're already locked in. The whole cast are great. Of course I have to specifically mention Damon and Affleck who have always worked so well toget...

  I hadn't heard of this one, so it was fun to go in completely blind. I have mixed feelings about the film. It starts from a confusing place, particularly going in blind. It's fun to try and work out what's going on before things really get going. It took me longer to get into than I would have liked. The story starts slowly, and even when things start happening, they happen slowly. Which isn't to say that I lost interest in the film, but I wasn't as invested in the characters as I would have liked to be. At 30 minutes in it's been drip-feeding the audience ideas without exploring anything too deeply or drawing any conclusions. While this does a good job of sparking intrigue in the rest of the film, it doesn't engage the viewer as much as it needs to. There are a lot of characters that only have a few minutes of screen time each and it can be hard to keep them all straight. The cast is great, particularly Art Hindle, who easily evokes sympathy from the audi...

  In the 1980's, Bruce Springsteen (Jeremy Allen White) creates his album 'Nebraska' on the cusp of global stardom. This wasn't one I was particularly excited for. I heard a lot about it before it came out, but once it was actually released all the talk died down and no one seemed to have anything to say about it. And as someone who isn't particularly a Springsteen fan, I only really watched it for Jeremy Allen White. I didn't love this film. The first thing I noted was that none of the performances felt particularly authentic. It took me a while to believe that these actors were who they were pretending to be, which started the film on a sour note. The story felt more like a collection of scenes than anything with a coherent plot. There were some aspects of the story that were fun to watch, the beginning of the romance (if you can call it that) for example. But those small moments didn't help with the overall story. None of the characters, including Springs...

  After hiring a car from a mysterious company, strangers David (Colin Farrell) and Sarah (Margot Robbie) relive some of the most important moments of their pasts together. It took me way too long to watch this movie. The premise looked interesting, but it came out quietly and then no one really spoke about it. I think it got lost coming out in a year of so many big amazing movies, but I'm glad I've finally seen it! I liked this film. I like the characters together. Farrell and Robbie work well together and had chemistry, though I don't know if the chemistry they have is particularly romantic. With not much to go on, the audience are also just along for the ride, and I think this works well. I don't think it would have been as interesting if we knew more than they did. That being said, when they started going back in time I was struggling to understand the point of the story, and having seen it and sat with it, I still don't know if it's exactly what the filmmak...

I saw the 2022 remake of this film a couple of years ago. So even though I hadn't seen this film, I didn't go into it blind, which would have been really interesting. I liked this film. I'm actually sad that I saw the remake before seeing this one, not least because it made the plot feel really obvious, almost like I would have guessed it right away if I didn't already know. The actors are great. The boys who play Lukas and Elias (Lukas and Elias Schwarz) are amazing. I have no idea how old they were when they made the film but they did a great job, and Susanne Wuest who played their mother was also brilliant. The audience doesn't really get much to go on while watching this film. We don't know anything about these people, we don't get to understand their lives prior to these events and we don't understand who they are until the end of the film. Ordinarily, this would be a bad thing, but I think it works so well here. We're forced into this strange s...

  In 1943, lyricist Lorenz Hart (Ethan Hawke) spends an evening self-reflecting after his former collaborator Richard Rodgers (Andrew Scott) opens a hit musical without him. The only reason this was on my radar, other than being a huge Andrew Scott fan, is that Ethan Hawke has been brought up in award conversation multiple times, and has now received an Oscar nomination. This film was okay - the performances were the best thing about it. Hawke completely embodies this character. We really get a true sense of who Hart is, and even when the performance becomes more outlandish, it never feels inauthentic. Though it's a shame that Hawke is the only one being spoken about - all of the cast are amazing in their roles and they all deserve their flowers. Hart is an odd character. Putting us in the bar with him lets us get to know him, but his insufferable nature has the effect of making the film feel like a slog to get through. And this was a note I made at 22 minutes in so you can guess h...

  I had only heard of this movie in passing, but never really looked into what it was about, so I was looking forward to checking it out. I absolutely loved this film! One of the first things I noticed about the film was that it uses, and doesn't use, dialogue in a really effective way. For instance, the art gallery scene is incredible, and I can't remember if there was more than a couple of lines of dialogue spoken by anyone. It highlights how amazing the score is and also forces you to really focus on what's happening. Speaking of the score, it just got better and better. The music used was picked perfectly and really worked well to create the tone of whatever scene it was used in. The characters speak only when they have to, and this is really the mark of great direction that the audience is hanging on to the character's every word even when no words are spoken. The story is really engaging - I found myself way too invested in these characters and what would happen t...

  A woman (Sydney Sweeney) looking for a fresh start becomes a housemaid for a wealthy couple. I'm not going to lie, I was sceptical about this film. I hadn't heard the best things about the author's books (though I've never read any), and I hadn't heard good things about the acting. But I liked the plot so I tried to go in with an open mind. This is a weird one - it was undeniably stupid, and most of the bad things said about it are completely true, but I still had a good time! It was really entertaining! Even when things got really stupid and unrealistic, it never lost my attention for a second. But it did get unrealistic. There were so many plot holes that the whole first act of the film doesn't really make any sense. There are way too many questions to ask about all of the characters at this point, because none of their actions make sense. The comments on the acting are accurate, Seyfried definitely carried the film. But as much as things are said about Swee...