Bria Lou Reviews

  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...

  It's Blogmas Day 13! When a wreath maker (Kristin Wollett) gets injured at the busiest time of year for her business, her neighbour (Casey Elliott) steps in to help out. I picked this one because it had a really sweet premise. I'd been craving Christmas movies where the love interests actually spent time together and get the chance to build something realistic, and this definitely had that opportunity. But while the film was fine, the chemistry didn't build in the way I wanted it to. I did like the characters individually, though. For whatever reason they had slightly gender-bent vibes in terms of masculine vs feminine energy and I loved that, they didn't fall into the usual Christmas movie stereotypes. I actually think the plot is great. As mentioned, it's an idea that allows the characters to really become familiar with each other, and the audience can really get to know them.  Unfortunately, it was wasted because we don't find out much about the characters....

  It's Blogmas Day 12! Three famous brothers, Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas, rush to get home from touring in time for Christmas. Every year, I always try to pick a special film for day 12, and this year I was finding it really difficult. So when I found out that this film was coming out the choice was clear! I was a huge fan of the Jonas Brothers when I was young, so of course I had to include their Christmas movie in Blogmas, and this was the perfect day for it! This film was exactly what I wanted it to be. I loved the opening, it set a tone for what the film would be, and it was a stroke of genius for it to focus on Will Ferrell, who was brilliant in the role. I loved that they kept everything so real, not only are they all playing themselves, but they've included their real families which was great. As someone who used to watch 'Married to Jonas' and became such a huge fan of Kevin's wife Danielle, it was so nice to see her! There were so many unexpected actors in s...

It's Blogmas Day 11! Chef Josie (Kim Shaw) goes back to her hometown to help out with her mother's B&B, just as a food critic (Clayton James) arrives to review their food. This was a last-minute addition, and I mainly picked it because it seemed different to a lot of the other movies I've picked, including having no mention of Christmas! Unfortunately different doesn't always mean better! The best thing about the film was the relationship between the mother and daughter. Shaw and Cynthia Gibb had great chemistry and created a very believable relationship that I wanted to see more of. But in contrast with this, Josie and the love interest (James) didn't have much chemistry at all. He didn't have much of a personality outside of her and it showed in their interactions. They were quite bland on the whole. I actually preferred the character's chemistry with her ex - at least they had an established friendship and could have fun with each other. It was a sham...

It's Blogmas Day 10! When Molly (Alvina August) and Josh (Eion Bailey) keep running into each other while completing Christmas activities, they start to feel a spark. But when Molly becomes smitten with a mysterious customer of her bakery, she has to make a choice. This was a fun but extremely random pick. I didn't really know the premise beyond the main character being a baker so it was interesting to get to explore it. I liked this one, which was great because the plot was a surprise, but it definitely had its flaws. I loved the meet-cute! The characters had instant chemistry and I was rooting for them from their first scene together. But with this, one of the downfalls of the film is that they don't spend a lot of time together. In a way that makes things fun because you're anticipating their next meeting, but they don't get a chance to build a relationship the way they need to to make the audience feel like they'd work in the real world. I wanted to see more...

  It's Blogmas Day 9! An aspiring Broadway actress (Jessica Lowndes) and a jingle writer (Paul Greene) team up to perform in their town's Christmas production. This was a last-minute pick. It was between two movies with the same main actress, and I chose this one solely because it was music-based, and I love a musical Christmas movie! The chemistry between the main actors was great. Even without really getting to know them, you want them to be together. But that being said, it would have been nice to get to know them better. The order of events felt odd, particularly around the 'will they/won't they' aspect of the relationship. They were in one place, then took giant steps back for no reason, then moved forward and back and it became tiring. It was great that they already knew they liked each other, but that meant that the filmmakers had to do a lot of work to keep them apart until the end, and it didn't feel realistic. The pacing also wasn't great, the stor...

  It's Blogmas Day 8! Sparks fly when exes Sonny (Tatyana Ali) and Kip (Jesse Kove) team up to help their friends get engaged at Christmas. I've seen a few Tatyana Ali Christmas movies over the years, so she's definitely becoming a staple for me, and was entirely the reason that I picked this film. Unfortunately, it wasn't one of the best I've picked this year. It took a really long time to get into the story. If I hadn't read the description, I wouldn't have had any idea it was about a proposal for a really long time. And even after the proposal was mentioned, this never seemed like the main focus. The characters are all 2-dimensional and honestly boring. None of them stood out, none of them were fun to watch, they weren't written particularly well and there was nothing about them that I connected to or was particularly interested in. And speaking of the characters, the chemistry between Sonny and Kip just didn't work for me. They didn't work pa...

  It's Blogmas Day 7! When a girl writes a letter to Santa for her mother to find love, the letter goes viral and the whole town becomes invested in 'Santa Mom', including a reporter covering the story. I have no idea why the title of this movie was changed from 'Peppermint and Postcards' to 'It's a Christmas Thing', as the original is definitely the better name even if it has little to do with the story. I love when the films you're anticipating the least end up being some of the best! I added this film to the Blogmas list mostly to fill spaces and use different platforms, so I am so happy that I ended up liking it as much as I did. I instantly took a liking to all of the characters, and I love the way the relationship between the exes was handled. Everything is mature and amicable and just so nice to watch, particularly as this isn't a film about exes getting back together, they're just genuinely friends, which is so rare for a romance movi...

  It's Blogmas Day 6! A historian (Jill Wagner) goes back to her hometown of Aurora to get inspiration for her next project and experience the Northern Lights. I'm not really sure why I chose this one outside of availability, but I was looking forward to it for the Northern Lights alone! This wasn't the best Christmas film. From almost the first moment, I knew that this film would be completely forgettable. Whether it was actually good was a separate thing, but I knew that it wasn't one that would stay with me. That being said, the setting was great. So many of the locations had a really sweet, cosy feel, and it was definitely Christmassy in terms of the decorations! But that being said, this is as generic as it gets. It's a good one to have on in the background - the story is really simple and easy to follow, so you can put this one while doing some Christmassy cooking or baking (or scrolling on your phone) and it won't make much of a difference. The characters...