Bria Lou Reviews

  After months of dating, doctor Naveen (Karan Soni) finally brings his white photographer boyfriend Jay (Jonathan Groff) home to meet his traditional East Indian family. From the second I saw the trailer for this film I was really excited to watch it! It seemed like something I would really love. And thankfully, I did! I loved the film almost from the second it started. The tone, the dialogue, it immediately opened in a place where I felt both connected to the characters and engaged in their journey from the first time seeing them on screen. And that goes for the supporting characters as well as the main characters. Soni and Groff have the type of palpable chemistry that you really can't fake. From the second they meet you believe in their relationship and you're truly invested in seeing how they end up. Plus the actors just worked so well together - they were both absolutely perfect in these roles. And just a side note on the actors, I loved that they let Jonathan Groff sing!...

  Next up was a first-time watch. I already mentioned in a previous post that I'm not usually a huge fan of Jason Statham movies, so I wasn't particularly excited to see this one. But it was only 90 minutes and had an interesting premise so I was definitely intrigued. I do also tend to like driving movies, and this one starts off really well in that respect. The first scene is great, and whether or not it is an inspiration to films like Baby Driver and Drive, it definitely feels familiar. It didn't move as quickly as I expected it to, especially considering it's only 90 minutes. But the reason I think it works well above everything else is the characters and their chemistry. Even though we know practically nothing about them, we become invested in their lives. That being said, their chemistry would have been a lot stronger if it was given more time to develop. But it still worked. And for me, that was the only thing to really get invested in. The dialogue didn't fee...

  Siblings Andy (Billy Barratt) and Piper (Sora Wong) find themselves in danger when they move in with a new foster mother (Sally Hawkins). I had heard amazing things about this film before seeing it, but I was apprehensive. It was made by the same people who made a film I didn't love, and before that film came out, it was praised in a similar way, so I didn't think I would really like this one. Thankfully the praise was completely right because this film is really good! The characters all had great introductions. You get to know the siblings and their relationship really quickly, and you're immediately connected with them when the story gets going and the foster mother is introduced. You feel the same things they feel. It's engaging from the first second to when the credits roll. You're locked in the whole way through, especially when you don't quite know where things are going. There are a lot of really original and unique ideas throughout the film. In particu...

  Next up was a first-time watch. I'd heard of this film, and I've seen the more recent adaptation, but I've never really had a desire to watch this. Not only is the story not a particularly interesting one to me, but I'd never heard great things. So I was kind of surprised to see it on the bucket list at all. I didn't love this film. It starts and builds quite slowly, which isn't great given the film's runtime of around 90 minutes.  There were some really interesting fights, action scenes and stunts. These in themselves were actually more interesting than the main mystery of the story. I would have much preferred 90 minutes of Lara Croft beating people up! Because despite the name of the film, there wasn't an abundance of tomb raiding, and the tomb raiding that did occur was a bit boring. The saving grace of this film is the cast, who are all great. Angelina Jolie embodies this character really well and brings an authenticity to this fantastical story. ...

  Bel has always lived in the shadow of her mother Rachel's disappearance. When her family agrees to take part in a true crime documentary about the incident, it brings up feelings that Bel has been avoiding for years - she just wants it to end. But when the impossible happens, and Rachel reappears, Bel finds that the mystery is even more complicated than ever. Why doesn't Rachel's story make sense? Where has she been for 16 years? Why did she really come back? Can Bel uncover the truth behind Rachel's disappearance before it's too late? I tend to really like Holly Jackson's books, so this was one that I was looking forward to, especially because the premise was quite interesting. I liked this book, but I definitely had a few problems with it too. From the beginning, the thing that drew me in was the characters. They were described really well, you could clearly see them, and it didn't take long to get to know them. I don't have a problem with reading bo...

  Laura, a timid actress (Melissa Barrera) finds her voice after making a connection with the monster who lives in her closet (Tommy Dewey). I didn't know what this film was really about before watching it, but I'm a big fan of Melissa Barrera so watching it was a no-brainer. I really loved this film. I thought I would probably like it, but I didn't expect to love it as much as I did. At first I couldn't really work out what the tone was. It was funnier than I expected, but also played completely realistically, up to a point. It was a strange mix of things, you really have to be along for the ride when you put it on. It was also more fun and a lot sweeter than I thought it would be. The characters had great chemistry, particularly Barrera and Dewey who worked so well together. Dewey in particular completely stole the movie for me, I loved seeing this character and became really invested in him. This definitely starts to become a general rom-com. And while I can understa...

  I saw this film around the time it first came out and loved it... and then I saw the similarly themed Rocketman and adored that so much that I didn't have any love left over for BoRhap, so I haven't watched it since I first saw it. That being said, it being on the bucket list is the perfect excuse to watch it again (though Rocketman also deserves to be on a bucket list). That being said, I did love this again on re-watch. I think I loved it so much because I was familiar enough with the music to really enjoy that side of things, but not familiar enough with the band that I already knew their story. So I could be really interested in both things at once and really become engrossed in the story. All of the actors are great, particularly the other band members (played by Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy and Joe Mazzello), but Rami Malek is especially amazing in the role of Freddie. Not only do you love him, but you feel like you really know him. The creation of the song Bohemian Rhapsody, ...