Bria Lou Reviews

  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...