Bria Lou Reviews

 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...