Bria Lou Reviews

  The life and legacy of pop superstar Michael Jackson (Jaafar Jackson). I have to preface this review by saying that I wouldn't consider myself a fan of Michael Jackson's life or music, and I probably wouldn't have seen this if I hadn't watched it with actual fans, so my thoughts on it will be different than if I was a big fan. As it stands, I thought the film was fine. I didn't love it, but I wouldn't say it was bad either. Though some of that is definitely tied to not being a fan. If you're not interested in Michael's history then the story itself isn't that interesting. That being said, it does a good job of giving you an insight into the struggles he went through, and definitely draws sympathy. The story became somewhat incoherent when it moved from childhood to adulthood, but individually both periods of the character's life had merit and made for interesting individual stories. The thing that lets the story down is the writing. This would ...

  I'd never heard of this film, but it had a really interesting (if vague) premise, so I was looking forward to seeing it. I liked this film. It gets into the action right away - we're meeting characters, we're seeing murders, at 12 minutes in we're already invested. I really liked the development of the relationship between the main character and the journalist. It's always interesting in horror movies when we get relationship development, whether romantic or platonic, in the midst of some horrific event. Sometimes these relationships are the most compelling when they're not the main focus of the story. It has a really interesting score and soundtrack. It almost feels out of place with the tone of the film, but for some reason, it works. Not only is it memorable, but it underscores the scenes in a way that really makes you pay attention. While looking up some of the background of the film, I saw that there was a significant difference between the original Itali...

  When Jill's (Zoey Deutch) voicemails to her late sister are redirected to a stranger (Nick Robinson), he begins to fall in love with her by listening to her stories. I really loved the premise of this film, so I was looking forward to seeing it. Thankfully, I loved the movie! Considering we only got to see the sisters together for the first 10 minutes of the film, it does a really good job of building a believable friendship and connection that carries through the entire movie. If anything, it would have been nice to see more of them together. In terms of being a rom-com, it's more romantic than comedic, but it definitely has fun rom-com vibes throughout. Deutch and Robinson have great chemistry and you want to root for them. That being said, it's really hard to tell this story without having the male character come across as slightly creepy for the decisions he makes. It's a shame because he's a really likeable character, but even if you can rationalise some of h...

  This is a re-watch that I was really looking forward to. I love this movie and have seen it multiple times so I was really glad to see it on the list. And as always, I loved it on this re-watch too. It hits you over the head from the very beginning. That opening scene is so brutal, and comes so out of nowhere that you have no idea where the film is going.  It's nice to get to know the characters, but we don't get to know them enough to easily differentiate between them. Before they get into the cave, a lot of them are interchangeable, and in the cave with low light, it can get way too easy to get people mixed up. We get into the cave quickly, and once we do, the anticipation never really lets up. Even on a first time blind watch, with no idea what could happen, the atmosphere alone is so tense and unsettling that you're just waiting for something bad to happen. A lot of the dialogue feels inauthentic or hits the ear wrong, but because the plot is so strong it doesn't ...

  A novelist (Adam Scott) staying in a remote inn in Ireland is forced to confront his dark past after hearing tales of a witch haunting the honeymoon suite. This has been such a great year for original horror. Whether the movies are good or not, I've been really enjoying getting to see them all! Unfortunately, I didn't love the movie. That being said, the main character, Ohm Bauman, is a great example of how to create an unlikeable character that you still want to follow and stay interested in.  The beginning feels very odd and discombobulated. It's quite hard to get into or take seriously, and then it starts to feel like a fever dream. The scenes feel disconnected from each other in a way that makes it hard to stay interested in. Though this does add to our impression of the character's state of mind. It also adds to the horror atmosphere. The horrors are overt from the very beginning, which feels original. They come thick and fast, and they don't really let up. T...

  This was a re-watch that I was looking forward to. I'd only seen the film once before this watch, so many years ago that I couldn't remember it, and even the 2021 sequel doesn't stick in my mind, so I felt like I was going into this one fresh-ish. I really like this movie. Not enough horror movies make use of urban legends, and it's such an easy topic to create a scary movie out of. This one does a really good job of creating a myth around a figure, and actually making it scary, before we really get into the story. It moves slowly, but you become so invested in the story that you don't even notice, or really care. You become so wrapped up in the legend of Candyman, and the writing does a really great job of creating it in a way that gives the whole story a tense and creepy undertone without us having to see him, or even knowing if the legend is really true. But they also do a great job of making the story powerful. The scene where we are told the story of what hap...