Bria Lou Reviews

It's crazy that it's already the end of March. This post always comes around so quickly! Favourite Film (1): All of Us Strangers I've got a review of this film written and ready to upload so I won't say too much about it here, but I absolutely loved it! I've seen it maybe three times now and get something different from it each time. It's definitely worth a watch. Favourite Film (2): Poor Things I reviewed this film HERE , and ranked it the highest of all the Oscar Best Picture nominees, so of course it had to be on this list. I didn't fully know what it was about before going in, so it was a pleasant, weird surprise! Favourite Film (3): The Holdovers This is another Oscar nominee that I reviewed HERE , and while I think that Poor Things is probably the better film, this is the one that moved me the most. I loved it, and I think it holds up regardless of the Oscar hype. Favourite TV Show (1): Fleabag I don't know why it took me so long to watch this show

  I'm not the most well-versed with Tarantino films, and have only really become a fan in the last year or so, so I had never seen this movie and had only heard of it a couple of times. I actually wasn't intending to watch this next, but of the collection of films I had time for, I read the plot for this one and instantly loved it, so I had to watch it as soon as possible! I loved this film. I really didn't expect to love it as much as I did, and I really want to watch it again. The writing is amazing, and probably the best thing about the film. The way these characters were created, the way their stories came together and diverged, the connections they had with each other, it was just a great watch. It surprised my how connected I felt to some of these characters, and how quickly those connections were formed.  One of the main reasons for this is because the acting was also phenomenal. Although most of the actors in the film are very well known and revered, I hadn't re

Diana Nyad (Annette Bening), a 64-year-old swimmer attempts to become the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida. I have to admit, I probably never would have watched this film if the lead actresses weren't nominated for Oscars for their performances. The premise doesn't necessarily appeal to me. As expected, the film is exactly what it says, so you'll probably already know if it's for you or not. While the story is inspiring, it isn't the most interesting thing to watch. I have wondered whether it suits the movie format at all, because there is so much about the film that didn't work for me. And as much as I understand why stories about personal triumph and never giving up are important to tell, there were probably better ways to do it. I'm not sure if Diana Nyad ever wrote a book, but that would probably have been a more interesting way to tell the story. It seems to me that to really enjoy this film, you either have to have an interest in Nyad herself,

  I love the Jurassic Park movies! And when I say that, I include the Jurassic World movies (at least the first two!). I'm a huge fan of creature features, which I guess this falls into, so it was always going to be an easy decision to watch Jurassic Park again. Even without taking into account the way this film helped to form the landscape of sci-fi that we know today, the fact that the franchise has lasted as long as it has is just a testament to how impactful the first film was. But as well as being impactful, it's actually first and foremost just a good film. It's fun, it's thrilling, it's entertaining, it has great characters, and it has become iconic. While this first one may not be my personal favourite of all the Jurassic movies, I really like it and always have a great time with it. This is one that I'm sure most people have seen, so my recommendation doesn't really mean anything when the movie is this iconic. But if you haven't seen it, it'

After meeting and spending the night of graduation together, Emma (Ambika Mod) and Dexter (Leo Woodall) go their separate ways. But as the years go by, they are unable to let each other go. I didn't know whether I was going to watch this show or not. I watched the original movie, so I knew exactly what I was getting into, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to get into it again! But after hearing the rave reviews, I wanted to give it a try. And I'm so glad I did because I loved this show! I loved it from the first episode. The actors have great chemistry, which is just one of the reasons the show works as well as it does. It's so nice to watch them together. Even in the scenes where they aren't physically together, it's really interesting to see the way their friendship is kept alive. While I liked the movie version, a TV show is the perfect format for this story. It's really nice to actually see the time it takes for two people to fall in love, and having each ep

I was so happy to see this one on the Bucket List! I've seen this film maybe 4 or 5 times now and I love it more each time I watch it. Not only is it such a successful psychological thriller, but there's so much to love about it. From the performances, the writing, the iconic ending, everything! It's a great first-time watch because you have no idea where it's going or what you're getting. You just follow these characters, you're along for the ride, and you get so much more than you bargain for. For me, the best thing about the film was the characters and the way they were written and played. Of course, Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt are highly revered actors, and the way they breathe life into characters that could have easily become one-note stereotypes (the jaded older detective and the aggressive young rookie) is really interesting to watch. They make the film what it is. I've found while writing these Bucket List reviews (if you can call them reviews) tha

An art intern, Ana (Camila Mendes), is invited on a work trip to London, where she meets a man who mistakes her for her boss. I love a rom-com, so no matter the concept, I was looking forward to seeing this film. But that was helped by the fact that I really like Camila Mendes as an actress, and the plot was an interesting one. I really liked this movie. It's kind of what you'd expect it to be, so you probably already know if you'll like it or not. The opening scene was great. The dialogue was fun, interesting, authentic, and I really wanted the dialogue to stay like this the whole way through.  For the most part the dialogue did stay this interesting, but I would have liked to see much more of the characters that were introduced at the beginning. While the story is very predictable, it's also a fun watch. I found I was more interested in Ana's job as an art intern, and the way that she wanted to progress in that world, than I was in her relationship. Because yes, t

Next up for the Bucket List was a re-watch that I hadn't seen in a really long time. This was the first movie of the Bucket List that I felt like I needed to watch again as soon as the credits rolled.  I don't know what it was about watching it this time around, but I didn't like it as much as I did the first time. I didn't really connect with the story, and it wasn't that enjoyable to watch. Because I already knew and liked the story, this didn't taint my view of it too much, and I expect it was just a case of not really being in the mood to watch it. But in general the film is great. It won a good few Academy Awards, the most deserving of which was for Anthony Hopkins, who was completely amazing in the role and stole every scene he was in. Though Jodie Foster was also excellent. It's a great film and it's entirely deserving of its 'classic' status. I just wish I had enjoyed it more this time around.

Activist Bayard Rustin (Colman Domingo) tries to change the course of the Civil Rights movement by organising the March on Washington, fighting both racism and homophobia along the way . I didn't know anything about this story before the film, which is a shame as Rustin should definitely be a more well-known figure when it comes to learning about the Civil Rights movement. But without understating the importance of the real-life man who did these things, the film itself falls a bit flat. The opening scene is really powerful, and seems to be giving a small taste of what's to come. I think if the film had been able to keep the tone it set here, it would have been great. The writing, for the most part, was great. When looking at the story as a whole, it is powerful, but while watching it, there was so many moments where it felt like we were just watching a combination of great movies that we've already seen multiple times. It wasn't as compelling as it needed to be. I foun

  This was another recent re-watch. I watched this movie for the first time last year and loved it, so I was really happy it was on the Bucket List so I could watch it again. Although funnily enough, my first ever experience of it was a Family Guy parody, in the same episode where they parodied 'The Shawshank Redemption', so that episode definitely had an impact on me! But anyway, I was really excited to see the film again. And for some reason, I loved it even more the second time than the first time. Everything was just perfect. The acting, the story, absolutely everything.  Even though I already knew everything that happened, I was glued to the screen and completely fell in love with the characters all over again. I understand why a lot of the movies on the Bucket List are considered classics, but so far this is the most deserving of that title to me (with Shawshank a very close second). There's not much more to say about this - it's a perfect film. If you haven't

When Bea gets a job working for NASA she is thrilled - even if that means working with her grad school nemesis, Levi. But when her equipment starts going missing, and no one listens to her, she finds that Levi starts to become an ally and, even more shockingly, a friend. But is friendship the only thing on Levi's mind? I bought this book last year after reading and absolutely loving 'The Love Hypothesis' by the same author. I liked it so much I wanted to check if it was a fluke, or if I just love this author. Thankfully it was not a fluke, because I loved this book too! At first I felt like I was reading about the characters from TLH, and that was a bit jarring (it was almost like reading fanfiction about them), but it was also nice because it allowed me to have a level of comfort with the characters from the very beginning. But eventually this feeling went away and this story became its own thing entirely, while being equally enjoyable. It was very predictable, but that

  Next up was Groundhog Day! This was a weird one for me. I only saw this for the first time last year. I was unwell, up at 3am with nothing to watch, so I put this on and enjoyed it. I didn't love it, but I had a really good time with it and knew that I'd probably watch it again with or without the Bucket List. This time around though, for some reason, I liked it a lot less. I don't know what it was. The concept was fine (and I generally tend to like time-loop movies), but I just couldn't gel with the characters - particularly Phil, who I hated this time around. I don't know what it was! And while I should probably give it another watch, I don't know if my feelings are going to change again. And that being said, I do like the story, and the first time I watched it I did like the characters (although I never really had a soft spot for Phil). I can kind of understand why it's on the Bucket List (though as I've said before, the amount of romance movies on

  When a family moves into a new house, they soon find that the house's history has led to hidden terrors in the depths of the backyard swimming pool. I'll always give Blumhouse movies a chance, especially because so many of them are the reason why I love horror as much as I do. So even though I wasn't 100% sold on the premise, I definitely wanted to see it. This film was what I thought it would be, in that it wasn't good at all. It never makes the audience care about the characters - it got to the point where the only character that I could actively root for was the evil pool! Because the pool was the only thing about the film that wasn't bland. None of the characters were interesting, and the events of the film weren't particularly interesting either. One of the reasons the characters didn't work was because there wasn't a lot of effort put into their backstories. So when the film tried to make us care about them, it was too late. While the film is und

I'm so happy to be back writing Oscars posts! I took a break for the last few years, mainly due to the pandemic, and then found it hard to get back in the groove. But this year I decided to get back into it and I'm so glad! So as I've done previously, I'll be going through some of the categories (only the ones where I've seen most (if not all) of the nominated movies) and going through what I think will win, what I hope will win, and why. And as usual, I'll start by ranking the Best Picture nominees according to my personal preference. Click each nominee to be taken to my review of the film. 10. Barbie 9. The Zone of Interest 8. Maestro 7. Oppenheimer 6. American Fiction 5. Anatomy of a Fall 4. Past Lives 3. Killers of the Flower Moon 2. The Holdovers 1. Poor Things This year has been a bit of a weird one in that I gave so many of these movies the same, or very similar, scores, so many of these rankings are interchangeable. It's definitely been a great year

Next up for the Bucket List was Alien. This was technically a re-watch, but I'd only seen it once a really long time ago and remembered nothing, so it was more like a first-time watch. I've mentioned before that sci-fi isn't really my genre of choice, so I wasn't particularly looking forward to this one (though I did want to watch it). Unfortunately I found it just okay, and it might be worth re-watching in the future. I liked the film once everything actually got going - the acting was great, the idea was great and the design of the alien was iconic. But I found the first hour of the film quite slow with not much happening, and because of that, it didn't really hold my interest. That being said, I did enjoy the overall film, and completely recognise how important it has been for the sci-fi genre (and for final girls - Ripley is one of the originals!). I might watch some of the sequels, but for this as a standalone, it wasn't my favourite.  

  Best friends PJ (Rachel Sennott) and Josie (Ayo Edebiri) start a high school fight club to meet cheerleaders and lose their virginities. I'd heard so much about this film before seeing it. I missed it at the cinema but thankfully it's now on Amazon Prime Video so I could catch it! I had really high expectations and couldn't wait to see it. Unfortunately, I didn't like it as much as I wanted to, or as much as I thought I would. Though I did really like the premise. It took me a while to connect with the characters. And while I did end up connecting with some of them, there were others that I found really unlikeable the whole way through. Though that said, the supporting characters are underrated and generally funnier than the two main characters. There are a few genuinely funny moments, but I didn't find the overall film as funny as I wanted to, and I think that humour is really necessary for a story like this. So that was probably one of the reasons I didn't l

  This one was a re-watch. I watched it in the run-up to the 2017 Oscars and it's probably one of the only movies on the Bucket List that I've actually reviewed . I liked it at the time, and wrote a positive review, but throughout the years I have loved so many of the Oscar nominees for that year more than this, and I think that has clouded my judgement.  So much so that I was actually surprised how positive my review was when I re-read it a couple of days ago. I had no idea I liked it that much because my memories of it aren't great. But having said that, I only saw it once, so I was looking forward to re-watching it. I have no idea if I enjoyed it more this time around, but I did enjoy it. I remembered all of the key points, so it just felt like another re-watch. But having said that, I didn't love the film. And honestly, from that Oscar best picture race, there are 5 movies that I like more, and would rather re-watch than this, and it isn't even close. I love the

The commandant of Auschwitz tries to build a life for himself and his family while living next to the Concentration Camp. This was the last film I needed to watch to have seen all of this years Best Picture nominees. I didn't really know what the film was about, but knew I'd be watching it regardless. I didn't like the film as much as I wanted to. However, what I did love was the use of sound. It is so important! Being able to hear the sounds of the camp as the backdrop to this family's domestic life is really powerful. Everything that happens, and everything about what the film is saying, is done really subtly. The performances, the writing, the sound, nothing is too much or 'in your face'. And the subtle nuances are what makes it work. The horrific nature of what is happening hits you multiple times as the film continues, which is both a good thing and a bad thing. It's good because, as I've mentioned, the film is subtle. However, for me this didn'

Another Bucket List re-watch! I've definitely seen this a good few times throughout my life, from when I was really young. So I was familiar with it, even if I couldn't remember everything that happened. I've never loved this film. I've always thought it was just fine, and I didn't mind it being on the list, but it wasn't one I was really looking forward to watching again. Like so many others that I've written about, I enjoyed this more while re-watching it this time, than I have while watching it any other time before. And that's not to say I loved it this time, because I still thought it was just fine, but I think I had a bit more appreciation for it this time. It was also the first time I've seen it since the director, John Singleton, died, so that might be why I appreciated it more too. But I also was able to really recognise all of the amazing actors in it that have gone on to have amazing careers. I had no idea the film starred so many people I

Frustrated with the way Black entertainment relies on harmful stereotypes and tropes, novelist Monk (Jeffrey Wright) writes an outlandish book to prove his point. But when the book unexpectedly becomes a best-seller, Monk has to navigate the publishing world while keeping his involvement a secret. I didn't know much about this film and only had it on my to-watch list because it was nominated for Best Picture. But after watching the trailer, I couldn't wait to see it! I really liked this movie! It's a satire, so I expected it to be funny, but I didn't expect it to be that funny! It was such a pleasant watching experience for the humour alone. The film has a lot to say about the presence of Black people in the media, and it's a good point to make. Black media can often seem like it's entirely trauma because it's rare for films about Black joy or happiness to make it to the forefront. The film lays this out in an interesting way and really makes you think about