Bria Lou Reviews

When a botched bank robbery turns into a hostage situation, a group of anxious people discover connections that change their lives forever. Last year I read 'A Man Called Ove' by Backman and absolutely loved it. I wasn't on the lookout for another of his books but when I saw this and read the premise, I had to pick it up. And again, I absolutely loved this book! For a start, I loved the way the story was told. The way the narrator spoke directly to the reader is really fun and gets you invested in the story really quickly because you feel like you're involved. The best thing about the story is the characters. This is entirely a character-driven story and the characters are amazing. They were really fleshed-out, 3 dimensional real people, and they were written so well. The unexpected connections between them is what makes the story. You make assumptions and think you know things, and then everything you thought completely changes and takes the story to another level. For...

  Next up was a highly anticipated re-watch! This film was a staple in my house growing up. I can't remember the first time I saw it because I've seen it so many times! The thing that makes this film work above all else is absolutely without a doubt the chemistry between Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. They work so well together, they play off of each other amazingly and they're the reason the movie has become a franchise. But adding Téa Leoni into the mix just made everything so much more fun. Not only do we get to see the characters interacting together, but we get to see them interacting with, and from the point of view of, a third party. And in addition to that, taking the characters out of the equation, the film is hilarious. It's one of my favourite comedies because everything is written and acted so well. Every comedic moment hits exactly as it's supposed to, and there are pieces of dialogue that easily work their way into your everyday phrases because of how...

Mickey (Robert Pattinson), a disposable member of a spaceship crew is put through a system of regeneration. Each time he dies, a new version of him is created with his memories intact. This film was talked about a lot before it came out, people were really excited to see it and there was a lot of hype. I'm a big fan of Bong Joon Ho movies, so while the premise didn't grab me, I was looking forward to it. And I ended up being quite disappointed, unfortunately. The premise was really unique, but I was very curious about how there would be enough in there to fill out a 2hr 20 min movie, especially after seeing the trailer and not really understanding what it would be about. It took me a little while to get into. I couldn't immediately connect with either the world or the characters. That being said, the performances in the film were great. Particularly Pattinson, who plays all versions of Mickey really well. It was more outlandish than I expected, and that's not a bad thin...

  I'd never heard of this movie before I saw it on the list, but it had a really interesting premise so I was intrigued to see what it was like. To be honest I'm not the biggest fan of Jason Statham movies in general, particularly the ones that follow similar plot lines, so I can't say I was particularly looking forward to watching this one. But as I said, the premise was interesting. I was surprised to see how short the film was, but after starting it, the length made complete sense. It moves really quickly, and everything that happens, happens at a rapid pace. And this was so interesting because pace and adrenaline are important aspects of the story. Everything feels like it's rushing and there's no time to relax because that's exactly how the character feels. For me the downfall of the film came really early on, when nothing was done to make me care about this character.  Not only do we know next to nothing about him as the film continues, but he's also r...

After experiencing the same recurring nightmare night after night, college student Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) goes back home to break the cycle of death that is plaguing her family. This is looking to be an amazing year for film, and this film was one of my most highly anticipated watches. I love the Final Destination series, and even rewatch the less good movies over and over again because I can't get enough of the concept, so when I heard that a sixth movie was in development, I was seated! I absolutely loved this film. For a start, this was one of the best beginning disasters they've ever done. Not only is it undoubtedly terrifying, but as you watch, you really feel like you're there with the characters. The thing with sequels after a long period of time is that you run the risk of either doing the same thing that's always been done, or you take too many leaps and create something that's so far from the original it doesn't even seem like the same series. B...

  I've seen and loved the last four Mission: Impossible movies (and am very excited for the Final Reckoning!), but due to casting changes I was never that interested in seeing the first three. But having said that, I'm glad this one was on the bucket list, because it's really interesting to see how everything began. I didn't expect the film to feel so in sync with the others, particularly because there's only a couple of common characters between them. But this felt no different than any other MI movie, and I loved that. The first 30 minutes of the film took me completely by surprise, so from there I was locked in! The story itself is interesting and engaging, but the best thing about it is the character of Ethan Hunt. We get to know Ethan really well, and because he's such a likeable character, not only are we invested in his story, but we're actively rooting for him. And this is one of the main reasons why the film has become a huge franchise - because we...

  When Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) is invited to be the maid of honor at ex-best friend Emily's (Blake Lively) wedding, she is convinced that Emily is planning revenge. But when she arrives in Italy, she has no idea of the nefarious plot she has stumbled into. I liked the first 'Simple Favor' movie a lot, so I was looking forward to seeing this one, even though I didn't have high hopes that it would be as good as the first one. This one was...weird. I didn't hate it, there were actually some parts I really liked. But overall it wasn't nearly as good as the first one. But I did like that the cast from the first movie came back, and either played their characters the way we loved them the first time around, or improved on them. Henry Golding in particular completely improved on his character and made him so much more fun and interesting than he was in the first film. It was also great to be introduced to new characters - there were some really fun additions...

  Next up was a re-watch. I watched this film for the first time a couple of years ago and really liked it, so I was happy (and also surprised) to see it was on the bucket list for this year. Thankfully I liked it as much this time as I did the first time, maybe even more. The main reason I watched the film in the first place, other than being a fan of Scorsese, was the amazing cast! The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Kyle Chandler, Jon Bernthal, Jon Favreau, Cristin Milioti and Matthew McConaughey and they all do an amazing job with their characters. And because of how good the performances are, everything feels so real and authentic. You really believe everything is really happening because you believe that the actors are their characters. I can't get over the performances. DiCaprio is at his best in this movie and the fact that it was Robbie's breakout role is insane! But another reason the film is so believable and seems authentic is because of the...

Violet's (Meghann Fahy) enjoyable first date becomes a nightmare when she receives an anonymous message threatening her young son if she doesn't kill her date by the end of the night. I had really low expectations for this film. Just from the trailer, I could kind of get a sense of the tone and what angle the filmmakers were going for, and I could just tell that it would be silly, but it also had the potential to be quite fun. While the film was enjoyable, I was right about it being silly. The plot itself was somewhat interesting, and a good film could have been made out of it. But unfortunately, the final angle the filmmakers decided to go with didn't work. For a start, it was way too unrealistic. You can kind of get on board in the beginning, but the further it goes, the less things make sense. And by the time we're ramping up towards the ending it's just laughable. In keeping with this, there were also way too many plot holes. When you understand the motivations ...

  I think one of my biggest surprises when I saw this year's bucket list was that it had a bunch of superhero movies on it, including 3 MCU movies! I'm such a huge fan of the MCU, and the bucket list picked 3 great movies, so what better to start with than the OG? I love this movie. It wasn't my introduction to the MCU, but it was maybe the third MCU film I saw, and seeing this after watching a team-up movie was a great way to learn more about the characters. As far as origin stories in superhero worlds go, this is one of the best, both inside and outside of the MCU. Being able to take a lesser-known character like Tony Stark, create a complete character arc with great development, and use that arc to fuel a franchise that currently has over 30 movies is a feat that hasn't yet been replicated to this level of success. And there's a lot of reasons why this movie works so well as a standalone, before taking the rest of the franchise into account. The main reason for t...

Assassin accountant Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) teams up with his estranged brother Brax (Jon Bernthal) when an old acquaintance is murdered. I love the first movie so much, so as soon as I heard a second one was being developed I was already highly anticipating its release. I liked this film. It wasn't as good as the first one, but it takes a few really interesting turns that make it feel fresh and new. The plot isn't as tight as it was in the first film. Things were a bit messier this time around. The story, as entertaining as it was, went a bit all over the place, particularly towards the beginning when everything is still being established. It was great to learn more about the characters we met in the first film. Getting to know Brax and Marybeth (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) after being introduced to them in the first film was really interesting, and a good route for the film to go down. I really liked the main 'villian', Anaïs (Daniella Pineda), but the character was...

  I watched this film for the first time years ago, and while my feelings on it were quite neutral, I was glad (and surprised) to see it on the bucket list. The first time I watched this, I think it was one of the first 'Sherlock Holmes' based movies/shows I'd seen, so I didn't have anything to compare it to. This time around I watched it having already watched and loved the 'Sherlock' TV show (and also realising that 'Psych' is loosely based on the same concept), so I was definitely watching it with a more critical eye. The best thing about any Sherlock Holmes story is the relationship between Sherlock and Watson, and this film does that really well. There's great chemistry between the actors and it's really enjoyable to watch them interact. My main problem with the film is that I didn't love the mystery it focused on. I didn't really care what the outcome would be, so because of that, there was a lot of elements of the film that I didn...

  When searching for a mole suspected of betraying the nation, intelligence agent George (Michael Fassbender) discovers that one of the suspects is his wife. I heard such great things about this film so I was really excited to see it, especially because of how amazing the cast was! Other than Fassbender the film stars Cate Blanchett, Naomie Harris, Rege-Jean Page, Marisa Abela, Tom Burke and Pierce Brosnan, and they were all amazing in their roles! Plus they gave us a really interesting mix of characters. They're all written really well and add so much to the story. On the surface the premise isn't completely original, but the story is told in a really original way. The tension begins and builds perfectly. It's really well written, particularly the dialogue. Not even necessarily the words the characters say, but the way they speak gives us a really interesting insight into who each of them really are. 90 minutes is the perfect length for a film like this. Not only do we lea...