Bria Lou Reviews

When Linda (Rachel McAdams) and her boss Bradley (Dylan O'Brien) become stranded on a deserted island after a plane crash, they have to overcome their differences and work together to make it out alive. I couldn't really guess what the tone of the film would be based on the description alone, other than knowing it was a horror comedy, so I definitely tried to go in with an open mind. Unfortunately I didn't love this film. For a start, as I've mentioned the tone, I really couldn't work it out. It felt like the characters and the world were two entirely separate entities that were forced together even though they didn't really fit. I would have liked the office scenes to be extended, and the plane crashing scenes to be shorter. I felt like I really wanted to know these characters before we got to the plane crash, or at the very least just Linda. That would have made it easier to connect with them and become invested in their futures. As it was, I didn't really...

  This is a re-watch that I was looking forward to - anything about Exorcisms and I'm all in, but especially when it's a classic like this! I grew up being told that this was one of the scariest movies to ever exist, so all I can remember is being so excited to see it for the first time and preparing to be really really scared. And as much as I liked the film, it's definitely not as scary for a modern audience as it was at the time it came out. But that doesn't lessen its quality. I liked that we really got to know the characters. The film takes the time to let us sit with these people, to understand them and essentially become a part of their lives before the horrors really start, which makes them that much more effective. The performances in this film are outstanding. Ellen Burstyn and Jason Miller are fantastic in the lead roles and Linda Blair is incredible as Regan. The film thrives based on these performances, particularly Blair. The visuals are great. The deterio...

  When Todd (Shane Jensen) and his dog Indy move homes, Indy begins to feel a presence haunting their new home. But can he save his owner before it's too late? I was sceptical about this film. It was marketed as a possession movie from the point of view of a dog, and that wasn't particularly interesting to me. Plus the mixed reviews suggested this would be something you either really like or hate, and I didn't know what camp I would be in. Thankfully, I'm in the loved it camp! I didn't know how the concept would work, but it just does. It's a really creative, original idea. Because there was such a strong gimmick in the dog being the main character, I thought the story or scares would suffer, but thankfully, this isn't the case. It's genuinely creepy, which is great! I loved the relationship between Indy and Todd, and it's one of the reasons why the film works. We care more about Todd because of how much Indy loves him, and when things start happenin...

 It's time again for my first favourites post of the year! Favourite Movie (1): Oscar Nominees The first two months of the year were spent trying to catch up on every Best Picture nominee before the Oscars in March, and after the Oscars, a couple of re-watches. So I saw almost all of these movies either again or for the first time between January and March, and it reminded me all over again how good last year was for movies!  Favourite Movie (2): Good Boy I'll be putting up a review of this one soon, but I really loved this film - I think moreso because I'd been told that it was bad. So I went in with low expectations and was really pleasantly surprised! It's definitely worth a watch, particularly for horror fans. Favourite Movie (3): Dressed to Kill I've been enjoying my horror-themed bucket list so much this year, and this was the first of the bucket list movies to get 5 stars, so it had to be included in this post. I wrote about it HERE   and I can't wait to ...

  This was a re-watch that I was looking forward to. I don't always love sci-fi, or sci-fi/horror, but this is an iconic film that I've seen a few times over the years and have grown to really like, so I was glad to have the opportunity to see it again. As always, I really liked this film. Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis are iconic in these roles. They play the characters perfectly, and the characters themselves are so interesting and complex that you're invested in both of them from really early on. I loved the pacing of this movie. Things take a really gradual turn, you're invested in every single stage, and the crazier things get, the more interested you are because of the slow build-up. I also love a creature feature, and I definitely think this falls into that category. The way that the 'creature' is designed, and the stages of transformation, are so fascinating to see, particularly from a design standpoint. But in addition to that, despite being rooted in sc...

New mother Grace (Jennifer Lawrence) is slowly slipping into madness, leaving her partner Jackson (Robert Pattinson) worried about their future. I was looking forward to this one. Not only did I want to see Lawrence and Pattinson together after becoming interested during their press tour, but going into post-natal depression in this way had the potential to not only be interesting, but ground-breaking. Unfortunately, I didn't love the movie. From the beginning, it reminded me of 'If I Had Legs I'd Kick You'. Not only due to being about motherhood, but also in the way it was so chaotic and jarring that it just wasn't an enjoyable watch. And that's not to say that it should be enjoyable, just that both films evoked the same feelings. The somewhat single location does a great job of creating isolation. The viewer almost feels suffocated just watching it. The actors did a good job of portraying these characters, but I couldn't tell if they worked well together, ...

  I hadn't heard of this film before I saw it on the list, but based on the name alone I was apprehensive about it. I tend to find zombie movies hit-or-miss, and usually on the miss side. But when I like them, I really love them, so I'm always willing to give them a chance. And this one didn't seem like the usual zombie movie anyway. In terms of classic movies that have inspired contemporary movies, the zombie genre seems to be one that goes in and out of fashion. They're also a theme that transcends genres - despite having a horror background, they've also featured prominently in comedies and dramas, which seems to be why they stay relevant in popular culture. I liked this film, but I fall more on the side of it being average/good than good/great. This is a left-field observation but I found the depiction of the Caribbean really interesting. Despite it being the 40s, and the majority of the cast being white, the setting definitely has a significant influence, both ...

An undercover police officer (Tom Blyth) assigned to lure and arrest gay men is torn when he develops a connection with one of his targets. I didn't know much about this film before watching it but it came out around the same time as a few Oscar nominees, so I decided to check it out. I liked this film. For a start, the scenario in itself is really interesting. There's a lot of ways that the story could go and a lot of different character types that would be fascinating to see in this world. I really like the main character, Lucas. He's easy to sympathise with, enjoyable to watch and you're rooting with him from the minute you see him on screen. But in addition to this, he's played so well by Blyth. All of the actors in this film are fantastic and their performances alone make this film worth seeing. The best thing about the film is Blyth's performance. I loved the mix of shots between traditional filming and found footage. It really made things feel personal an...

  I hadn't heard of this film before but the premise was a really interesting one - it looked like true body horror and I was really looking forward to seeing how it would be done. I really liked this film. The film begins from a really intriguing place. It holds enough back from the audience that we're immediately interested in who these people are, and teases things out in a way that makes this interest grow and grow as it continues. As I mentioned, I liked the premise, and the more I saw of it the more I liked. When it comes to horror, sci-fi based horror is something that's hit-or-miss for me, and I really liked it here. The film is a mix of genres and it works so well. The film uses sound and dialogue really carefully - there are multiple scenes with no dialogue, there are scenes when the score feel too upbeat to accompany the scene it's used with, there are scenes where you can barely hear a sound, and all of this really changes the overall tone of the film. You...

  Two couples experience strange occurrences after unknowingly booking a mansion at the same time. I heard really bad things about this movie. It was essentially snuck onto streaming with no promotion, the reviews were terrible and the premise was way too vague. But it was James McAvoy and another improvised movie, so I was down to see exactly how bad it could be. And as the reviews suggest, it is a bad one. This is the second James McAvoy improvised movie I've seen, and the first one wasn't great either but it did have a better plot than this one at least.  From the opening credits of the film I could already tell how slow it would be. And it remained this slow the entire way through. But the main issue with this is that it never captures your attention.  Despite being improvised. which you'd think would make the dialogue feel more authentic, it actually has the opposite effect. You can see the actors trying to come up with something to say next, you can hear the awkward...

I'd never heard of this film before, but after looking it up I really liked the premise, so I was looking forward to seeing it. I liked this film. Being that the film is a little over an hour, it's great to get into everything quickly. We know exactly what's going on, we have an idea of who these people are, and we're into the story right away. It does a great job of creating tension and genuine fear. We are scared for characters we don't even know. One of my favourite things about the film is that it's essentially a creature feature, which is a genre I love no matter what form it comes in. For a film made in the 40s, I thought the design of the leopard itself was great. If anything I just wanted to see a lot more of it. Because while the scenes with the leopard were great, there's quite a lot going on outside of it, and not all of it feels necessary to the story. It's so plot-driven that we don't need to know the characters to enjoy the story, so th...

  Maya is 23 and figuring out her life, Conor is 38 with everything figured out. When they become forced together to celebrate Maya's brother's destination wedding, Maya can't help but feel that a summer romance with Conor is exactly what she needs - even if it's problematic. I'd heard good things about this book, and as a Hazelwood fan it was always going to be on my list. That being said, because I didn't love the first book in the series, Not In Love, I was a bit sceptical. Unfortunately I didn't love this one either. That being said, I did like being back with the characters from the first book, particularly because we got to hear more from people who were only mentioned a few times in the first book. Though there were still some supporting characters that I wanted to hear more from. I also really liked the setting. The idea of taking the characters away from academia and work, and seeing a different side to them in a new environment was really interesti...

  It's Oscar day! I feel a lot more invested in this Oscar race than I have in previous years, which is really fun, but honestly I'll be glad when it's over, we know who's won, and twitter conversation can go back to ANYTHING else. Nevertheless, I'm excited to finally have a look at my predictions. As usual, I'll go through the categories where I've seen most or all of the nominees and highlight what I think will win, what I want to win, and why. But I'll start by ranking the Best Picture nominees: 10. Hamnet 9. F1 8. Marty Supreme 7. Bugonia 6. Frankenstein 5. Train Dreams 4. Sentimental Value 3. The Secret Agent 2. Sinners 1. One Battle After Another I scored a lot of these films around the 6-7.5 area and that feels accurate, as most of them felt just above average to me. Thankfully I really liked the majority of them, and the top two in particular are two of the best films I watched last year (unfortunately 'Weapons' wasn't nominated, or t...

  Two performers, Claire (Kate Hudson) and Mike (Hugh Jackman) form a Neil Diamond tribute band and soon begin to find connection in both the music, and each other. This isn't one that I thought I'd be writing an Oscar post about but there we are! I was looking forward to seeing this one, but the description was quite vague so I wasn't exactly sure what it was about. I liked this film more than I thought I would. For a start, Hudson and Jackman have great chemistry. They work really well with each other and it's fun to see them together. The singing sections of the film are great, even if you don't know the songs. But in the beginning, when it's just song after song after song, it feels like that's all there is to the film. So it's nice when the music slows down and we get to go deeper into the characters' lives. The first hour of the film felt too drawn out. It was more focused on the songs and didn't really let you get to know who these people ...

  In 1977, technology expert Armando (Wagner Moura) flees a troubled past and returns to his hometown of Recife, where he is forced to fight against corruption and political turmoil. And the last Best Picture nominee I needed to see! This was the film I knew the least about, and one of the only ones I could go into completely blind. The premise didn't give me as much as I wanted so I went in a bit apprehensive. I ended up really liking this movie, which I didn't expect! One of the first notes I wrote was that both the scenes and characters are given space to breathe. At 2hrs 40, this is one of the longer Best Picture nominees, but that time is used really well because the audience gets the chance to sit, breathe and live with these characters. And with that, the pacing it great, it doesn't feel nearly as long as it is. That being said, at the beginning it feels like characters are thrown at you every two minutes with no introductions, despite the clear importance they'r...

  Table Tennis player Marty Mauser ( Timothée Chalamet) is determined to be great - by any means necessary. This is the 9th of 10 Best Picture nominees I need to watch, and as much as the premise of this one didn't grab me, I'd heard great things about it, so I was looking forward to seeing it. For me, this film was average. There were things I liked about it, but overall it wasn't one of my favourite nominees. I found the story hard to get into. I was watching it with other people and they only made it maybe 10 minutes before checking out, and while I was interested enough to keep going, I can see why others would be put off. My initial impression of the premise was that table tennis is one of the most boring sports to make a movie about, but my mind was completely changed by seeing the way the games were shot. These scenes were so captivating and fun to watch. I found Marty to be a really frustrating character. As the viewer we want to root for him, but his arrogance make...

  After turning down a part in her estranged father's ( Stellan Skarsgård)  new movie, Nora (Renate Reinsve) and her sister Agnes ( Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) have to deal with their changing relationship with their father, and the famous American actress (Elle Fanning) he's hired for the role. I had heard great things about this movie before it was in the Oscar conversation, and those things were only exacerbated after it was nominated, so I was really looking forward to seeing it. I really liked this movie, but I didn't find it as profound as a lot of other people seemed to. Because I already knew the main plot, I was eager to get there, and so the beginning of the film felt like it was moving slowly. And while it didn't lose my interest, I did want it to get there a bit quicker. But in saying that, I was also happy to get the chance to really know these characters. Particularly for Nora as the main character, it was great to really sink deeply into her world. Though sp...

  When William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) and his wife Agnes (Jessie Buckley) lose their son Hamnet, Shakespeare is inspired to write his classic tragedy 'Hamlet'. This is one of the Best Picture nominees that I heard the most people talking about. Grief is always an interesting topic to explore, so I was looking forward to seeing this. I found the film quite average, which was so disappointing because I thought I'd love it. The actors are the best thing about the film. Mescal and Buckley work really well together, and all of the child actors were so great. All of the performances feel really authentic. That being said, most of the supporting cast were underutilised. As much as this is a story about one family, it would have been interesting to see more from the people around them. I found the pacing odd. Every scene, and by extension the entire movie, felt almost double the time it actually was, and some scenes felt particularly slow. And when it did decide to speed up, it ...

  When Vahid ( Vahid Mobasseri) runs into the man who he believes to be his former torturer, he decides to get revenge. But when the man ( Ebrahim Azizi) vehemently denies involvement in the torture, Vahid's confidence begins to falter. This was one of the Oscar-nominated movies that I was most intrigued about, and I ended up watching it before a lot of the Best Picture nominees because I thought that I'd probably like it more. And I was right, I liked this film more than a good few of the Best Picture nominees, and I would have loved to see it nominated in that category. It starts from a really great place. We're following a family, we don't know their place in the story, we don't know who they are, but we're put into their point of view. So when the story takes a turn, the viewer is left in an odd position where we don't really know where to place ourselves. And for me, this just made me feel a connection to the story that I probably wouldn't have othe...

  Two men (Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis) kidnap a CEO (Emma Stone) when they become convinced that she is an alien trying to destroy Earth. This one was on my radar before I knew the premise, purely based on it's Oscar potential. So I was really surprised to see what it was about. But because the premise is really interesting, and I liked 'Poor Things' by the same director (and starring Emma Stone) I was looking forward to seeing it. I had to let this film sit with me for a bit because I wasn't sure how I felt about it, it's a really odd mix. I've come to the conclusion that I did like it, but it wasn't on the top end of the Best Picture nominees for me. It had a slow start. Given we know the basic premise, we're looking forward to getting into it, but it takes way too long to actually start. And an argument could be made that it's good to get to know the characters first, but I don't think we get to know them that well. There were scenes that ...