Bria Lou Reviews

  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 ...

  The story of Robert Grainier (Joel Edgerton), a logger whose life takes many unexpected turns in the early 20th century. I'd heard great things about this film, but it's probably not one that I would have chosen to watch had it not been for the awards buzz. The premise was vague and not particularly intriguing. That being said, I'm glad I watched it because I did like it. I went in blind, which I'd definitely recommend, as the less you know about a story like this, the easier it is to become truly invested. It takes a while to get used to the characters and their world. For me the voiceover that's throughout the entire film took me the most time to get on board with. There was great chemistry between the actors. This was most obvious between Edgerton and Felicity Jones, who played Gladys, but it's present in all the relationships Grainier makes. Speaking of the actors, while I'm not surprised that the film received the nominations it got, I was surprised t...

  Scientist Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) brings a mysterious creature (Jacob Elordi) to life and is forced to deal with the dangerous consequences. It took me way too long to finally see this film - but I'm glad I got to watch it and form an opinion before it got Oscar nominations! I liked this film, though I knew I probably would. I don't have a huge amount of experience with Frankenstein beyond reading the book and seeing an adaptation or two, but I've always loved the story, so I'm here for all the future adaptations! The cast is definitely one of the most interesting things about this version. They're all fantastic in their roles. The visuals were amazing - it's such a beautiful film to watch and was clearly crafted with care and intention. I liked that it took the time to flesh everything out. We really get to know this world before we even start to get into the main crux of the plot. Seeing the creation of the creature was interesting, but this is whe...

  In 1943, lyricist Lorenz Hart (Ethan Hawke) spends an evening self-reflecting after his former collaborator Richard Rodgers (Andrew Scott) opens a hit musical without him. The only reason this was on my radar, other than being a huge Andrew Scott fan, is that Ethan Hawke has been brought up in award conversation multiple times, and has now received an Oscar nomination. This film was okay - the performances were the best thing about it. Hawke completely embodies this character. We really get a true sense of who Hart is, and even when the performance becomes more outlandish, it never feels inauthentic. Though it's a shame that Hawke is the only one being spoken about - all of the cast are amazing in their roles and they all deserve their flowers. Hart is an odd character. Putting us in the bar with him lets us get to know him, but his insufferable nature has the effect of making the film feel like a slog to get through. And this was a note I made at 22 minutes in so you can guess h...

A down-on-her-luck mother (Rose Byrne) tries to navigate her daughter's (Delaney Quinn) mysterious illness. As we start getting into me watching movies just for the awards buzz, this is firmly in that category. The premise of the film didn’t appeal to me that much, so I’m firmly here for Rose Byrne’s performance. Unfortunately I didn’t love this film. It had a really slow start. The premise doesn’t give too much away so you’re essentially going in with not much information, and it takes a long time to get to grips with the story. The cast is so interesting – I’d never expect Conan O’Brien or A$AP Rocky to be in a story like this. But they didn’t pull me out at all, I really believed both of their characters. But of course Byrne is the standout. While I didn’t love the film, I think her performance was as good as everyone has said. She completely carried the movie and did it with ease. The story isn’t particularly engaging due to the way it is being told. It didn’t pull me in or mak...

  When washed-up, paranoid ex-revolutionary Bob's (Leonardo DiCaprio) daughter Willa (Chase Infiniti) is captured, he has to connect with the person he once was to find her. I was looking forward to seeing this film just based on how interesting the premise was, but all of the incredibly positive reviews made me want to see it that much more! I absolutely loved this film. And I knew from the first 30 minutes that I would. I had a weird experience in that, due to cinema issues, I ended up seeing the first 30 minutes of the film twice. And that really helped me because the first time around I was so enthralled and engaged with the first 30 minutes that I really really wanted to see the rest and was really disappointed that I couldn't. So the second time around, I knew enough of what was coming that I would watch the beginning as a re-watch and really get into the details of it, and then I finally got to see the rest, which at that point I was desperate for. I wouldn't want to...

  30 years after an accident derailed his racing career, Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) returns to racing alongside rookie hotshot Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris). This film wasn't really on my radar until I saw that it was being favourably compared to Ford v Ferrari, which I like more each time I rewatch it. I liked this film. All of the characters had great introductions - we get to know and care about them really quickly, which lasts for the entirety of the film. You don't have to be particularly interested in driving, racing or F1 to enjoy the film, because the characters are enjoyable in themselves. But I would guess that any lovers of F1 will really love this story. Saying that, if you're not into the driving, then those scenes might not be of any interest to you - but the more character-driven scenes are entertaining enough on their own. Pitt and Idris have great chemistry. The entire cast is great (the film also stars Kerry Condon and Javier Bardem amongst a great supporting ...

Twin brothers Smoke and Stack (Michael B. Jordan) return to their Mississippi hometown to discover that an unexpected evil awaits them. As a huge fan of Ryan Coogler's movies, Michael B. Jordan as an actor, and specifically the films they've made together, I was excited for this film from the second it was announced. So the fact that it is getting rave reviews and critical acclaim just made me want to see it all the more. I absolutely loved this film - the hype is real! I loved it so much I went to see it in the cinema twice in two days. It's that good! The first thing I have to write about, because for me it's one of the most important things about the movie, the sound. The sound, the music and the score are all incredible. There's no way to make it clear in writing how amazing it is or how important it is to the story, you really have to see it. But the use of sound is so cleverly done, so powerful. It changes the tone of every scene, it changes how you as the aud...