James or Not 

With such a raw look at the 15th century, it seems that Disney was really trying to step outside of its element with this motion picture. 

What seems like such a simple story of survival is so much more than that—it’s a story of family, and of war, and of destruction. It’s painful to watch, but not in a bad way. It makes its audience reflect on their own actions, and in how they are complicit in the sufferings of others as the adults in this film are. Grave of the Fireflies does not hold back from being heartbreaking, and it shouldn’t. It tells a message that needs to be heard decades after the war, and a story that cannot be forgotten by history.

Years before Mexican director, Alfonso Cuaron, was winning Academy Awards for movies like Gravity (2013) and Roma(2018), he directed a small, intimate film about two best friends who decide to embark on an improvised road trip to spend time with an older, attractive woman who miraculously agrees to go with them. Y tu Mamá También is a deep journey into the raw sexuality and friendship of the young protagonists, as well as a subtle social and political commentary on Mexico at the time.

In this remake of the 1993 film of the same name, The Wedding Banquet follows the life of two queer couples as they struggle with life-changing decisions.

The horror franchise that had moviegoers watching behind their fingers but on the edge of their seats. The Conjuring quartet released its final installment this year, and it did not disappoint.