The Final End - The Conjuring: Last Rites
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.

It’s a hard life for young Leo: his family just doesn’t understand why he’s a vegetarian lion. His solitude ends when he meets Avoria, the elephant queen, who has recently given birth to two calves with braided tails. Mysteriously widowed, Avoria is courted by dapper Zanco. By a series of misfortunes she is separated from her young. Leo steps in to take care of them: thus begins his search for legendary Milk Lake, during which he experiences all sorts of incredible adventures. This fable with a happy ending handles the themes of diversity and racism with engaging originality.
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.
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.
Now that we're officially halfway through Hispanic Heritage Month, let's look ahead at movies featuring Hispanic & Latine representation through the rest of 2021.
'The Lovebirds' is one of those movies that has a very direct appeal when it comes to its comedy. There isn’t a singular style, so much as tidbits of various ones here and there.
"Godzilla vs. Kong" is all style and very little substance. It's also the most fun I've had in months.
The gentle, emotional nuances of Evan’s coming-of-age story would have been so beneficial to have incorporated into the life of a POC character. Showing a Black, Asian or Latino young man that is afforded the space to be vulnerable, flawed and sensitive while driving a compelling and widely-loved narrative would have been a game changer.