The Conjuring franchise and its spin-offs have been a success at the box office since 2013.  Now with the third Annabelle hitting the big screen, it’s time ask the question: is this the end for the franchise?  We already know there is going to be a third Conjuring film coming out next year, but beyond that, I’m guessing the studio heads are watching to see how this film fares with the summer competition.  I wasn’t a fan of the first Annabelle. The second one was better but still it seemed to pale in comparison to The Conjuring films, so to be honest, my expectations were not very high for this new installment.  As it turns out, this ended up being my favorite of the spin-off movies, and I have no shame admitting how much fun I had with this one.

"You know kids lose their toys every day. Sometimes they get put in the wrong box, and that box gets taken away."

In 1995 Pixar didn't just put themselves on the computer animated feature film map. They completely created a new map. Yes, there were works before Toy Story, but that was the film that changed everything in an entire industry. It also began a push-and-pull relationship between the independent studio and its distribution partner, Walt Disney Studios. It was a disagreement over Toy Story sequels that found Pixar shopping for a new partner for their future output, and before you know it Disney wrote a check, and Pixar was a part of Disney. The small studio's chief, John Lassiter, ended up in charge of the Mouse House animation department, and those disputed Toy Story sequels became box office gold and examples of the right way to continue a film franchise. Now, a lot's changed in that 25 year interval.

"You are a diversity hire. The important part is that you're here now."

Mindy Kaling knows a little bit about diversity hiring in the television industry and attempts to spread her wings a bit wider by staring in Late Night, an "inside baseball" look at the workings of a late-night talk show television program. Kaling not only stars in the independent film but was the writer as well. She certainly knows a thing or two about life behind the scenes on a television show. Her The Mindy Project has provided her with firsthand experience on that score. The film pulls in heavy hitters like Emma Thompson and John Lithgow, so there is no lack of star power to surround the young actress/writer in her first real chance at a prominent role in a feature film. So why does Late Night feel somewhat unfocused and incomplete? The answer might just lie at the feet of Mindy Kaling.

It was the summer of 1997 when audiences were first introduced to the Men in Black.  Will Smith was on the fast track to being a box office star, and Tommy Lee Jones, well, he’s always been awesome to watch on the screen, and he seemed to be having fun in this popcorn blockbuster.  It was no surprise that the film became a hit. As for the sequels that followed, for me they just never could touch the fun energy that the first one had.  I always loved the potential the first film had, as it gave us a world filled with an array of aliens and worlds the Men in Black could venture too, but instead the films that followed played it safe, and really, that’s a shame.  Now over twenty years later and in the fourth installment, we get a soft reboot/sequel that gives us some fresh new faces and new aliens for them to pursue, but is it too little to late, or is this the jolt the franchise needed?