The saying goes that in romance, opposites attract. But for Katia and Maurice Krafft, this was not the case. Born in nearly the same place, at the same time, with the same passion, it seemed like the two could only have been meant for each other. Both loved volcanoes more than anything else, deciding as individuals and as a married couple to dedicate their lives to them. Katia and Maurice worked as volcanologists, scientists that study active volcanoes, and they documented much of their explorations within films, books, photographs, and more. It is this documentation that has been compiled to create the documentary Fire of Love (2022). Though the couple died in 1991 during the volcanic eruption of Mount Unzen doing what they loved, their memory lives on through this beautifully stitched-together archival footage. Fire of Love celebrates all levels of life and love, from the big - volcanoes and the earth they emerge from - to the small - humans and their unique bonds.

Netflix has done it again with the second season of Young Royals. The show many believed would be about out-of-touch rich teens getting away with rich teen things ended up having much more depth. The first season was able to craft a beautiful storyline centered around Wilhelm, the eventual Crown Prince of Sweden, and Simon, a fellow student at his boarding school. When a second season was confirmed, many of its fans were worried about the show’s ability to follow up the masterpiece that is the first season. Despite this, I think that they do a beautiful job of following up the arcs that they set up in the first season and expand beautifully on what it is like to feel like a teen.

Despite being an Orlando native, this year was the first time I attended Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights. Many are familiar with the elaborate haunted houses and scare zones that run throughout the nights of October annually. This year, there were ten haunted houses with a variety of scary yet exciting themes. My most anticipated house was The Weeknd’s After Hours Nightmare, based on the storyline of his red suit character from his eponymous album. Unfortunately, not even my love for The Weeknd could prevent the trauma I experienced. From long lines to werewolves jumping out of the darkness, my time at Halloween Horror Nights showed me that I am easy to frighten and am not, in fact, “good with scary stuff.”

Glee first aired in 2009 and had its final episode in 2015, but it still remains a pop culture fixture. There is something about the show, as well as its characters and cast, that continues to resonate with audiences even today. Sure, Glee is not perfect. There are simply too many lines of dialogue, plot points, and song choices that would not fly in 2022. But it was, and remains, a cultural reset. No TV show at the time was anything like Glee, and there hasn’t been anything like it since. Something about a show choir full of high school misfits dealing with serious issues (and some not-so-serious teenage drama), all while singing musical hits from decades ago to now, really speaks to viewers of all ages and backgrounds.

For the anime community, Mob Psycho 100 season 3 was one of the most anticipated drops of the 2022 fall season. The show is a modern anime classic, quickly moving up the ranks to be rated one of the best animes of all time. Created by manga author One, who also created One-Punch Man, the series focuses on a middle-schooler with psychic powers trying to navigate life and his emotions. It is a mix of genres, with some episodes having a slice-of-life feel while others are more action-based. The show has a hilarious cast of characters (including a con artist mentor, an evil spirit best friend, and an enemy-turned-friend with a ridiculously large wig) while still having a mature narrative. And on top of that, the animation done by Studio Bones is unlike anything you’ve ever seen. Every frame is hand-drawn (it is the only show currently on air able to claim that), and different mediums and styles are used interchangeably to create something so visually unique.

As a giant entertainment company that prides itself on creating “safe” and “family-friendly” content that can suit everyone, Disney the company and Disney as a conglomerate of artists are as different as night and day.  When the news arose that the Disney executives gave money in support of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, I thought, “well, that’s not surprising” since Disney as a company has never been in support of explicit LGBTQ+ representation (and the irrelevant side character’s in the articles titled “X Disney character is gay” do not count), yet so much of Disney's recent media is shrouded in queer allegory and have fostered so much talent from members of the LGBT community. So, how could Disney betray the community whose members contributed to the company’s success?

Remakes, live actions, and book adaptations seem to be the only current renditions of originality circulating within the film industry. Arguably, book adaptations are the most regurgitated platform of resources, making it less respectable to book lovers like I. Whether the film should adhere to the needs of book fanatics seeking verbatims or enter a new realm of novel-based ideas seems to be the question at hand. Childhood films like the Harry Potter series and The Chronicles of Narnia franchise hold influential stances on bibliophiles and the alike, which tend to cloud the current perception of book adaptations. Mind my saying, but they merely prance around the denotation without much-needed refinement. Some films that attempt both ends of audience demands but miss the mark by a single hair are American Psycho, Pride and Prejudice (the Keira Knightly version, obviously), and The Shining.

Being scared is its own kind of fun, and over the decades, many children’s animated television shows understood this. What separates comedic cartoons from most horror animation is monsters. For the purpose of this list, monsters are nonhuman creatures meant to scare the characters and ideally the audience, even if the scare is played off for laughs. Animated monsters are all horrifying in their own world, and as of late, in our world too.

David Kessler rampages down the streets in Piccadilly Circus, London, as a frightening werewolf. What if it was Paris, France, instead? Great Britain was very desperate to take credit for successful movies, but it started to cause implications with filming.

Do you ever sit down to watch a classic Disney movie you loved as a child only to find out it is not nearly as great as you remembered? Do the jokes no longer hit now that you’re above the age of thirteen? Do the life lessons now seem like common sense to you? Luckily, you will experience none of those kinds of feelings or somewhat upsetting sensations if you choose to rewatch Disney’s The Emperor’s New Groove.