*Note: I include short summaries of each film so you’ll know what I’m talking about. These summaries are taken from IMDb and don’t have any spoilers. However, if you want to see one of these movies and want to go into it completely blind, click away.

I watched a movie (almost) every single day of winter break. The TV show I watched, “The Rings of Power,” spanned a few days, which is why a few movies are missing. Let’s rank them! 

The list, which is in the chronological order I watched:

Jerry Maguire (1996); Wonka (2023); Dune: Part Two (2024) (rewatch); Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981); Deadpool and Wolverine (2024); Mad Max: Fury Road (2015); Wicked (2024); The Boy and the Heron (2023); Jurassic Park (1993); The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 1 (2022); Viva La Vida (2024) 

11. Deadpool and Wolverine 5/10

Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) is offered a place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe by the Time Variance Authority, but instead recruits a variant of Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to save his universe from extinction. aldkfjalsdkfjalksdjfalkdsjflaksdfjalksdjfasghalsdflakfjlksadjflaksjdflkasjdflaksd

I’m not quite sure why I watched this. After watching the abomination that was “Thor: Love and Thunder” (2022), I made a promise to myself that I would never watch another production from Marvel Studios. I decided to watch “Deadpool and Wolverine” only because it was so popular online and because people said it was funny, and I like funny movies. 

Let me make this clear: It’s funny. Sometimes. That’s the catch: sometimes. However, there’s an annoying and frankly immature joke every other line, which means that out of the 100+ jokes told during the movie, only about 10 of them were actually funny. So, the film’s selling point (its humor) did not sell me. 

Beyond that, the visuals are pretty nice, and I like the action sequences. That’s the only positive commentary I have. The villain is boring when she could’ve been incredible, Ryan Reynolds gets annoying after the 30-minute mark, I can’t say anything about Hugh Jackman because he barely did anything, and the plotline is very underwhelming. 

10. Wicked 6/10 

Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), a misunderstood young woman because of her green skin, and Galinda (Ariana Grande), a popular girl, become friends at Shiz University in the Land of Oz. After an encounter with the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their friendship reaches a crossroads.

Whenever someone mentions “Wicked,” I wonder if we’re living in the same timeline and watched the same movie. I have nothing much against it, but the vast majority of people act like it’s one of the best films to ever have been created. I think it’s fine, but it’s not that good. However, I’m in the vast minority here, so perhaps I just hate fun, and I don’t understand the movie. 

I will say, that I think it’s cast perfectly. Galinda was the highlight: I love how they portrayed her performative, self-serving character but also sometimes genuine “goodness.” It’s thoughtful and well-acted, and Galinda is very dimensional. Beyond that, “Wicked” is just very okay. Elphaba’s writing was very underwhelming (though very well-acted). I also couldn’t bring myself to care about any of the other characters or the main conflict, seeing as the movie doesn’t seem to care about them either. The real focus is Elphaba and Galinda and their relationship. And I don’t have much to say about that either. It’s a beautiful friendship for sure, and I like their dynamic, but the pacing and development are just so off that I can’t say it was done well.

9. Wonka 6.5/10

With dreams of opening a shop in a city renowned for its chocolate, a young and poor Willy Wonka (Timothée Chalamet) discovers that the industry is run by a cartel of greedy chocolatiers.

I don’t have much to say about “Wonka.” It’s a fun movie. There’s nothing wrong with it, but there’s also nothing that makes me particularly like it. It’s a little ridiculous at times, but honestly, that’s to be expected, and it kind of adds to the charm. Chalamet delivers a good performance, although it is a little bit awkward at times when he’s singing because “Wonka” is a musical and Chalamet is not a singer. Otherwise, it’s fun. The plot and acting are fine, but it’s forgettable and honestly not worth theater money (if you saw it in theaters). 

8. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power 6.5/10

Set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings,” “The Rings of Power” follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth.

I’ll preface this by saying that I am a huge Tolkien fan. I think “The Lord of the Rings” is one of the greatest pieces of fiction to ever grace this earth, and the movies are also my favorite movies of all time. That said, my honest personal opinion is that I did not like “Rings of Power” at all, but I’ll try to make this review as unbiased as possible.

To give you an example of what the show is like, our main character, Galadriel, is a headstrong, fiery warrior. In Tolkien’s original writing, she is an incredibly wise and powerful ruler with psychic abilities. Here, she is on the Opposite side of the spectrum. The writers basically made up their own character and called her Galadriel. And that’s also what they did for the rest of the series. They made up their own show and slapped a Lord of the Rings skin over it.

Once you get past this, however, “Rings of Power” is pretty fine. It was interesting enough, the acting is fine, and it’s stunning. It’s absolutely gorgeous, and you can see where all the budget went. There are a few pretty complicated plotlines snaking throughout, but the show balances them well. I hated the final twist in the last episode because you can tell it was just for shock value, and there was zero buildup to it. It also involves someone fooling Galadriel (remember, in the source material, she’s one of the wisest beings ever), which is just so ridiculous it takes all of the immersion out of the experience. 

7. Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Arc 7.5/10

In 1936, archaeologists and adventurers of the U.S. government hired Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis could obtain its extraordinary powers.

This is the first Indiana Jones — really a historical moment! I’m sure it was monumental when it was first released, as it’s the pioneering movie of that “treasure hunt” archetype. I’m also sure that it was an entertaining and solid movie, but it was not amazing. I enjoyed watching it, and it had some thrilling and fun sequences. The plot was basic but held up, and the acting was pretty good. There was no character development or conflict (or if there is, it’s a weak attempt), which knocked it down a few points for me, but other than that, it’s a good movie, nothing more, nothing less. 

6. Jerry Maguire 7.5/10

When a sports agent (Tom Cruise) has a moral epiphany and is fired for expressing it, he decides to put his new philosophy to the test as an independent agent with the only athlete (Cuba Gooding Jr.) who stays with him and his former colleague (Renée Zellweger).

A very feel-good, entertaining film. Tom Cruise, as the lead, and Cuba Gooding Jr., as the co-lead, have very good chemistry, and they’re hilarious. The plotline is robust, the acting is great, it’s funny, and it imparts a greater message about an exploitative industry, showing the importance of faith and resilience. Tom Cruise’s character (Jerry) is also surprisingly nuanced, which I liked a lot. It almost makes up for how cartoonish the main antagonist comes off as. 

The only thing I’d say is that it’s not super memorable, and the main relationship is kind of weird. There’s this power imbalance (He’s her boss, though come to think of it, you never see her actually working.), and there’s also an emotional imbalance, seeing as he kind of takes emotional advantage of her love. It all ends well, but it just put me the wrong way. I couldn’t enjoy the rest of the film as much as I wanted to. 

5. Jurassic Park 8/10

An industrialist invites some experts to visit his theme park of cloned dinosaurs. After a power failure, the creatures run loose, putting everyone’s lives, including his grandchildren’s, in danger.

This is an iconic movie, and I don’t know why I haven’t watched it earlier. It’s a great action movie, the dinosaurs are terrifying, the acting’s good and the characters are endearing. I actually jumped a few times, which never really happens (because I avoid horror like the plague!). The plot is logical for an action movie, and even the minor characters feel fleshed out and fun. 

That’s all I have to say. It’s a great movie!

4. Dune: Part Two 8/10 

Paul Atreides unites with the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future.

Dare I say the best release of 2024? I do say. It’s a grand feat of filmmaking: magnetic and epic. My full review can be found in “Dune II: The Best Release of 2024.” I want to mention that this is a rewatch; I saw this for the first time on the big screen in IMax. I just have to say: wow. You are missing out if you watch this on a TV. 

3. Mad Max: Fury Road 8.5/10

In a post-apocalyptic wasteland, a woman (Charlize Theron) rebels against a tyrannical ruler in search for her homeland with the aid of a group of female prisoners, a psychotic worshipper (Nicholas Hoult) and a drifter named Max (Tom Hardy).

You are probably wondering why I rated this so high because it’s basically pure action and all the other pure action films I watched this break are below it. Well, if you can’t already tell from my love of Tolkien and Dune, I love fantasy and sci-fi. And this is an amazing sci-fi movie. I honestly wish there was a book set in this universe. The worldbuilding is pretty minimal but so so effective — it’s the atmosphere: the costuming, the makeup, the cars, the music, the acting. It feels so real and so vivid. This isn’t a movie; it’s more like an experience. And the filmmakers? They know exactly what to do with this world. The filming is violent, it’s gritty; it spares no expense at pulling you into this apocalyptic wasteland and showing you how insane it is. There are no cheap tricks to keep you invested. It’s pure crazy adrenaline. And I loved that. 

Also, at its core, this is a very good action film. It knows when to take a break from the action as so not to overstimulate you, but every single action scene is exhilarating. Each sequence is incredibly well-choreographed. The actors are very cool. You’re never going to get bored from watching this. What more could I ask for from an action movie? 

And even though it doesn’t take much time to develop the characters, they all feel so vivid and dimensional. I was so attached to Hoult’s character … I’ll have to watch the prequel to this soon, just because I’m itching for more and because it was acted and written so well. 

2. The Boy and the Heron 9/10 

In the wake of his mother’s death and his father’s remarriage, a headstrong boy named Mahito (Luca Padovan) ventures into a dreamlike world shared by both the living and the dead.

This is allegedly Hayao Miyazaki’s last film (I say allegedly because the last time he “retired,” he returned a decade later to make a new movie), and boy do I have a lot to say about it. I don’t even know where to begin or what to say. 

This is definitely one of his heavier movies, and it’s very mind-boggling, to say the least. Miyazaki has a very special mind, and I don’t hope to understand it. “The Boy and the Heron” recalls Miyazaki’s own life, and it’s rife with both a sense of childlike wonder and an old man’s goodbye. It’s populated with bloodthirsty parakeets and the warawara, the adorable creatures that represent the beauty of life beginning anew. The past and the future twine together until you can’t distinguish them. The titular heron is loyal and courageous but also annoying and selfish. It’s a movie full of contradictions, and yet you’ll never notice it unless you look back. Because contradictions are what make up life, “The Boy and the Heron” shows you life itself. Or maybe something grander than that. 

When you watch this, you feel like you’re watching something greater than yourself. You’re watching the culmination of a career of a legend. You’re watching a journey of grief, and acceptance of the self and the people around the self. You’re somehow watching something much larger than even that. This is more deeply ingrained by just how beautiful the film and the animation are. It’s magical and colorful and gorgeous, and I couldn’t ask for anything more.

I only watched this once so I’m not going to try and unpack the underlying themes here. I don’t even fully understand the film, and it was hard to follow at times, which is why I took off a point. But really, this is a thing of beauty.

1. Viva La Vida 9.5/10

A young woman (Li Gengxi) who needs a kidney transplant wants to marry someone who will be able to donate a kidney, and meets a young man (Peng Yucheng) who has a brain disease.

I don’t think I’ve ever cried so much over a movie before. Perhaps I just need to watch more emotional movies, but I’ll let you know that I’m a frequent crier. I cried over “Gladiator!” So, without further ado, let’s get into this masterpiece.

The inherent tragedy of the situation combines with a pure, funny, open-mouthed love to create something beyond a tragedy or a comedy. It’s an exploration of hope, resilience, the humanity behind suffering, and the magic behind human connection. At every turn, the film reminds us of our own mortality and how human it is to face it and fear it and hate it. And at every turn, it reminds us of the miracle of love and the miracle of our souls. 

I don’t even know how long this is because everything was paced perfectly. The beginning is interesting from the get-go and immediately pulls us into the main character’s world, with very efficient exposition. The entirety of the middle portion (maybe an hour or so?) is dedicated to developing the love between these two characters. This is something that even romance movies struggle with, but “Viva La Vida” did this effortlessly. The ending sequence is rife with emotion and squeezed a lot of tears out of me; it was kind of genuinely terrifying. Both characters here are ill, and this exploration of illness doesn’t sugarcoat at all. The actors give it their all; the writing is sensitive and raw; the film is beautiful and ties everything together.

The Chinese name for this film translates to “Let’s rock the sun together.” The main male lead explains that his kindergarten teacher used to say this to their class. When the sun wasn’t visible, when it was cloudy or raining, it only meant that the sun was tired. If the class all combined their effort to rock the sun awake, the sun would always eventually come out again. It’s a beautiful metaphor. The sun never truly sets: you only need to give it a little encouragement; you only need to be resilient and wait for it, and it’ll always come back. In “Viva La Vida,” director Han Yan shows us how these two characters rocked the sun together, and how, sure enough, it rose. 

Thanks for reading all the way down! Email me movie, TV show, book, short story, or poetry recommendations at [email protected].