Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

My friend and I were planning to see The Flash together, until he read some less savory reviews of it. I might still check it out, but for now, we chose this instead. Incidentally, the only other movie we attended at this theater together was Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Now that the other spider-themed heroes he knows have returned to their proper alternate worlds, Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is lonely, especially missing Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld). He doesn't dare tell his mom (Luna Lauren Velez) or dad (Brian Tyree Henry) that he's Spider-Man, but they know he keeps secrets and never shows up on time, so they lock horns with him over it. Then Gwen proves she can pay a visit after all, thanks to the technology of an interdimensional society of hundreds of arachnoid heroes led by Miguel O'Hara (Oscar Isaac). But she's not here just for pleasure. The network's primary objective is to send "anomalies" back where they came from or, if dangerous enough, keep them captive at a base. Presently, the Spot (Jason Schwartzman), a criminal covered in portable space-time holes, has discovered how to hop dimensions.

Star Wars, Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

Boy, how unpopular does a modern Star Wars movie have to be for me to wait more than two years to check it out? This isn't even a stand-alone; it's the conclusion of the numbered series, and I'd hate to end my knowledge with the unresolved prior episode. Well, what finally spurred me to watch it was a set of diminishing options for passing time on my flight. Most of the remaining movies were either unknown to me, even more panned, or not suited to my mood at the time.

One of the first things we learn is something I never saw coming: Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) is back, and not as a ghost. He claims credit for directing the First Order behind the scenes and corrupting Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), whom he now bids kill the last Jedi, Rey (Daisy Ridley). As impressive as Rey was before, she feels that she has a lot to learn before taking on Palpatine. Good thing she still has plenty of allies, old and new, and Kylo isn't as committed as he once was.

Dune (2021)

When I selected this as my first viewing on a long plane ride, I knew it was pretty popular, but I had no idea it would be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. That's impressive considering past attempts to do justice to the Frank Herbert novel. And having read the book myself, I was aware of features that could make a screen adaptation difficult.

When humans have an intergalactic empire, desert planet Arrakis becomes noted for three things: an invaluable spice, giant sandworms, and primitive but dangerous locals called Fremen. Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), son of Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac) and Bene Gesserit religious acolyte Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), can't help but get caught up in the rampant jockeying for power among imperial elites. It becomes increasingly evident that his skills and temperament are key to forming a Fremen alliance against the forces of Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård), who will stop at nothing to control spice traffic. Paul even shows signs of being the superpowered messiah long awaited by the Bene Gesserit, called the Kwisatz Haderach, tho he doesn't exactly see eye to eye with them.

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

Just because I can't go to a theater doesn't mean I'm going to spend the whole summer without a typical summer movie! This one may have been the most popular superhero flick I hadn't seen yet, which, at this point, isn't saying much.

Most of the action takes place in 1983, a decade after most of the action in X-Men: Days of Future Past, which came out only two years earlier. The world at large has only recently discovered superpowered mutants, but it turns out that they predate civilization; they just became more common in the last century. One (Oscar Isaac) who would eventually go by "Apocalypse" had reigned as a god-king many times over, destroying nations when he saw fit, but an uprising in ancient Egypt resulted in him being buried and comatose for more than 5,000 years. It's not entirely clear what wakes him -- maybe a cosmic phenomenon or the mysticism of an inexplicable present cult -- but soon after, he decides the whole world is long overdue for a cleansing. No, he doesn't have halfway-noble reasons; he believes that the strong should rule. It doesn't take long for telepathic Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) to notice something's off, but while his school's students and staff are powerful, they haven't been training in combat for some time. They can barely be called X-Men. And the ensuing struggle is nothing to phone in.

Ex Machina (2014)

Generally, I like stories that focus on artificial intelligence, including, yes, A.I. So why did I put this one off so long? Probably because the ads made it look intense. More so than it turned out to be, I'd say. It's not the kind of movie that lends itself to sincere previews, which may be why it suffered financially from limited release.

Sometime in the very near future, Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) wins a sweepstakes to spend a week at the extremely private mountain facility where his tech company's CEO, Nathan (Oscar Isaac), has been secretly working alone on androids. It appears that only two are presently active: servile and silent Kyoko (Sonoya Mizuno) and the far more focal Ava (Alicia Vikander), who doesn't quite look human yet but has a lovely face. Nathan assigns Caleb to interact with Ava, albeit with a clear wall between them, to determine whether she's both conscious and relatable. Unfortunately, Nathan and Ava do not see eye to eye, and the latter badly wants to escape, so Caleb will have to pick a side. And of course, any movie set in a secluded area with no cell reception -- where a power outage means a lockdown, no less -- is bound to have something dreadful happen.

Star Wars, Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017)

So yeah, we've made a family tradition of watching current Star Wars movies on Christmas. Never my mom's first choice, but it beats our previous tradition of dark musicals in my book.

Picking up right where Episode VII left off, Rey (Daisy Ridley) has found the hiding place of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and wants him to train her so she can contribute better to the war. But Luke has grown bitter and disenchanted with Jedi ways and dreads the possibility of creating another Vader-esque Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), who has some Force-related connection to Rey. Meanwhile, despite its previous victory, the Resistance is weakening and struggles to retreat from a First Order bent on eradicating it.

Star Wars, Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)

I considered skipping this review, because it's quite likely that you've already formed your opinion from multiple other reviews if not the movie itself by now. But it's also quite likely that you'll take more interest in this subject than in my usual fare, so why not? And it's not like I never read what other people say about what I've already seen.

In a way, TFA is inherently sad from the get-go: Only a generation after the end of the Empire, the galaxy faces an equal if not worse threat called the First Order. General Leia (no longer going by "Princess") naturally leads the Resistance, but Luke Skywalker has lain low for so long that many think him a mere legend, Han Solo and Chewbacca have been up to their old smuggling and other shenanigans more than heroism, R2D2 has been inert in Luke's absence, and C3PO is only so useful without R2. Taking more of the spotlight now are Rey, who resembles a young female Luke with a bit more fire; FN-2187, nicknamed Finn, a rookie stormtrooper disenchanted with the First Order's cruelty; BB-8, a diminutive droid carrying an important map; and Poe, a pilot and BB-8's master. The most prominent villain for now is Kylo Ren, an open Darth Vader wannabe who may actually outdo Vader's command of the Force. Where is the Jedi who can hold his or her own against him?