![Minutes before the Activities Fair in the gym, president Abhi Gowda ‘26 prepares the stall for his club Helping Hands, Sept. 4. A relatively new club, Helping Hands was co-started by Gowda and focuses on assisting the homeless, and just last year they succeeded in raising a couple hundred donations to send to shelters. This year, they have goals to expand, with hopes to increase volunteer opportunities and take in-person trips to shelters, as well as extend their help beyond just homeless people. “The Activities Fair gives a lot of underclassmen the opportunity to really get to know the Canyon culture, and it gives them many opportunities for service and volunteering,” Gowda said. “[Through the Activities Fair,] I hope to find a bunch of new and passionate members about our club and just get our name out there and spread awareness to the cause that we’re fighting for.”](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1-2-1200x885.jpg)
![The winter guard team makes fifth place at the state championship finals in the Denver Coliseum, March 30. The team performed to Barnes Country's “Glitter and Gold,” lead by coaches Margo Sanford, Blair Bickerton and Anna Orgren. In their class there were a total of nine groups participating, and the top five who made it to finals received a plaque. “[Walking onto the stage] is very nerve-wracking, but also very exciting as well. When you first start color guard there's a lot of anxiety and uncertainty when you first perform in front of an audience, but once you've done it for a while, it starts to become the best part of the season,” Ella West ‘25 said. “It's very fulfilling to see an audience react to something you've put your heart and soul into.”](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Both-socal-media-nd-website-main-1-1200x846.jpg)
![April marks the 25th anniversary of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, created by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC). This month is to spread awareness of the harassment, assault and abuse that happens around the world. The symbol that represented the month was a teal ribbon; however, some survivors of assault create different symbols and movements like the TikTok trend in 2022, where survivors would tattoo Medusa on their body, in honor of her backstory in Greek Mythology. “I don't think [this month is known] at all. I rarely see anybody talk about it. I rarely see much of an emphasis on posting it online, or much discussion about it, and I feel like there needs to be way more discussion,” an anonymous source said. “I think just validating every experience that a person has gone through, regardless of the degree of it, the severity, is an essential step into making sure that people are aware that this is a very real problem in a society and that we need to do better in addressing it.”](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IMG_0011-1200x900.jpg)
![Lesbian Visibility Day is April 26, and it’s a holiday to celebrate the lesbian community of the world. Lesbian Visibility day was established in 2008 by many queer activists and organizations who sought to raise more awareness for lesbian history and culture. “So this is why during Lesbian Visibility [Day] we celebrate and center all lesbians, both cis and trans, while also showing solidarity with all LGBTQ+ women and nonbinary people,” Linda Reily, in an article written by her, said.](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Lesbian-Visibility-day.jpeg)
With awards season dawning on us, here are two entertaining polar opposite movies that are worth the watch and cannot be described with a few words.
“Wicked”
According to IMDb, “Wicked” won 44 awards with 183 nominations, and “Gladiator 2” won three awards with 77 nominations.
“Wicked,” directed by Jon M. Chu, was released on Nov. 22. This film received an 8.1/10 on the IMDb ratings, 73% on Metacritic and 88% on Rotten Tomatoes.
I saw Wicked on Dec. 6 at the AMC Theatre at Castle Rock 12 with my mom and sister. I saw this film because my family and I have attended at least nine “Wicked the Musical” showings since I was a toddler.
It’s spectacular. The sets of each scene shifted the perspective from the musical stage because everything was much more colorful and intricate. The dramatic pauses they added before each ending of the songs were so suspenseful because it was the part of the song I looked forward to most. Cynthia and Ariana’s voices are perfect together and very similar to the original Idina and Kristen with their twists to the songs in the movie. There are rare moments in my house when the playlist isn’t playing.
I would rate this movie a 9.5 out of 10 because while nothing is perfect, this was pretty close. After all, I still love the original musical better because I grew up with it, but this was a beautiful remake.
I had some critiques on parts of the song being delayed because of dialog or silence, but other than that; this movie made me cry three times, laugh more than I can count and tell my mom we needed to see it the second we left the theater. Zoe Kandel ‘27 also saw “Wicked” when it came to theaters.
“I think, for the most part, casting was good. I know that they had to put it into two parts because that would be a long movie, like four hours long. It was amazing. I mean, I love live theater, there’s nothing like that, but the movie was excellent,” Kandel said.
“Gladiator 2”
“Gladiator 2”, directed by Ridley Scott, was released on Nov. 22 in the USA. This film received a 6.9/10 on the IMDb ratings, 72% on Rotten Tomatoes and 82% on Fandango.
My favorite thing about the first “Gladiator” film was the music composed by Hans Zimmer, Lisa Gerrard and Klaus Badelt. It reminded me of the music in “Pirates of the Caribbean” because of how Hans Zimmer composed his music. I saw the second movie at AMC Theaters at Castle Rock 12 on Dec. 11 with my dad.
The second the movie was over, my dad and I said in unison, “That was awesome.”
There was nothing to upstage the music from the first Gladiator because the action was the only thing we could pay attention to. I especially liked the correlation between the first movie and the flashbacks and characters from the movie. The evil look of each emperor in both movies, with the pale face and dark eyes, fits each character perfectly. My dad and I especially loved the cinematography of Rome.
If I had to describe this movie in a simple phrase, it would be, “Jaw Dropping.” In my review of Wicked, I wrote that nothing is perfect, but I would rate this a 10/10. Despite the negative reviews about historical accuracy, I thought this movie was terrific and had nothing bad to say about it. I loved the first movie, and while not every sequel is as good as the first, this one was pretty close. The second “Gladiator 2” started streaming from home, we bought it. A little spoiler alert: if you know the story of Romulus and Remus, director Ridley Scott used Emperor Geta and Emperor Caracalla to be equivalent to them.
I had doubts before I saw this film because of the negative reviews online, but my dad and I left the theater saying, “What were those critics talking about? Did they see the same movie?”
“I would rate it a 9/10. The fights were really good, especially the ocean fight. I wish they would’ve explained the first movie a little better because the follow-up wasn’t awesome. The casting was pretty good and I liked the character changes from the first movie to the second movie,” Rigel Dodge ‘27 said.
“Wicked” made me cry; “Gladiator” made me want to fight in a war.
McReynolds Diane • Jan 17, 2025 at 6:51 am
One can clearly hear Avery’s voice as she discerns the pros and cons between the “Wicked” and “Gladiators” movies. Well done!
Jerry McReynolds • Jan 17, 2025 at 6:40 am
Very good article, very descriptive, well done and informative.