What We Learned from the Summer Movies of 2013

The summer movie season has come to a close, and with that we'd like to offer our readers a few things we've learned from our summer at the movies! And we also have some awards to hand out as well:

• "Iron Man 3" proves that sometimes gapping plot holes and questionable endings don't always ruin a film completely. Sometimes, a movie can still be a lot of fun even with a terrible screenplay!
• Just because Jay-Z produces a movie ("The Great Gatsby") doesn't mean he has to litter the soundtrack with his songs, especially when the film is set during a time period when he wasn't even alive.
• J.J. Abrams loves lens flares almost as much as Michael Bay and Roland Emmerich love casually murdering thousands of innocent civilians in every one of their movies.
• Also, "Star Wars Episode VII" is going to be in good hands with J.J. Abrams behind the camera.
• Just because a movie does well in the box office ("The Hangover") doesn't mean you have to lie to the public and say that you originally envisioned it as a trilogy for sake of making two more. Yes, "Part III" was better than "Part II" but, come on, sometimes less is more.
• Men like watching fast cars and things blowing up. Women like Vin Diesel and Paul Walker. As long as these two fundamentals do not change, "Fast & Furious" movies will keep coming out every year.
• Richard Linklater can keep putting Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy together every nine years as long as all three are still breathing and we'll be more than happy to pay to see it.
• Also, Ethan Hawke shouldn't act in any more movies unless Richard Linklater is involved.
• If M. Night Shyamalan didn't direct anything else ever again, no one would miss him.
• Brit Marling (from "The East") is an actress on the rise. She's mesmerizing to watch, and you should be on the lookout for her star power to increase over the next few years.
• Emma Watson was Hermione Granger? How quick we have forgotten!
• Owen Wilson as Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn as Vince Vaughn starring together in a movie worked once. It didn't work again. Let's stop these two right there and make sure they don't appear together in a movie ever again.
• Seth Rogen as Seth Rogen starring alongside his best friends DOES work and we'd love to see more.
• "Man of Steel" was awesome. There, we said it and stand by our reviews. We know we're the only ones. We're looking forward to the sequel too!
• Pixar is the only studio you can trust.
• While we don't normally condone original films being turned into franchises, more Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy would be great!
• And more "Despicable Me" would be great, too.
• Disney spends too much money ("The Lone Ranger") and no one ever sees their PG-13 movies anymore. But just because it flops doesn't mean its bad!
• Unless its Roland Emmerich blowing up the White House....again.
• People really don't like original ideas, do they? They say they do! But when it comes down to it more people would watch a mediocre sequel to a mediocre movie ("Grown Ups 2") rather than an awesome original idea ("Pacific Rim").
• Comic book adaptations of extremely small series ("R.I.P.D.") don't do well just because they're comic book movies. Knock it off.
• Marvel characters not owned by Disney ("The Wolverine") are just as awesome as the ones Disney owns ("The Avengers"). Now, why don't you studios play nice and put all these people in the same movie together, okay?
• Woody Allen has released a movie every year since 1982 and we're okay with him continuing to do that.
• Just because a director released something amazing as his first feature film ("District 9") doesn't mean that his next film will bring you more of the same ("Elysium"). Sometimes, its just bad!
• Ashton Kutcher does look a lot like Steve Jobs.
• "Lee Daniels' The Butler" is the only film that opened this summer that we can guarantee a nomination for Best Picture (doesn't mean something else won't be nominated, but this one is a sure thing).
• Coming of age stories ("The Way Way Back", "The Spectacular Now", "The Kings of Summer") absolutely OWNED the summer of 2013.

And now for our Summer Awards for 2013:

Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias and Nick Robinson in Joe's pick
for Best Picture of the Summer, "The Kings of Summer"

Joe's Awards:
Best Picture of the Summer: "The Kings of Summer"
Best Director: Richard Linklater - "Before Midnight"
Best Actor: Michael B. Jordan - "Fruitvale Station"
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett - "Blue Jasmine"
Best Original Screenplay: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash - "The Way Way Back"
Best Adapted Screenplay: Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater - "Before Midnight"

Trevor's Awards:

Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller in Trevor's pick for
Best Picture of the Summer, "The Spectacular Now"

Best Picture of the Summer: "The Spectacular Now'
Best Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts - "The Kings of Summer"
Best Actor: Miles Teller - "The Spectacular Now"
Best Actress: Shailene Woodley - "The Spectacular Now"
Best Original Screenplay: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash - "The Way Way Back'
Best Adapted Screenplay: Scott Neustadter, Michael W. Weber - "The Spectacular Now"