In which we tell you about awesome things that you must look into and enjoy.

You know what you should do? Get caught up on the movies of 2013. It’s what I spend every waking hour of my life doing. Are you better than me? That’s what I thought. Check it:

THE KINGS OF SUMMER

The Kings of Summer is actually the second best movie of the year that features some kids finding a forresty place to call their new home, including discovering or building a place to live in that forresty place, only to have one of them get bitten by a snake, leading to mad, last minute dash to the emergency room. There’s no reason that we just have to throw away second best, however. Summer’s first twenty minutes is among the funniest acts of the year, rapidly introducing us to fifteen new characters in a world that perfectly sits on the fence between real comedy and broad. It starts to get wonky once we hit the second act, as the movie becomes increasingly unsure of the kind of movie it wants to be. This is best demonstrated by the oddball of the group, Biaggio, who is less of a character and more of a punchline/reaction machine, who attempts to get laughs despite the tone of the scene. It’s still totally likeable, and the first half hour or so makes it all worth it.

BLACKFISH/A PLACE AT THE TABLE

I’m grouping these two together not just because I watched them on the same day, but because they are both streaming on Netflix, and neither one is very fun. They both tell the evils of man, whether he is fucking up orcas or taking food out of people’s mouths. Blackfish is the better movie, not because its subject is more or less important, but because its delivery feels fresher; it seems like we’ve seen A Place at the Table a couple of times a year for the last five years or so. It’s got the typical modern documentary format: pick three to six people to follow, each with a different perspective on the subject, film them for awhile, splice them together, throw in some PowerPoint – which needs to be animated so it doesn’t feel like PowerPoint – and send everyone away sad. It works fine on all of these levels, and should be seen by men of all whiteness and richness, but it’s not revolutionary. Blackfish, however, is the real winner here, if for nothing more than all of the footage it has found. Gruesome and informational!

-Ryan Haley