A lot of people think Labor Day marked the end of the summer movie season. Based on the mediocre films that came out that weekend (people actually went to see "All About Steve?"), you would probably be right. But technically, the last official day of summer is Sept. 21, so that's enough of an excuse for me to talk about a summer of cinema. Deal with it people.

The summer of cinema 2009 did more than give us the usual smash blockbusters, occasional bombs and surprise hits. It also taught us movie-goers a few lessons in the process. For what it's worth, here are a few of the lessons I gathered from 2009's summer movies.

LESSON 1: BIG, DUMB, LOUD ACTION WILL ALWAYS HAVE AN AUDIENCE

Last year, the top-grossing summer blockbusters were more than just big explosions. Films like "Iron Man" and "The Dark Knight" had plenty of action and special effects, but they also had compelling characters, great acting and well-written plots to boot.

But this summer, audiences flocked to "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," a sequel where the best actors were robots, the special effects and loud noises were plentiful and a coherent plot was non-existent. The flaws didn't matter. The film grossed more than $400 million at the box office, making it one of the highest-grossing films of all time. If "Transformers 2" proved anything, it's that audiences are still more than willing to put the thought process on hold to be bludgeoned to death by mindless on-screen magic.

LESSON 2: RISK DOESN'T ALWAYS EQUAL REWARD

Two of comedy's most successful and boundary-pushing minds decided to take a few risks this summer. And most audiences responded by not giving them a chance.

First, comic provocateur Sasha Baron Cohen used his gay Austrian fashionista character "Brüno" to target Americans' homophobic culture and obsession with fame and celebrity. Then, writer/director Judd Apatow broke away from the raunchy comedy of films like "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up" to set out on a more mature, emotionally comic venture with "Funny People." Given the success of Baron Cohen and Apatow's earlier work, "Brüno" and "Funny People" performed well below expectations. I guess trying something different and risky in comedy doesn't mean your fans will come along for the ride.

LESSON 3: HIGHER PRICE TAG DOESN'T MEAN HIGHER QUALITY

Case in point: The surprise hit sci-fi action flick "District 9." The movie's biggest name was its producer ("Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson). It had zero A-list stars and a first-time feature director (Neill Blomkamp). But that didn't stop it from getting overwhelmingly positive critical reviews and grossing more than $100 million at the box office so far.

And here's the kicker: It only cost $30 million to make. That's roughly how much it would cost to pay for catering on "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" or to give Megan Fox enough training to make her a mediocre actress. "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" cost $175 million to make, and they couldn't do any better than to make the Eiffel Tower look like it was being consumed by green slime found in "Ghostbusters" or an old Nickelodeon game show.

Thankfully, "District 9" proved that all the money in the world can't make up for a smartly written and well-executed film. Hopefully, this will encourage more movies to try to get more bang for their buck on screen.

Blake Hannon | Stjoelive staff