A look back at 2013's film trailers

Posted Tuesday, December 3, 2013 at 3:38 PM Central
Last updated Tuesday, December 3, 2013 at 3:42 PM Central

by John Couture

We have talked about the importance of a movie's trailer many times on this site. A trailer can make or break a movie before a single frame it ever sees the light from a projector.

Cutting a trailer is a true art form and sadly one that very few people seem to master. Studios are more concerned these days with packing in as much stuff that some numbers guy over in analytics tells them will push an extra ticket or two. So what if the trailer gives away the entire movie? Who cares if the trailer is basically a bait-and-switch con that in no way actually reflects the film as a whole?

Well, one thing is certain, some people love to edit things down to smaller portions and some are actually really good at it. Take our buddy Kees van Dijkhuizen, who up until last year created a beautiful edit that included every movie released in a given year. Last year's edit was the last, so it's only fitting that others would step up to fill the void.

Enter The Sleepy Skunk. I know, you have to love the anonymity that the Internet brings, but this is what I can gather about the Skunk. He hails from Canada, so that's a bonus for me right there. The fact that I don't have to explain what Timbits are or what constitutes a "double-double" means that he's alright in my book.

Other than that, the Skunk is raging a one varmint war against Hollywood with the intent to get the studios to include more audience feedback and suggestions into which films they should make. Now, there's a novel concept, eh? Go ahead, check out his site, it's pretty nifty.

More importantly, I know that the Skunk has a beautiful touch when it comes to editing and while he proclaims this to simply be a "Movie Trailer Mashup," I think "Mashup" is too ugly a word for the art that he has created. I think you'll agree with us that his edit is beautiful and truly representative of the year that was 2013 in cinema.

Way to go Skunk and if you ever want to create a mashup for us, we've got some ideas brewing.