A well-crafted montage, one that deftly selects only the most perfect scenes and sets them against evocative music, can make anything look wonderful and inspiring. And if you doubt the awesome power of the montage to make anything seem better than it was, just see how fondly the last 12 months look when you watch this massive trailer celebrating the movies of 2016.

We first came across this mega-mashup at Entertainment Weekly, and it was made by the YouTube channel Sleepy Skunk, who once again took the myriad films that made up the year in cinema and created one impressive and coherent trailer for all of them. You can head to his Tumblr page to see the complete list in order of every movie included here, which he says took about a month to complete.

In the first portion of this trailer, featuring the song “Clubbed to Death” by Rob Dougan, it seems like the movies we got this year reflected the general darkness many have felt about this dumpster fire we call 2016. There is a bleakness and pain to it, maybe because so many cars kept flipping over. But the second section, with a cover of David Bowie’s “Heroes” by the Scala & Kolacny Brothers choir, is far more optimistic and hopeful, though not without its challenges. Mainly that of small children being in constant danger from the supernatural. It all wraps up with some of the more magical and fantastic films of the year, scored to “Unashamed” by Confidential Music, to remind us that even if 2016 had no chill, it did have plenty of movies to help us escape from it.

In the end, this trailer made us feel good about this past year. That’s not just a testament to the power and magic of movies, it’s a testament to the power of the montage.

What was your favorite film this year? Tell us in the comments below.

Featured Image: Marvel
Images: Warner Bros. 

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