This post spawned from a curious desire to know what person appeared in the highest grossing films of the year. An extremely liberal definition of “appearance” was used: cameos and voice roles both count. So, basically, all a person has to do is actually appear in (or speak in) a movie and that movie’s worldwide box office numbers count toward that person's total.

Trailers are a huge part of the fabric of movies. They play before every film shown in theaters, and on every movie website around the world. They’re commercials, obviously, but they’re also more than that; miniature works of art that utilize the core elements of cinema—image, sound, music, action, editing—at their most pure and refined. And today at ScreenCrush we’re celebrating movie trailers by saluting the best sneak previews of 2014.

Another Thanksgiving is upon us, which means we'll gather around tables with friends and family and be asked to share what we're thankful for. Here at ScreenCrush, we think now is a good time to reflect on the wonderful bounty that has been delivered to us from the benevolent creators of film and television throughout 2014. This year has given us much to be grateful for, and so now we say thanks as we prepare to stuff our faces and fall into meat and pie comas (and ready ourselves for that 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' trailer).

ScreenCrush’s Comic Strip is a weekly roundup of the hottest superhero movie/TV news items. From Marvel to DC and points in between, if it pertains to costumed comic book heroes, we’re covering it here, bringing you our expert analysis. This week, Marvel's Netflix series narrows down the search for leads, ‘Suicide Squad’ courts a ‘Scandal’ star, and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ reveals a hilarious alternate ending.

World War II involved more than two dozen countries spread across six continents and tens of millions of soldiers. But according to ‘The Imitation Game’ the entire conflict hinged on the actions of half a dozen crossword puzzle enthusiasts in a couple of huts in the South of England. It was there that a team of cryptographers created a revolutionary machine that could decode Nazi messages and turned the tide of the war for the Allies. Their leader was Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch), a mathematician who was rude, disrespectful, and socially awkward in the extreme—and also one of the most brilliant minds of the 20th century. ‘The Imitation Game’ considers his life: His great achievements, his most-closely hidden secrets, and the ways in which the latter may have helped inspire the former.

Ever since Marvel created a wildly successful shared movie universe, studios have understandably taken note. But just because the model works for them, doesn’t necessarily mean it can work for every franchise. Universal wants to try the approach with rebooting their classic monsters, and even a new series of Robin Hood films will try its hand at the shared universe idea, with multiple planned films in store if all goes well. ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ director James Gunn finds this approach to be a little overzealous, and took to his Facebook page to express concern with what he calls a “flawed” business model.

Mash-ups have become so prevalent on the internet that it’s easy to shrug most of them off these days, but we’ve gotta admit that this one is pretty charming (and well-made, to boot): someone’s gone and re-edited scenes from ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ with the theme song from ‘Friends,’ delivering ‘Friends of the Galaxy,’ a sitcom that we would not mind watching at all.

‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ is the biggest movie of 2014. It’s made over $750 million worldwide. Kids love it. Adults love it. Grandparents even love it. Lots of people (us included!) have seen the movie multiple times, but do you know everything there is to know about Marvel’s latest superhero phenomenon? They're the frickin Guardians of the Galaxy!

Marvel's ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ was one of the most surprising blockbusters of 2014 for a variety of reasons, but one of the most interesting side effects of its success is that it got people all over the world listening to a bunch of catchy songs from the '60s and ‘70s. Yes, Star-Lord's “Awesome Mix Vol. 1” mix tape took the world by storm, even reaching number one on the billboard charts. Considering how much the soundtrack informed the tone of the film, it's not surprising that the movie ended with the reveal of an “Awesome Mix Vol. 2,” which we‘ll surely get to hear in the sequel. Now, director James Gunn has revealed the existence of and “Awesome Mix Vol. 0” playlist.

The whole Marvel Cinematic Universe is based around the fact that the strongest power in the universe are these magical Infinity Stones, gems of incredible power over time and space. When Ronan the Accuser combines an Infinity Stone with his hammer in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy,’ he becomes nigh-invulnerable and almost unbeatable. The only things left to stop him from destroying the universe are the Guardians… and dance moves. Sweet hot funky dance moves.