Some may find them frivolous, but there’s something wonderfully profound about movie mashups. They represent both the ability of an audience to reshape the art they admire as well as the commonality that all movies seem to share, no matter how radically different they appear on the surface. Turning Mrs. Doubtfire into a horror film via trailer only solidifies how the core storytelling tools passed down through thousands of years have stayed the same even while delivery methods have evolved and shifted.

Okay, and they’re pretty frivolous.

Mashups are fun. This generation’s mix tapes, they blend together our favorite moments of pop culture into a new monster. Of course, as the best mashups of 2012 show, they can also be poignant reminders or someone’s work, a vivid look at the sheer weight of all the movies of one year or a marked criticism of the way film marketing has ossified and overloaded us with too many images before we sit down in the darkness to be entertained.

Taking on the titans of 2012, here are the best mashups of the year:

12. Jack Reacher as Knight Rider

Even if it hadn’t been as slick, this would have made the list solely because of the look it gives us at the possibility of a Knight Rider movie starring Tom Cruise. It loses points for not heavily featuring Mr. Feeny, but the potential for fans of the television adventure series is ripe. Maybe Hasselhof can play the bad guy? Or just cameo? Just cameo. Smart call.

11. The Goonies: An Unexpected Journey

The epic nature of The Goonies and The Hobbit provide a solid base, and the Sean Astin connection is a nice nod. With faded maps, deep caverns fraught with danger and a long road spreading out toward gold, the Goonies will have a tale or two to tell when they get back. Plus, Gollum gets to wear a Superman shirt in this version.

An honorable mention goes out to shoving Bilbo and friends into the Nazi-killing world of Inglourious Basterds, but this classic journey given the 80s treatment (all over again) wins the day.

10. Iron Buzz 3

The suit. The action. The snarky attitude. Buzz Lightyear has it all, and after recently revealing himself to the world as billionaire playboy Tony Stark and saving the planet when Loki and his crew descended on New York, he’s ready to protect what’s most important to him (even if that means teaming up with a talking piggy bank).