trail·er: noun. A short, blank strip of film at the end of a reel.

Whether they’re good, bad, spoilertastic or leave us wanting more, movie trailers can be one of the primary determinants of a film’s ability to build fanboy buzz. We’ve ranted and opined just a few times lately about movie trailers – and not everyone agrees with our lunatic pet peeves.

But we only complain because we love so deeply. As fans of heart-pounding cinema that puts you in another time and place, sending you to a world of compelling characters and their miseries and joys, we know that there’s little that can be more exciting, more motivating than a well-made movie trailer.

Here are a few more recent bits about our favorite 2- to 3-minute marketing tools:

• This year, the MSN Movies Trailer Audience Award has been added to the categories of the Hollywood Reporter’s 35th annual Key Art Awards. Online voters can choose their favorite trailer of 2005 among Batman Begins, Lord of War, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Sin City and War of the Worlds (come back and let us know in the comments what you voted for – ours was Sin City).
• Scaramouch at YBNBY is a fan of the new CGI-animated kiddie movie Monster House trailer, but it kind of left us flat. Almost seems like Zemeckis could have had some fun with this making it as live-action.
• The Web site of Voice Over Master (his words) Don Lafontaine is a delight to behold, not only because of its rather quaintly old-school overuse of Flash, but also because you get to hear Don dramatically read the buttons when you click on them (“Home!” “Biography!” “Testimonials!”)
• You can find a second trailer here for the Adam Sandler movie Click…sorry, not much better than last time.