Every year there are a butt load of films people hear about at the beginning of the year, and in some cases for years, that we anticipate. Some anticipation isn’t met, but when it is it’s worth a dozen let-downs. Let’s take a look at some of our most hotly anticipated films for the first half of 2010!

5. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

What if Super Mario Bros. rules were applied to everyday life?  That’s the question that the comic book series Scott Pilgrim has answered.  Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) must battled Ramona V. Flower’s (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) seven “evil exes” in videogame boss battle sort of ways.

First of all, who can honestly say they have seen a movie anything like this?  Being a child of the 80’s and living knee deep in 8-bit and 16-bit games I cant wait to see someone defeated on the big screen and leaving coins, power ups and even save spots on the big screen.  It also doesn’t hurt that I adore the source material and that Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) is directing.

4. Kick-Ass

I’m not the biggest Mark Millar fan.  I thought the Wanted graphic novel was juvenile trash although the changes to the movie made it a pretty good action flick.  This is another adaption to his work and it seems to be much more faithful to the source material, and I really like the source material this time.

A geeky high-school kid decides to become a super hero and fight crime and even though it doesn’t turn out like he has imagined it he becomes a YouTube sensation.  He later teams up with a father and daughter duo who actually kill their targets and fellow comic book geek Red Mist.

The film was independently produced by director Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake, Stardust) and, according to the recent trailers, looks like a blast.  Plus, we get Nic Cage and McLovin’s as super heroes in the same film!

3. Shutter Island

Based on the trailer this looks like a great thriller.  It seems creepy, exciting, and unpredictable.  Plus, it’s directed by Martin Scorsese and it’s his first film since my favorite 2006 film The Departed.  The cast includes Scorsese’s current muse DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Jackie Earle Haley, John Carroll Lynch, and a very DeNiro-ish Elias Korteas.

2. Predators

Screw the AVP series!  That’s the Batman & Robin of both of the series, but now they are returning to their roots with this sequel (it’s not a reboot damnit!) and the upcoming Ridley Scott directed Alien prequel.  This SEQUEL will feature the Pianist, Eric Foreman, Morpheus, Machete, and Shane Vendrell taking on some mother-lovin’ Predators on their own turf.

Being a huge fan of the first and second (“Want some candy?”) and seeing how Robert Rodriguez has been trying to get this made for over a decade and placed a talented director, Nimrod Antal (Kontrol, Vacancy) at the helm rather than a certain talentless hack with the middle initials W.S.

1. Inception

Before you ask: now, I don’t have any sort of man-crush on DiCaprio.  It’s because Christopher Nolan has been responsible for some of the great films from the past decade.  The star-studded cast also includes Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe, Michael Caine, Ellen Page, Tom Berenger, and Cillian Murphy.

Funny thing is, I don’t even know what the hell it’s about.  Do I want to know?  Not really, I’d like to go into this film with a clean slate.  Knowing Nolan’s past films such as The Prestige and Memento I will try to prepare myself to be… MINDFREAKED!