Since independent and foreign films tend to sneak in under the radar throughout the year, lists of this nature are almost always Hollywood heavy. With that said, here are the films I am most excited to see in the coming year.

The Tree of Life
Release Date: pending
Dir: Terrance Malick
Starring: Brad Pitt, Sean Penn
Synopsis: A young boy grows up learning very different lessons from his parents; his mother teaches him love and mercy while his father insists he always put himself first. As the boy is confronted by the darkness of the world, he must reconcile their divergent lessons. As a man, he begins to glimpse the miracle that is life and acknowledge the beauty and joy all around him. Malick’s films are the closest thing to poetry the cinema has. His most recent film, The New World, continues to haunt me. Few filmmakers have ever moved me more.

Inception
Release Date: July 16th
Dir: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard
Synopsis: The director of The Dark Knight crafts a sci-fi psychological thriller about…well, we’ve no idea, because he’s not talking. He has given us one heck of a trailer, however.

Shutter Island
Release Date: February 16th
Dir: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Mark Ruffalo
Synopsis: DiCaprio again! This time he’s a U.S. marshal investigating some pretty nasty violations of the Hippocratic Oath at a mental institution. Directed by Martin Scorsese and adapted from a novel by Dennis LeHane who also wrote Mystic River. (trailer)

Toy Story 3
Release Date: June 18th
Dir: Lee Unkrich
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, John Ratzenberger
Synopsis: We revisit our toy friends years after we last saw them, when Woody, Buzz and the rest of the gang are donated to a daycare center after their owner, Andy, departs for college. In 3D! (trailer)

The Social Network
Release Date: October 15th
Dir: David Fincher
Starring: Justin Timberlake, Jesse Eisenberg
Synopsis: Why does a story about the founding of the social networking site Facebook sound fascinating? Because it’s written by Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, A Few Good Men) and directed by David Fincher (Fight Club, Benjamin Button).

Green Zone
Release Date: March 12th
Dir: Paul Greengrass
Starring: Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Amy Ryan, Brendan Gleeson
Synopsis: During the U.S.-led occupation of Baghdad in 2003, a Chief Warrant Officer and his team of inspectors are dispatched to find weapons of mass destruction stockpiled in the desert. Instead, they find an elaborate cover-up involving the U.S. government that has the potential to destabilize the entire region. The director and star of the last two Bourne films come together for this combustible looking film. (trailer)

Tron: Legacy
Release Date: December 17th
Dir: Joseph Kosinski
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Michael Sheen, Bruce Boxleitner
Synopsis: Welcome back to the Master Control Program, the true Matrix! After his father (Jeff Bridges, returning!) vanishes, a son inserts himself into a computer world to search for him. This exquisite trailer, which melds the look of the 80’s classic with modern CGI, is about as close to euphoria as it gets.

Iron Man 2
Release Date: May 7th
Dir: Jon Favreau
Starring: Robert Downey, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Gwyneth Paltrow
Synopsis: Now the whole world knows who Iron Man is, and with that comes a whole new passle of friends and bad guys, all of whom want a piece of Tony Stark. The first film was pure popcorn bliss. Here’s hoping lighting can strike the same place twice. (trailer)

The Wolfman
Release Date: February 12th
Dir: Joe Johnston
Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving
Synopsis: Despite all the bad behind the scenes press, I find myself intrigued by this story of man who harbors a terrible, literally monstrous secret. What I thought would be a ridiculous movie is actually shaping up to be a moody, exciting film if the trailer is to be believed.

Alice in Wonderland
Release Date: July 30th
Dir: Tim Burton
Starring: Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham-Carter, Alan Rickman
Synopsis: No one does dark, twisted and fun better than Tim Burton. Here adult Alice returns to the magical world from her childhood adventure, where she reunites with her old friends and learns of her true destiny: to end the Red Queen’s reign of terror. (trailer)

Other films I’m excited to see…

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I (bootleg trailer)
Clash of the Titans (trailer)
The A-Team
Robin Hood (trailer)
Wall Street 2
Salt (trailer)
The Green Hornet
Kick Ass (trailer)
The Last Airbender (trailer)
Prince of Persia (trailer)