The Twilight Saga has been a feature of 2009 and it'll run on into 2010. I can't say that I care, however the onslaught of hot, horny teen vampires hasn't stopped the more traditional vampire flicks. Daybreakers is pulling in reasonable reviews stateside with it's subtle twist on the vampire tale. Here, vamps are in the ascendancy and, as a consequence, there's a food shortage. I suspect it'll be instantly forgetable but it could be a fun way to kill a couple of hours.

Just this week I've caught The Book of Eli. Denzel's his usual sombre moody self but this visually arresting and violent post-cataclysmic tale of pilgrimage is well worth a watch. Raising questions of humanity, psychology and the power of the written word it's not a masterpiece but is a decent low profile action flick.

Spread through the year are a few titles that should appeal to the younger end of the audience. The Princess and the Frog is another Disney retelling of a classic tale but it looks like they may be getting back towards their more traditional best. It's the case that, Pixar aside, Disney have dropped the ball for some years now, it'll be good to see them raising the bar again.

Then, who can resist the first part of the conclusion to the Harry Potter series. We all know what happens by now but with a steady hand at the helm the final chapter should be spectacular.

At the end of the year we'll see the arival of a new super-hero franchise with The Green Hornet. The names attached are odd with Gondry directing and featuring Rogen and Diaz. It's an odd selection for a hero film so I'm cautious, it'll likely have tongue planted firmly in cheek, but I struggle to not find something to enjoy in this genre.

There's a number of films that are already starting to get some buzz. A few of which were in the US towards the end of last year but have not yet arrived here. The first of these is The Road. This adaptation of a Cormack McCarthy novel sees a father and son journeying to survive in a bleak post-apocolyptic world. The book is much loved and John Hillcoat's film version is garnering a great deal of praise. Viggo Mortensen is one of the finest actors working today and, whilst it may not be uplifting, it should be a treat.

Robert Downey Jr's turn in the 2008's of Iron Man surprised many, myself included. After such success it's no suprise a sequel is on the horizon. Oftentimes franchises improve in their second entry before dwindling away. Oftentimes they never match their opening gambit. Which will Iron Man 2 be? I've no idea. But if Favreau can craft a comic book adaptation as good as the first Iron Man it'll be worth a few pounds of anyone's money.

On the face of it Precious is just another tale of a hard-up down-on-her-luck inner-city black girl turning it all around. Apparently though, it's not. Precious, it seems, is a deeper more thoughful and less simplistic look at the troubles of one young girl and the struggles she faces to change the course of her life. There's a surprising appearance from Mariah Carey, yes, that Mariah Carey. Apparently it's all pretty good.

Probably my most anticipated in this batch is A Single Man, missing out on my final list but well worth looking out for. Colin Firth hangs up his soppy rom-com boots and puts his tights away to bring us something very different to his usual fluff. Tom Ford's directorial debut is the story of love lost and Firth's English professor tries to come to terms with the death of his partner. Can't wait to see it.

Finally is The Lovely Bones. Reviews coming from the US are tepid at best but for now I'm interested to see anything Peter Jackson puts out. Leaning heavily on CGI to create a world somewhere between life and death the question is, can Jackson bring anything new to ideas we've seen before? It should be a visually beautiful film but will it have anything else to remember it by?

So here we are...my most anticipated 5. Erm...make that 6. There was a late entry :-)

Ponyo - Ponyo's actually been around since 2008 but is only now getting a western release. If I can find the original Japanese version I think I'll have to grab it. Hayao Miyazaki is pretty much at the status of legendry with an astounding list of animated features behind him. I can't wait to see it.

Alice In Wonderland - I'm not quite a fanboy but I'll see anything Tim Burton spits out. I've yet to see a single thing I didn't like (Planet of the Apes had some good things, honest). Alice in Wonderland gives Burton the chance to let his imagination go free for all to see and from what I've seen so far I think I'll like this a lot. Not fully animated but heavily post-produced with CGI Burton is going to show us Alice in a way never before seen. Can you tell I'm excited?

Inception - I think I'm falling in love with Marion Cotillard and Nolan is in the process of churning out a series of excellent films. Whilst Dark Knight was far from perfect he's one of a small number of directors I trust to bring consistently solid product to the screen. If DiCaprio (who's actually not just a pretty face) can put in his best rather than his most irritating Inception should be oodles of fun.

Toy Story 3 - It's Toy Story. Need I say more?

A Prophet - It turns out that the French can make some quite remarkable films when they put their minds to it. From comedy to drama there's some outstanding French cinema to be seen. Jacques Audiard's tale of a young Arab's rise to mafia kingpin whilst in a French prison has the ingredients to be one of the best films of the year.

Green Zone - I didn't have this on the list until I saw the trailer last night. Mostly, trailers leave me cold, however this is looking to have potential. With Greengrass directing and Matt Damon in the lead it's essentially "Bourne Goes to War". If anyone can take an action film of this type and embue it with decent characters and a decent wedge of plotting it's Paul Greengrass. When you throw Jason Isaacs and Brendon Gleeson into the mix - I'm cautiously optimistic.

This is but a few of a massive list of flms scheduled for release this year. There'll be a few here that will dissappoint and a number I've missed that'll rise to the top. Can't wait to start wading through them.