Enough already of 2009, and join us as we take a peek into the future to reveal which films will have us buzzing all the way through to 31 December, 2010.

Shutter Island (19 February)

Leonardo DiCaprio has cemented his place as director Martin Scorsese’s new creative muse with this, their fourth collaboration in under a decade (Robert DeNiro still holds the title with eight Scorsese films). The director’s latest surrounds the disappearance of a murderous female inmate from an island-set correctional facility, the U.S. Marshals brought in to investigate, and the secrets that emerge following their arrival. With a top-notch cast, sturdy source material and a legend at the helm, Shutter Island is one to seek out in 2010.

Kick-Ass (2 April)

Featuring a group of youthful caped crusaders engaging in various forms of gruesome, gratuitous violence, British director Matthew Vaughn’s film adaptation of Mark Millar and John Romita Jr’s comic book was a tough sell to the major studios before the cameras rolled. Fortunately advance previews have so impressed audiences that Lionsgate Studios stepped in to handle distribution and now we’ll all have a chance to bask in the joys of 12-year-old Hit Girl lopping limbs and planting bullets in baddie brains. Should be delightful.

Iron Man 2 (6 May)

Having found just the right and playful mix between Spider-Man’s cheese and Batman’s self-serious darkness first time out, director Jon Favreau faces the monumental challenge of maintaining the tone while upping the action and seamlessly integrating new faces Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson and Don Cheadle alongside franchise leading man Robert Downey Jr. If the recently debuted trailer is anything to go by, Mr. Favreau is doing a more than respectable job of managing the task, to say the least.

Toy Story 3 (8 June)

The original was released all the way back in 1995, but there appears to be life left in those toys yet as Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz (Tim Allen) and Jessie (Joan Cusack) return for one more adventure. Having been left behind by their owner, Andy – now grown up and headed off for university – the toys band together to escape secondhand oblivion, facing some hard facts about neglect and ageing in the process. Should this prove to be even half the reunion audiences are hoping for, we’re in for quite a ride.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (28 August)

It’s a toss-up between two promising Michael Cera projects in 2010, but with the much-loved Scott Pilgrim comic-book series as its foundation, a charismatic young ensemble in place, and, most importantly, Shaun of The Dead and Hot Fuzz writer/director Edgar Wright leading the charge, this tale of a high schooler (Cera) who must defeat the seven evil ex-boyfriends of his hot new girlfriend-to-be in order to win her hand. For those who can’t get enough of Cera’s dweebish deadpan charm, also check out the upcoming Youth In Revolt.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I (19 November)

If you haven’t heard of the Harry Potter book and/or film series by now, by all means, skip to the next item on this list. And if you have heard of the series? Well, what more is there to say really? The next film – the first half of J.K. Rowling’s final wizarding epic – hits cinemas come November, anticipation will have reached fever pitch, and you’ve already decided whether or not you’re going to be there. So, umm… read on!

Four Lions (23 January, at the Sundance Film Festival, USA)

Tremendously gifted British satirist Chris Morris finally makes the leap to the big screen, following hot on the heels of former writing partner Armando Iannucci’s 2009 triumph In The Loop. And considering the hot-potato material Morris has chosen to tackle, let’s hope he’s just as much up to the challenge. After all, it’s not every day a story about a group of British Muslims pursuing jihadist ideologies gets mined for laughs. Even if everything goes wrong, this will certainly be one of the year’s most interesting failures.

Inception (16 July in the U.S.)

DiCaprio continues to build on his already impressive CV in The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan’s latest ambitious big-budget thriller (above, left). Little is known about the project, aside from its strong cast – DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Cillian Murphy, Ken Watanabe and Nolan regular Michael Caine – its planned IMAX release, and the cryptic studio description: ‘A contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind.’ A bit confusing, but sign me up anyway.

The Expendables (20 August in the U.S.)

The latest entry in Sylvester Stallone’s unexpected but entirely welcome career resurgence. Instead of simply embracing the 1980s film remake-and-sequel wave that seems to have crested in the past year – Red Dawn, Predators, A Nightmare on Elm St., The A-Team, Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps and Tron Legacy being among the innumerable retreads of familiar ground – Stallone has assembled a cast of action film legends from the past three decades, including Schwarzenegger and Willis, for the greatest ‘80s action film that never was. Easily the least guilty of guilty pleasures to look forward to this year.

The Tree of Life (TBA)

Having released only four films since his 1973 debut, Badlands, notoriously reclusive director Terrence Malick’s fifth, The Tree of Life, is due sometime in the coming year. Of course, given Malick’s penchant for endless tinkering, the London Olympics may have come and gone by the time we finally get a peek at a story that purportedly follows the development of a young boy in 1950s Midwest America through to his adult years as he contemplates life, death, eternity, the grand scheme of everything and where we fit into it all. There are even rumours of dinosaurs making an appearance. What is known about this enigmatic project is that Brad Pitt and Sean Penn star, and it’s sure to be a terrible first date film.

Disqualified bonus film warning:

A Prophet (22 January):

Though technically a 2009 release, Jacques Audiard’s (The Beat That My Heart Skipped) masterful crime saga A Prophet is a staggeringly piece of filmmaking that reinvigorates both the gangster and prison drama genres. Boasting a brilliant central performance from French-Algerian actor Tahar Rahim as an unschooled but quick-to-learn young inmate who finds himself thrust under the wing of an aging Corsican crime boss, this is the ultimate survivalist tale set in the most elemental of man-made environments. Unmissable.