The most anticipated movies of 2010

Now that January – the month when Hollywood dumps its crappy movies into theaters – is finally over, it’s time to look forward to better movies coming soon.
Here’s a list of movies I’m looking forward to – at least until the reviews convince me otherwise. (The synopses below were provided by the movie studios. I edited out some of the hyperbole though.):

Red Riding – The “Red Riding” trilogy is a neo-noir epic based on factual events and adapted from David Peace’s series of novels revolving around the manhunt for the “Yorkshire Ripper,” a serial killer who terrorized northwest England in the 1970s and ’80s. The three films are directed by Julian Jarrold (“Brideshead Revisited”), James Marsh (“Man on Wire”) and Anand Tucker (“Shopgirl”). (Opens Feb. 5 in New York City, nationwide release to follow)

Shutter Island – From Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese, “Shutter Island” is the story of two U.S. marshals, Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo), who are summoned to a remote and barren island off the coast of Massachusetts to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a murderess from the island’s fortress-like hospital for the criminally insane. (Feb. 19)

Kick-Ass – A twisted, funny, high-octane adventure directed by Matthew Vaughn (“Layer Cake”). “Kick-Ass” tells the story of average teenager Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), a comic-book fanboy who decides to take his obsession as inspiration to become a real-life superhero. As any good superhero would, he chooses a new name — Kick-Ass — assembles a suit and mask to wear, and gets to work fighting crime. There’s only one problem standing in his way: Kick-Ass has absolutely no superpowers. His life is forever changed as he inspires a subculture of copy cats, meets up with a pair of crazed vigilantes — including an 11-year-old sword-wielding dynamo, Hit Girl (Chloë Moretz) and her father, Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) — and forges a friendship with another fledgling superhero, Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). But thanks to the scheming of a local mob boss Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong), that new alliance will be put to the test. (April 16)

Inception – A contemporary sci-fi action film set within the architecture of the mind. “Inception” was directed by Christopher Nolan (“The Dark Knight,” “The Prestige,” “Memento” and “Insomnia”) It stars Leonardo Dicaprio, Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon Levitt and Cillian Murphy. (Summer)

Other movies I’m interested in seeing include “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” “Iron Man 2” and “Tron Legacy.” I'm sure I'm missing a few, but those are top of mind now.

Check out the trailers for these movies on Apple’s iTunes Movie Trailers.