Column by Andrew Waldner

This year has already gotten off to quite a start. Even in usually bleak January we’ve had surprises. “Gran Torino” took in an unexpected $30 million in its first weekend and then “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” somehow took in $40 million over the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. Ignoring that Kevin James’ career is steadily aiming for the toilet (look for him in a National Lampoon’s movie soon), any sign of box-office life is a good thing.

Moving on from his depressing career trajectory, it’s shaping up to be quite a year for movies. The following are the movies that’ll get me out of my snuggie and away from my “Golden Girls” reruns. Here they are in no particular order:

“Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen” — Will this movie get great reviews? Probably not. Am I excited? Yes. The first one was a mediocre blockbuster that continued Hollywood’s streak of focusing on people when the non-humans around them are more interesting. In this case the fascinating and incredibly well-animated robots were almost the B-plot. Instead we got to watch Shia Labeouf bumble about and Megan Fox pretend to be attracted to him. Supposedly the sequel will rectify that with more screen time for our favorite childhood robots and bigger, badder new bots to excite us. Autobots, transform and rollout!

“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” — Despite some mixed early buzz and what I felt was a lacking previous movie, it’s still Harry Potter and I’m still obsessed. Unfortunately directed by David Yates, the same director as the fifth movie, this one features hormones, flashbacks and a whole lot of setup for the final book. I also just found out that Yates is directing both movies about the seventh book. Damn.

“Where the Wild Things Are” — Spike Jonze’s live-action adaptation of my favorite children’s book is finally coming out. He’s been fighting with the studio over the tone of the film, which they felt was too dark. I don’t understand the concern, the book used to scare the hell out of me, so “dark” seems about right. Supposedly Jonze got his way and we’ll get to see his vision this year.

“Watchmen” — Since evil Fox has finally stuffed their evil pockets with the evil settlement cash, this movie will actually make its March release date. Hopefully this will be one great superhero movie that’s unlike anything before it. Will it top “The Dark Knight” or “Iron Man” for superhero awesomeness? Probably not considering the difficulty of the source material. And even if the cast includes that guy who plays Denny on “Grey’s Anatomy,” I’ll still watch “Watchmen.”

“Up” — Pixar’s latest flick, about an old man who takes his house on a journey to South America in memory of his wife, should have the same charm all their movies have. The synopsis alone made me cry last year when it leaked, but I’m not sure whether that speaks to the quality of the movie or to my masculinity. Probably both.

“Inglourious Bastards” — This is a Tarantino movie, so right off the bat you probably know whether you’ll love or hate it. It stars Brad Pitt as the leader of some badass Jews who go postal on Nazis during WWII. Not kidding. Take from that what you will.

“Star Trek” — This “reinvention” of the franchise by J.J. Abrams will introduce the classic characters to a new generation. I’ll be honest, I always hated Star Trek, but I’ll give this a chance  . . .  if only because the cast members are so pretty.

“Avatar”— James Cameron’s first original film since “Titanic” is mostly a mystery. It’s sci-fi and involves motion-capture in some way, but that’s really all anyone knows. It could be about evaporating water for all I care, this is the guy who did “Aliens” and “Terminator 2.” Just go see it.

“Public Enemies” — Johnny Depp and Christian Bale star in this 1930s cops-and-robbers drama. Their names alone are enough to sell me on it, but with Michael Mann (“Heat,” “Miami Vice”) attached, I’m drooling. And, unlike Mann’s last two movies, Jamie Foxx isn’t involved in any way. Praise Jebus.

“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” — Terry Gilliam, Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Colin Farrell and Tom Waits as the Devil. Tasty, no? Terry Gilliam’s (“Brazil,” “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”) latest involves a magic mirror, parallel worlds and the Devil. You wouldn’t believe me if I described the plot any further. Gilliam’s had a tough decade, with one bomb (“The Brothers Grimm”) and Heath Ledger dying in the middle of this movie. For the sake of our eyes and our brains, let’s hope his luck has changed.