This is gonna be ugly.

Due to the writers' strike, 2009 is set to be an exceptionally dry year. Fewer movies, fewer BIG movies especially, and even less that I can actually manage to care about.

So I'm going to try to list 10 movies I'm anticipating seeing in 2009. It's not going to be easy.

Here we go...

10) Tie between Astro Boy (October 23) and Star Trek (May 8) - On the first one: I don't know much about this ancient anime outside of what I saw in the Game Boy Advance game. But you know what? This is the second CGI film from the company and crew that made last year's TMNT. And once again they're going to bring an old property into the modern era as only they can. Right now, that's enough for me to get excited even if I barely care at all about this lameass property in this first place. On the second one: I actualy do kinda have reason to care about "Trek" because I've liked a fair number of the movies before. But right now, the trailer for this thing doesn't exactly instill any confidence in me whatsoever. Looks cheesy and chintzy.

9) The Princess & The Frog (December 25) - Disney finally brings out another hand-drawn 2D animated film. They're planning to pimp this one heavily. They're banking on it making or breaking the animation genre harder than any movie they've done since The Little Mermaid. As a major proponent of hand-drawn art over CGI art, I'm anxious to see what they pull out.

8) Fast & Furious (June 12) - I waffle between being really hopeful and incredibly pessimistic about this, the fourth entry in the TF&TF series that attempts to link all the stories together by taking place between 2 and 3. I have a feeling it's really missing what I liked about the first two (especially the second) in favor of finding some kind of mish-mash between the first and third. The fact that it's so heavily focused on Vin Diesel for some reason rather than Paul Walker is part of what is nagging at me. The other part is that it's directed by the guy who did Tokyo Drift. Oh yeah, and also? This is a "writers' strike movie" in every sense of the phrase, in that it wouldn't EXIST if the strike didn't happen when it did. Another reason not to be too hopeful... maybe? Or maybe that's a sign that something studios couldn't possibly appreciate has slipped through the cracks and waits to reward me?

7) Whiteout (September 11) - Holly and I saw a panel about this movie at Comic-Con back in the Summer of 2007, when it was supposed to be coming out in the first couple months of '08. Obviously, this marks a huge delay for the movie. Does that mean it'll be bad? I don't know, but I know I REALLY liked the trailer and I really like the concept - a U.S. marshal (Kate Beckinsale) is sent to investigate the first murder in Antarctica. Isolated from the rest of the world, she has three days to crack the case before the arctic winter begins, and work - as well as travel - become impossible. Based on the graphic novel by Greg Rucka, who says the movie is awesome.

6) Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince (July 17) - Well, at least the annoying delay from this month to next summer gives me another movie to put on this list. Despite having never read the books, I know quite a lot about what happens in the last story, Deathly Hallows. And yet, I know shockingly little about anything that goes down in THIS one. I'm not a hardcore Potter fanatic, but I do really enjoy the world and most of these films (particularly Azkaban), and I look forward to the surprises in store for me.

5) G.I. Joe: The Rise of COBRA (August 7) - With an impressive cast filling in the ranks of many familiar characters from my youth and the steady hand of Stephen Sommers (you know, he did the first and second Mummy movies) at the helm, I'm really expecting this to be a silly-yet-awesome time. I know this only exists because of Transformers making big money, but I care SO MUCH MORE about this property than I could ever hope to care about Transformers.

4) X-Men Origins: Wolverine (May 1) - Despite ongoing frustrations with this franchise... and despite one of my biggest problems with it being that it insists on starring Wolverine in every damn movie... I'm still optimistic that this movie, which is at least honest about who the real lead is, will be a vast improvement over The Last Stand that pays more respect to the characters. Many people will be anxious to see the new characters on display, like Gambit and Blob. Personally, I'm nervously waiting to see what they do to Emma... who does APPEAR to be in it.

3) Terminator Salvation (May 22) - The second movie is one of my all-time favorites; the third film disappointed; the current TV series is amazing. Can you make us a soup here? Hey, Christian Bale as John Connor is outstanding casting, and I'm really intrigued to see how they tell an entire story from the perspective of the future war. Plus, those early designs of the Terminators stalking this early part of the future that leaked a couple weeks back? Pretty dang awesome.

2) Watchmen (March 6) - Everything about this screams intense fidelity to the source material, and it looks awesome. The book, while not my favoritest comic ever (like it is for many people), is still an astonishing work of literature with a lot of compelling themes. I get the feeling this will be a phenomenal film, and fans will debate the departures from the source as much as they praise its faithfulness. I have little doubt in this one.

1) Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (February 27) - Kristin Kreuk is the worst actress working today. A few years ago I might've said she was tied with Heather Graham, but Graham doesn't really work anymore, so the crown is clearly Kreuk's. That having been said... I LOVE Street Fighter games, and Chun-Li is one of my favorite characters from the mythos. Kreuk does at least amply LOOK the part of Chun-Li. Also, the plot breakdown (as well as the small smattering of characters from the game, rather than the clusterfuck of the '94 film) both make me feel optimistic. I really, really WANT this to be good.