I’m easy to please at the movies. Whenever I hear someone talk about how poor a year was for films, I look back and recall seeing an array of flicks I didn’t praise to high heaven but still thought were good in their own way. Last year had its share of fine films as well as surprises, and this year should offer more of the same. Looking ahead at the entire menu of 2003 movies, here are the ten I’m most eager to see (in alphabetical order):

Daredevil (Feb. 14). Director Mark Steven Johnson brings the Marvel Comics superhero to life in the most anticipated comic book adaptation since X-Men. Ben Affleck plays Matt Murdock, a blind attorney who, at night, dispenses justice as Daredevil, a red-suited vigilante with a mean billy club and heightened super-senses. The coolness doesn’t end there: “Alias” star Jennifer Garner plays love interest/warrior Elektra; Colin Farrell is the deadly assassin Bullseye, and Michael Clarke Duncan portrays Daredevil’s main foe, the Kingpin. While the first teaser didn’t whet anyone’s appetite too much, advanced buzz and two recent excellent trailers have given audiences a much better idea of how exciting Daredevil might be. 

Dreamcatcher (Mar. 21). Yet another frightening work from author Stephen King is given the theatrical treatment, and this one could be the scariest adaptation since The Shining. Lawrence Kasdan (Mumford) directs King's tale about friends who hang out at a cabin in the wilderness and go up against a horrific force beyond their imaginations. "Chilling" and "spooky" are the words that come to mind while absorbing the atmosphere of Dreamcatcher's well-done trailers. 

Identity (April 25). A stormy night. A remote motel. A handful of terrific character actors, among them John Cusack, Ray Liotta, and John C. McGinley. One of them is a killer bumping off the others one by one. The trailer sends goosebumps down my spine every time I watch it. What does this all add up to? We won’t be sure until March 14, but I think Identity has what it takes to be a great, old-fashioned, Agatha Christie-style mystery…with a tad more violence than that author would’ve had in mind.

Kill Bill (Oct. 10). For many movie fans, Kill Bill ranks is high on the list of most anticipated films. Quentin Tarantino returns with his first film since 1997’s Jackie Brown. Pulp Fiction actress Uma Thurman plays the Bride, shot and put into a coma on her wedding day by her boss, Bill (David Carradine). Years later, she wakes up, and with her talents in the field of martial arts and using a samurai sword, the Bride is prepared to get some good ol’ revenge. Almost everything about Kill Bill I’ve seen so far is nothing but sheer coolness: an addictive teaser trailer, and a monster cast which also includes Vivica A. Fox, Daryl Hannah, and Lucy Liu as Bill’s assassin squad. 

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (July 11).  Despite a troubled production rumored to have generated heated disagreements between director Stephen Norrington and star Sean Connery, this summer tentpole feature from the folks at Fox nevertheless rings with inspiration all around. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is about a team of famous literary characters who come to life and fight evil in its many forms. Connery plays adventurer Allan Quatermain, who heads the league, which includes Tom Sawyer (Shane West), Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde (Jason Flemyng), and Mina Harker (Peta Wilson). A different sort of comic book film, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen promises an abundance of originality and stimulating ideas.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Dec. 17).  I can't leave the final chapter of the Lord of the Rings saga off my list, not after experiencing the majesty and epic qualities director Peter Jackson brought to the first two film versions of J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved work. The quest of ringbearer Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) and the members of the broken fellowship of the One Ring come to an end in one last battle for Middle-Earth’s future. The Return of the King will be remembered forever as the final section to a film series that, since December 2001, has become one of the most cherished parts of cinema history. The Return of the King promises to be bigger, better, and darker than The Fellowship of the Ring or The Two Towers. I predict it will provide fitting closure to an exhilarating trilogy.

The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions (May 15 and Nov. 7, respectively). New Line should have no problem conquering the December box office with The Return of the King. But it’s the brothers Warner who will dominate pretty much the rest of the year-- with two sequels to their 1999 blockbuster The Matrix. Being released only six months from one another, the long-awaited sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, will surely draw in every person who saw Keanu Reeves’s Neo learn about the computer-controlled world. The Wachowski Brothers are attempting to top their groundbreaking original with an epic storyline, a great cliffhanger at the end of Reloaded, huge effects, and what is said to be the car chase to end all car chases. Hey, I think I'll get my leather jacket and sunglasses and start standing in line right now.

Phone Booth (Apr. 4). Phone Booth was originally slated to go up against Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets back in November (why Half Past Dead couldn’t fly away as well, I’ll never understand). But even though the marketing campaign had already commenced, the D.C. sniper attacks occurred, and it wasn’t the right time to release a pulse-pounding thriller with Colin Farrell as a man trapped in a phone booth by a sniper with his sights on him. But the film looks too good to waste sitting on the shelf, so come April, Fox will at last release Phone Booth, a thriller with a great general premise (the entire film is set in and around the phone booth), a nice cast, and one of the most enticing and suspenseful trailers in recent memory.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (July 2). Wanna know how I’m reacting to all the bad buzz surrounding T3? Well, I'm just plugging my ears and saying “La la la, I can’t hear you!” to all the naysayers predicting Arnold Schwarzenegger’s third outing as a literal fighting machine will bomb. True, it doesn’t look as caustic or brilliant as James Cameron’s Terminators were, but director Jonathan Mostow's T3 appears to be an above-average festival of guns, explosions, and one-liners…pretty much like every other summer actioner, only somehow better. With Arnold’s Terminator going up against Kristanna Loken’s advanced TX, T3 should have no problem showing action fans how big its guns are.

X2 (May 2). I'm a comic-book addict, so I'm going nuts about the treasure trove of superhero flicks coming out next summer. X2 is the sequel to X-Men, a film I anticipated greatly and wasn’t the least bit disappointed by. Now I'm looking forward to X2 with the same amount of enthusiasm. The gang of mutant superheroes is back, with the additions of Alan Cumming as the blue-skinned, telepathic Nightcrawler and character actor Brian Cox as Stryker, the film’s villain, a man who can provide some answers to the shady past of X-Man Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). I’m hoping there'll be no more corny one-liners from Halle Berry, though. Controlling the weather is cool enough. Right?

I realize how many films I’ve sacrificed to make a top ten list. Movies like Tears of the Sun, The Hulk, Finding Nemo and, heck, even the battle of the slasher icons, Freddy vs. Jason, look intriguing in their own special ways. Which leads to my enthusiastic conclusion: bring on the movies of 2003!