As we all eagerly go through the last half of the school year to reach the light at the end of the tunnel known to us as summer vacation, small motivations may help us look forward to the coming months (and possibly our last, if you believe the Mayan calendar theories).

Personally, I always start the new year with a list of movies that will be released in the upcoming year that would be worth spending the ten dollars on at the theater. The list always provides me with a glimmer of happiness behind the piles of homework and the anticipation of being transported into an alternative realm for a couple of hours. To get you excited as well, here are a few of the movies I have on my list for 2012 (sorry, I’m not a Twilight fan, so that movie is not included):

1. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (December 14): Many students have read the J.R.R. Tolkien novel, The Hobbit, but soon (like the Harry Potter series) we can watch the film adaptation, directed by Peter Jackson, who also helmed the successful Fellowship of the Rings trilogy. For those who have yet to pick up the fantasy story, the film will center on a Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins who travels with dwarves to retrieve their treasure from Smaug the dragon. Childish as it may seem, the movie will encompass important themes including heroism maturation. With a cast ranging from Elijah Wood to Orlando Bloom to Cate Blanchett, the film has already gained a popular fan-base and is sure to be a crowd-pleaser.

2. The Perks Of Being A Wallflower (Release date not available yet): Also based off of an admired novel, the movie is about a high school boy with the alias Charlie that writes to an anonymous person about the complex events occurring in his life. Starring Logan Lerman as Charlie, along with Nina Dobrev, Ezra Miller, and Emma Watson, it is a film that every current high school student can take to heart as it deals with the trials of growing up, drug use, sexual orientation, death, popularity, and young romances.

3. Dark Shadows (May 11): Any movie directed by Tim Burton pretty much always makes my list, especially if it stars Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. The dark tale begins in the eighteenth century where the wealthy Barnabas Collins (Depp) governs the town of Collinsport, Maine. Collins cuts off his relationship with a witch named Angelique (Eva Green) who then transforms Collins into a vampire and buries him alive. In the late twentieth century, Collins breaks free from his grave only to find the world a completely different place than when he left it. This mysterious and cryptic film would gain appeal to any audience that showed interest in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

4. The Five-Year Engagement (April 27): For those interested in romantic comedies, this movie is the one for you. From the same producers of Bridesmaids, The Five-Year Engagement chronicles the tumultuous and lengthy engagement of the young couple, Tom and Violet, as played by Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother, Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada, Adjustment Bureau). The movie reflects the many sacrifices you give up for love and the difficulty of maintaining relationships.

5. Snow White and The Huntsman (June 1): Directed by Rupert Sanders and produced by the same filmmakers as Alice In Wonderland, this version of Snow White (as played by Kristin Stewart) will be twisted a bit towards the sinister side from the classic Disney fairy tale. This film adaptation may not be the best to take smaller siblings to as it will likely lean in the direction of a more mature audience.

6. The Great Gatsby (December 25): Are all the English teachers excited yet? For next winter, the great American novel will be converted (again) into a full-length motion picture. I can picture the look on teachers’ faces right now after the words “full-length motion picture.” Fear. But please don’t fret. Directed by Moulin Rouge’s Baz Luhrmann with an all-star cast (lead roles are Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, and Tobey Macguire), the movie is almost guaranteed to accurately and smoothly depict the canonical text.