The reason Hollywood has taken over San Diego Comic-Con over the past decade is to sell their upcoming movies to the fans. The fans who attend, in general, are “geeks.” They’re the kind of people who go crazy when they see something cool and tell every single person they meet, blog about it, tweet about it, make videos and more. If the studios present these people a cool piece of footage, they get an incalculable amount of free press and buzz about it.

This year, here are the five movies that showed footage that got me the most excited. And, by writing this piece, I’m playing my part in the game.

1. Sucker Punch

Zack Snyder’s last two movies, 300 and Watchmen, both came to Comic-Con in the past and brought the house down leading to huge opening weekend box office.

This film, which will be released in March 2011, is about a girl who goes into a mental institution and teams up with a bunch of other girls to escape. However, they do it through a fantasy world that includes big guns, aliens, zeppelins, dragons, airplanes, samurais and just about anything else you can imagine. It just looks so frigging bad ass. Check out the footage BELOW.

2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Everyone was already excited for the final chapter of the Harry Potter saga, which will be released in two parts this November and next Summer, but the footage screened at Comic-Con blew everything else we’ve seen away. The footage just keeps expanding and getting darker and more intense. We saw the grave of Dumbledore, the Harry clones, Ron and Harry fighting and so much more I can’t even remember. The images just kept coming so fast and by the end, I was sold. These will be the best two movies of the series.

3. Paul

Two nerds from across the pond make a pilgrimage to San Diego Comic-Con and, when they decide to drive cross country, meet a real life alien at Area 51. That’s the set up of Paul, which will be released next Spring and features an amazing cast including Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (who wrote the script) as well as Kristen Wiig, Jason Bateman, Sigourney Weaver, Bill Hader, Jeffrey Tambor and Seth Rogen as the voice of the alien, Paul. The footage blew the roof off of Comic-Con, partially because it was set there, but also because it looks like a rip roaring road movie.

4. Tron: Legacy

This is the third year that Tron made it to Comic-Con. Two years ago, it was merely a concept. Last year, we got a few minutes of footage without effects. This year, we got what looked like the finished movie. Epic shots of huge battles, insane special effects and 3D that showed why 3D became popular in the first place. Sure, at its heart it’s a sequel to an almost twenty year old movie, but at the time, the original Tron was way ahead of its time. This one might be ahead of its time again, considering Jeff Bridges plays both himself now and him 20 years younger thanks to CGI.

5. Let Me In

Let Me In is a smaller budget remake of a recent Swedish masterpiece Let The Right One In about a young boy and girl who become friends, even though she’s a vampire. The original is one of the most revered films in recent memory, which made most people dismiss this American remake. However, after seeing the footage shown at Comic-Con, I’m in. It looks suitably different while holding to the complex themes of the original. It will be released in October.