For Every Apocalypse, There's Family Animation

Rick Bentley - The Fresno Bee

The season to be jolly is on the way, but you'd never know it by the movies scheduled for theatrical release between now and Christmas. In this time of peace and goodwill are movies about teenage pregnancy, murder, the end of the world and the homeless.

In other words, get ready for a lot of bahs and loads of humbugs with your popcorn this holiday season.

A few exceptions to this depressing rule exist with a new animated effort from Disney and the return of singing rodents. The majority of the time the movies closing out 2009 will make you realize your life isn't all that bad.

Continuing what has become a holiday tradition, many of the movies that will feature Oscar buzz won't get to theaters until near the end of the year or won't open here until next year. Films like the musical "Nine," Heath Ledger's last movie, "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," and Robert De Niro's "Everybody's Fine" are scheduled for limited release and that rarely means our local theaters.

Here's a look at some of the movies scheduled to hit local screens between now and Christmas. Opening dates are the film's scheduled initial release, so they may not open in Fresno until weeks later:

The Fourth Kind

Pitched as fact-based, a doctor discovers her patients have had encouters with aliens. Don't expect a big draw from moviegoers.

Suspense/Thriller Running time: 1hr 38min Rated: PG-13 for violent/disturbing images, some terror, thematic elements and brief sexuality. Visit the official site Cast: Milla Jovovich, Elias Koteas, Corey Johnson, Will Patton, Hakeem Kae-Kazim Directed by: Olatunde Osunsanmi Written by: Olatunde Osunsanmi

Disney's A Christmas Carol

This computer-generated animated telling of the Charles Dickens story looks snazzy, but will moviegoers want to see another version of the classic holiday tale?

Action/Adventure, SciFi/Fantasy Running time: 1hr 36min Rated: PG for scary sequences and images. Visit the official site Cast: Gary Oldman, Jim Carrey, Bob Hoskins, Robin Wright Penn, Collin Firth Produced by: Jack Rapke Directed by: Robert Zemeckis Written by: Robert Zemeckis, Charles Dickens

The Box

All a couple has to do to receive $1 million is push a button. The catch is that someone they don't know will die. How well Kelly mixes the moral questions with action scenes will make or break the movie.

Horror, Suspense/Thriller, SciFi/Fantasy Running time: 1hr 56min Rated: PG-13 for thematic elements, some violence and disturbing images. Visit the official site Cast: Cameron Diaz, James Marsden, Frank Langella, Gillian Jacobs, Basil Hoffman Produced by: Sean McKittrick, Dan Lin, Kelly McKittrick Directed by: Richard Kelly Written by: Richard Kelly, Richard Matheson

Men Who Stare at Goats

A quirky film about a reporter who wants to write about a soldier who says he was part of a U.S. Army paranormal unit. It looks to be this year's strange-humor flick.

Drama Running time: 1hr 30min Rated: R for language, some drug content and brief nudity. Visit the official site Cast: Ewan McGregor, George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Stephen Root, Kevin Spacey Produced by: George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Paul Lister Directed by: Grant Heslov Written by: Peter Straughan, Jon Ronson

Pirate Radio

If this tale of off-shore rock radio in the United Kingdom in the 1970s is even one-hundredth as good as Curtis' "Love Actually," it'll be a hit.

Comedy Running time: 2hr 9min Rated: R for language, and some sexual content including brief nudity. Visit the official site Cast: Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost, Philip Seymour Hoffman, January Jones Produced by: Hilary Bevan Jones Directed by: Richard Curtis Written by: Richard Curtis

2012

The end of the world predicted by the Aztecs comes true -- and shown through spectacular visual effects.

Action/Adventure, Drama, SciFi/Fantasy Running time: min Rated: PG-13 for intense disaster sequences and some language. Visit the official site Cast: Thandie Newton, Danny Glover, Woody Harrelson, Amanda Peet, John Cusack Produced by: Roland Emmerich Directed by: Roland Emmerich Written by: Roland Emmerich, Harald Kloser

Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire

Oscar voters will embrace this tale of a teen who tries to turn her life around despite having a second pregnancy, an abusive mother and illiteracy.

Drama Running time: 1hr 49min Rated: R for child abuse including sexual assault, and pervasive language. Visit the official site Cast: Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, Mo'Nique, Lenny Kravitz, Gabourey "Gabby" Sidibe Produced by: Lee Daniels, Gary Magness, Sarah Siegel-Magness Directed by: Lee Daniels Written by: Sapphire, Damien Paul

Fantastic Mr. Fox

It's hard to know whether Anderson's vision of the Roald Dahl story about a wily fox who has worn out his welcome will amaze or be too weird.

Animation Running time: 1hr 27min Rated: PG for action, smoking and slang humor. Visit the official site Cast: Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, George Clooney, Jason Schwartzman, Wally Wolodarsky Produced by: Scott Rudin, Wes Anderson, Allison Abbate, Jeremy Dawson Directed by: Wes Anderson Written by: Noah Baumbach, Wes Anderson, Roald Dahl

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

The "Twilight" sequel about the Bella-Edward-Jacob triangle will be a huge hit.

Action/Adventure, Horror Running time: 2hr 10min Rated: PG-13 for some violence and action. Visit the official site Cast: Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Robert Pattinson, Jackson Rathbone, Ashley Greene Written by: Stephenie Meyer

The Blind Side

Bullock gets dramatic in this true story of a white family that takes in a homeless black youngster.

Drama Running time: min Rated: PG-13 for one scene involving brief violence, drug and sexual references. Visit the official site Cast: Tim McGraw, Sandra Bullock, Kathy Bates, Ray McKinnon, Quinton Aaron Directed by: John Lee Hancock Written by: John Lee Hancock, Michael Lewis

Planet 51

An astronaut becomes the alien when he lands on a distant planet. This is one of the few animated movies opening for the holidays aimed directly at young moviegoers, which should make it a hit.

Action/Adventure, Animation Running time: min Rated: PG for mild sci-fi action and some suggestive humor. Visit the official site Cast: Gary Oldman, Justin Long, Seann William Scott, Jessica Biel, Dwayne Johnson Produced by: Ignacio Perez Dolset Directed by: Jorge Blanco Written by: Joe Stillman

Ninja Assassin

What better says happy Thanksgiving than battling ninja murderers for hire?

Action/Adventure Running time: 1hr 39min Rated: R for strong bloody stylized violence throughout, and language. Visit the official site Cast: Naomie Harris, Rain, Rick Yune, Togo Igawa, Ben Miles Produced by: Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski, Grant Hill Directed by: James McTeigue Written by: Matthew Sand, J. Michael Straczynski

Old Dogs

Don't expect many new tricks in this familiar story of bachelors who must take care of 7-year-old twins.

Comedy Running time: min Rated: PG for some mild rude humor. Visit the official site Cast: John Travolta, Kelly Preston, Ella Bleu Travolta Produced by: Peter Abrams Directed by: Walt Becker Written by: David Diamond, David Weissman

The Road

Look for plenty of Oscar buzz around this story of a father and son on a trek in a post-apocalyptic world.

Drama, Suspense/Thriller Running time: 1hr 59min Rated: R for some violence, disturbing images and language. Visit the official site Cast: Charlize Theron, Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee Produced by: Nick Wechsler, Paula Mae Schwartz, Steve Schwartz Directed by: John Hillcoat Written by: Cormac McCarthy, Joe Penhall

Armored

This action film about a security firm's plan to rob their own company going bad feels more like a summer flick, which may hurt its box office take.

Action/Adventure, Suspense/Thriller Running time: min Rated: PG-13 for sequences of intense violence, some disturbing images and brief strong language. Visit the official site Cast: Columbus Short, Matt Dillon, Laurence Fishburne, Jean Reno, Skeet Ulrich Produced by: Joshua Donen Directed by: Nimrod Antal Written by: James V. Simpson

Brothers

Moviegoers have not embraced recent war movies, but you can count on Sheridan to make this tale of two brothers affected by the war in Afghanistan a powerful story.

War, Drama Running time: min Rated: R for language and some disturbing violent content. Visit the official site Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire, Natalie Portman, Clifton Collins Jr., Mare Winningham Produced by: Michael De Luca Directed by: Jim Sheridan Written by: Susanne Bier, David Benioff

Up in the Air

As he did in "Juno" and "Thank You for Smoking," Reitman tackles a tough topic in this story about a man who travels frequently for his job being grounded.

Drama, Comedy Running time: 1hr 49min Rated: R for language and some sexual content. Visit the official site Cast: Vera Farmiga, George Clooney Produced by: Jason Reitman, Ivan Reitman, Joe Medjuck, Daniel Dubiecki, Tom Pollock, Jeffrey Clifford Directed by: Jason Reitman Written by: Jason Reitman, Walter Kirn

Invictus

The Nelson Mandela story has all of the star power to be a hit.

Drama Running time: 2hr 15min Rated: No Rating .

Cast: Hani Salama, Laila Eloui, Nour El Sherif Produced by: Humbert Balsan, Gabriel Khoury Directed by: Youssef Chahine Written by: Youssef Chahine

The Lovely Bones

Look for Oscar mentions from this tale of a girl who watches her family from heaven and plots her revenge.

Drama, Horror, Suspense/Thriller Running time: min Rated: No Rating . Visit the official site Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, Saoirse Ronan Produced by: Carolynne Cunningham Directed by: Peter Jackson Written by: Peter Jackson, Alice Sebold

Avatar

Cameron's been working for years on the breakthrough technology to present this 3D film about humans vs. aliens. The visuals should be so strong that it won't matter if the plot is thin.

Action/Adventure, Suspense/Thriller, SciFi/Fantasy Running time: 1hr 40min Rated: No Rating . Visit the official site Cast: Zoe Saldana, Sam Worthington Directed by: James Cameron Written by: James Cameron

Did You Hear About the Morgans?

A New York couple move to a small town as part of the witness-protection program. This is the kind of light comedy Grant does so well.

Drama, Comedy, Romance Running time: min Rated: No Rating . Visit the official site Cast: Hugh Grant, Sarah Jessica Parker

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel

The singing, dancing rodents are back to make Dave's life a mess. If this sequel does half as well as the first, it will be a monster hit.

Comedy Running time: min Rated: PG for some mild rude humor.

Cast: David Cross, Zachary Levi Directed by: Betty Thomas

The Princess and the Frog

A young woman has her life changed by a kiss. It's a joy to see traditional 2D animation for this fable set in 19th-century New Orleans.

Animation, Family, Comedy Running time: min Rated: G . Visit the official site Cast: Keith David, Jenifer Lewis, Jennifer Cody, Ritchie Montgomery, Anika Noni Rose Produced by: Peter Del Vecho Directed by: Ron Clements, John Musker Written by: Ron Clements, Rob Edwards

Sherlock Holmes

This latest look at the detective will work if Ritchie keeps the story elementary.

Action/Adventure, Drama Running time: min Rated: No Rating . Visit the official site Cast: Jude Law, Robert Downey Jr., Kelly Reilly, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong Produced by: Joel Silver, Susan Downey, Dan Lin, Lionel Wigram Directed by: Guy Ritchie Written by: Arthur Conan Doyle, Lionel Wigram

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