Holiday films roll out some heavy subjects

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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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: 2hr 38min
Rated: PG-13 for intense disaster sequences and some language.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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: 2hr 6min
Rated: PG-13 for one scene involving brief violence, drug and sexual references.
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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: 1hr 31min
Rated: PG for mild sci-fi action and some suggestive humor.
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Cast: Gary Oldman, Justin Long, Seann William Scott, Jessica Biel, Dwayne Johnson
Produced by: Ignacio Pérez 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.
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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: 1hr 28min
Rated: PG for some mild rude humor.
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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 51min
Rated: R for some violence, disturbing images and language.
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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: 1hr 28min
Rated: PG-13 for sequences of intense violence, some disturbing images and brief strong language.
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Cast: Columbus Short, Matt Dillon, Laurence Fishburne, Jean Reno, Skeet Ulrich
Produced by: Joshua Donen
Directed by: Nimród 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: 1hr 50min
Rated: R for language and some disturbing violent content.
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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.
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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: 2hr 15min
Rated: PG-13 for mature thematic material involving disturbing violent content and images, and some language.
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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: 2hr 40min
Rated: PG-13 for intense epic battle sequences and warfare, sensuality, language and some smoking.
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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: 1hr 43min
Rated: PG-13 for some sexual references and momentary violence.
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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: 1hr 28min
Rated: PG for some mild rude humor.
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Cast: David Cross, Justin Long, Jason Lee, Anna Faris, Christina Applegate, Zachary Levi, Matthew Gray Gubler
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: 1hr 35min
Rated: G .
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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: 2hr 14min
Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some startling images and a scene of suggestive material.
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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