Hollywood holidays: movies opening between Thanksgiving and Christmas

The holidays are a busy time for Hollywood with big-budge action flicks, family films and Oscar-contending dramas hitting the big screen. Here, a look at some of the movies coming soon to a theater near you. Remember, release dates are subject to change and not all movies have received ratings as of press time.

NOV. 18

"The Descendants," starring George Clooney, Beau Bridges and Judy Greer Native islander Matt King lives with his family in Hawaii. Their world shatters when a tragic accident leaves Matt's wife in a coma. Not only must Matt struggle with the stipulation in his wife's will that she be allowed to die with dignity, but he also faces pressure from relatives to sell their family's enormous land trust while trying to be a good father to his young daughters. (Rated R)

__"Happy Feet 2," starring Elijah Wood, Robin Williams and Hank Azaria__ This sequel finds tap-dancing penguin Mumble and his pals using their smooth moves to save the penguin nation. Mumble and Gloria have started a family of their own, and their young son, Erik, is just finding his footing among his fellow emperor penguins when a dire new threat thrusts their future into jeopardy. Just when it begins to look as if all hope is lost, the penguin nation bands together to dance the darkness away.

__"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn -- Part 1," starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner__ A chain of events set off by Edward and Bella's marriage, honeymoon and birth of a child yields a shocking development for Jacob. (Rated PG-13)

__NOV. 23__

__"Arthur Christmas," starring James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie and Jim Broadbent__ When the unthinkable happens and Santa misses one child out of hundreds of millions, someone has to save the day. It's up to Arthur, Santa's youngest son, to deliver a present to the forgotten tyke before Christmas morning dawns. (Rated PG)

__"A Dangerous Method," starring Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen and Michael Fassbender__ In 1904, a Russian woman named Sabina Spielrein arrives at Carl Jung's clinic, seeking treatment for hysteria. Jung is eager to test Sigmund theories on Sabina, and, in fact, successfully treats her. Two years later, Jung and Sabina meet Freud in person, and Jung takes over the treatment of Otto Gross. Gross' influence leads Jung to begin an affair with Sabina, contributing to a rift with Freud. (Rated R)

__"Hugo," starring Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen and Jude Law__ An orphan seeks the answer to a mystery involving his late father, a toyshop owner and a lock. (Rated PG)

__"The Muppets," starring Jason Segal, Amy Adams and Chris Cooper__ Walter, the world's biggest Muppet fan, and his friends Gary and Mary discover that greedy Tex Richman plans to raze Muppet Theater and drill for oil on the spot. Desperate to save the Muppets' former stomping grounds, the three friends join forces with Kermit to reunite Miss Piggy, Fozzie and the rest of the Muppets to hold a telethon to save the theater. (Rated PG)

__"My Week with Marilyn," starring Michelle Williams, Eddie Redmayne and Kenneth Branagh__ In 1956 England, Colin Clark lands a job as a production assistant on the set of "The Prince and the Showgirl," starring Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn is also honeymooning with her new husband Arthur Miller, but work is driving her to exhaustion. When Miller departs for Paris, Colin seizes the chance to give Marilyn a respite during a week in the British countryside.

__DEC. 9__

__"New Year's Eve," starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Jessica Biel and Ashton Kutcher__ New Year's Eve celebrates love, hope, forgiveness, second chances and fresh starts, in intertwining stories told amidst the pulse and promise of New York City on the most dazzling night of the year.

__"The Sitter," starring Jonah Hill, Sam Rockwell and Ari Graynor__ A comedy about a college student on suspension who is coaxed into babysitting the kids next door, though he is fully unprepared for the wild night ahead of him. (Rated R)

__"Tinker Tailor Solider Spy," starring Gary Oldman, Colin Firth and Tom Hardy__ In 1970s England, Control, the head of MI6, dispatches a spy to meet with a Hungarian general who knows the identity of a Soviet spy within the organization. However, the mission goes wrong and the general dies before he can reveal the information.

__DEC. 16__

__"Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked," starring Jason Lee, Justin Long and Christina Applegate__ Playing around while aboard a cruise ship, the Chipmunks and Chipettes accidentally go overboard and end up marooned in a tropical paradise. They discover their new turf is not as deserted as it seems.

__"The Iron Lady," starring Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent and Harry Lloyd__ Margaret Thatcher breaks through class and gender barriers to become the United Kingdom's first female prime minister.

__"Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows," starring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law and Noomi Rapace__ When Austria's crown prince is found dead, the evidence seems to point to suicide. However, detective Sherlock Holmes deduces that the prince was murdered, and that the crime is only a piece of a larger puzzle designed by an evil genius named Moriarty.

__"Young Adult," starring Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt and Patrick Wilson__ Mavis Gary is a successful writer of teen literature who returns to her hometown with a dual mission: to relive her glory days, and steal away her now-married high-school sweetheart. However, her mission does not go exactly to plan, and she finds her homecoming more problematical than she expected.

__DEC. 21__

__"The Adventures of Tintin," starring Jamie Bell, Daniel Craig and Andy Serkis__ While shopping at an outdoor market, young reporter Tintin, accompanied by his faithful dog, Snowy, buys a model of an old ship called the Unicorn. A shady character named Sakharine and later an American named Barnaby try to buy the model from him, but Tintin refuses. The lad discovers that the ship contains a clue about a hidden treasure. (Rated PG)

__"Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol," starring Tom Cruise, Tom Wilkinson and Jeremy Renner__ When the IMF is implicated in a global terrorist plot and shut down, Ethan Hunt and his team must go under cover and off the grid to clear the organization's name.

__"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," starring Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara and Christopher Plummer__ A disgraced journalist and a computer hacker unravel a horrific family history when they investigate the case of a woman who disappeared 40 years ago.

__DEC. 23__

__"We Bought a Zoo," starring Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson and Thomas Haden Church__ A single father relocates his family to a dilapidated zoo and, with the help of its eclectic staff, works to restore the facility to its former glory.

__DEC. 25__

__"War Horse," starring Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson and David Thewlis__ A young man named Albert and his horse, Joey, are separated when Joey is sold to the cavalry and sent to the trenches of World War One. Despite being too young to enlist, Albert heads to France to save his friend. (Rated PG-13)

__"Darkest Hour," starring Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby and Max Minghella__ Five young people find themselves stranded in Moscow, fighting to survive in the wake of a devastating alien attack. (Rated PG-13)

Source: Fandango.com, IMDB.com

Staff favorites

The Southeast Missourian's targeted publication staff shares their favorite holiday movies.

My favorite Christmas movie is "White Christmas." Our Christmas Eve tradition is to go to church, ride around looking at Christmas lights then come home and watch "White Christmas." We all know it by heart and some have been known to sing and dance along. I myself am guilty of watching it at least a dozen times between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Jamie Barnwell, designer

Christmas isn't Christmas until my family has watched "Christmas Vacation." We usually watch it at my grandma's house; my dad and uncles can recite the movie by heart. (So can the rest of us; they're just the funniest.) There's no telling how many VHS tapes we wore out before finally getting a DVD a couple years ago. When I was young, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was my favorite holiday movie; that's when I knew Christmas was really here. Heather Collier, editor

My family has always had a tradition on Christmas Eve where we ate turkey sandwiches and watch a Christmas movie. Mom would cook the turkey on Christmas Eve, and that night we ate turkey sandwiches and then on Christmas Day she would not have to be in the kitchen all day, since the turkey was already cooked. My favorite Christmas movie has changed over the years. When I was a kid it was "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." Then as I became older it was the "Muppet Christmas Carol" for years -- used to drive my brother crazy because I made it watch it every year. I would say now it is probably "The Santa Claus," the original Tim Allen version. Although, I haven't gotten to choose our Christmas Eve movie for years; my son gets to choose it now. Cheryl Ellis, publication manager

A tie between "Christmas Vacation" and "The Polar Express." "Christmas Vacation" because I've been watching it every year with my family (usually multiple times) for as long as I can remember. We quote it frequently. "The Polar Express" has also been a big hit since it came out a few years ago. We like to play it on the big screen with surround-sound to get the full train-rattling effect. And we usually have to watch the "hot-hot-hot chocolate scene" a few times and break for "refreshments." Robyn Gaustchy, assisstant editor

"White Christmas." I love old movies and this one makes me laugh and has a great story, which a lot of movies lack these days. "White Christmas" is also my favorite Christmas song. Laura Simon, photographer