The final films of 2011

November 20, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

Orlando Sentinel

The holiday season — Hollywood’s time for family blockbusters and Oscar contenders — is just about here. Here’s a list of movies slated to open through the end of the year:

Wednesday, Nov. 23

“ARTHUR CHRISTMAS” (Sony-Columbia): The Wallace and Gromit animators at Aardman turn their talents toward showing us how Santa & Co. really gets all those toys made, sorted and delivered in one night.

“HUGO” (Paramount): Martin Scorsese tackles a 1930s family mystery with this tale of a boy (Asa Butterfield) who lives in a train station and wants to learn about his father (Jude Law) and automatons.

“THE MUPPETS” (Walt Disney): Jason Segel, Amy Adams and Emily Blunt are among the stars of this relaunch of the Muppets franchise, in which the adorable puppets must put on a show to save their old theater.

“PIRANHA 3DD” (Dimension): You knew there was going to be a sequel. But what does “in 3DD” mean?

“THE ARTIST” (Weinstein): Jean Dujardin is the silent-film star worried about his future and Berenice Bejo is the singing, dancing starlet on the rise in this comedy set in the 1920s. Malcolm McDowell, Missi Pyle and John Goodman also star.

“THE DESCENDANTS” (Fox Searchlight): George Clooney stars in this film from the director of “Sideways,” about a land baron trying to reconnect with his estranged daughters.

“PROJECT X” (Warner Bros.): A group of kids film a house party that goes off the rails in this mockumentary.

“THE LEGEND OF PALE MALE” (Balcony Releasing): This documentary is about the famous hawks who took up residence, just off of Central Park, and inspired New Yorkers and bird lovers the world over.

Friday, Dec. 2

“CORIOLANUS” (Weinstein): Ralph Fiennes directed and stars in this Shakespeare tragedy about a banished Roman who vows revenge on the Eternal City. With Vanessa Redgrave, Gerard Butler and Jessica Chastain.

Friday, Dec. 9

“NEW YEAR’S EVE” (Warner Bros.): Garry Marshall’s all-star sequel to his all-star romance “Valentine’s Day” sets up loosely connected couples wending their way toward New Year’s Eve. Zac Efron, Hilary Swank, Ashton Kutcher and Sarah Jessica Parker are just a few of the stars.

“THE SITTER” (Fox): David Gordon Green directed this comedy about a guy (Jonah Hill) suckered into baby-sitting the kids next door for “one wild night.”

“YOUNG ADULT” (Paramount): Charlize Theron is a lonely fiction writer who returns to her Minnesota hometown to take up with her now-married ex-boyfriend (Patrick Wilson) in this Jason Reitman dramedy. (Opens widely Dec. 16.)

Friday, Dec. 16

“ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: CHIP-WRECKED” (Fox): A 3-D shipwreck adventure starring Alvin, Simon and Theodore? Go figure.

“SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS” (Warner Bros.): Noomi Rapace and Stephen Fry are among those joining Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law and Rachel McAdams in this sequel.

“THE IRON LADY” (Weinstein): Meryl Streep is Margaret Thatcher in this political biopic, widely regarded as big-time Oscar bait.

Wednesday, Dec. 21

“THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO” (Sony): Daniel Craig is the disgraced journalist digging into a mystery, and Rooney Mara takes on the title role in this remake of the Swedish hit based on Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy.

“MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE — GHOST PROTOCOL” (Paramount): Brad Bird (”The Incredibles”) leaves animation to direct this revival of the Tom Cruise action franchise, with Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton and Simon Pegg.

Friday, DEC. 23

j“THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN” (Paramount): Jamie Bell has the title role in Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of the popular European comic-book character, a reporter who finds himself in mysteries or, in this case, on a treasure hunt. With Daniel Craig, Andy Serkis, Simon Pegg and almost no actresses of note.

h“WE BOUGHT A ZOO” (Fox): Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Thomas Haden Church and Elle Fanning star in this Cameron Crowe comedy about a father who moves his family to the English countryside to run a dilapidated zoo. Based on a true story.

Sunday, Dec. 25

“THE DARKEST HOUR” (Summit): Olivia Thirlby, Emile Hirsch and Max Minghella are among the stars of this aliens-invade-Russia actioner.

“EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE” (Warner Bros.): Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock star in this drama from the director of “The Hours,” a film about a child who searches New York for the lock that matches a key that his late father — killed on 9/11 — left behind. Opens widely Jan. 20.

Wednesday, Dec. 28

j“WAR HORSE” (DreamWorks): Steven Spielberg’s latest feat is making a major motion picture of Michael Morpurgo’s novel about World War I from the point of view of a horse sent to the front lines. Jeremy Irvine plays the lad who enlists to join his horse at the front, with Emily Watson, Benedict Cumberbatch and David Thewlis.