First, the bad news: The holiday movie season begins with The End next weekend.

Now, the good news: The End is just the beginning.

Confused?

You needn't be.

The End comes in "2012," Hollywood's latest bid at wiping out mankind with another round of big fat digital effects.

It comes again, several weeks later, albeit at a lower pitch, in "The Road."

But not even digital doomsdays can stop what lies beyond it: spooning vampires ("The Twilight Saga: New Moon"), retro-animation ("The Fantastic Mr. Fox," "The Princess and the Frog"), Clint Eastwood riding again ("Invictus"), James Cameron pushing technology again ("Avatar"), Sherlock Holmes kicking butt ("Sherlock Holmes") and -- mamma mia -- Sophia Loren sharing screen space with Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, Kate Hudson and Fergie ("Nine").

Following is a preview of the holiday blockbusters expected to bust blocks in area theaters between next weekend and year's end -- emphasis on the "expected" (release dates can, and will, change).

Nov. 12

• 2012: Director Roland Emmerich, the smash-'em-up kid behind the noisy likes of "Independence Day," "Godzilla" and "The Day After Tomorrow," strikes again, with the volume turned up to "cataclysmic!" Not content with having already wiped out Washington, D.C., New York City and greater L.A., Emmerich lashes out with another doomsday scenario, this one wiping out pretty much everything and everyone, leaving small bands of survivors struggling to, well, survive. Among them: John Cusack, Danny Glover and Woody Harrelson.

Nov. 19

• Blind Side: The requisite feel-good sports drama of the season, this one a true-life account of the All-American football star Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron), the homeless black street teen taken in by a well-to-do white couple, played here by Sandra Bullock and country star Tim McGraw. Kathy Bates co-stars.

• Planet 51: An animated comedy about an astronaut who lands on Planet 51 thinking he's the first person to step foot on it. But he finds the rock is inhabited by little green folk who are happily living in a white-picket-fence world reminiscent of innocent 1950s America. And whose only fear is that it will be overrun by alien invaders -- like, say, our astro-hero. Providing vocal assists are Dwayne Johnson, Jessica Biel, Justin Long, Gary Oldman, Seann William Scott and John Cleese.

• The Twilight Saga: New Moon: The deeply, madly, hotly craved second installment in the steamy film franchise from Stephenie Meyer's successful series. This time, romance between mortals and vampires soars to a new level as Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) delves deeper into the mysteries of the supernatural world she yearns to become part of -- only to find herself in greater peril! Bring on fang-bearing metaphors for adolescent sexuality!

Nov. 25

• Fantastic Mr. Fox: Director Wes Anderson leaves the live-action angst of "Rushmore" and "The Royal Tenenbaums" behind for the animated angst of this adaptation of Roald Dahl's dark fable about a patriarchal fox (voice of George Clooney) who slips back into his old chicken-thieving ways, thus endangering his wife (Meryl Streep), son (Jason Schwartzman) and the surrounding wild kingdom community in general. With old-school, computer-free stop-motion animation. Other voices: Bill Murray, Eric Anderson and Willem Dafoe.

• Ninja Assassin: Korean singer-actor Rain stars as the titular gent, "one of the deadliest assassins in the world," trained from childhood by a secret underground clan. When his best bud is murdered by said clan, he breaks free and seeks revenge. Naomie Harris and Ben Miles co-star.

• Old Dogs: A week after he plays ISU's Braden Auditorium, Robin Williams will be back in town, courtesy this comedy in which he and John Travolta play best friends -- a middle-aged divorcee and long-term bachelor, respectively -- who find themselves entrusted with taking care of 6-year-old boy/girl twins, with the she half of the pair played by Travolta's daughter, Ella Bleu. Keeping it all in the family: JT's real-life spouse, Kelly Preston, also stars.

• The Road: Smells like Oscar bait as Cormac McCarthy's Pulitzer Prize-winning futuristic novel hits the large screen. It's about a father (Viggo Mortensen) and his 12-year-old son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) traversing the mean streets of an even meaner post-apocalyptic world (paging the "2012" survivors from Nov. 12). Robert Duvall, Charlize Theron and Guy Pearce co-star.

Dec. 4

• Armored: An action thriller that won't be high on the list of Brink's Security Top 10 movies of '09. It's about a crew at an armored transport security firm that decides to bite the hand that feeds it -- they plot a heist against the company. Their scheme is designed to harm no one, until an unplanned witness intercedes. Matt Dillon, Jean Reno, Laurence Fishburne and Skeet Ulrich star.

• Brothers: Serious family angst time from a director well-versed in same, Jim Sheridan ("My Left Foot," "In America"). Jake Gyllenhaal and Tobey Maguire star as polar-opposite brothers -- the former a bad seed just out of prison, the latter an all-American Marine presumed missing in Afghanistan. When Maguire unexpectedly returns home, the family dynamics have shifted, including those between himself and his wife (Natalie Portman), and with his parents (Sam Shepard, Mare Winningham).

Dec. 11

• Invictus: Speaking of Oscar bait, Clint Eastwood troupes on, this time in his director's boots only, with his Gran Torino back in storage. The occasion: the true story of how Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) linked up with the captain of South Africa's rugby team (Matt Damon) to heal the wounds of apartheid. The climax involves the underdog team's rise to the 1995 World Cup championships.

• The Princess and the Frog: Zip-a-dee-doo-dah! Disney returns to hand-drawn animation after devoting the better part of the past decade to computer animation. The occasion: the latest modernized musical take on a classic fable. Specifically, the one about the Frog Prince who wants to be human again. His ticket out of the swamp (yep, Louisiana is the new setting) and back to two legs: a big fat ol' princess smooch. Vocals courtesy Anika Noni Rose, Terrence Howard, Oprah Winfrey and John Goodman; songs courtesy Randy Newman.

Dec. 18

• Avatar: In his first feature directing assignment since "Titanic" 12 holidays ago, James Cameron returns with, we're told, "a new generation of special effects." They involve the current digital 3D trend, ratcheted up several degrees more. The occasion is a live-action epic about a disabled Marine (Sam Worthington) recruited to join a space mission to a lunar mining colony, where more new technology is at large: a process that allows humans to project their consciousness into heads of the moon's indigenous life forms, all the better to create personal "avatars." Zoe Saldana, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Rabisi and veteran space traveler Sigourney Weaver co-star.

• Did You Hear About the Morgans?: Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker team for the latest riff on the old "city-slickers-in-the-sticks" gambit. They're a successful, high-maintenance Manhattan couple on the brink of divorce who witness a murder. To avoid being snuffed themselves, they're buried, courtesy the Federal Witness Protection Program, in a small Wyoming town. Among the locals: Sam Elliott, Mary Steenburgen and professional old coot Wilford Brimley, who's been playing elderly since "Cocoon" 25 years ago.

Dec. 25

• Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Squeakuel: The toothy trio are joined by a she-munks trio, The Chipettes. Jason Lee, Justin Long, Jesse McCartney, Anna Faris, Amy Poehler, Christina Applegate and Matthew Gray Gubler star.

• It's Complicated: Seems like old times, it does. Veteran comedy writer-director Nancy Meyers ("Private Benjamin," "Baby Boom," "Father of the Bride") returns with old-timers Steve Martin, Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin, cast in a mature ménage of sorts. Streep and Baldwin are divorced, and he's remarried. But at their son's graduation, old sparks fly anew and ex-wife is now "the other woman." Meanwhile, the divorced middle-aged architect (Martin) hired by Streep to remodel her home, begins falling for ... never mind, it IS complicated.

• Nine: Film version of the hit Broadway musical, itself based on Federico Fellini's 1963 art-house film classic, "8½," the one about several days and nights in the life of a film director whose creative/personal lives are reaching the boiling point. Daniel Day Lewis stars, with the intriguing spectacle of two of Tom Cruise's exes, Penelope Cruz and Nicole Kidman, among the many ladies in his life. Still others include: Kate Hudson, Judi Dench, Stacy "Fergie" Ferguson and old Fellini crony Sophia Loren.

• Sherlock Holmes: Guy (Mr. Madonna) Ritchie directing? Robert Downey Jr. starring 221-B Baker St.'s most famous tenant? Jude Law co-starring as Doc Watson? Yikes. As Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce twirl in their graves, we get "a dynamic new portrayal" on which the intrepid duo reveals "fighting skills as lethal as their legendary intellect." Rachel McAdams co-stars.

• Up in the Air: From "Juno" director Jason Reitman, a comedy about a corporate hatchet man (George Clooney) who has nearly realized his professional goal of logging 5 million frequent-flyer miles. Then his company downsizes its travel budget. Then he must actually spend more time at home with his family instead of the woman he's recently met logging those flight miles.