The holiday movie season, traditionally a mix of serious subjects and cuddlesome comedies, looks unusually overcast this year. The season starts Friday with the ultimate bah-humbug story: "A Christmas Carol."

In this 3-D Disney version of the Dickens classic, director Robert Zemeckis uses the same motion-capture technique he employed in "The Polar Express," replacing stars Jim Carrey and Colin Firth with animated likenesses. That could be a smart strategy to lure audiences away from their home theaters, as superstar actors seem to matter less than spectacle these days. (Will Ferrell, we feel your pain.)

But what does it say about our times that the spectacles have become so dark?

On Friday, audiences can ponder whether Cameron Diaz deserves $1 million for killing a stranger in "The Box," from the director of "Donnie Darko"; and aliens hunt for prey in "The Fourth Kind."

On Nov. 13, it's "2012," an end-of-the-world thriller starring John Cusack. Based on a Mayan prophecy, it's from the same globe-destroying Grinch as "Independence Day" and "The Day After Tomorrow."

Doom also is the theme of "The Road" (Nov. 25), a putative Oscar contender in which Viggo Mortensen shepherds his son through a wasteland full of cannibals.

And apocalyptic struggle is the premise of the most anticipated spectacle of all: "Avatar" (Dec. 18). James Cameron ("Titanic") has spent a reported 14 years and a gazillion dollars to complete this 3-D sci-fi epic.

This year, even the inspirational stories seem unusually hard-won. In "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" (Nov. 20), an obese, abused teen mother learns to read. In "Invictus" (Dec. 11), Clint Eastwood's latest bid for best picture, Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) spends decades in prison and frees South Africa from apartheid before turning his attention to his country's rugby team.

And in Peter Jackson's "The Lovely Bones" (Dec. 25), it takes heavenly guidance for a family to find hope after an unspeakable loss.

Of course, the stockings are stuffed with movies for every disposition and demographic. Moody teens may sink their teeth into "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," the second in a series of vampire romances.

Kids should clamor for the computer animated "Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" (Dec. 25) and Disney's hand-drawn fable "The Princess and the Frog" (Dec. 11).
And overgrown kids could queue up for Wes Anderson's stop-motion animated "Fantastic Mr. Fox," based on an animal allegory story by Roald Dahl ("Charlie and the Chocolate Factory") and featuring the voice of George Clooney.

Clooney's famous face will be on screen in the military comedy "The Men who Stare at Goats" (Nov. 6) and the corporate dramedy "Up in the Air" (Dec. 11). The latter movie, shot in St. Louis this year, will preview locally Nov. 14 at the St. Louis International Film Festival.

The festival opens on Nov. 12 with "An Education" (opening wide on Nov. 13), starring former St. Louisan Peter Sarsgaard as the charming suitor of a London schoolgirl. Sarsgaard and co-star Carey Mulligan are early favorites for Academy Award nominations.

One of the early favorites for best picture is "Nine" (Dec. 25), a showbiz musical from the director of "Chicago," inspired by Federico Fellini's "8 1/2" and starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Penelope Cruz.

Cruz also stars in "Broken Embraces" (to be announced), an acclaimed Spanish melodrama from director Pedro Almodovar ("Volver").

Other highly polished star vehicles heading to town this season include:

— John Travolta and Robin Williams as reluctant kiddie caretakers in "Old Dogs" (Nov. 25).

— Robert DeNiro in the family-reconciliation dramedy "Everybody's Fine" (Dec. 4).

— Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman and Tobey Maguire in the wartime love triangle "Brothers" (Dec. 4).

— Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker as relocated witnesses in "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" (Dec. 18)

— Alec Baldwin, Meryl Streep and Steve Martin in the divorce-themed comedy "It's Complicated" (Dec. 25).

— Emily Blunt as a queen-to-be in "The Young Victoria."

— Colin Firth as a grieving lover in "A Single Man" (Dec. 25).

— The late Heath Ledger as a shape-shifting circus performer in "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" (Dec. 25).

— Robert Downey Jr. as the title sleuth in "Sherlock Holmes" (Dec. 25).

Yet none of these pedigreed productions may supplant the sleeper that has become the biggest hit of the year: "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," the animated adventure whose global appeal has made it the third-highest grossing movie of all time on the world (non-U.S.) charts.

As Sherlock Holmes might deduce, the formula to get audiences dashing through the snow is no longer elementary.