By BARBARA VANCHERI, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

In "2012," doomsday is the draw.

In "The Road," the post-apocalyptic world is simply the canvas to see how people behave. Do they turn into thieves and cannibals, or do they "carry the fire" -- and therefore hope, love and decency -- with them in this extreme environment?

Hollywood serves up a heaping of hope in the days before Thanksgiving, although one comes in a palatable PG-13 package and the other with a provocative, harrowing R.

"The Blind Side" and "Precious" focus on young people who, without the kindness of strangers and their own determination, would be doomed to horrid existences.

A look at how the movies stack up:

TORONTO - A playful note at the end of "A Serious Man" affirms: "No Jews were harmed in the making of this motion picture."

Actress Sari Lennick, however, did sacrifice her long blond hair and Richard Kind, his waistline and vanity.

Oren Peli is Red Bull in human form. His movie, "Paranormal Activity," is causing more sleepless nights than the Pittsburgh Steelers in overtime on "Monday Night Football."

TORONTO - After director Scott Hicks made "Hearts in Atlantis," which needed an 11-year-old boy to star opposite Anthony Hopkins, he vowed never again.

In summer 2009, Hollywood and moviegoers tossed out the rule book, stomped on it and left it for dead at the side of the red carpet. After all, consider:

-- Ed Asner, on the cusp of turning 80, was one of the biggest stars of summer thanks to "Up."

Eric Bana is quite the boy of summer 2009, with a Romulan villain, a cuckolded and cheating husband, and a time-traveler under his belt. If you're a newcomer to his charm and talents, look for these movies:

Talk about the real deal.
Actor Jeremy Renner, recalling scenes shot over a week in the scorching Jordanian desert, said, "That was a tough one, physically. There was no shade for 18 hours. That was no makeup, that was all real. Real flies, real sweat, real sand, real pain."

Staff Sgt. William James (Jeremy Renner) lives for this stuff. And could easily die for it, too.
He is the leader of an American bomb squad in 2004 Baghdad, a man with steely nerves who looks like he's preparing for a space walk when he puts on an 80-pound protective suit and bubble helmet but instead strides into the heart of detonation darkness.

"Food, Inc." is just the latest in a string of movies that will whet your appetite for more information about the food you buy or boycott:
"The Gleaners and I" (2001) -- French filmmaker Agnes Varda shows gleaners as they take the leavings from farm fields after harvest and the leftovers of a society that throws away too much useful stuff for too many of the wrong reasons.