Jan 6, 2006 By Lou Gaul Calkins Media Film Critic 4 min read

A grisly chiller (“Hostel”), a dark satire (“The Matador”), an erotic thriller (“Match Point”), a broad comedy (“Grandma’s Boy”) and a modest import (“Breakfast on Pluto”) are the top titles arriving on this first weekend of 2006. The new films (with all dates subject to change) opening at a theater near you include:

– “BloodRayne,” with Kristanna Loken, who plays the deadly cyborg going one-on-one with Arnold Schwarzenegger in “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” as a half-vampire who stands as the only hope humans have for survival in 18th-century Romania. German filmmaker Uwe Boll (“Alone in the Dark”) directed the R-rated action fantasy, which is based on a video game and co-stars Michelle Rodriguez (“The Fast and the Furious”), Ben Kingsley (“Oliver Twist”) and rocker-turned-actor Meat Loaf (“Fight Club”).

– “Breakfast on Pluto,” with Cillian Murphy (“Batman Begins”) in an R-rated tale about a cross-dressing orphan who leaves the small Irish town where he was raised and travels to England on an obsessive quest to find the mother who abandoned him at birth. Liam Neeson (“Schindler’s List”) co-stars, and Neil Jordan (“The Crying Game”) co-wrote and directed.

– “Grandma’s Boy,” with co-writer Allen Covert (“The Longest Yard”) in a bawdy R-rated comedy about a middle-aged video-game tester who discovers that his roommate has spent all of their rent money on hookers and parties. To his great embarrassment, the tester must then move in with his grandmother and her two senior-citizen friends and try to hide where he’s living from co-workers, who would ridicule him if they knew the truth.

– “Hostel,” with Eli Roth, who created the intense fright film “Cabin Fever,” directing a grisly chiller about two male backpackers who, while vacationing in Amsterdam, become seduced by legal marijuana and prostitution and head to a remote Slovakian city that’s rumored to provide the ultimate in forbidden pleasures. They then find themselves being stalked, kidnapped and tortured by criminals running an underground business that, shall we say, brings out the worst in people who have no fear of prosecution. Quentin Tarantino (“Pulp Fiction”) was so excited by Roth’s script that he agreed to serve as executive producer of the chiller, which co-stars Jay Hernandez (“Friday Night Lights”) and Derek Richardson (“Bring It On Again”) and features a cameo appearance by legendary Japanese director Takashi Miike (“Audition”).

– “The Matador,” with Pierce Brosnan (“GoldenEye”), Greg Kinnear (“As Good As It Gets”) and Hope Davis (“About Schmidt”) in a darkly humorous tale about an international hit man going through a mid-life crisis and suffering panic attacks. The assassin, who feels his job is being downsized and offered to a “younger, cheaper kid,” strikes up a relationship with a struggling American businessman who needs some killer instincts to make it in the world of commerce. Brosnan deftly spoofs his slick James Bond image during the R-rated picture, which takes some unexpected turns.

– “Match Point,” with Scarlett Johansson (“The Island”) and Jonathan Rhys Meyers (“Bend It Like Beckham”) in an R-rated psychological thriller about an aging Irish tennis pro who lusts after the attractive blonde American fianc?e of his extremely wealthy best friend. Passion, greed, crime and fate become a deadly brew during this dark tale about a self-absorbed man torn between his sexual hunger for a forbidden woman and his desire to live the good life by marrying his British buddy’s shy sister. Woody Allen (“Annie Hall”) directed the London-set tale, which marks a departure for the filmmaker who previously balked about shooting anywhere except his beloved New York City.

At the buck$ office

The “Lion” took the box-office crown away from the “King” over the Christmas-Hanukkah weekend.

“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe” grossed more than $32 million over the holiday weekend, knocking the high-profile “King Kong” from the top spot.

According to the Associated Press, the top-10 movies last weekend were:

1. “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe” ($32.8 million)

2. “King Kong” ($31.6 million)

3. “Fun With Dick and Jane” ($21 million)

4. “Cheaper By the Dozen 2” ($19.3 million)

5. “Rumor Has It” ($11.6 million)

6. “The Family Stone” ($10.2 million)

7. “Memoirs of a Geisha” ($10 million)

8. “The Ringer” ($8 million)

9. “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” ($7.5 million)

10. “Munich” ($6.1 million)

Coming soon!

The film scheduled to open Jan. 13 include an uplifting sports picture (“Glory Road” with Josh Lucas), a feel-good comedy (“Last Holiday” with Queen Latifah) and a historical epic (“The New World” with Colin Farrell).