The comedy "Because I Said So" stars Mandy Moore, left, Lauren Graham, Diane Keaton and Piper Perabo.

By Barbara Vancheri
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

It's the good news-bad news side of Pittsburgh as a movie destination. It may be 2007 but some of the top movies of 2006, such as "Last King of Scotland," "Volver" and "Venus" to name just a few, will finally land in theaters.

	Billy Connelly, with Carrie-Anne Moss, is a zombie in "Fido." Click photo for larger image.

So will a new Hugh Grant romantic comedy, an Eddie Murphy extravaganza, a thriller about the Zodiac killer who terrorized San Francisco in the 1970s and plenty of other pictures with stars such as Diane Keaton, Jim Carrey, Will Ferrell and Halle Berry.

As always, dates are subject to change:

Jan. 19

"Last King of Scotland" -- A Scottish doctor on a Ugandan medical mission becomes irreversibly entangled with Idi Amin (a spot-on Forest Whitaker), who chooses him as his personal physician and confidant.

"Letters From Iwo Jima" -- Clint Eastwood flips the camera and perspective from the Americans planting the U.S. flag to the Japanese attempting, unsuccessfully, to safeguard the island.

"Volver" -- Penelope Cruz added a Screen Actors Guild nomination to her list of kudos for this Pedro Almodovar movie about a Madrid woman dealing with ghosts from her past and present.

Alicia Keys plays an assassin in "Smokin' Aces." Click photo for larger image.

"Pan's Labyrinth" -- The National Society of Film Critics just named this Spanish-language tale, about a girl's dark fantasy life in fascist Spain, best picture of 2006.

"The Hitcher" -- Remake of the 1986 movie about an innocent young man who picks up a psycho, played by Rutger Hauer in the original and Sean Bean here.

"Sweet Land" -- Elizabeth Reaser and Tim Guinee star in this story of immigration, love and the sweet land in 1920 Minnesota.

"Family Law" -- The director and star of "Lost Embrace" (2005 Three Rivers Film Festival) are reunited in this story of an Argentine attorney questioning his roles as son, father and husband.

"Iraq in Fragments" -- Documentary from James Longley, who spent two years living and filming in Iraq after the start of the war in 2003.

Jan. 26

"Notes on a Scandal" -- Cate Blanchett is an art teacher having an affair with a teenage student, and Judi Dench is her lonely, obsessed colleague who uses the discovery to manipulate her.

	Billy Bob Thornton is "The Astronaut Farmer." Click photo for larger image.

"Epic Movie" -- Hapless orphans, whose roots spoof "The Da Vinci Code," "Nacho Libre," "Snakes on a Plane" and "X-Men," visit a chocolate factory and stumble into an enchanted wardrobe that transports them to Gnarnia in this comedy.

"Catch and Release" -- Susannah Grant, writer of "Erin Brockovich," writes and directs this blend of romantic comedy and drama starring Jennifer Garner as a woman coping with the sudden death of her fiance.

"Smokin' Aces" -- Jeremy Piven plays a sleazy magician who agrees to turn state's evidence against the Vegas mob in this dark action comedy from director Joe Carnahan ("Narc").

"Blood and Chocolate" -- Agnes Bruckner, Hugh Dancy and Olivier Martinez star in this story, set in modern-day Bucharest, about a 19-year-old running from her secret identity as a werewolf.

"Hair High" -- Bill Plympton's animated "gothic comedy" take-off on the 1950s teen horror genre, replete with bouffant hairdos and avenging teen skeleton zombies.

Feb. 2

Jim Carrey stars in the psychothriller "The Number 23." Click photo for larger image.

"Because I Said So" -- Diane Keaton is the mother of daughters, played by Lauren Graham, Piper Perabo and Mandy Moore, who decides to find the perfect man for her youngest through the online personals.

"Venus" -- Peter O'Toole, a favorite of critics and awards voters, and Leslie Phillips are veteran actors whose comfortable routine is interrupted and illuminated by the arrival of a grand-niece.

"The Messengers" -- When a family trades their Chicago home for a rundown sunflower farm in North Dakota, their children become convinced ghosts are afoot.

"God Grew Tired of Us" -- Documentary about three Sudanese boys adjusting to life in the United States after the bloody civil war in their homeland. Two of the three young men reside in Pittsburgh.

Feb. 9

"Norbit" -- Eddie Murphy goes the nutty professor route and plays multiple characters, including an adult abandoned as a baby at a Chinese restaurant/orphanage, the man who raised him and the junk-food queen he married. Thandie Newton shows up as his childhood sweetheart.

	Robert Downey Jr., left, and Jake Gyllenhaal are newspaper staffers on the trail of a killer in "Zodiac." Click photo for larger image.

"Hannibal Rising" -- Author Thomas Harris turns screenwriter to explore the roots of Hannibal Lecter's rage, terror and savagery. Gaspard Ulliel stars as young Hannibal alongside Gong Li, Rhys Ifans and Dominic West.

Feb. 14

"Music and Lyrics" -- If it's Valentine's Day, it must be a romantic comedy. This one stars Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore, separated by a mere 15 years, which in Hollywood means a match made in heaven. He's a washed-up pop singer from the 1980s and she's a plant lady, and they collaborate on a song that could signal Grant's comeback.

"Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls" -- Idris Elba is a garage mechanic who loses custody of his three daughters to his drug-dealing ex-wife. He turns to an Ivy League-educated attorney (Gabrielle Union) for help, and love blossoms.

Feb. 16

"Ghost Rider" -- Nicolas Cage is Johnny Blaze, motorcycle stunt rider by day and bounty hunter of rogue demons by night, in this movie based on the Marvel Comic.

"Bridge to Terabitha" -- Fantasy-adventure based on the Newbery Award-winning novel about a magical kingdom where two children who are outsiders rule. Josh Hutcherson and Annasophia Robb star.

"Breach" -- Chris Cooper plays real-life FBI veteran Robert Hanssen, who spied for the Soviet Union and Russia between 1979 and 2001, in this movie inspired by real events. Ryan Phillippe is the young man charged with luring Hanssen out of deep cover.

Feb. 23

Eddie Murphy plays multiple roles in "Norbit." Click photo for larger image.

"The Astronaut Farmer" -- Identical twins Michael and Mark Polish, the team behind "Northfork," "Jackpot" and "Twin Falls Idaho," wrote this story about a would-be astronaut (Billy Bob Thornton) who pursues his dream of building and launching a rocket.

"The Number 23" -- Psychological thriller starring Jim Carrey as a man whose life unravels after encountering an obscure book called "The Number 23," which he is convinced is based on his life.

"Reno 911! Miami" -- The Comedy Central television series spawns a movie in which the deputies from Reno, Nev., head for a law enforcement convention in Miami Beach.

"Black Snake Moan" -- Definitely not a sequel to "Snakes on a Plane." Samuel L. Jackson is a blues musician who becomes the protector of an abused woman. Cristina Ricci and Justin Timberlake co-star.

Also in February

"Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple" -- Documentary about Jim Jones, the mass suicide he led in November 1978 and the people left behind.

"Flannel Pajamas" -- Justin Kirk and Julianne Nicholson play a couple who move from magical blind date to love, marriage and the inevitable mire of everyday routine.

"Inland Empire" -- David Lynch's latest, 172 minutes long and "his most ambitious mind-bender yet," according to Rolling Stone.

	Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant are love interests in "Music and Lyrics." Click photo for larger image.

"Breaking and Entering" -- Criminal and emotional theft are at the heart of this Anthony Minghella drama with Jude Law, Robin Wright Penn and Juliette Binoche.

"Days of Glory" -- A forgotten chapter of World War II is examined in this film, Algeria's official Oscar submission. It tells the story of African soldiers who join the French in battling the Nazis but who are subjected to inequality and daily humiliation.

March 2

"Wild Hogs" -- Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy are middle-aged suburban pals who decide to take a freewheeling motorcycle trip but don't count on meeting a real-life biker gang.

"Zodiac" -- David Fincher ("Seven," "Fight Club") directs this thriller about the serial killer who terrified California in the 1970s. Cast includes Jake Gyllenhaal as Robert Graysmith, a San Francisco Chronicle staffer who literally wrote the book on the killings.

"The Pleasure of Your Company" -- Jason Biggs stars in this bittersweet romantic comedy as a man whose surprise marriage proposal gives his girlfriend a fatal heart attack in a restaurant. A year later, he mulls romance again, with their waitress.

Sandra Bullock stars in the thriller "Premonition." Click photo for larger image.

"Full of It" -- Comedy about a teen (Ryan Pinkston) who is a habitual liar whose stories, designed to help him fit into a new school, unexpectedly start to come true.

March 9

"Reign Over Me" -- A friendship is rekindled in this drama featuring Adam Sandler as a onetime dentist who has retreated from life since losing his family on 9/11 and Don Cheadle as his college roommate, now overwhelmed by his responsibilities.

"300" -- Gerard Butler, better known as the Phantom of the Opera, stars in this movie based on the Frank Miller graphic novel retelling the ancient battle of Thermopylae in which King Leonidas and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army.

"Fast Track" -- Comedy about a career woman who decides she wants to be a stay-at-home mom, which puts her underachieving husband on the hot seat. Zach Braff, Amanda Peet, Jason Bateman and Charles Grodin star.

March 16

"Lucky You" -- The 2003 World Series of Poker provides the backdrop for this story of a legendary poker player (Robert Duvall) and the son (Eric Bana) he abandoned years earlier who emerges as a rival at the table. Drew Barrymore also stars.

"Premonition" -- Sandra Bullock is a woman whose husband is either alive or dead, from a fatal car accident, depending on the day and whether she's asleep or awake.

"Shooter" -- Pittsburgh native Antoine Fuqua directs Mark Wahlberg as an Army sniper who leaves the military after a mission goes bad. After he is pressed back into service and double-crossed, he seeks revenge.

"I Think I Love My Wife" -- Chris Rock wrote, directed and stars in this comedy about marriage and the lure of a new love.

March 23

"Pride" -- Terrence Howard stars in this true-life story of a school teacher in the 1970s who founded an African-American swim team in one of Philadelphia's roughest neighborhoods.

"TMNT" -- Title is shorthand for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which are either back or never went away, depending on your age and perspective. This time, they're computer animated.

"Dead Silence" -- Supernatural thriller about a newlywed whose wife is murdered and who returns to their tiny haunted hometown to unravel the mystery surrounding her death.

"Mr. Brooks" -- Psychological thriller with Kevin Costner as a tortured man and William Hurt as his evil alter ego.

"The Last Mimzy" -- The short story "Mimsy Were the Borogoves" helped to inspire this fantasy about a sister and brother who develop special powers after finding a mysterious box of toys.

"The Lookout" -- Joseph Gordon Levitt is a once-promising athlete whose life is turned upside down by an accident. While working as a bank janitor, he becomes ensnared in a planned heist.

March 30

"Meet the Robinsons" -- An orphan who dreams of finding a family meets a mysterious stranger who transports him to a world where anything is possible. Computer-animated tale, based on the William Joyce book "A Day With Wilbur Robinson."

"Blades of Glory" -- Will Ferrell and Jon Heder portray rival figure skaters who are stripped of their gold medals and banned for life after an embarrassing fight at the world championships. They find a loophole that will allow their return, but only if they skate as partners.

"The Reaping" -- Hilary Swank plays a former Christian missionary who lost her faith when her family was killed. When she investigates a small Louisiana town that appears to be suffering from biblical plagues, she realizes that science cannot explain what's happening.

"Rescue Dawn" -- Written and directed by Werner Herzog, this feature is based on the true story of American pilot Dieter Dengler's death-defying escape from a Laos POW camp during the Vietnam War. Christian Bale stars.

April 6

"Are We Done Yet?" -- Sequel to successful Ice Cube-Nia Long family comedy, "Are We There Yet?" They're married but at the mercy of an eccentric contractor (John C. McGinley) renovating their fixer-upper.

"Grindhouse" -- Two movies in one, courtesy of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. Tarantino's "Death Proof" is a slasher flick in which a car is the weapon of choice, while Rodriguez explores an alien world eerily like ours in "Planet Terror."

"The Hoax" -- Richard Gere plays Clifford Irving, sentenced to federal prison for defrauding McGraw-Hill Inc. of $750,000 by selling a faked autobiography of eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes.

April 13

"Perfect Stranger" -- Halle Berry is an investigative reporter who goes undercover when she learns a friend's murder might be connected to a powerful ad exec, played by Bruce Willis.

"Spring Breakdown" -- Amy Poehler, Parker Posey and Rachel Dratch play 30-something best friends who, while chaperoning a college student on South Padre Island, decide to indulge in the delights of spring break, too.

"The Invisible" -- Supernatural thriller, based on a Swedish novel and film, about a writer trapped between the worlds of the living and dead, but invisible to the living. Justin Chatwin stars.

"Hot Fuzz" -- Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg ("Shaun of the Dead") are reunited in this story about a top London cop who is reassigned to a sleepy country village and teamed with an oafish but well-meaning young constable. A series of grisly accidents sends the veteran back into high gear.

"Disturbia" -- A court-ordered sentence of house arrest turns a young man (Shia LaBeouf) into a voyeur who suspects a neighbor is a serial killer.

"Trade" -- A teenage boy whose 13-year-old sister from Mexico City is kidnapped by sex traffickers finds an unlikely ally in a Texas cop (Kevin Kline) whose family suffered a similar fate.

April 20

"The Kingdom" -- Jamie Foxx is an FBI special agent, charged with assembling an elite team (Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper and Jason Bateman) and going to Riyadh to find and capture the terrorist behind an attack on Americans in Saudi Arabia.

"The Nanny Diaries" -- The best-selling book has been adapted for the screen, with Scarlett Johansson as the nanny and Laura Linney and Paul Giamatti as the wealthy couple who hire her to care for their precocious son.

"Vacancy" -- A couple, played by Kate Beckinsale and Luke Wilson, find video cameras in their motel room and realize they are being taped for a snuff film in this horror thriller.

"In the Land of Women" -- Romantic comedy starring Adam Brody as a writer who is dumped by his supermodel girlfriend and moves to suburban Michigan, the land of women played by Olympia Dukakis, Meg Ryan and Kristen Stewart.

April 27

"Fracture" -- An assistant district attorney (Ryan Gosling) plays a cat-and-mouse game with a man (Anthony Hopkins) who tried to kill his wife but was freed on a series of technicalities.

"Balls of Fury" -- Comic caper set against the backdrop of competitive ping-pong. Wackiness quotient further upped by the presence of Christopher Walken.

"Pathfinder" -- Karl Urban stars in this action adventure about a grown-up version of a Norse boy, left behind by Vikings and raised by the very Indians his kinsmen set out to destroy. When the Vikings return for another barbaric raid, he must confront his identity and destiny.

"The Condemned" -- Talk about your Survivor. Steve Austin plays a condemned killer who is sold to a wealthy TV producer so he can fight other killers on a remote island, with freedom going to the last man standing. The events are aired live and uncensored on the Internet.

Dates TBA

"The Good German" -- George Clooney and Cate Blanchett star in a complicated tale of morality in the shattered city of Berlin under Allied occupation in 1945. Based on the Joseph Kanon novel.

"Home of the Brave" -- Lots of documentaries are being made about the war in Iraq, but this is a drama examining the physical and psychological toll the war takes on four soldiers. Samuel L. Jackson and Jessica Biel are among the stars.

"Gray Matters" -- Heather Graham and Tom Cavanagh are a sister and brother who agree to look for a mate for the other, but he ends up finding his own match (Bridget Moynahan), which complicates matters.

"First Snow" -- Psychological thriller starring Guy Pearce as a smooth-talking salesman who becomes unwound after an encounter with a roadside soothsayer.

"Fido" -- Just like in "Lassie," there's a little boy named Timmy and a pet, but his is a zombie (Billy Connolly) who gnaws on the neighbor in this sharp satire.

"Skinwalkers" -- A 12-year-old boy becomes caught in a battle between warring werewolves in this horror action film.

"Factory Girl" -- Like it or not, Sienna Miller's fate is intertwined with Pittsburgh's. The "Mysteries of Pittsburgh" star here plays Edie Sedgwick to Guy Pearce's Andy Warhol.

"Black Book" -- Paul Verhoeven thriller, inspired by real events about a Jewish singer who escapes death at the hands of the Germans in World War II and goes looking for answers.

"Angel-A" -- A petty criminal, in debt to a local gangster, decides to jump into the Seine, only to find himself saving the woman who beats him to the water in this Luc Besson movie.

"The Italian" -- The title is the nickname assigned to a 6-year-old boy, living in a Russian children's home and singled out for adoption by an Italian couple. He decides to track down his birth mother in this movie based on a true story.

"The Lives of Others" -- The gradual disillusionment of a highly skilled officer who works for East Germany's secret police is traced in this German award winner.

"The Namesake" -- Director Mira Nair turns Jhumpa Lahiri's novel into a film, with Kal Penn as an American who feels the weight of his family's Calcutta roots.

"Year of the Dog" -- Writer Mike White makes his directorial debut with this movie, which he also wrote, about a secretary (Molly Shannon) coping with the death of her beloved dog.