Cinematical has received these exclusive photos from the new flick Lakeview Terrace, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Wilson, and Kerry Washington. The film is a thriller about an interracial couple (Wilson and Washington) who move into their dream home in California; their California dreamin' becomes a nightmare when their next door neighbor, a high-strung cop (Jackson), takes issue with having an interracial couple in the neighborhood. Jackson, the self-appointed neighborhood watchman, increasingly (and intensely, if we know Jackson) harasses them, until the newlyweds decide to fight back.

Take a look at the pics, and let us know what you think about Jackson getting his mean-and-scary on in the flick.

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Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster for Lakeview Terrace, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Kerry Washington, and Patrick Wilson. Oh, the watchful eye of Jackson. This time around, he plays one of the creepiest types of bad guys -- a cop who can't be stopped. While a neighborhood like Lakeview Terrace sounds great and all, it becomes anything but when an interracial couple (Washington and Wilson) move next door to Jackson's racist cop. The man in blue starts off subtly -- an annoying light here, an awkward scare there, and then goes into full-on creepy neighbor to get the couple to hit the road. But Wilson will have none of that and crazily decides to take on the imbalanced cop.

Lakeview Terrace will hit theaters on September 19.

The rumors surrounding Watchmen began even before shooting did, most of which centered on what might become of the book's ending. If you haven't read it, I won't spoil it for you (though you need to go out and buy a copy right now), but suffice to say, it's pretty dark. It's so dark that every fan is convinced it's unfilmable -- and certainly, the leaked scripts suggested that many scriptwriters felt the same way.

The rumors persist despite several reports to the contrary (including one from an extra that leaked months ago), but now Patrick Wilson is setting the record straight. He talked to the MTV Movies Blog and literally laughed off rumors that the film has a happy ending. "Ha! I have to say, if you know how much Zack believes in it, you wouldn't believe he would go that far from the graphic novel. I don't know how those rumors start, but that'd be a stretch!"

The only scary part is that it is up to the studio to decide what to cut out of the film -- but even if crucial character bits land on the cutting room floor, Wilson explains that they tried to smash the detail in wherever they could. They've added "little lines here and there" to flesh out the character's backstories, as things have been cut by sheer necessity. And hey, the little details are what the book is for. It's the essentials, like that jaw-dropper of an ending, that have to stick to the page.

Watchmen opens March 6th, 2009.

Prior to her film's premiere at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival, writer-director Tracey Hecht found time to answer a few questions about her film and her process for Cinematical. Life in Flight stars Patrick Wilson as a successful architect with the "perfect family" who, after a chance encounter with a young urban designer (Lynn Collins), begins to second guess his entire life. We published our review of Life in Flight this morning, where Joel had the following to say regarding Hecht's direction: "Hecht does a nice job invoking a sense of place in Life in Flight; she must know New York well, because she shows or mentions aspects of it that most visitors just never see, like the birds that fly out over the BQE. The visuals suggest a filmmaker who not only is in love with New York, but insisted on making sure there was no doubt that the film was made there instead of somewhere in Toronto."

Cinematical: You previously said you wanted to make a film about fear. Seeing as this is your feature debut as a director, I imagine making this film brought about a certain fear from within you?

Tracey Hecht: Yes, definitely. But I'm less afraid when I'm doing something than when I'm waiting to do it. So I think the leading up to making the movie was worse for me. Once I was actually in there, I really had a amazing time.

Cinematical: What do you think people are most afraid of these days?

TH: Oh, wow, I have no idea. I imagine that list is long. But I think the trick is to really find and know what it is inside of you that makes you afraid, and not let yourself just project your fears out onto other things.

Life in Flight should prove to any aspiring screenwriter that you don't necessarily have to have an original story in order to get a screenplay made. In the film, which debuted at Tribeca on Sunday, first-time writer / director Tracey Hecht tells the tale of a man who's supposedly living the good life, but it's not the one he wants. And it takes meeting a young, vivacious woman for him to fully realize it.

Heard that story before? Sure you have, probably dozens of times. You've seen it in goofy romantic comedies from The Seven-Year Itch to Joe Versus the Volcano as well as "indie" dramas like Garden State. But good writing and acting always trumps originality of story, and Life in Flight has both, though there's still room for improvement.

You can -- or at least you will. Two action figures from the upcoming Watchmen movie have debuted over at Entertainment Weekly. This is sure to fuel the "Zack Snyder is screwing it up!" flames because there's no paunch on Nite Owl. He's boasting a lean and muscular frame, and a very shiny costume. However, I am willing to take a wait and see approach -- maybe this is a very young and fit Nite Owl, a figure from his glory days. Hmm. They did successfully sculpt Patrick Wilson's jaw, though.

Two additional figures are going to be unveiled at the New York ComicCon on April 18th -- I'm betting Oxymandias (especially since he had his own line of action figures in the book) and the Comedian, but the temptation for a near-nude Laurie may prove more tempting to sculpt. They don't go on sale until January 2009, but they will market for the very reasonable price of $14.99. I'm going to hold out for the Black Freighter playset -- I just hope it comes complete with sharks.

Watchmen will be released on March 6th, 2009.
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If you'll permit me to embarrass myself for a moment: I'm the guy who liked Neil LaBute's redo of The Wicker Man. Well, maybe I'm not the only one -- if I recall correctly, Weinberg didn't hate it either. But I'm pretty sure that's it. Any movie where Nicolas Cage dropkicks Leelee Sobieski and then dons a bear suit for an extended stretch is okay by me, but most people seemed to think that LaBute was out of his element in the supernatural thriller genre. In that case, his next project finds him back in his wheelhouse: generating suspense by manipulating and exaggerating everyday social tensions. Lakeview Terrace involves an interracial couple (Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington) who find an enemy in their new next-door neighbor (Samuel L. Jackson), an LAPD cop who disapproves of their relationship and becomes determined to drive them away.

A trailer for Lakeview Terrace has surfaced on the film's official website, and the movie looks like squirmy, uncomfortable fun -- the kind of material LaBute is most comfortable with. In addition to the racial angle, it looks like the film is going to explore another touchy subject: the near-omnipotence that comes with a police uniform. It takes some guts to make a cop the bad guy without also providing a virtuous foil (e.g. Ethan Hawke offsetting Denzel Washington in Training Day). But if anyone can pull it off, it's Neil LaBute.

[via Comingsoon.net]

Look to the right. There's nothing quite like a dog's behind and a pair of hanging testicles -- is there? If you're wondering what kind of book, one that's getting turned into a film, would put that sort of pic on the cover, read on. Life is a Strange Place is the story of a womanizer called Barry Munday. One day, he gets caught in the act with a teenager, and her father lays the smackdown on the lady chaser -- so much so that the guy wakes up in the hospital and finds out that his balls had to be snipped off. However, just as he realizes that he's unhappy with his life and can never have kids, he's conveniently named in a paternity suit. "Barry is elated at the second chance at fatherhood. Now if he can just avoid his crazy ex-girlfriend, her rabid dog, a mob of angry gay midgets, and his mother until the baby is born..."

Strange, eh? Even more surprising, Variety reports that Patrick Wilson will play Barry Munday in a film adaptation of the same name. After stuff like Hard Candy, Little Children, Evening, and his upcoming stint as Nite Owl in Watchmen, this is a bit of a change for the actor. I guess he wanted to perk up his professional life.

I'm wondering if they may have changed things up a little for the screen -- it's being touted as a romantic comedy, yet descriptions suggest that the object of his affection is just his soon-to-pop-out kid. Or, he falls for the kid's mom, who is described as an unattractive woman he doesn't remember sleeping with. Charming. Whatever the case, it certainly sounds interesting. Chris D'Arienzo will direct the film this April in Los Angeles.

On November 20, for the first time ever, a movie will be exclusively distributed via iTunes. Yes, we already heard about this briefly when our own Kevin Kelly talked with Edward Burns at ComicCon. But at the time, Burns had said he would be given a trial run, in which his latest film, Purple Violets, would be available on iTunes for four weeks beginning on October 9. That date has come and gone, and now the New York Times has revealed that the film will actually get a full, exclusive release on November 20. That means you won't be able to see it in theaters, or on DVD, or on Cable. Yet, anyway. Personally, I'm a bit shocked the idea didn't happen sooner. There's tons and tons of indie films out there that can't get good distro. Going with iTunes sounds like a great opportunity to get notice. Plus, with iTunes still only offering less than 1000 movies, and still unable to get titles from all the studios, the service would do well to increase its library with exclusives like this. The idea certainly worked for companies like Netflix, which started exclusive distribution via its Red Envelope Entertainment moniker. Maybe one day, like Red Envelope, iTunes could even produce its own movies.

The Times goes into detail about iTunes distribution, mentioning the strategy of putting Wes Anderson's Hotel Chevalier up for free download, which sparked extra interest in The Darjeeling Limited. It also points out the benefit of having short films on iTunes in general, not just for well-knowns like Anderson. The move can affect DVD rentals, though, according to Burns, who has had difficulty securing video distribution for Purple Violets now that it will be available on iTunes. The movie, which stars Burns, Debra Messing, Patrick Wilson and Selma Blair, premiered earlier this year at the Tribeca Film Festival, where Eric called it Burns' "best film since The Brothers McMullen ... a more mature film than anything Burns has done in the past."

Look, I love these "Hey, I'm on the set and everything is going super awesome" reports from actors, directors and what have you, but I'm not sure what we're supposed to do with this latest one from Zack Snyder on the set of Watchmen. When I first spotted the video, on a site that promoted it as "Zack Snyder Offers a Watchmen Update!!!," I thought -- cool -- he's going to be giving us something we haven't seen before. Why else would they use three exclamation points? So then I clicked over to the video, it started playing and Snyder -- all unshaven and disheveled, as if he'd been up for 48 hours straight -- is standing in front of a door. "Oooh, is he going to open the door and introduce someone in costume?" No. He's not.

Here's what I took away from the video, which you can feel free to check out for yourself: Snyder is stoked to be directing the film, he's "excited," things are "amazing," it's been super "fun," lots of "fun," the cast have been "really cool," and he's promised more stuff in the future. Oooh, Zack, will you be standing in front of a window next time? I know, I'm being a bit of a loser about it, but I just really wish these videos would do more to get me excited about the film. Give us something! The guy looks tired as all hell, he just wrapped the first week of filming -- help him out a bit, give him a prop. All that being said, I am pretty excited about the film as I truly believe it will be unlike any of the superhero-themed flicks we've seen over the past few years. I mean, heck, it's set in a gritty and alternate 1985 -- hopefully that means Snyder will throw a little Whitesnake on the soundtrack. Little Def Leppard, maybe. See, that's what this video needed -- a Pour Some Sugar on Me intro, followed by Snyder and Patrick Wilson (who plays the Nite Owl) rocking out on set. Hell yeah! Oh well, maybe next time. Watchmen is due out in theaters on March 6, 2009.

A weepie examination of female and sexual identity whose worth is roughly equal to that of a used Kleenex, Evening is a schmaltzy nostalgic fusion of clichéd melodrama and carpe-diem lessons about regret, love and courage. Based on Susan Minot's novel from a screenplay by the author and The Hours scribe Michael Cunningham, director Lajos Koltai's (Fateless) feature is a golden-hued eye-roller, full of gorgeous seaside locales, beautiful people, and oh-so-profound issues of life and death, not a one believable thanks to Koltai's insistent sappiness and a story that's familiar, goofy and unbearably corny. A bifurcated affair, Evening begins at the bedside vigil of dying Ann (Vanessa Redgrave), where her two daughters Constance (Natasha Richardson) and Nina (Toni Collette) argue over their differing life paths -- Constance is a suburban wife and mom of two, Nina is an aimless mess unable to commit to the boyfriend with whom she's expecting a child -- while listening to mom enigmatically prattle on about a man named Harris.

Commence flashbacks and the piano-and-flute score, because this soggy mystery is the film's meat-and-potatoes, as Minot's tale goes on to detail the momentous romance between young Ann (Claire Danes) and Dr. Harris (Patrick Wilson) at the 1950s Newport wedding of Ann's best friend Lila Wittenborn (Mamie Gummer, who plays -- and in real life is -- the daughter of Meryl Streep). A Greenwich Village bohemian who pays her way singing in skuzzy nightclubs while dreaming of stardom, Ann arrives at Lila's cliffside mansion with Lila's brother Buddy (Hugh Dancy), a cheery fellow who drowns feelings of self-loathing and inadequacy about his writing talents (he dreams of being the next Hemingway) with alcohol. Koltai shoots this swanky setting like he's working on the latest J. Crew catalog spread, his overly sentimental images of the outstretched twilight ocean nicely meshing with dying Ann's faux-wondrous hallucinations about fireflies, butterflies, and a night nurse dressed in a sparkly evening gown. Every moment and aspect of Evening is suffocatingly twee and self-satisfied -- except, that is, for those brief occasions when it's just pitifully conventional.

It seems pretty definite to me: Patrick Wilson is playing Nite Owl (aka Dan Dreiberg) in Watchmen. In an interview with Coming Soon.net/Superhero Hype!, Wilson does everything but actually confirm the rumors. But he comes pretty darn close. Basically, through his wording of answers and his questions to the interviewer (Max Evry), he insinuates that he's doing the movie but that he's unsure if he's allowed to talk about it -- though he claims he's never been told not to. What he does mention is that the script is phenomenal writing and that the project is really exciting stuff. He also says he should be respectful and wait until everyone is on board and there is an official announcement. So, yeah, he's been cast.

This will be sad news to both John Cusack and his fans, who have been hoping the actor would get the part of Nite Owl. But Wilson isn't a bad choice for the part. And Watchmen loyalists (and Cinematical commenters) are already happy enough that Keanu Reeves apparently turned down the part of Dr. Manhattan. We still have to see if the Jude Law rumor is also true (director Zack Snyder nearly confirmed him and Reeves, but now that Reeves is out, who knows?), and we still await some word on the rest of the characters' casting. We are getting some more rumors, though. According to AICN's 'Moriarty', the new front-runner for Dr. Manhattan is Jason Patric. According to actor Paddy Considine (in the forum part of his site), the part of Rorschach has gone to Jackie Earle Haley. And somewhere, while writing about these other two rumors, film ick has gotten the idea that Thomas Jane will be playing The Comedian. So when are we going to hear something about the part of Laurie (aka Silk Spectre 2)?

Chances are, if you watch any type of indie films, or The Phantom of the Opera, you've probably caught Patrick Wilson. In the last few years, he's been the creep about to get fed some Hard Candy by Ellen Page, Jennifer Connelly's husband in Little Children and he also had a part in Running with Scissors. While he's got the indie scene covered, he hasn't really broke through to the mainstream, but I'm thinking this might help -- he's signed onto the Neil LaBute thriller Lakeview Terrace.

Cinematical has followed the development of this film for a while now. As of March, we had Samuel L. Jackson starring as a racist LAPD officer who has got it in his mind that he has to do anything and everything to remove the interracial couple who live next door. LaBute was in talks to direct (and has since signed) and Ashton Kutcher was being considered for the role of Kerry Washington's husband, forming the couple being harassed. It looks like someone came to their senses (who would want to tread similar ground to Guess Who?). Mr. Demi Moore is gone and Patrick Wilson is taking over. I'd say this is a pretty solid move for the film, and its cred has since jumped up a few levels.

The film starts shooting on Monday. I just wish it was shooting in Toronto. LA (I presume) gets this, and what's the big film shooting in the midst of the Short Film Fest theaters? American Pie sequel 38945793. If that's something that interests you, I walked by the production today. I can tell ya that there are horses and hay as part of their college shenanigans, and if you want to go snoop, they're filming in/near the frat houses north of the University of Toronto. Sigh. It would've been much cooler to walk by some classic Jackson ranting.

I haven't seen any commenter on Cinematical wishing for John Cusack to appear in Watchmen, but apparently there are tons of fans elsewhere declaring that the actor would make a great Nite Owl. I can definitely see it, as well. Unfortunately, Zack Snyder, who is directing the graphic novel adaptation for Warner Bros., has pretty much confirmed the rumor that Patrick Wilson will be cast in the role (as well as the rumors about Keanu Reeves and Jude Law being offered significant parts, too). Well, if Snyder changes his mind -- or if the rumors aren't actually true -- then Cusack would be interested in donning the goggles and cape. Cusack told MTV that if the fans want him and the director wants him, then he's in.

In the interview, Cusack mentions that he loves the comic and also mentioned Rorschach as another character he could play (would he dye his hair red?). He humorously states that Warners might rather want Ashton Kutcher, though, because Cusack claims this is the kind of world he lives in. What a sad world to be in where Hollywood is more interested in Kutcher than Cusack! A few years ago, AICN reported that in Revolution Studios' version of Watchmen, Cusack had already been cast as Nite Owl (aka Dan Dreiberg). Of course, that wasn't true at the time, but in this era of great public communication, the fans could potentially make it happen. At least Snyder should think of Cusack for some part -- I haven't seen any Rorschach casting rumors yet -- if not Nite Owl. Even a cameo would make me happy -- how about as one of the lesser-used "masks", or as Hector Godfrey?

Check out the MTV Blog for the great video interview with Cusack. For previous Cinematical coverage of the Watchmen movie, check out the links below:

Zack Snyder Confirms: The Watchmen Will Be His Next Film

Secret 'Watchmen' Image Hidden in '300' Trailer!

Zack Snyder Sets Up 'Sucker Punch,' Says Gerard Butler May Be In 'Watchmen'

Watchmen Gets a Scribe

Yet Another Watchmen Scribe

Watchmen Nabs a Composer