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.

I have an unfortunate knee-jerk reaction to the title Soul Men. Almost against my will, my mind is flung back to that 1986 C. Thomas Howell atrocity Soul Man, in which rich white kid Howell tried to pass himself off as black man to secure a scholarship. (Excuse me while I try to calm down the tremors shaking through my body.)

Happily for everybody, Malcolm D. Lee's Soul Men bears no relation to that earlier film. Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac star as two feuding back-up singers who reunite for a tribute concert. Jessica Barnes detailed the plot and gave us a look at the first picture from the production a few months ago, a back stage shot with Isaac Hayes, who is playing himself. Cinematical has received the great-looking image above, showing the Soul Men in performance.

Reportedly, Jackson and Mac are doing their own singing and, even though they're playing back-up singers, I'm hoping we get to hear them solo -- or duet. Jackson was mighty impressive as a blues guitar player and singer in Craig Brewer's Black Snake Moan, even if that movie is better remembered for Christina Ricci's naked display of her physical assets than Jackson's musical prowess. I can't remember Bernie Mac singing in any of his roles, but he's such a great stand-up presence that I can really see him excelling in this part.

Are you ready to watch Sam and Bernie as the new Soul Men when the film opens on November 14?

The DHL guy showed up this afternoon with another big box, and the kids, sensing it was something cool, swarmed around while I opened the box. Sure enough, there was coolness within -- an official Iron Man action figure. Here are some pics of Iron Man in all his plastic awesomeness . Note the back of the box, which details all the groovy features: When you push his button he says "I am Iron Man!" in a kind of creepy voice, of course, but look! "Repulsor sounds!" and "Launching Repulsor Projectiles!" That's great, until one of the kids puts the dog's eye out with those things. If only he had a button to push that would make him transform into Ozzy Osbourne singing "Iron Man," he'd be perfect.

The kids immediately took over Iron Man, negotiated a complicated pact detailing for how long each of them gets to have possession of Iron Man for their newly invented Iron Man game, recruited a slew of other action figures to be Iron Man's brothers in fighting all that is evil, and reminded me that their father has promised -- promised! -- to take them to Iron Man on opening day. At least the swag keeps them busy -- between this and Indiana Jones, they've gotten many hours of non-video game play out of the various packages that arrive at our door.

I'm not especially a comic geek, but I think Iron Man looks pretty darn cool, and this is definitely one movie I'm waiting to see. With Robert Downey, Jr., Terrence Howard and Samuel L. Jackson in it, my hopes are high that it's not going to suck. Iron Man comes out May 2, so mark your calendars. Bigger views of the above pics after the jump, if you want a closer look.

"A guy can teleport."

That's the basic plot of Doug Liman's alternately dry and ridiculous new action thriller Jumper, and the film takes great pains to NOT introduce anything that might distract from that one paltry premise: One really uninteresting guy can teleport wherever he wants (including bank vaults, beaches, and the head of the Egyptian Sphinx) -- up until the day that a ferocious (but also ridiculous) villain shows up to ruin all the teleport-y fun. And then we get a half-decent chase, a bunch of hyper-kinetically edited action, and a sequel teaser. For a 90-minute flick that focuses on a guy who moves real quick, it sure doesn't move all that slick.

Frankly, I expect a little more creativity from Doug Liman at this point, who seems to be coasting on fumes after delivering rock-solid action flicks like The Bourne Identity and Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Jumper feels like it was made with a test-screening audience in mind, and those who consider themselves fans of the source material -- a series of novels by Steven Gould -- will probably find themselves sorely disappointed in the movie version.

The screenplay (which was cobbled together by professional script surgeons Jim Uhls, David Goyer, and Simon Kinberg) feels like 11 or 12 isolated sequences that were simply lifted from Gould's books, regardless of how well they actually mesh together into one cohesive movie. Once the heavy-handed voice-over narration subsides ... just give up. The movie stabs wildly at a small collection of plot points, finds none to its liking, and then just keeps on chugging towards the end credits.

Very often when I'm watching a movie trailer these days, I'll be thinking to myself "What is this crapola? Who agreed to be in this nonsense?" And then Samuel L. Jackson comes walking into frame all solemn-like and says something about how "we only have 48 hours to return the diamond to the magic factory," or some such hoo-ha. I know Jackson came from humble beginnings, and if someone was offering me millions of dollars to travel to exotic locales and be treated like a king, I'd take it too. But with each dud project, the guy becomes a lot less exciting as an actor. Remember how thrilling he was in Pulp Fiction all those years ago? I certainly don't get that same feeling watching, say, The Man. It's starting to seem like Jackson accepts every project that is placed in front of him.

Which brings me to today's announcement. Variety reports that Jackson has signed to star in Man That Rocks the Cradle. The comedy "revolves around an overworked husband and father of four who decides the solution to all his problems is a live-in nanny." Jackson will naturally play the "manny," Marion Delacroix, a highly respected "kid whisperer" from down South. Josh Cagan wrote the script, which is based on a story by Cagan and Rob McKittrick (the decent comedy Waiting...). Don't get me wrong, Sam Jackson screaming and cussing at little children could be hilarious. But I have to suspect this is going to be a warmhearted family comedy that hits the exact same tired bases as Three Men and a Baby, Mrs. Doubtfire, The Pacifier, etc, etc. We shall see. Until then, you can see Jackson in...every third movie released.

It's a sci-fi action flick starring Hayden Christensen, and it's called Jumper. Sound like something you'd want to see? Eh, maybe. But if I went on to explain that the flick comes from the director of Go, The Bourne Identity and Mr. & Mrs. Smith ... and all of a sudden the movie sounds just a little more intriguing. (To me, anyway. I'm a Doug Liman fan.) Based on the novel by Steven Gould -- and adapted for the screen by the eclectic team of David S. Goyer, Simon Kinberg and Jim Uhls -- Jumper is about a young adult who has the power of teleportation. Which leads to all sorts of espionage mayhem and chases and such.

Co-starring alongside the former Anakin Skywalker are Diane Lane, Jamie Bell, Rachel Bilson, Tom Hulce, Michael Rooker and Samuel L. Jackson in a wig that looks like white astroturf. Fox presently has Jumper scheduled for that coveted February 15 release date, but if you'd like to click through the newly-updated official site, please do so right here. The brand-new trailer is also included, so stop back and share your thoughts. I hate to sound so negative, but I'm getting a distinct Operation: Stormbreaker vibe on this flick. Either way, the teleporting stuff looks really cool.

A potentially compelling film noir story delivered in an irritatingly bright and overzealous package, Cleaner has two very excellent things going for it -- and their names are Samuel L. Jackson and Ed Harris. If you're a serious fan of either actor (and if you're not, you should be), then you'll definitely want to rent Cleaner once it (eventually) pops up in your local theater video store. Beyond the contributions from Jackson and Harris, however, there's very little worth talking about where Cleaner is concerned.

We start off with a potentially juicy concept: Sam Jackson plays a 'hazardous waste cleaner' who gets framed for a murder he (probably) didn't commit. And when I say 'hazardous waste cleaner' I mean that this is the guy who'd come to your house to eliminate the gore if someone happened to have their brains blown out in your living room. So things look pretty promising at the outset: We've got a great actor playing a strange role and doing a fine job of it -- and then the plot kicks in.

Seems that our "cleaner" has just cleaned up a murder that the police know nothing about. And even if they DID have a clue, they'd probably be thrilled about it because the victim was a stool pigeon who was about to blow the lid off some serious police corruption charges. So when Cleaner guy realizes that he forgot to return the house key, he's distressed to learn that The Wife (Eva Mendes) knows nothing about any bloodshed in her living room. But, oddly enough, her husband has just gone missing. (dun dun dunnnnn)

Confession time: Not only have I read (literally) every story ever written by Stephen King (some of 'em two or three times), but I've also seen (literally) every movie inspired by his books. Some of 'em four or five times. I discovered the man's work around the time I was 13 -- and I devoured his early paperbacks like a junkie devours his drug of choice. I was hooked. All through high school and college and "grown-up" life, if there was a new King paperback out there, I had to have it. Most I liked, some I truly did not, and I few I really went crazy for. And since I'm even more of a movie geek than I am a passionate reader, I'm always pretty excited to sit down with a new cinematic adaptation. (And no amount of Dreamcatchers will ever change that.)

It's been pretty well-documented over the past two decades: LOTS of the movies based on Stephen King stories are grade-A, bona-fide awful. Some of the turkeys had good intentions; some of 'em were low-rent knock 'em offs mounted solely to capitalize on the mega-author's name. But every once in a while ... you'd get something like The Dead Zone or Pet Sematary or Misery or The Shawshank Redemption or Dolores Claiborne or (choose your own favorites like I just did). So yes: this long and roundabout introduction is meant to lead you to the following assertion: The newest King flick is (most definitely) one of the good ones. Save for a few minor stumbles in Act III (and easily forgiven ones at that), Mikael Hafstrom's 1408 is actually one of the best Stephen King adaptations in quite some time.

20th Century Fox looks to be pulling out all the stops on Jumper, a sci-fi thriller that stars Hayden Christensen and Rachel Bilson, and comes from Doug Liman, director of Swingers, Go, The Bourne Identity and Mr. & Mrs. Smith: Not only is the teleportation-centric project shooting in places like Paris, Egypt, New York, Toronto and China ... they're shooting a few scenes inside the Roman Colosseum, too!

According to The New York Times, the unprecedented access has been granted by a Roman mayor who simply adores the Hollywood glitz -- but don't for a second think that the city officials are handing out free passes to the ancient arena. Seems that the filmmakers have been forced to use mega-small crews and a bare minimum of equipment while shooting inside the Colosseum ... plus there's all those tourists to deal with.

But for all that time, care and effort, screenwriter Simon Kinberg delivers an amusing punch line. Apparently the scene didn't even need to be shot at the legendary amphitheater; it was originally written to take place in The Pantheon!

Based on the novel by Stephen Gould, Jumper won't hit theaters until 2008 -- but I gotta admit the project sounds pretty intriguing. Plus I hear Samuel L. Jackson is in it. (Hey, maybe I'll actually read the book.)

Okay, I swore up and down that I was not going to write another word about those everloving snakes, but I'd be truly remiss if I let this one slip by. I let it simmer for a couple days, thinking I'd be able to avoid it, but it's just stuck in my head like an annoying Britney Spears song, and it won't leave until I write it out, so here you go. Chuck Klosterman wrote a piece on Snakes on a Plane, and how its "create your own adventure" marketing might just, if the film proves financially successful, spell the End of Film as We Know It. Klosterman goes into a lengthy dissertation on the term "populism", presumably to prove his point that Snakes on a Plane is not a populist film, in spite of the best efforts of its handlers to make it so.

Klosterman is concerned that if the film makes a lot of money (which it likely will) despite being ridiculous (which it probably is, even if it stars Samuel L. Jackson), its success will make studios sit up and take notice, and then churn out more of the same. Well, duh. Studios churn out crap all the time based on the success of other crap. How else can one possibly explain the fact that people like Uwe Boll and the Wayans brothers continue to make films?

Sure, it's going to be campy as hell, but dang, you've got to admit, those folks at New Line are being inventive with the marketing. I got an email this evening from Samuel L. Jackson himself, leading to a voice message of him telling me that Snakes on a Plane is the best damn movie ever made, and I'd better get my ass to see it on August 18. I pointed out to Samuel that, normally, I'd be seeing the film BEFORE the 18th, but since New Line isn't screening it for press, I supposed the 18th would just have to suffice. Then I got the hell out of there before he could lock and load, or send snakes through my fax machine or something.

I have to admit, there's something about hearing Samuel L. Jackson say your name, and talking about your tattoos, that almost hypnotically forces you to want to go see that film, no matter how much you swear you don't want to see it. Must ... resist ... snakes ... on ... plane.

Clever marketing. Hey, maybe Mark Cuban needs to hire one of their guys.

We know you love those Snakes on a Plane almost as much as we do. Okay, sure, it looks cheesy as hell, but would YOU want to be trapped on a plane at 20,000 feet with a bunch of poisonous snakes? Nonetheless, who ever would have thought a film about snakes -- on a plane -- would have so many people so excited? Not me, that's for sure. But somehow, the presence of Samuel L. Jackson makes me feel just a teensy bit better about wanting to see this film. I mean, c'mon. Samuel L. Jackson kicking a bunch of snake butt? Well, technically I suppose snakes don't have "butts", but I so wanna see Jackson get all righteous on those slithery reptiles.

Lucky for you, Cinematical readers, our cohorts from Netscape (including former Cinematical editor Karina Longworth) will be in San Diego for Comic-Con, and Cinematical has been offered a sneak peek at the Snakes on a Plane booth, which the good folks at New Line (who, I might add, have been leading the forefront in bringing film bloggers into their marketing strategy) assure us will be mind-blowingly astounding. They maybe didn't use those exact words, but they did imply it will be cool. There will be a graffiti wall! And a huge snake!

Take a look as these super-sneak peeks they just sent us and see what you think, and be sure to check back here frequently later this week, fanboys and fangirls, for more Comic-Con coverage than you can shake a ... well, a snake at.

Sneak-peek pics after the jump ...

New Line is already drowning in free publicity for Snakes on a Plane, but it doesn't hurt to have an actual snake on an actual plane make news, adding to the public awareness of the title (of course the story references the movie). Customs officials in the Netherlands discovered a live poisonous snake in an airmail package that was shipped from Hong Kong. At first they thought it was merely made of rubber but then it started moving around. Yikes! Who knows what would have happened if that thing could have gotten loose and run slithered amok! And with no Samuel L. Jackson to kick its ass (wait, snakes don't have asses)? It could have gotten ugly.

Could this have been a premature copycat crime? The work of terrorists? Or perhaps was it the work of New Line's marketing team? It is in fact illegal to ship poisonous snakes to the Netherlands without a special permit, although there is no mention of whether the sender has been identified or if he/she had such a permit (it does mention the recipient is a collector). All I know is that I'm getting on a plane next month (when the film comes out) and I'm really hoping that U.S. inspectors are looking for snakes before flights take off, let alone before they reach their destination.

Meanwhile, in unrelated news ( ... or is it???), a woman in Oregon was driving to the grocery store when she realized there were garter snakes in her car. Twenty garter snakes, to be exact. Hmmm. Do I smell a sequel? The woman is probably in a meeting with New Line as we speak, selling her story for Snakes in a Car. Obviously the part of the store employee who lent a hand will be played by Samuel L.

[via Fark.com]

Snakes On A Plane, the Samuel L. Jackson summer spectacular, continues to gain momentum as a fan favorite cult-hit, garnering more and more loyal followers and dedicated fans despite the fact that it hasn't technically been seen by most of us yet because it hasn't even been released to the general public. However, the glorious day is fast approaching, and crazed fans are growing quite eager to see Sammy throwing down against a plane full of snakes -- yours truly included. While we might not have the film itself yet, we do now have a new production poster which you can see courtesy of Snakes on a Blog. While it shows Jackson in full glory, and some people obviously in fear of the reptile menace, it contains a disturbing lack of snakes. We are instead given to understand the snakes of hovering just off-screen, scaring everyone on the poster. It also features the tagline "Sit back. Relax. Enjoy the Fright." Not bad, for a movie poster pun. Let's hope the next one shows us some plane-pirating snakes.