I think this is going to be one of the greatest cinematic pair-ups of all time -- Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and Julie Andrews. I may be exaggerating a tad, but I am deadly serious. I really can't think of anything more charming, and it's really happening according to The Hollywood Reporter. (Editorial note: It's almost as crazy as Vin Diesel and Judi Dench! --SW)

The immortal Ms. Andrews is joining the cast of Tooth Fairy, which Ashley Judd joined just days ago. As mentioned in Peter's earlier post, Johnson plays a minor-league hockey player named Derek Thompson who has a tendency to knock out the teeth of his opponents. His inherent meanness causes him to crush some child's vague hope, presumably in the Tooth Fairy herself, and he gets sentenced to one week's hard labor as a real tooth fairy. And yes, that's complete with wings, tutu, magic wand, and lots of glitter. Somehow, the gig makes him rediscover his own hopes and dreams, quite possibly of a life in dentistry rather than minor league hockey.

Andrews will play Lily, a high-ranking and cutting supervisor of tooth fairies. If she does not have a beautiful fairy costume, I'll be angry. Suffering her biting wit will be Stephen Merchant, of The Office and Extras fame, who hasn't earned his wings and must act as Thompson's case worker.

As silly as the film sounds, it does have a good cast. My interest is unashamedly piqued now, because I adore Andrews, and I want to see her browbeat The Rock and force him into pink outfits. Also, I think there is humor to be milked from how gross the job of a tooth fairy really is. My mom still reminds us how disgusting it was to try and retrieve our bloody teeth from under our pillow. See? Hilarity!

In what is shaping up to be either a colossal train wreck or an inspired piece of lunacy, Southern belle Ashley Judd has joined the cast of the upcoming comedy Tooth Fairy as the titular character's girlfriend. Before (some of) you get your hopes up that a major studio production will feature a lesbian relationship, read on to learn how the superb dramatic actress figures into the story.

Dwayne Johnson was signed by 20th Century Fox for Tooth Fairy back in February, as Monika reported. He was to play "an ordinary man who's brought in to try to save the tooth fairy kingdom," though I prefer the unofficial synopsis that has found its way onto IMDb: "Tess is a 6-years-old girl who is very dissapointed when Derek (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) tells her that the tooth fairy isn't real." (Misspellings not mine.) Talk about high concept!

Variety now clarifies that Johnson will be playing a minor league hockey player nicknamed The Tooth Fairy, no doubt because he has a habit of knocking out opponents' teeth with his rough play. Judd will be playing his girlfriend, a single mother of two children, no doubt a romantic relationship that will help tame the Tooth Fairy's violent ways, especially when one of Ashley's children loses a tooth (just guessing here). You can probably write the rest of the story as predictably as two of the credited writers. Production starts in October under the direction of sitcom vet Michael Lembeck.

Having finished the immigration drama Crossing Over, which will come out this December in time for the last-minute Oscar push, Ashley Judd is getting ready to get depressed for her next film. Variety has reported that the actress is going to star in a drama called Helen, which will head into production next month, and is being made by Egoli Tossell Film and Insight Film Studios. Sandra Nettelbeck, who wrote and directed Mostly Martha and Sergeant Pepper, will wear both hats again for this production. The film is about "a music professor and mother who suffers from a deep, debilitating depression. Her family tries to help her, but no one can relate to her pain other than a young female student who knows depression all too well." So, Judd is bummed, but there's no word on who will help her through her struggle.

It's surprising -- as big as Ashley Judd's name is, she's definitely not one of those actresses with oodles of credits to her name. After starting her cinematic career with the terribly (yet pretty enjoyable) Kuffs, you know, that Christian Slater cop movie, she's averaged a few a year, which has slowed down lately. After a busy 2002, she's starred in Twisted and De-Lovely in 2004, Come Early Morning last year, and now Bug and Crossing Over this year. Now if we could only hear more about her Dame Alyce Kyteler adaptation...

If I had to make my top ten list for 2007 right now, there would be a lot of movies up for consideration, but there are only two that would be immediately added to the list: Paul Verhoeven's Black Book and William Friedkin's Bug. Even though it didn't find success at the box-office -- it opened against Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End -- Bug is a splendidly-acted little horror-drama about the perils of paranoia and the effects that lonliness and isolation can have on a person's judgement. It also contains one of the best performances Ashley Judd has given in years, without question. If you missed it in theaters like most people, then you should really give it a chance when it arrives on DVD on September 25th. The specs of the DVD have recently been released, along with the cover art seen here.

There's not going to be an avalanche of extras on the DVD, but there will be an audio commentary by Friedkin, along with two featurettes. One is called Bug: An Introduction and the other is A Discussion with William Friedkin, which I guess is exactly what it sounds like. I think they could have gotten a little more creative than this-- I'd like to see some extras that compare and contrast the stage production with the film, and maybe some interviews with Tracy Letts, the writer of both the play and the script. Oh well -- guess you can't have everything, right?

The cast and director of Bug recently assembled at a Manhattan hotel to answer some questions about the new horror-drama, which I saw and praised on this site. Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon star as two small-town Midwestern people whose lives intersect one night at her trailer-park home and the match-up creates a sort of perfect storm of paranoia, discomfort, and ultimately, terror. She fuels his pre-existing fears about being followed by a shadowy government agency, while he perversely fills for her a deep-seated need to be taken seriously and to be listened to. It's hard to explain the movie any more specifically than that -- you have to see it. William Friedkin had the press eating out of his hand, photographers wasted everyone's time by insisting on, like, ten minutes of posed photos, and Judd talked a lot about her process of mental preparation. Here is a sampling of the various questions and answers asked by all the assembled journalists -- enjoy.

Ashley Judd

Was it an easy decision, for you to sign on for this one?

AJ: It was very easy for me to decide to do Bug. Billy had been good enough to send the script to my agent. Bug also had in common a producer who was producing Come Early Morning, which was the film I shot right before Bug. So there was a streamline simplicity to the process. Of course, Billy's wife was my mentor early in my career, provided my big break in Hollywood, so it seemed like there were a lot of auspicious things that were coming together around the script.

I really loved Billy's response to Michael. He was very clear and impassioned and firm that Michael was the actor for the film, as he had been unabashedly the actor for the play. I was really impressed with how Billy was just not willing to negotiate around that, and helped me be very comfortable talking with the financier of the film about how Michael was also who I would want to play with in the movie, so there was a lot that I really liked. There was a good backbone and positive energy surrounding the project, and my agent, when she sent the script to me to read, she said 'you might not want to go there' and immediately that intrigued me. I don't think she was intentionally using reverse psychology, but that's the affect it had and I think I became willing to take the part on before I had in fact read it. There's a part of me that gets really competitive with my own creativity, like 'Oh, you think I can't do that? Really ... '

Did you feel you were coming to the part at a disadvantage, with your co-star having done the play?

AJ: I felt I was at a real advantage, because Michael clearly knew the material inside and out, had a very well-developed and evolved relationship with the material. Billy had seen it, he responded so passionately, and we began acquiring the rights, and there was a tremendous and respect there, and I felt I was able to just slipstream in there.

Last week was pretty easy to call; anyone who didn't think Shrek the Third would reign triumphant must have something against ogres of color. Our winners, each with perfect predictions, were bubba8193 (again!) and Mario. Congrats, guys. Your auras of superiority are in the mail.

1. Shrek the Third - $122 million
2. Spider-Man 3 - $28.5 million
3. 28 Weeks Later - $5.1 million
4. Disturbia - $3.6 million
5. Georgia Rule - $3.4 million

This week? Hmm, tough call. Will Lindsay Lohan's fans mobilize and launch Georgia Rule to the top of the charts?

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
What It's About: Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is trapped in Davy Jones' locker at the World's End, dead (or "dead") and insane; Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), feeling guilty for abandoning him, leads the rescue brigade; Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) wants to free his father from his debt to Davy Jones; and Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) (who was dead, but is feeling much better) is antsy about the East India Company, which -- using Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) as its pawn -- is threatening to end the pirates' way of life forever. The motley crew heads to Singapore, where Sao Feng (Chow Yun-Fat) possesses not just the maps to the World's End but also the power to convene the Brethren Court of Pirate Lords.
Why It Might Break the Record: Last summer's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest set a box office record with an opening take of $135 million; this summer the title shifted to Spider-Man 3 ($151 million). Seeing as how the blockbusters seem to be setting new records practically every week, why shouldn't At World's End be any different? On top of that, this installment, which has all the members of the franchise returning, is something of a finale to the series ... even if it isn't (based on Depp's recent comments) actually the end.
Why It Might Not Break the Record: At 168 minutes, and with so many plotlines (some would say too many), it's not for the casual viewer. The length also limits the number of times per day that a theater can show the film; Spider-Man 3, if you're keeping score, was 139 minutes long. (Cranky old lady rant: Whatever happened to the days when two hours was considered long? Anyone? Anyone?)
Prediction: $168 million

"I am the super mother bug!" -- Bug


In many ways, Bug may represent the apex of Ashley Judd's curious career. She's always been something of a green-screen actress without the green-screen, relying on some kind of method to dig deep and come up with seemingly heartfelt, emotive performances in routine thrillers where the surroundings don't warrant that kind of effort. (I'm looking at you, Kiss the Girls.) Judd's motivation is always in her head, which makes her naturally primed to take on a character like Bug's Agnes White, a lonely, small-town waitress who was frozen inside her own emotional headspace years ago, when her young son disappeared out of a grocery cart. She now spends her days being lusted after by the lesbians at a honky-tonk dive where she works, doing drugs, counting up crumpled dollar bills and bracing herself for the unwanted return of her ex-con ex, who has more than one screw loose. "You tried to kill me," she reminds him when he finally washes up on her doorstep. "That was a rough one, yeah," he replies, without trying to be funny.

I've seen the same marketing you have, and I'm not going to comment on whether, at some point during the film, a swarm of giant bugs may come to attack poor Agnes. I will suggest, however, that deserved Oscar nominations for Judd and director William Friedkin may be thwarted by an attempt to make this film sound like it belongs on the same shelf as Blade: Trinity and Silent Hill. Bug is a horror film, for sure -- one that will leave you bug-eyed -- but not one that pins its hopes on special effects. Instead, it uses a horrific set-up to explore some nimble issues, like how emotional vulnerability can weaken you, impair your judgment and make you not only accept the poor logic of others, but actually become a participant in their delusions. If you have nothing in your life, will you grab onto anything? Sociologists have been asking a variant of that question forever, and it's refreshing to see a movie taking a whack at it, with some success.

With Heat being one of my favorite films of all time, I took the opportunity at yesterday's press junket for Bug to ask Ashley Judd if she was keen to ever work with Michael Mann again, to which she replied "I would love to work with Michael Mann again. He is a really neat, committed and very inspired filmmaker. Also a really nice guy -- my husband and I are really fond of him." I also inquired as to who she'd like to work with after Bug, and to that she said "Wayne Wang and I are talking about doing something together again, which I'm looking forward to." Wang directed Judd in 1995's Smoke, and the project she's referring to, I'm guessing, is Wang's upcoming romantic comedy Good Cook, Likes Music, about a slacker who sends away for a mail order bride and gets some life-changing woman of his dreams, or something like that. Sounds like Judd alley, no?

Judd also confirmed that she'll be appearing in Crossing Over, and had this to say about the project: "I'm getting ready to work with a guy called Wayne Kramer, and I'm really excited about that. He's a South African who immigrated to the United States a while ago, well over a decade ago I believe, perhaps longer. He's directing a script he wrote called Crossing Over, which looks at immigration issues, and I'm looking forward to that. He's put together an amazing cast. My scenes will be with Ray Liotta and a young African girl whom I've not met yet -- I'm looking forward to that. Sean Penn and Harrison Ford are also in the movie, so that's gonna be neat." She also said she's in talks with a first-time director about a project that involves human trafficking and slave labor, but no further details. Expect a full report from the junket soon.

Don't worry. Ashley Judd hasn't slid into the wide world of Disney talking dogs, even if she has been dealing with some pesky bugs lately. Her border run is of the adult drama variety -- she's in negotiations to sign onto the Crossing Over cast. Earlier this month, Jessica Barnes alerted us to Harrison Ford's casting in the film, and then Patrick Walsh upped the ante with word that Ray Liotta would be playing the villain. Now, with Judd almost on-board, the film might have its immigration defense attorney who is trying to arrange the adoption of a Nigerian girl.

Crossing is an immigration drama set in Los Angeles. It revolves around a number of immigrants from different counties who are trying to gain legal status in the city. The movie will dive into border issues, document fraud, asylum, green cards, work-site enforcement, naturalization, the office of counter terrorism and culture clashing. In other words, the whole immigration kit and caboodle. Writer/director Wayne Kramer is in charge of the feature, and while we already have a handful of big names, Variety says that more are expected to be added since some, like Sean Penn, only have brief roles. I would imagine that this will go into the ensemble Crash route, where there's lots of stories that sort of intertwine, and no main star. (If that's the case, Liotta could be a partial villain, or one of a few.) Whatever the case, Cinematical is sure to have more information soon, since Kramer plans to start filming later this month in the city of angels.

Ah, there is nothing in the world like a nice, close-up poster of a naked, hairy man's chest sliced up a little bit with embossed lettering. That alone is enough to make me curious about Bug, Ashley Judd's latest film. Last September, Jette reviewed it from Fantastic Fest. To recap -- it's a juicy piece of suspense, even if some parts fell flat and others evoked laughter without meaning to. Then in November, Lionsgate pushed back the release date to some time in 2007. The date has now been set -- May 25 -- and we've got a new, full-length trailer to see what all the buggy fuss is about.

Having Harry Connick Jr. in a creepy thriller is intriguing. Ashley Judd, well, it isn't surprising, but isn't bad either. Then to have Petie in a headlining role -- that's just tasty! Or, so I'd think. This is where I get confused. Check the trailer out. How much can we expect from a thriller when we have one of those "Larger. Than. Life. Disembodied. Voices." saying "They live in your blood" and "They feed on your brain"? Watching the trailer, all I can think of is that bit from My Date with Drew where they get the voice-over guy, George DelHoyo, involved. Coming from the director of The Exorcist, William Friedkin, I'd expect a trailer that pushes the buttons of anxiety and creepiness. Not one that keeps making me giggle. If you turn off the sound, it looks all sorts of creepy. However, if you're ready for a laugh, crank that sucker up and delight in the blood and brains.