BBC - Movies -news article - High Noon

		Franco For Drug Comedy James Franco, best known as the snivelling Harry Osborn in the Spider-Man series, has landed a role in The Pineapple Express. David Gordon Green's comedy follows a pair of stoner friends who get themselves accidentally mixed up with a drug gang. The movie will co-star Seth Rogen, last seen in The 40-year-Old Virgin. Belly laughs are a bit of a gear change for director Green, who is better known for sensitive indie fare like All The Real Girls. "I've always been a sucker for the genre and hungry to fire up a comedy where characters don't get lost in their own concept", he told Variety. No idea what that means, but it sounds clever, eh?

		Lawrence Gets Emotional Time to head for your nearest air raid shelter. Martin Lawrence, the star of such comedy guff as Big Momma's House, wants to explore his sensitive side. Lawrence is set to star in The Better Man, playing a talkshow host who is forced to re-evaluate his celebrity lifestyle at his parents' 50th anniversary party. "There's emotion and pathos here that give Martin a chance to display more layers than usual" director Malcolm Lee told Variety. Will he make it through 90 minutes of uplifting character development without a fart joke? The world holds its breath.

		Sunshine Leads Spirits The movie award season is well and truly upon us. Get ready for a good four months of breathless nomination speculation and grinning nonentities thanking their agents. We're pathetically excited. Anyway, one of the first bashes to declare is the Film Independent's Spirit Awards, which announced nominations this week. Top of the pile for the indie-slanted awards bash is Little Miss Sunshine, which garnered a healthy five nominations in the big categories, including Best Picture. Also grabbing five mentions was Half Nelson, a gloopy-sounding drama about friendship between a drug-addicted teacher and a student. Aaron Eckhart is a good bet to win best actor for his turn in Thank You For Smoking. The winners will be revealed in February, by which time we will be completely fed up with awards and pay scant attention.

		Hugo Hooked On Boxing Pic Matrix star Hugo Weaving and Rose Byrne will star together in The Tender Hook, a 20s film noir set during the jazz age in Sydney Australia. According to Production Weekly, the story follows a love triangle set against the world of professional boxing. Matt Le Nevez makes up the third corner of the triangle. Details are a little scarce, but with Hugo on board, you can bet every word of the script will be extremely well pronounced.