It was never a big surprise when Brittany Murphy lathered herself in a bunch of comedy -- her roots were in sitcom land. There was Drexell's Class, Kids Incorporated, Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Blossom, Sister, Sister... Still, most of her comedies have been pretty crappy, and nothing like the wonder that is Clueless, so I'm always happy to hear about another thriller she's signed onto. (I loved her in Don't Say a Word.) Variety reports that the actress has signed onto a new indie noir thriller called Across the Hall.

Heading into production next week under the directorial eye of Alex Merkin, the thriller focuses on "a love triangle between a young man, his best friend and his fiancee." Murphy is starring along with Mike Vogel (Cloverfield) and Danny Pino (Cold Case) -- who I presume will be the friends. If you're familiar with Merkin, this should sound familiar, as it's an expanded feature from his Adrian Grenier-starring short film of the same name. Have any of you seen it?

Meanwhile, Murphy's Ramen Girl is slated for release some time this year, and the period drama The White Hotel next year. The latter will be interesting -- she's playing an opera singer.

Let's see now, we've got a Spock, a Uhura and a Chekov. We still need a Kirk, a Scott, a McCoy ("Bones") and a Sulu. I feel like I'm collecting trading cards, but really I'm just anxiously awaiting more Star Trek news. The new sorta-prequel (aka Star Trek XI) is set to begin filming soon, so it's about time J.J. Abrams finds the rest of his cast. Or, if he's already found his stars, it's about time Paramount announced them. At least the rumors and unconfirmed choices continue to float around the net. In fact, this morning we have two fairly reliable sources reporting new names to place in the Kirk and Scott slots.

The investigative team over at IESB got word that Mike Vogel (Poseidon) is the front-runner to fill William Shatner's shoes in the role of James T. Kirk. The site attempted to confirm the rumor with both Paramount and Vogel's agents, but obviously neither would comment. But IESB did get a hint of nervousness from the latter, Gersh Agency, which was curious about where this news had come from. The way IESB's Robert Sanchez relays the encounter, it does sound like a slight, accidental confirmation. But we'll see. Vogel (who makes me think of Superbad's Fogel) is also co-starring in the Abrams-produced monster movie coming in January -- you know, Cloverfield, 1-18-08 or whatever it will be titled -- so at least we know the actor has an in with the director.