Disney and Universal Pick New Chairmen

Disney Studios stayed in the news yesterday as the Mouse House officially named Rich Ross as the replacement for former Disney chairman Dick Cook. The move had been somewhat expected as the head of Disney Channels Worldwide emerged as the favorite shortly after Cook left the company.

According to Variety, Ross has been largely responsible for Disney’s branding efforts over the last five years, and is likely to focus on building franchises that can not only become tentpoles at the box office but transfer to other media. Ross will be in charge of the company’s live-action and animated feature labels, including Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone, Miramax, Marvel Entertainment and Pixar. Ross will also oversee its music group and theater productions including Broadway and tours like High School Musical and Disney on Ice.

Watch It!: Unfunny People

While his first two films were considered incredible successes, Judd Apatow’s film from this past summer, Funny People, failed to get anybody exited and by the end of it’s run was the only film in his repertoire to not hit the $100 million mark in  its domestic run. The film, however, did receive praise from critics, saying that it was nice to see Adam Sandler doing a movie that wasn’t simply for the paycheck and was actually funny. So what if Apatow had gone a different route and instead filled the movie with prop-comics and watermelon-smashers? College Humor has provided an answer.

Below is their video titled “Unfunny People” which is probably a more than accurate portrayal of Gallagher and Carrot Top’s lives. If even the idea depresses you, perhaps you shouldn’t watch, but for those who couldn’t care less, this video is for you.

Genius At Work: Best Actor-Director Combos

Watching Judd Apatow score another #1 if underwhelming comedy with so many familiar faces (still waiting for a Craig Robinson feature) got me thinking about some of the best combos of director and actor(s). These days it seems almost every big director has their go-to star or stars who they trust to both bring a strong performance and bank at the box office. Sometimes it works wonders (Knocked Up) and at other turns they disappoint (Funny People). But who are the best collaborators in the business today?

Weekend Preview: All About Funny People

It has been a fun first week! To celebrate, here are the films coming out this weekend:

Randy Movie Next for Apatow?

Speaking with website JoBlo about Funny People, which comes out this Friday, Judd Apatow suggested that his next project might be set around Aziz Ansari’s character Randy, a successful stand-up comedian who has been a large part of the film’s viral campaign.

“Randy isn’t in the movie anywhere near as much we wish he was. Something hilariously magical happened when Aziz showed up. So we all said, ‘What else can we do?’ Let’s just make a documentary! We just couldn’t stop writing for him. And now we’re talking about making the RANDY movie. We can’t get enough of Randy…”

Apatow’s Knocked Up was originally planned as a spin-off from the 40 Year Old Virgin, having Seth Rogan reprise his role as Cal and having Paul Rudd, Steve Carrell, and Romany Malco reprise their roles, so it is not a foreign idea. The videos of Ansari as Randy have been well received on Funny or Die (where the “Three Part Documentary” was posted) but the true test will come with reactions to Funny People come Friday. (We will surely have a review up, so don’t miss it!)

Below the jump are all three parts of the “Raaaaaaaandy” documentary. Enjoy!