So you know how Judd Apatow is slowly but surely becoming the next Jesus Christ Superstar and all? Well, what about you? Yes, you -- the guy who recycles the same three pairs of sweatpants and screams bloody murder when he forgets to DVR Beauty and the Geek. Here's an idea: What if you were able to create your own Judd Apatow movie? Not only would it make lots of money and be hella funny, but I bet you'd be able to score dates with Kristina, Leticia and Amanda once they're finished with the show (oh yes, I watch too). Luckily for us, Cracked came up with a list of easy-to-follow instructions that way you (and we won't tell everyone you know) can make your own Judd Apatow movie. Here's a brief sample of what you'll need (via Cracked):

Difficulty: Can be tricky the first time, but once you've got the hang of it, you can pump them out yearly.

Time: 6 months (4 hours for scripting and casting, a weekend for shooting, and 5 months and 28 days for editing, advertising and "make 'em wait" time).

Things You Will Need:
1. A beloved failed TV show from which to pull your cast
2. A thorough knowledge of basic sexual slang (for help with this, see my other manual, "From Pearl Necklaces to Donkey Punches: the Eight Comedic Sexual Maneuvers")
3. A disdain for continuity
4. An old High School yearbook from which to pull ideas and characters
5. A shitload of film to allow actors time to improvise (ie, "write the script")
6. An understanding of improvisational comedy that entails two guys speaking in unconnected one-liners
7. Paul Rudd's phone number
8. A giant bag of weed (usually Paul Rudd can provide this)

Head over to Cracked to read the rest -- and definitely let us know the name of your Judd Apatow movie when it's done, as well as how to find it. (Oh, and don't thank us -- thank comedy.)

Most conversations about Forgetting Sarah Marshall -- the new Judd Apatow-produced comedy about a devastating breakup -- are going to start with the penis shot. Sure, there have been willies in the movies before -- hell, there have been dongs in Apatow productions before (see Walk Hard). But a johnson this prominently featured, and in a mainstream romantic comedy? It breaks new ground. And not only is it funny, it's the perfect visual representation of what a guy goes through when he gets dumped. The film's star, Jason Segel, is stripped bare literally and figuratively -- exposed, embarrassed, emasculated. It's a comedy moment for the history books. I just wish I could say the rest of the film is as bold, as brave, as ... ballsy as that penis.

Oh, don't get me wrong. Sarah Marshall is a very funny movie. But its faults -- its sagginess, its tendency to let improvisation roll past the point of laughter, its relationships that often don't ring true -- are what separate this Judd Apatow production from a Judd Apatow film.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall finds Jason Segel vacationing in Hawaii to forget the girl (Kristen Bell) who just dumped him. Alas, she's at the same resort with her new beau! It's the latest comedy from the Apatow camp, and it hits theaters this weekend. Cinematical spoke one-on-one with the film's director, Nicholas Stoller, regarding the movie, his upcoming Muppet project, and how much onscreen penis is too much onscreen penis.

Cinematical: Is it intimidating for you knowing that every movie associated with Apatow these days is such a comedy event? Does that put pressure on you as the director to live up to that standard?

Nicholas Stoller: Not really, I'm still excited I got to make a movie, so I'm not really thinking in terms of if it's going to be a big event. Our movie was cheap so we don't have to make up that much money. It amuses me, and I hope that it amuses more people.

Cinematical: It amused me, so there's one extra person anyway.

NS: We have you and me and we just need 30 million more Americans.

I was assigned to review I Could Never Be Your Woman last year about this time, but the theatrical release date was pushed back at the eleventh hour. The movie then had a fall release date ... which also vanished. Now this romantic comedy starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Paul Rudd and written/directed by Amy Heckerling has gone direct to DVD with no U.S. theatrical release at all. You'd think this must mean the movie is a real stinker, but that's not the case. (Entertainment Weekly has an interview with Heckerling that tells the story behind the release problems, which seem to be grounded in financial and distribution snafus.)

I Could Never Be Your Woman is almost an entertaining, lightweight comedy, except for one flaw: its message is about as subtle as those in a Disney sports movie. Rosie (Pfeiffer) is a 40-year-old TV writer/producer who fears she is growing too old for her job, and too old and ugly for romance. When she falls for Adam (Rudd, who was in Heckerling's Clueless back in 1995), who auditions for a bit part on her show, she continually tries to halt the relationship because the age gap worries her so much. The young people all seem to be jeering at her; the old guys get to be fat and jerky and have no trouble finding work or attractive partners. Meanwhile, her teenage daughter Izzie (Saoirse Ronan) has just started being interested in boys, and she is suffering from body issues too.

Aside from scoring himself the lead in I Love You Man, Paul Rudd is scoring himself a woman with some impressive genes. Variety reports that Rashida Jones has signed on to play his fiance in the upcoming comedy. You might remember Jones from her work in The Office, or going back a bit more, Boston Public, but she's also the daughter of Quincy Jones and Peggy Lipton. Nice job, Paul!

The film focuses on Rudd as a man who, for some reason, decides that he needs to hunt down a stranger (Jason Segal) to be his best man. I can't think of any reason why that would be necessary. Do all of his friends die in a plane crash? I don't get it. At the very least, the guy could share some of his wife's friends. But really, as long as we get a wedding with some Rudd dancing, I'll be happy.

Keeping busy, this isn't the only project Rashida has signed on for. She's also going to co-star with Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr. in Chilled in Miami. In the never-before-seen premise, a big-city woman gets transferred to rural Minnesota and "re-evaluates her big-city values." Jones will be her best friend in the film, but they're not saying whether this is her big-city best friend or someone she bonds with up north. This one, I'm not so keen on, but kudos to Rashida for picking up two big roles.

As much as I like Judd Apatow, there is just something that isn't doing it for me when it comes to Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Luckily, it looks like the new Red Band trailer just released on Empire will help those of you out there like me who just are not completely sold on the romantic comedy. It's nothing I can put my finger on, but I think most audiences will be sold on the "Apatow Brand" more than anything else.

Marshall stars Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother) as Peter Bretter; a lovelorn guy who has just been dumped by his newly-successful girlfriend (as played by TV's Kristen Bell). When advised to take a vacation by his friends, he runs into his ex and her new rock-star boyfriend. Mila Kunis (That 70's Show) also co-stars as the fun-loving girl who helps Peter over his heartache. Along with the first-timer's, some of the usual Apaptow crew are there including Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, and Bill Heder.

Erik had brought us the first trailer back in December, and the new red band version contains a lot of the same jokes. So while it doesn't include much new footage, at least this time they don't have to worry about those pesky FCC rules and they can show you the jokes in their entirety -- and believe me when I tell you that they are way funnier when they don't have to worry about offending people in the prime-time hour. Forgetting Sarah Marshall (with all the crudeness intact) will arrive in theaters on April 18, 2008.

Even when a movie looks unpromising, you can often find some ray of hope that gets you to the theater or eventually the DVD. In the case of Over Her Dead Body, I latched optimistically onto Paul Rudd. (Not literally. Unfortunately.) Rudd has that rare and magnetic combination of good looks and great comic delivery that worked so well for his supporting characters in Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Anchorman and other movies that didn't involve Judd Apatow ... not to mention a recurring role in the last season of Friends as Phoebe's boyfriend. (Ohh, to have to choose between Hank Azaria and Paul Rudd. Geek girls everywhere are sighing with me.)

You can imagine my disillusion when I realized that because Rudd is playing a guy who is deeply mourning his dead lover, someone decided he should look wan and tired. This devotion to reflecting his character's stress and debilitation is truly unnecessary -- it's a movie that includes ghosts and angels, so why would you invoke realism and give a romantic lead these dark circles under his eyes? Very sad, indeed.

Rudd plays the mournful Henry, a veterinarian whose self-centered, bitchy fiancee Kate (Eva Longoria Parker) is killed in a freak accident on their wedding day. Kate finds herself in Limbo and after insulting the angel who is supposed to help her, ends up as a ghost back on Earth with no idea what to do. She decides it must be her job to protect Henry from encroaching females. Meanwhile, a year after Kate's death, Henry's kooky sister Chloe (Lindsay Sloane) drags him to a psychic who hopefully can assure him that Kate is resting in peace, so he can move on with his life. The part-time psychic, Ashley (Lake Bell), is a flaky caterer who is willing to help Henry after Chloe insists ... and also because she's attracted to Henry. Kate doesn't like any of this hanky-panky, and Hilarity Ensues.

The parody subgenre once gave us comedy classics like Young Frankenstein, Airplane!, Top Secret!, and The Naked Gun. This glorious tradition has been disgracefully violated in recent years by the likes of the cleverly titled Epic Movie and Date Movie. (As for the latter -- a spoof of comedies? Outstanding idea!) Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, a parody of musical biopics like Walk the Line and Ray, marks the pretty damn triumphant return of the spoof film. The movie also marks the return of Judd Apatow, and I'm pleased to report that Walk Hard completes a 2007 hat trick for the man. It easily joins Knocked Up and Superbad to form the unholy trinity of the year's superior comedies.

Starting in fictional rock star Dewey Cox's boyhood Tennessee home and ending some sixty years later after his bouts with women, booze, and pills, the film traces the blood pumping rise...of Cox. (First and last Cox joke, I promise.) The script gets Cox making music quickly, and good thing. I'm not sure why the first ten minutes of Walk Hard were released online as part of the marketing plan, they're easily the weakest scenes of the film. But once John C. Reilly enters the picture, portraying Cox at age fourteen despite being 25 years older (a dig at Kevin Spacey in Beyond the Sea?), it's pretty much smooth sailing.

Access Hollywood premiered the first trailer for the next Judd Apatow-produced comedy, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and while it doesn't quite look like an Apatow film right now (with the exception of his regulars all showing up), remember that this is the made-for-TV trailer that probably can't include the film's greatest bits. This time Jason Segel (who wrote the script) is in the lead, and he plays a guy who's having one heckuva hard time forgetting his ex-girlfriend, Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell). When he's advised to take a trip to Hawaii to help mend his open wounds, he accidentally winds up staying at the same hotel as Sarah and her new wacked-out celebrity boyfriend.

Based on the trailer, it looks to be Apatow's most cookie-cutter of all his films, but like I said before, they'll come out with a red-band trailer and this will look like a completely different movie. Regardless, you still have performances from the reliable Jonah Hill, Paul Rudd, Bill Hader and adorable Mila Kunis -- not to mention the flick is directed by Nicholas Stoller (Undeclared) -- so hopes are still pretty high. Forgetting Sarah Marshall arrives in theaters on May 30, and you can watch the trailer above. Let us know what you think.

There are some actors who need to stick to playing supporting roles. Paul Rudd is not one of them -- he is good-looking and perfectly capable of being a lead -- but that doesn't mean I can't prefer him as the leading man's buddy, or as the romantic opposition, or as a member of an hilarious ensemble. But as goofy as the guy is, we have to remember that he was once just that love interest/step-brother for Alicia Silverstone in Clueless. Fortunately, as Rudd appears to grow in Hollywood status, starring in his own vehicles, he seems to be choosing movies that relate more to his work with Judd Apatow, Adam McKay and the Stella guys than to run of the mill romantic comedies.

His latest to be announced is called I Love You, Man, which makes one think of the joke in Wayne's World about platonic love between two grown men (" I LOVE you, man"). And, what do you know? I Love You, Man is in fact about platonic love between two grown men. According to Variety, the movie is about a guy (Rudd), who is about to get married, but who doesn't have a male friend who can serve as his best man. So, he seeks one out and eventually finds gangly Jason Segal of TV's How I Met Your Mother (and Knocked Up, which co-starred Rudd).