For those of you who have long wondered why I go on and on about Ryan Reynolds, it’s because — given the right material — he’s secretly a great comic actor, although those skills have only been properly utilized a couple of times (his eight minutes in Wolverine and his role in Blade Trinity). He’s got great timing, and the perfect dry, self-effacing sense of humor (Fine: He’s got nice abs, too). And after a string of bad (Just Friends) to good romantic comedies (Definitely, Maybe), I honestly think that a Sandra Bullock comedy, of all movies, is going to be his break-out rom-com role, to go along with his break-out action role as Deadpool. Scoff if you must, but the trailers for The Proposal have been promising, and a dirty-mouthed Betty White looks like the real scene stealer.
To demonstrate, check out this Funny or Die promo for the movie. If The Proposal is half as funny as the promo, we may actually get the first decent studio romantic comedy since … Definitely, Maybe. It comes out on June 19th, and it’s sure as hell to be better than its competition, Year One.
I DID! and if i had a time machine, i'd go back and bust it all day long!
Posted by: gp at May 18, 2009 7:34 PM
"No one knows who you are!"
OK, there's a grain of truth to that. My mother watched Definitely, Maybe and I still have to remind her who Ryan Reynolds is any time his name comes up. Usually "the guy who married Scarlet Johannson" does it.
She also doesn't see what the fuss is about. She says he looks kinda doofy. She has not seen the abs.
ok, so maybe i was a little eager to be the first to "get up in there" but that was a cute clip.
i saw the trailer for this and actually thought it'd be worth paying for (i don't usually go for rom-coms, unless you consider, say dawn of the dead or scanners "rom-com". which i do).
Posted by: gp at May 18, 2009 7:45 PM
I have absolutely adored Betty White since her days as 'Sue Ann Nivens' on the MTM Show.
She can make anyone look good but RR is pretty damned funny in the clip. Good on him and good luck!
also, G(aR), the gay friday thing made me spit diet dr. pepper on my hand.
Posted by: gp at May 18, 2009 7:49 PM
uh, spender, i don't think these 12 year olds know what MTM stands for.
Posted by: gp at May 18, 2009 7:50 PM
I'm still sceptical. Ryan Reynolds abs notwithstanding, I'm allergic to Rom-Coms. I hate them. I really, really can't stand them. I may be a complete softie and pushover, but Rom-Coms...*shudders*
Posted by: Four Eyes at May 18, 2009 7:51 PM
Our lines are crossed. Just Friends is my favourite romcom of the aughts and Definitely, Maybe is the one whose appeal I cannot understand no matter which way I slice it.
Posted by: Ling at May 18, 2009 7:59 PM
That was pretty awesome. I'll probably still rent this. From Netflix. Without telling anyone. But I'll probably enjoy the hell out of it.
Betty White was the shining star in the otherwise craptastic Lake Placid. I offer some of her best lines:
-You're all cocksuckers! I knew it first, I just didn't want to say it!
-Thank you, officer fuck-meat!
-If I had a dick, this is where I'd tell you to suck it!
-I'm rooting for the crocodile. I hope he swallows your friends whole. You might want to arrest me for that too. Is that a crime? To wish the chewing of law enforcement?
gp, I'm glad the witticisms of my brother and I can bring joy to the lives of all 5-20 people who read my blog. I swear I did not embellish that conversation at all, just took out the 45 minute interlude in which we discussed, like, cheese or something. We're not good at staying on task.
Jeebus Christmas those "Interactive Ads" are on every page. I know I sound like a squeaky wheel here but it's affecting my considerable enjoyment o the site.
Posted by: Withnail at May 18, 2009 9:04 PM
Withnail I've seen one all day. You must be terribly unlucky if they keep popping up for you.
Just Friends is one of the only romantic films I actually like. I truly can not wait for this stupid movie to come out and I make fun of people who like comedies! For example, I just got through making fun of my Mimi who turned to me and started to discuss that movie with Mathew Machoanhey in it. Just because I have an incubator doesn’t mean that I like The Notebook. There I said it bitches! THE CUTE GUY IN THE MOVIE IS THE OLD MAN! Ha-I hope I ruined it for everyone.
Posted by: Jasper Buckelman at May 18, 2009 9:31 PM
Dude, come ON - Just Friends was NOT a bad movie! It was funny and goofy and sweet. Love it!
And Betty White is so delightful in everything. That little gleam in her eye when she says something so wicked, but with the sweetest of smiles? Saucy!
I saw The Proposal at an early screening a few weeks ago. I thought that the plot and a lot of the situations were pretty cliche romcom, but it was a lot funnier than I was anticipating. Plus, naked Ryan Reynolds...well, mostly naked.
Posted by: jenilane at May 18, 2009 10:17 PM
i didn't think 'the notebook' could be spoiled for me.
but i guess i was wrong.
Posted by: gp at May 18, 2009 10:21 PM
Definitely, Maybe was retarded. Too clever and cute for its own good.
that was freaking hysterical. i never appreciated betty white when she was on golden girls, but when nick at night brought mtm into their line up, i watched the week long marathon and loved it.
eyvi, betty white was the cooking show host constantly trying to get into lou grant's pants. it was pretty special...
i still won't go to see this movie though
Posted by: courtney at May 19, 2009 12:05 AM
Hahaha, thank you Sharon for reminding me of those Lake Placid lines. I vaguely remember the movie being hilarious, and she's probably the main reason.
As for the interactive ads, I've yet to be bothered by one.
And the new Sherlock Holmes trailer is bona fide bad ass.
Posted by: Mick J at May 19, 2009 12:37 AM
I love Betty White! She is cute and funny. I have never heard of actor Ryan Reynolds. I don't care about this movie.
Posted by: mary at May 19, 2009 7:13 AM
Yeah, Just friends was a funny ass movie. I've watched it several times and still lmao everytime.
Posted by: Continental Almonds at May 19, 2009 7:40 AM
Dude, you spoiled the best line in the title of the post!
LOVE LOVE LOVE Betty White. She's really at her best when she plays slutty and insane, which really makes me wonder what she was like as a young woman. She played slutty Sue Ann Nivens, the cooking show host, on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. When Golden Girls started, she was supposed to play the slutty one, but she'd felt she'd already done that, so she swapped parts with Rue McClanacantspellithan, and Betty played the nice one instead. It's fun to see her insane character in Boston Legal every now and then. She's so much better when she plays insane. She must be having a ball.
Posted by: BWeaves at May 19, 2009 8:41 AM
I actually thought Bullock was the best thing in this. And I don't think I've ever seen a film with her in it. Is she always this charming?
Waaaaay back in the day, Betty White was kind of like everyone's favorite "Mom Next Door". I know she did a lot of television in the so-called "Golden Age" but I remember her back then as a frequent guest on a lot of game shows and she eventually married Allen Ludden, longtime host of "Password". She was delightful and, as a regular on the show, displayed a wicked sense of humor but her portrayal of Sue Ann Nivens on 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' was a shockingly funny revelation and totally reinvigorated her career.
I hope this movies a big hit for her sake.
Secretly a good comic actor!? That is no secret my friends. Just because his other comedy movies sucked (though somehow the movie Waiting... has achieved cult status among many of the people I know, even the ones who don't work in restaurants), doesn't mean that Ryan Reynolds wasn't great in them. At least at times.
Either way, there is no secretly about it.
Posted by: Eva at May 19, 2009 9:59 AM
Caspar,
Miss Congeniality is a pretty good barometer of SB's likeability. Aside from Michael Caine, she carries that movie, so liking the movie = liking her, and vice versa.
Posted by: Kballs at May 19, 2009 10:19 AM
Betty White got one of the funniest lines I've ever heard on a sitcom. On "Golden Girls" Dorothy is explaining how she punished her husband for a transgression:
"I cut off his sex completely."
Rose (looking baffled): "You mean they grow back?"
Posted by: , (the commenter formerly known as bucdaddy) at May 19, 2009 10:19 AM
The sketch... I expected better. Honestly, a bit lukewarm. I loved the beginning with just Sandra Bullock and Ry Ren, because it's a conversation I had nearly every other day in high school with one of my friends. Genius.
then, when Betty White turned out to be not just a frigid bitch but a literal conniving bitch, it started feeling contrived.
Then, when S Bull verbally dressed down Ry Ren, it became every other self-important funny-or-die sketch ever created and I completely lost interest.
Posted by: Ling at May 19, 2009 10:26 AM
What Ling said.
Posted by: Snuggiepants the Deathbringer at May 19, 2009 10:44 AM
What is it about Canadians named Ryan? They're all smokin' hot Canadian deliciousness. I mean, I'm sure there are unattractive Canadians named Ryan, but I haven't seen them.
Just wanted to share. Haven't even watched the little movie thing yet.
Posted by: Slash at May 19, 2009 12:49 PM
Betty White is an old pro. She can play sweet and stupid or savvy and dirty. Another older chick I always like to see who is kinda Betty White-ish is Georgia Engel (for those who have ever deigned to watch Everybody Loves Raymond, she played Robert's mother-in-law). I've never seen her play dirty, but I bet she could.
Again, just sharing.
Posted by: Slash at May 19, 2009 1:07 PM
Given all the press Reynolds gets on this site, you'd think he was a star or something. And "Definitely Maybe" was a good romcom? Really? Did we see the same movie?
As for this movie being good, do I have to remind you that it stars Sandra Bullock? I guess hope springs eternal in the mind of a movie reviewer of questionable sexual orientation . . .
Posted by: jimbob at May 19, 2009 1:30 PM
I love Betty White! She is so cute! I don't like the way she talk used these bad language on this video. Betty should know better. I am not planning to see this movie; I preferred to see her play the "Million Dollar Password" game show. She is so good at it and she know how to play it. I did saw two of the movies that Betty was in "The Retriever" and "Bring the House Down". She played their neighbor in both movies. I thought it is sweet and she is a good neighbor.
Posted by: anonymous at May 19, 2009 8:37 PM
Not a fan of his but I had to admit he played a great sleazeball in Adventureland. His best acting to date.
Posted by: midfan at May 20, 2009 10:02 AM
I too, am baffled by the Reynolds love, too. I don't know if it's because he married someone more famous, or what, but at least in his pre-Alanis days, he seemed to be considered a disreputable D-Lister, at best. Like Seann William Scott, minus the credibility. I didn't watch the Three Pizza Slap-Party Show, but from what I was hearing, he was just playing variations on that character for...a decade? I don't know. Given, with film careers, you've got to kiss a lot of frogs, and spend time getting good at what you do. Still, though... I guess I've just got vastly different tastes in movies.
I ended up seeing Definitely, Mumble. Zoiks! Boring! And I always think it's strange when shows or films depict parents who are overly-frank about their past romantic exploits with children--their children. Given, my (much older) family were so secretive it makes me want to vomit with rage, but this? Why would a kid need to know this? 'Say hello to the chick I shoulda married? Yeah, THAT's the bitch!'
And here's a character I hate: old-soul children steeped in beyond-their-years wisdom, who interact on a semi-intellectual level with their parents. This goes double for the children who play them. I, I'm thinking such illegal things right now, you people would think I'm a monster. My heart is a pacifist, by my ambling, annoyance-driven daydreams are born in bile and blood. The heart wins out, but there were times when Dakota Fanning would refer to 'Tom and Katie'--as if they were her diaper-pissing peers--and I would come this close to passing out.
You know what else I don't understand? The Amy Smart love. Everyone here says she's soooo amazing, but I can't think of one role of hers that I've seen. Maybe it's because she only seems to appear in shit. Now, maybe that's not fair of me to say, since I've already freely admitted that I'm not familiar with her work. But it seems to be that when people grouse about her never getting any 'decent roles', they might be complaining about the wrong thing; maybe she's useless. Is she? It's to see things clearly, being blinded by the light of Fra. Reynolds and San Downey. Is she truly the thinking-man's sex kitten that she so often seems to be trumpeted as being? And what does 'thinking man's' mean? Wait, wait, um....oh, right. Nothing. Spooge-bait, for the scholarship crowd? Strikes me a little ridiculous.
Or is interest in her driven by impulses more base and carnal, and for some reason, evolved minds don't want to admit that. Maybe they're secretly annoyed that they've cast their lot in with someone who isn't worth it.
Okay, now I'm being rewarded with a blinding headache. Nice one, God.
Posted by: Jo 'Mama' Besser at May 20, 2009 8:08 PM
did i bust the reynold's cherry?!