It looks like Anna Faris is going to have a very busy 2010.  A couple of weeks ago we told you about her plans to visit Jellystone Park next year when she stars in the Yogi Bear movie.  Now we have news today of two more projects that will star the talented young comedienne.  She has just signed on to the romantic comedies Wedding Banned with Robin Williams and TMI with Ryan Reynolds.  Hit the jump for details on both projects.

2009 has been a tough year for standard-issue romantic comedies.  “The Proposal,” which in any other year would have been a decent entry in a tired genre, really looked simple next to genre-benders “500 Days of Summer” and “Paper Heart.”  The film is decent, for what it is.  People who like the “Sweet Home Alabama”s and “Maid in Manhattan”s of the world will feel right at home with this one.  But those select few should’ve caught the film in theaters; there’s no real reason to buy the DVD.  More after the jump.

In 2000, “X-Men” was the first superhero movie to step into the American mainstream after the Superman and Batman franchises had committed suicide through atrocious movies.  Whatever you may think of the three “X-Men” movies and “Wolverine”, there’s no denying that it’s box office juggernaut (and a more convincing and powerful one than Vinnie Jones).  With that in mind, producer Lauren Shuler Donner, who has been with the series from the very beginning, recently provided updates on the continuing mutation of “Wolverine 2″, “X-Men: First Class”, “Deadpool”, and Magneto”.  Hit the jump to learn about projects that aren’t a fourth “X-Men” movie.

Does anyone else think it ironic that Working Title won the bidding war on a feature that is, in essence, working on its title? According to Variety, the company threw down a high six figures to beat out Original Film and New Regency, clinching the rights to a star vehicle that will be written by Allan Loeb and starring Ryan Reynolds…in drag. The of-yet-unnamed project will feature Reynolds dressing as a woman to become BFFs with his ex and win her back. More on the project after the jump.

DreamWorks is tuning up “Motorcade” again as they’ve brought director and “24″ co-executive producer Jon Cassar to helm the thriller about a disgraced Secret Service agent who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when the President is kidnapped in New York.  Cassar sounds perfect for this job because he’s directed 59 episodes of “24″ and this premise sounds as terrible as anything on that show.  DreamWorks is also looking at Ryan Reynolds to play the lead but it remains to be seen if he can give the same kind of shouting/torturing intensity that Cassar got from Kiefer Sutherland. [Variety]

Adventureland is definitely a case of a film not being what I expected.  Not surprisingly, those expectations evolved out of how the movie was marketed-the advertisements were very, very misleading as to the nature of the picture.  Watching the trailer one would have thought the film to be a very broad coming-of-age comedy.  Considering that the writer-director was Greg Mottola, whose previous release was the extremely broad coming-of-age movie Superbad, it would seem to be a reasonable expectation.  Wrong, as it turned out, but reasonable. That doesn’t mean the movie isn’t good. More after the jump:

It’s a fairly standard narrative. A filmmaker surrogate falls in love for the first time. Recently it was done in The Wackness. The main character (generally nerdy) meets a girl with some experience who trains him in the ways of love. She may or may not stick around, and the context is often a location that is familiar to the author. It’s fair to say that both the best and worst advice to give an aspiring writer is to write what they know. And yet, as familiar as this material can be, Greg Mottola’s Adventureland is nuanced, and it gets its characters. My review after the jump.

Production Weekly [via Twitter] is reporting that the on-location shoot in Australia for the Warner Brothers adaptation of DC’s “Green Lantern” may be in financial trouble.  Details are a little thin when they have to squeeze into 140 characters or less, but hit the jump for all the latest news… such as it is.

Ryan Reynolds isn’t content sticking to a genre these days. So far in 2009, we’ve seen him play a romantic comedy lead in “The Proposal,” a comic book villain in “Wolverine: Origins,” a 30-year-old maintenance man who hits on high schoolers in “Adventureland,” and Captain Excellent in “Paper Man.” Soon, we’ll see him as superhero Green Lantern. Now, in “Buried,” he’s playing a U.S. contractor who is knocked out by a group of Iraqis and wakes up to find himself buried alive in a coffin. With only a cell phone and a lighter, he fights to escape from the grave.

Check out the first image after the jump.

Yesterday, we learned that the choices for playing Hal Jordan/Green Lantern in Martin Campbell’s adaptation of the popular DC superhero comic were down to Justin Timberlake, Ryan Reynolds, and Bradley Cooper.  24 hours later, Variety has our answer: It’s Reynolds.  When it came down to these three choices, I am overjoyed that Reynolds landed the role.  Hit the jump to find out why I think this is the right choice.

Has this ever happened? Has a studio told everyone who they were thinking about casting on the front page of Variety or The Hollywood Reporter and then opened it up to public debate? Cause that’s what they did for “Green Lantern”, and it’s kind of shocking. According to the Reporter, the holding deal on all three actors expired Monday, which means they have to pick someone quick. Also, the article says the studio, producer Donald De Line, and director Martin Campbell each had a different choice.

So this is where you come in. Since they couldn’t reach a consensus, they’ve opened it up to the fans and online community. Which is crazy. They’ve pretty much raised their hands and said we give up. We can’t decide. Whatever the fans think is how we’re going to go. So if you have an opinion on the three actors up for the role, I’d leave a comment. You know the studio is spending the weekend reading every site so make your voice heard. Of the three, I’d take Ryan or Bradley. I just wish there was a 4^th actor as neither seems like the perfect pick. That’s probably why they can’t decide…

UPDATE: The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Warner Bros. is close to making a decision on who will star in Martin Campbell’s adaptation of DC’s comics “Green Lantern”.  While we noted AICN’s rumor that Justin Timberlake was being screen tested for the role, THR is saying that Timberlake along with Ryan Reynolds and Bradley Cooper are among the producers’ top choices for the role.  Of course, classy publication that they are, THR didn’t note that AICN had the story first about Timberlake’s involvement.  Hit the jump for Steve’s original story. — MG

Ryan Reynolds remains one of my favorite actors working today not only because he’s charming beyond all reason, but because he’s willing to engage in a diversity of work and keeps his filmography interesting as opposed to just falling into endless romantic comedies (and I thought “The Proposal” was good but I’m glad he doesn’t do only that kind of movie *cough* McConaughey *cough*).  That diversity continues with Variety’s report that Reynold will star in the upcoming indie thriller “Buried”.

Reynolds will play play a civilian contractor who’s kidnapped in Iraq and awakens buried in a coffin in the desert, armed only with a cell phone, a candle and a knife.  The biggest challenge for Reynolds won’t be to convince audiences of why anyone would get that creative with a civilian contractor but in making a civilian contractor likable.  I’m not saying they’re necessarily bad people, but if you’re wondering why our soldiers are dying over there, it’s sometimes to protect a civilian contractor who’s getting paid $10,000 to install a broken toilet.  Of course, Reynolds will deliver a smile, deploy expert comic timing, and we’ll instantly forgive the Bush Administration.  He’s just that good.

The film will begin shooting next month in Barcelona (so don’t freak out “Deadpool” fans; they’re still “working” on that “script”) and shoot entirely in Spain, home to director Rodrigo Cortés.

“The Proposal” is a nice reminder that not all romantic comedies have to crush our souls into a fine powder.  If you have talented leads working from a script with sharp dialogue, then you can make for a fine date night flick.  While it needs a slightly longer set-up, goes too mawkish in its third act, and relies too heavily on Betty White in the “wacky-granny” role, watching Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds snipe at each other is absolutely delightful and worth the price of admission.

Speaking to MTV’s Splash Page, Ryan Reynolds appears delighted that he’ll get to be the “authentication police” for the upcoming “Deadpool” spinoff movie.  Apparently, Reynolds never spoke with Hugh Jackman who was a producer on “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” and we all saw how that turned out.  Why I would love for Reynolds to have the control to make a great “Deadpool” movie, unless Tom Rothman was replaced by his good twin, then I predict that it will be the same kind of micro-managed, thoughtless production that cares more about set pieces and marketing tie-ins rather than a good script or quality characters.

Reynolds confidently notes that we’ll get all the answers to our questions about Deadpool’s past (honestly, I don’t care about that; I’d rather just see a fun movie) and that he’ll have both the scars and the suit.  I have no doubts that Reynolds is excited for this project but it’s going to be so sad when Fox crushes his dreams and releases a film that could be even worse than “Wolverine”.  But for now, click here to let Reynolds dream a little dream about a psychotic mercenary who constantly breaks the fourth wall and uses samurai swords (which, if anyone uses any common sense, won’t be jammed up his fucking arms).

Opening June 19^th is director Anne Fletcher’s “The Proposal”. The film is the latest offering in the romantic comedy genre and this one stars Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds.

While I’m forced to see a lot of romantic comedies, I have to say, this one was a lot better than I expected. If you’ve got a girlfriend/wife/significant other that loves this genre and they’re always asking you to go with them, this is the one to bite the bullet on as Ryan Reynolds is very funny.

Anyway, we’ve been provided with six clips from the film and they’re all after the jump - along with a full synopsis. Take a look. If you’ve got some thoughts abou to clips, please leave some comments.