…that Ryan Reynolds will be the Green Lantern. So says such standard bearers of the geek film press as Cinematical (last night) and AICN (also last night).

Personally, this would not have been my choice. I’ve missed several of his movies, but after doing some very good work early on, I’m not convinced that Reynolds is anything much more than the Chevy Chase of our day, though from a ticket sales standpoint I know young women like him, and I’m keeping an open mind. While I was part of the Nathan Fillion contingent on this matter because I simply enjoy seeing the guy doing anything, I was actually willing to go with Justin Timberlake, one of three choices including Reynolds that were floated earlier in the week. Despite being agnostic on his musical talent, I was impressed by his straight forward acting work in “Black Snake Moan” (though Jason Zingale thought otherwise) and in the clips from what I understand was one of the few tolerable sections of “The Love Guru,” and even his soft drink commercials. He’s a reasonably likable presence.

On the other hand, if Reynolds can avoid falling into himself, he has some real potential. At least that’s what I thought about ten years back when I saw him in the indie black comedy “The Alarmist” (aka “Life During Wartime”). The following scene is illuminating, but also NSFW for some humorously over-frank sexuality.