Denzel Washington, joined by wife Pauletta, and Ryan Reynolds were in New York last night for the premiere of Safe House which opens on Friday. No sign of Blake Lively. Like, not even a “caught entering through a side door” situation. How’s this?

Somehow Blake and Ryan were found kissing in a small town in Utah. And somehow they were found in New York by a single pap from the same agency. I hear it was getting too obvious. That she was told to shut it down for a while. It’s good advice, particularly for Ryan.

He’s coming off back to back misses in The Green Lantern and The Change-Up. If Safe House sucks, it hurts him more than it hurts Denzel. It’ll be over a year before his next release R.I.P.D. with Jeff Bridges. You want to leave them with something good to remember, non?

You don’t want to go on break, after all these years in the business, being known as “Blake’s Hunk”.

Here, have a look at this screen cap I just took from the Us Weekly website. It’s a photo of Ryan on The Today Show yesterday. Only they can’t even be bothered to use his name in the title. The title is his... title, I guess.

Not Ryan Reynolds, Actor. But Ryan Reynolds, Blake’s Guy.

I don’t know that I would call that a success, coming off two big years in 2009 and 2010, all kinds of good buzz after The Proposal, all kinds of hype with a superhero movie, only to be defined two years later as a Gossip Girl’s boyfriend. If I’m ever the Dean of the Faculty of Celebrity Studies at a liberal arts university somewhere in New England, my assignment to you would be to compare and contrast Ryan Reynolds and Channing Tatum. Be honest, two years ago, no one would have predicted that Channing Tatum would not only have drawn even with Reynolds but surged ahead. Consider that both were married just as they were striking, against conventional wisdom. Consider the power, or lack thereof, of their respective female fanbases. Is it the difference between a Dear John and a Definitely, Maybe? Does Ryan Reynolds need a Notebook? Reynolds has Sandra Bullock; Tatum has Steven Soderbergh. Right now, that’s working out a lot better for him. Or is this a temporary surge that won’t last much longer, making Reynolds’s steady, consistent strategy a better option over an extended period of time?

There is no right or wrong answer. But your arguments must be sound. “Blake Lively is an airhead” does not count.

PS. While Blake was not seen at the event last night, Ryan was spotted leaving her apartment earlier in the day.