Sandra Bullock knows how to put a smile on our faces

Sandra Bullock. She’s America’s sweetheart. She wins everyone over with her smile. She’s the girl next door, if you will, who just happens to be the highest paid actress of 2012 with $56 million, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Not your average girl-next-door salary, but she seems to deserve it because she’s so humble.

This week Bullock tackles a tough role as a mother from New York whose husband (Tom Hanks) was killed on 9/11 in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” — adapted from the best-selling novel. After her 10-year-old son discovers a key left behind by his father, he decides to go on a coming-of-age journey across New York to find the lockbox to which the key belongs.

With such a serious role in hand, let’s look back at some of Sandra’s funniest and most-endearing roles of the last 20 years.

“Speed” (1994) — “There's a bomb on a bus,” reveals Dennis Hopper, the villain of the film and, in doing so, sets the premise for the entire movie. Alongside Keanu Reeves, the cop who is involved in Hopper’s mind game, Bullock is able to hold her own as overwhelmed, frazzled Annie who must take charge and keep the bus from going under 50 mph. Bullock provides a bit of comedy to the fast-paced action flick and it helped earn her a spot as a leading lady in Hollywood.

“Miss Congeniality” (2000) — I’ve seen this movie a thousand times and it, or Bullock for that matter, always makes me laugh. As an undercover FBI agent who must parade around at a beauty pageant in order to stop a group from bombing the event, Bullock’s character learns to make nice among beauty consultants, pageant coordinators and the contestants themselves. Bullock is so awkward and dorky and out of her element that it’s hard not to laugh at her. She does a great job at mocking the world of beauty pageants, all while playing a tough FBI agent ready to kick butt when necessary.

“While You Were Sleeping” (1995) — A classic romantic comedy that Bullock makes so easy to watch, “While You Were Sleeping” tells the story of Lucy, a token collector at a train station who has a crush on a particular commuter (Peter Gallagher). One day he is mugged and pushed onto the train tracks. Bullock’s character rescues him, only to find that he has fallen into a coma. She brings him to the hospital where the nurse mistakes her for his fiance and she doesn’t have the heart to tell his family the truth. She ends up spending a lot of time with the family, including the brother (Bill Pullman), with whom she soon falls in love. With a great supporting cast, Bullock couldn’t go wrong.

“The Blind Side” (2009) — The film that earned Bullock an Academy Award, Golden Globe and SAG award, Bullock really transformed herself for the role of Leigh Anne Tuohy, the mother who adopted Baltimore Ravens lineman Michael Oher. It is said that Bullock turned down the role several times because she didn’t want to portray a devout Christian. Well, it was well worth the wait, and the film turned out to be an underdog movie that opened up everyone’s hearts, and Bullock had a big part in doing that.

“The Proposal” (2009) — Released around the same time as “The Blind Side,” Bullock broke records for having two top-grossing releases at the same time. While “The Blind Side” captured our hearts, “The Proposal” tickled our funny bones. Alongside Ryan Reynolds and the one-and-only Betty White, Bullock had no trouble standing out as a publisher who pretends to be engaged to her assistant in order to not be deported to Canada. Temporary at first, the two quickly fall in love when they go to meet family in his home state of Alaska.

It sounds like a silly premise that could easily go wrong, as Bullock’s other comedy released that year, “All About Steve,” did. But what works is the chemistry between Reynolds and Bullock. They work hand-in-glove with each other and over the years Bullock has shown that she’s a well-rounded actress who has multiple sides to her craft. She always has something new up her sleeve and it seems to always put a smile on her face and ours.

Why aren't you watching 'Breaking Bad'?

For those of you who aren’t watching the ground-breaking AMC show “Breaking Bad,” shame on you. What are you waiting for? For actor Bryan Cranston to bump his Emmy total up to four? Well that will come soon enough. For now, AMC has given you an early Christmas present. The network has decided to air encore episodes of all four seasons of “Breaking Bad” from beginning to end, every Sunday night at midnight until the final season arrives next summer. And with the lack of most regularly-scheduled TV this holiday season, what better time to take advantage of such a great offering. You’ll be hooked in no time, craving for Sunday nights to arrive. And here’s why.

THE WRITING

Vince Gilligan, the creator of “Breaking Bad,” — who previously wrote and produced many episodes of “The X-Files” — has created one wild ride for us to enjoy.

A brief synopsis: In season one we meet Walter White, a bored high school chemistry teacher who finds out that he has lung cancer. While on a drug-bust raid with his DEA brother-in-law, Hank, Walter finds a former student, Jesse Pinkman, to be one of the dealers who happens to escape Hank’s wrath. From here, Walter decides to take his life into his own hands so that he can make sure his family is financially secure when the cancer takes his life. As a chemist, he is able to create the purest form of methamphetamine and, with the help of Jesse, Walter decides to produce and sell the drug. As the series develops, Walter and Jesse’s distribution grows and so does the number of people who want them out of the picture.

What Gilligan has done so brilliantly is present a character with whom you sympathize with at first, but as the series progresses you come to genuinely despise. Most writers tend to steer away from the audience hating the main character, but not Gilligan. When he was a chemistry teacher, Walter was as complacent as they come. But as his drug operation grows he becomes greedy, hostile and out of hand. Walter wants to be the boss and he won’t take s--t from anyone. It’s a complete 180 for a character that has the audience wondering who they should be rooting for.

THE ACTORS

The actors who must fill the shoes of the Walter and Jesse characters are Bryan Cranston, as Walter, and Aaron Paul, as Jesse.

When I first started watching “Breaking Bad” I had no idea Walter was portrayed by the same goofy guy who played father to Frankie Muniz on the family-comedy “Malcolm in the Middle.” It took me a couple episodes for it to click — simple because Cranston looks and acts so much more sinister in this role. Cranston is intense and encompasses the role in full force. He brings everything to the table as Walter White, and it may be the role he’ll be most remembered for.

I’d only seen Paul in brief one-episode TV appearances or teen comedies such as “Van Wilder.” He’s an actor who came out of nowhere. The character of Jesse requires balance between someone who is not only a “business savvy” meth distributor, but also a meth addict himself. Paul is just as intense as Cranston, and the two of them work hand-in-hand to create the energy and tension that holds “Breaking Bad” together.

Gilligan had initially wanted to kill off the character of Jesse Pinkman in the first season. But after seeing Paul’s performance, he opted not too. Which is all the better, especially for Paul, who followed Cranston’s lead and won an Emmy of his own for his season three performance in 2010.

THE VILLAIN

Over the course of the show, there are various drug dealers and members of a drug cartel that Walter and Jesse encounter. You could even say Hank — Walter’s DEA brother-in-law — is a villain in a way. But no one becomes quite as big of a threat as Gustavo “Gus” Fring, a business partner the two pair up with to distribute their meth in large quantities across the region in season two.

Gus, played by Giancarlo Esposito, is hands down the best villain TV has seen in the 21st century. With a subtle, low-key demeanor, Gus is a quiet businessman who runs his meth operations out of a fast food restaurant chain called Los Pollos Hermanos and a laundry facility. He is very smart and, rather than deal with the competition of Walter and Jesse, Gus takes them on to work for him, in a state-of-the-art mega lab.

As problems arise, Gus and Walter try to outsmart each other and it’s a battle of the wits. Gus is very powerful and you never know what is coming from him. He has a ruthless psyche hidden under his calm and collective manner.

Esposito — who has quite the resume, including starring in four Spike Lee joints and currently appearing on ABC’s “Once Upon a Time” — is so poised and polite as Gus, that when he does act out his villainous intentions, it’s quite scary. He never lets his guard down and he’s the type of villain who is always one step ahead of everyone else.