Back to Black - THE NICE GUYS (2016)

It’s not easy facing up when your whole world is Black - there could not be a more fitting surname and indeed director for Dolly Back to ring in their Noirvember! Shane Black’s 2016 neo-noir and buddy cop extravaganza The Nice Guys remains one of the film world’s most treasured sleeper hits, inspiring debate on the future of film exhibition and providing a potential template for the loveably sleazy filmmakers sure to follow in the footsteps of this dynamite script! Its self-deprecating and glitzy facade resists a noir reading as much as its weary characters, conspiracies, and ultraviolence inspire one, becoming a fascinating exercise in how we root 21st century aesthetic sensibilities in this vaunted cinematic mode - in a 70s period piece no less! Make a toast to the Birds and the Bees alike, and join your hosts on their private investigation of a post-Nixon America, Gosling and Crowe’s electric comic chops, and salute to one of action cinema’s wiliest auteurs!

Joe Lynch's Article on Talkhouse - The Nice Guys and the Genius of Shane Black’s Lowlife Goons

Nerdwriter's Video Essay - Movie Violence Done Right