Heres what they had to say on everything from 70s station wagons to apocalyptic summer blockbusters.
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Congratulations on the film, first of all.
I really enjoyed it.
Shane Black:Thanks very much for that.
We tried very hard to do something fresh here.
And I loved that it has both nostalgia and cynicism for the 70s era as well.
The smog, the porn, the cars with wood panelling.
Why did cars have wood panelling as an optional extra?
I never could work that out.
Joel Silver:In the 1940s, the really high-end luxury cars had incredible detail work on them.
These are very expensive cars.
SB:They were moulded in clay, yeah.
It was actually made of wood.
I had a station wagon it was the, what was it called, Cherokee.
They were always kind of cool looking.
But of course as the materials altered to vinyl and polyurethane and they just became so silly.
I mean, we have that in [The Nice Guys] where they say, Wood panelling!
Thats what I loved.
As though its luxurious when its so naff.
SB:Styled road wheels!
I mean, what other kind of wheels are there?
[Laughs]
Well, I guess your times about up!
[Even more laughter]
Yeah, I think I have everything I need.
JS:Thanks for coming!
Glad to meet you!
Thats interesting, isnt it?
JS:[To Shane] But just, go on…
SB:The 70s were very exuberant.
A very turbulent time.
Wed just come off not just the Vietnam era… youre much too young.
I was actually around my brothers just missed the draft.
But post Vietnam, angry, lost youth.
It was a time where there was a lot of confusion about where we were going.
This sort of latter-day Sodom and Gomorrah which is falling to pieces.
And its up to her father to save it and hes not up to the task.
Its because the split second was that powerful.
Because he saw a myth that wasnt filled.
There was a tapestry there, including a victim but the portion that was the rescuer was absent.
That was such a primordial myth that it called to him to step up and fill it.
More so than his sense of self-preservation and the love for his family.
So its that way with these two schmucks [inThe Nice Guys].
Is he going to step into that myth and actually be a crusader?
The 70s seemed like the most compromised time in Los Angeles to place these guys.
Boy, that was convoluted, but you get it.
When you cast this film, you obviously knew that Ryan Gosling was a great, truly capable actor.
But did you have an inkling of how good he was at the physical comedy before you signed him?
So I pursued him on everything I mean every movie that came along.
His manager was a friend of mine.
I really believed we could do well with him.
We said, What, Russell Crowe?
And he said, Yeah.
Can he do this?
I said, Okay.
Shane said, Let me go meet him.
What does he think about Russell?
And he said, He loves Russell.
And Joels good at this.
Hes always been very generous to me.
Hes the kind of guy whod give you the shirt off his back.
As withKiss Kiss Bang Bang,no one else saw it; Joel saw it.
He came back to me and said, This is great!
How do I get this?
I mean, this must be all over town, right?
I said, Nope, youre the only one.
He goes, What?
Why cant we makeKiss Kiss Bang Bang?
I said, Joel, Id love to.
But youre the guy.
Youre the only one who seems to be seeing this.
He got the deal done.
You guys have been working together for 30 years, right?
So what were your memories of when you first started working together?
Because it started with the screenwriting and appearing in the originalPredator.
SB:Its been a tumultuous 30 years.
Ive come back to Joel when I can.
If someone else owns a project then I have to do it without Joel.
He knows my sensibility.
We tend to like the same sorts of things and tell the same kinds of stories.
The most seminal movie ever.The Matrix no one knew whatThe Matrixwas.
No one thought that would be a hit, but its a seminal movie that changed everything.
He steps up for these things that he believes in.
That arent branded tentpoles, but then become the tentpoles that everyone else copies.
Do you think its more difficult to get these kinds of thrillers made, particularly at this budget level?
JS:I mean, yes and no.
People say to me, Joel, whats it like being a producer.
If I have one yes among 3,000 nos, then Ive had a good day.
And thats what its like.
I mean, its a boulder up a hill, and every night it comes back down.
[Laughs]
SB:Not even a hard penis.
Because saying no is easy.
Saying yes is like, It takes 4,500 muscles to smile… what is it?
SB:Its like, 800 muscles to smile…
JS:…and 22 muscles to frown.
SB:No, I think its the other way around.
We like to frown, so we justify it any way we can!
I mean, the kind of movies that Ive made, I want to see them.
I want to get them up on the screen and look at them with an audience.
Ive been in the commercial field because I like commercial movies, you know?
But mostly Ive got to the audiences.
I mean,V For Vendettawas a very complicated movie to get made.
And a very hard movie to sell, but we made it work.
It just depends on the picture.
I think Shane has a very pure, singular voice.
Look at the lines in his movies.
I havent seen it yet, I must say.
JS:But some of the lines from the original movie are transposed into this television aesthetic.
Shanes line goes, God hates me.
And Riggs says, Well, hate him back.
Thats just two simple lines.
Theres a line where Murtaugh says to Riggs, Is there anybody you havent killed?
And he goes, Well, I havent killed you yet.
I was hoping hed do some writing, but he only wrote the jokes for himself.
Then he wroteThe Last Boy Scout,which was complicated in the way it was made.
It didnt really clear his voice as well as Id have liked.
Then he went off and did other things, and then he wrote this, and he wroteKiss Kiss.
He wasnt going to direct[The Nice Guys] because his partner had another view of it.
But he wroteKiss Kisshimself and said, Ill direct that.
And then I was passionate about the material and I thought, Lets take a shot.
But Id known him for 20 years at that time, and I thought he was the right choice.
But it defined an aesthetic that Shane had…
SB:Which we would call the deconstructed private eye.
Literally deconstructed inKiss Kiss,to the point where were literally stopping the film to comment, you know?
Thats just the fun we like to have.
Joels absolutely right about one thing and only one thing!
you have to want to see the movie.
You cant make something you dont believe in.
And youd say, Well, for two million can you?
Id say, No!
I still cant do it!
[Laughs]
I dont know how to do that.
When people say its a comedy no, because its got some dark places in its heart.
It does in the beginning, middle and end.
There are set-ups and pay-offs and things that he starts out and resolves.
Its a complicated narrative, but its very funny.
Thats totally what Shane can do.
SB:By the way, weve been chatting, and I havent heard any questions.
Youve been very good, but do you have a question?
[Laughs]
Both of you, between you, defined the buddy-thriller genre.
People say to me, Mr Black, how did it feel to define the genre.
I didnt define anything!
Hed done48 Hrslike years before.
Yeah, in 1982.
SB:That was the one, man.
That was the one that changed everything.
SB:I felt like I wanted to keep doing it.
They just put ray guns in.
Or literature the books Id read ad nauseam when I was a kid from my fathers shelf.
Shell Scott and Ross MacDonald and any number of fictional private detectives.
William Campbell Gault had Brock Callahan who was an ex-LA Rams football player turned private eye.
Michael Collins wrote Dan Fortune, a one-armed private detective.
Why does he have one arm?
I dunno, but its great!
So these were the kinds of things I grew up with.
I saw48 Hrsand I went, [snaps fingers] Thats the guy.
The originalPredatorwas a war film that flipped over into slasher-horror.
So what are your plans for the new movie?
Can you give a vague idea without giving too much away?
Im not supposed to talk too much about it which is code for, Im still working on it.
But I think the tone shifting is important.
The first one had humour in it, so you really got engaged with this group of guys.
So well invent our own group of guys.
Well cast very carefully.
Well get a group of people against the monster that I think youre gonna enjoy spending time with.
I think the danger of aPredatorsequel is that its not new to anybody anymore.
Oh, look honey another Predator.
Yeah, we had one of those last year.
Gagh, is he in the barn again?
Oh God, hes had the sheep.
That its too familiar we have to find a way to make him mysterious again.
Do you think in Hollywood films recently that the goals are too large?
You understand what the characters want; its not about saving the world from destruction, necessarily.
SB:Theres a school of thought that says, how many apocalypses can you live through?
A bridge collapsing should be a big deal.
Now, that said, I love a good apocalyptic movie.
I hope it does well for you guys.
Shane Black and Joel Silver, thank you very much.
The Nice Guysis out in UK cinemas on the 3rd June.
