Posterized: Writer/Director Shane Black
Friday, May 20, 2016 at 10:30AM 
Shane Black with Ryan Gosling at the Cannes premiere of Nice Guys this weekSince we've already done "Posterized" episodes on both Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling, who co-star together in this weekend's new comedy Nice Guys, let's look at the man behind their bantering bros curtain, Shane Black. The 54 year-old director hit the big time with his very first produced screenplay 29 years ago, the smash hit buddy action flick Lethal Weapon (1987).
He's stuck to the high-concept action/comedy genre like glue thereafter making obscene amounts of cash during the heyday of that genre (the early 90s). If he's not interested in stretching, at least he does them better than most. Eleven years ago he finally moved into the director's chair for the underseen critical darling Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005). Strangely for a successful creator in a lucrative genre that isn't exactly relegated to the arthouse, he's not been that prolific in his 29 year career. (If you're curious about how it all shook out this old piece at Grantland is a must read)
Boy movies, least of all buddy comedies, aren't a thing TFE is known for so it's a little bit of a curveball today in Posterized but we're curious: How many of his 8 films have you seen?
Screenplays: Lethal Weapon (1987), The Monster Squad (1987), The Last Boy Scout (1991), The Last Action Hero (1993), The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996); Screenplay & Directing: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), Iron Man 3 (2013), and Nice Guys (2016).
And which is your favorite?
Reader Comments (26)
Seen 2 (Lethal Weapon, Iron Man 3), but want to see 3 others (The Long Kiss Goodnight, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and The Nice Guys) before delivering a definitive verdict. I'm pretty sure, though, that I'd put The Monster Squad as the bottom one of these eight once I see them all, however.
Since pointing out misogyny is your thing have you seen The Last Boy Scot?
I'm six out of eight with his filmography. He has an acting entry with Predator (1987).
I was so in love with Geena Davis in "The Long Kiss Goodnight" in my youth! I want a feminist remake of that!
I've seen 4.
favorite? Mel's ass in Lethal Weapon.
/3rtful - i have not seen that one, or Monster Squad but i've seen the rest.
Peggy - good call but gross what comes with it: Mel.
GGG - that movie is so insane. at least it has a cult fanbase even if it almost killed his career (and was the final nail in Geena's after CutThroat Island... two expensive flops in a row as headliner is tough to recover from. For leading ladies at least)
Had no idea LAST ACTION HERO was Shane Black. I can't decide if I'm "sorry" or "sorry, not sorry" about how much I loved it as a kid.
THE LONG KISS GODDNIGHT is my favorite action movie of all time, no joke!
I so love Long Kiss Goodnight....terribly underrated. It would be good for a re-visit. And, I was surprisingly touched by the Iron Man 3 scenes of Tony Stark wandering around the south in a deep depression.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is pure quotable joy. One of my favorites of the last decade.
I LOVED the Monster Squad as a kid. I haven't seen it in maybe ten years, but the last time was on Halloween and still enjoyed it (although it was another teen/kids movie that was a little too focused on needing a virgin for something to work).
I was really into The Long Kiss Goodnight when I was a kid. It dovetailed with my Geena Davis obsession.
Kiss Kiss BANG BANG FTW, although I'm not seeing The Nice Guys until next weekend.
All but the new one and "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang".
To the kid in "Last Action Hero": You life right now is INSIDE A MOVIE. Stop. Complaining. About. It!!!!! God, that was annoying!
All except Monster Squad and the new release; I'm with Eurocheese and Paul Outlaw. For those who are interested, Black had a very nice interview with Elvis Mitchell on KCRW.
Geez. Try to be consistent at least. Not too long ago you were arguing to ignore the personal issues/views/scandals and to judge the artist on just the art. Now your calling Mel gross and his sins are far less than those artists you were just defending. Hypocrisy is not a good look.
Anonny: Um, he's reacting to outright ogling here, so the implication is more "You want to SLEEP with Mel? Good luck."
I haven't seen the new one but I've seen all of these movies otherwise. I'll probably see Nice Guys once it hits streaming or whatever, at least for Matt Bomer, but Russell Crowe is my kryptonite.
LONG KISS GOODNIGHT is glorious
I've seen 'em all but Kiss Kiss Bang Bang which I own on bluray and keep for the "right moment". And of course, the latest, which still has to open here. My fave? Iron Man 3, which I L-O-V-E. A film with amazing balls. Lol, I own all his films but The Long Kiss Goodnight and The Nice Guys.
I've only seen 3 and a half. One I just could not make it through.
But I have seen The Long Kiss Goodnight about a dozen times.
They should have released that one in the summer as an action flick popcorn movie. Instead they released it in the fall awards season, and it got lost (and scorned). Although Geena Davis would have been one of my choices of nominees for Best Actress, and Samuel L. Jackson as Best Actor.
The Long Kiss Goodnight is not an awards vehicle. It's a well made bad movie which entertains based on how awful it actually is. It's a movie created for an audience to have a verbal interaction with it.
I watched all .Even the last with Gosling/Crowe.
Three and " The Monster Squad" is a great movie specially if you are a Universal Monster Fan
I've seen every single one, including The Nice Guys. Some multiple times(Lethal Weapon, Last Boy Scout, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang). Big fan of Shane Black, as singular an artist as any Hollywood screenwriter in the last 30 years.
Lethal Weapon
"I'm getting too old for this shit"
Long kiss good night hands down
Love it then still love it now
Wish Geena Davis didn't vanished from screen so quickly after that movie
She's truly one great Amercican actress, and very underrated too
I remember renting the monster squad all the time when I was kid. I think I preferred it to goonies. Had no idea Shane Black wrote it.