On this week's Born to Watch, the boys dive headfirst into one of the great underappreciated modern buddy cop films with their "The Nice Guys" (2016) Review. Every so often, a newer movie sneaks into the sacred eighties and nineties space, demanding a full BTW breakdown, and this Shane Black masterpiece absolutely earns its spot.
With Russell Crowe as the grizzled enforcer Jackson Healy and Ryan Gosling delivering one of the funniest performances of his career as hopeless private eye Holland March, this film feels like it could have been made in 1987 and left on a dusty VHS shelf for us to rediscover.

Set in a grimy, neon-soaked 1977 Los Angeles, The Nice Guys blends noir, slapstick, mystery, porn conspiracies, corruption, and one of the great chemistry pairings of the last decade. As Whitey says, this flick is a chuckle fest. Not belly laughs all the way through, but constant, rolling moments of Gosling brilliance. From falling off balconies while holding a drink, to screaming in a toilet cubicle mid-assassination attempt, to the endless stream of quotable lines, Gosling proves he might be one of the most underrated comedic actors working today.

The episode kicks off with the BTW boys returning to their familiar chaos, discussing missed recording sessions, RSI from too much… research, yacht rock, power ballads, and the Black Sorrows ruining Gow's weekend. Once the dust settles, the team dives deep into first watches, overs and unders, cinema memories, and how this movie became a cult favourite despite its disappointing box-office returns. Whitey even reveals he attended one of those old radio promo premieres and laughed himself stupid the entire time.

Gow delivers a huge research effort, running through the Shane Black universe, returning stars Kim Basinger and Russell Crowe (who he argues could literally be Bud White 20 years later), and a brilliant breakdown of Gosling's Mickey Mouse Club origins, career breakout roles, and upcoming work in the new Star Wars project, Star Fighter. The boys also praise the incredible Angourie Rice, who holds her own with two Hollywood heavyweights and often steals the film.

They unpack the bad reviews (including one from a critic who somehow thinks Crowe and Gosling have no chemistry), explode with joy over the bowling alley toilet scene, analyse the poor neighbour shot by Blueface, and debate how on earth police didn’t arrive after John Boy unleashed the loudest gunfight in seventies LA history.

There is the usual dose of Snorbs Report chaos, including an award-winning muff dive scene from "Below Her Mouth", some questionable memories from Morgz in London, references to Buck Rogers, pool tugging, and a Rick's Leash callback that nearly kills the room again. The Spotify Wrapped thanks, the voicemail from the foreign correspondent, and the pure BTW banter make this episode an all-timer.

If you love this movie, you’ll love this episode. If you’ve never seen The Nice Guys, this will send you straight to your couch to fix that mistake.

Seen The Nice Guys?
Think Gosling should only do comedy from now on?
Slide into our socials and tell us your favourite quote. And if you haven't watched it yet, pause this episode, fix that, and then come back for the full Born to Watch treatment.

#TheNiceGuys #BornToWatch #RyanGosling #RussellCrowe #ShaneBlack #MoviePodcast #BuddyCopMovies #FilmReview #CultClassics #AussiePodcasts

Strap in and charge up the Mr Fusion, because this week on Born To Watch, the boys head back, forward and sideways through time with our full Back to the Future 2 (1989) Review. Whitey, G Man and Will settle into the DeLorean for one of the most ambitious sequels of the 1980s, breaking down timelines, hoverboards, self-lacing Nikes and all the glorious 80s optimism jammed into Robert Zemeckis' wild ride.

The episode kicks off with the crew riffing on 1989 as a powerhouse movie year, then quickly dives into how Back to the Future Part 2 faced enormous expectations. With a to be continued tease at the end of the original, fans were primed, and the pressure was real. As the boys say, sequels rarely outshine their predecessors, but every now and then you get an Empire Strikes Back or a T2. So where does this one land?

Whitey shares how the film was a childhood favourite, the one he rewatched the most, and how time has shifted his appreciation back to the original. Gow reveals he saw it at the cinema on release and has clocked well over 15 viewings since, instantly transported by Alan Silvestri’s iconic score. Will talks about how the franchise has simply always been there, one of those movies that defined growing up.

From there, the episode fires through the good, the bad and the very strange. There's deep love for the hoverboard, the power-lace Nikes, and that brilliant rooftop confrontation where Marty lures Biff over the edge before swooping up in the DeLorean. The crew gives full credit to the groundbreaking split-screen effects, the energy of Michael J. Fox juggling multiple characters, and the perfect dual performance from Fox and Christopher Lloyd, who are operating at peak one-two punch level.

They also dig into the weird bits the film never fully explains. Could Old Biff actually operate the DeLorean? Why does he get sick travelling through time when no one else ever has? Why do Jennifer and Jennifer faint from seeing each other, but Biff does not? How does Marty not realise Hill Valley 1985 has turned into a dystopian biker slum the moment he steps out of the car?

From Jaws 19 to the brilliant Jaws VHS window cameo, from Indiana Jones nods to manure trucks, the boys unpack every Easter egg this film throws at you. And of course, there’s a big chat about whether Biff Tannen’s alternate 1985 persona is really just 80s Donald Trump in a green tracksuit. (Spoiler, yes.)

The episode also dives into box office numbers, casting trivia, Elizabeth Shue stepping in as Jennifer, and some cracking tangents, including Huey Lewis, yacht rock, Stranger Things, The Little Mermaid, and even John Farnham fronting LRB.

By the time the boys reach question time, they've covered everything from the butterfly effect through to whether a single rich bloke can really break the fabric of time. It's pure Born To Watch chaos, big laughs and deep nostalgia for one of the great sequels of our generation.

If you love time travel, manure trucks and three blokes talking absolute cinematic nonsense, make sure you follow Born To Watch on Spotify and Apple. Drop us a five-star review, send us a voicemail at borntowatch.com.au and buckle up for the next kickass credit song from the House Band. Great Scott, get on board!

#BornToWatch #BackToTheFuture2 #MovieReview #PodcastAustralia #80sMovies #MichaelJFox #ChristopherLloyd #FilmPodcast #RetroMovies #DeLorean

In this week's episode of Born to Watch, the boys dive headfirst into a movie that feels a little too real after the last few years. Our Outbreak 1995 Movie Review isn't just a look back at a blockbuster about a killer virus; it's a full breakdown of a film that somehow became more relevant decades after its release. For Whitey, Gow and Damo, revisiting Wolfgang Petersen's tense, fast-paced viral thriller has stirred up memories of VHS nights, cinema crowds, and that one mate coughing a bit too loudly during COVID. But Outbreak isn't just a virus film. As the boys quickly discover, it's an action romance conspiracy hybrid, depending entirely on which one of them you ask.

From the moment Dustin Hoffman strides in as Sam Daniels, the stubborn, brilliant, pigheaded virologist who refuses to let common sense get in the way of his moral compass, the team is hooked. Damo is convinced it's a love story, Gow reckons it's a straight-up action blockbuster, and Whitey is adamant it's a conspiracy movie wrapped in a hazmat suit. One thing they all agree on, though, is that Outbreak pumps along at an absolute clip. Even with the science occasionally held together by duct tape, there's never a dull moment.

The boys relive everything from the opening scene in Zaire to the helicopter chase that absolutely no one asked for but everyone secretly loved. The idiocy of certain characters becomes a major talking point. Jimbo, Jim Bob, Hibbo, whoever he is, returns from Africa with a virus, bleeds from multiple orifices, and still wanders around town like he's only got hay fever. His girlfriend passionately kisses him while he looks like he's one hour from the morgue. Then there's the world's worst lab tech, sticking his hand inside a spinning blood machine like he's checking the oil in a 1992 Corolla.

Hoffman's performance gets a full deep dive. Gow breaks down his entire career from The Graduate to Rain Man to Wag the Dog. Whitey points out how small Dustin Hoffman really is, particularly when stacked up next to Renee Russo, and how this might be the least believable on-screen couple we've covered since Sharon Stone and anyone. The crew also discuss the real MVP of the movie, the man with the greatest eyebrows in cinema history, Donald Sutherland, delivering pure villainy with the energy of a man who genuinely enjoys ordering towns to be firebombed.

Morgan Freeman, as always, earns unanimous praise for bringing gravitas with every line, even when delivering military exposition about viral containment strategies. JT Walsh gets special mention for turning up for one single scene and blowing everyone off the screen with a thundering, no-nonsense speech that still hits hard.

From 90s nostalgia to scientific nitpicking, from snorbs reporting chaos to the classic Born to Watch overs-and-unders debate, this episode has everything. The boys even pick their own 1995 sleepers and duds, featuring Clueless, Just Cause, and Get Shorty. And yes, Damo manages to squeeze in a reference to Big Tit Monastery. Of course he does.

If you loved Outbreak back in the day, or if watching it post-pandemic makes you question every life decision you’ve ever made, this is an episode you cannot miss. Dive in for big laughs, big nostalgia, big stupidity, and some of the most questionable hazmat protocols ever put to film.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

• Does Outbreak hit different post-COVID?
• Should a monkey really be the hero of the third act?
• Was that helicopter chase the most unnecessary scene in '90s cinema?

Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or BornToWatch.com.au

#Outbreak1995 #BornToWatch #MoviePodcast #90sMovies #FilmReview #DustinHoffman #MorganFreeman #ViralThrillers #WolfgangPetersen #PopCulture