#BoyfriendMaterial: The Ryan Gosling Podcast

After two long years, #BoyfriendMaterial is finally back to celebrate Ryan Gosling’s starring role in Project Hail Mary! After catching up on two years’ worth of emails (write us at boyfriendmaterial@cageclub.me, and we’ll read it in 2027), we talk about the star-studded talent in front of and behind the camera. We then look ahead to next year’s two (!!) new Gosling movies, as well as other Gos on...

The Fall Guy is in theaters now, so we took a #BoyfriendMaterial field trip to watch it and record this spoiler-filled episode! After welcoming in new listeners in the mailbag — and Gosling’s new era of acting — we catch up on his busy past few months: hosting SNL, presenting and performing at the Oscars, and much more. We admire the stunt work and appreciating the meta levels on display in The Fa...

At long last, #BoyfriendMaterial is back to talk about Greta Gerwig's Barbie, and we hope this episode is Kenough for you. As Ryan Gosling returns to a supporting role, so, too, do we return to do more promo for our ongoing show, 2 Fast 2 Forever.  We talk about the bonus content that Barbie is getting for its IMAX release, cover "Canadian Gos on the Los" to look at Gosling's upcoming films, and d...

Hey girl, you feel that? That's an all-new episode of #BoyfriendMaterial about The Gray Man, which marks Ryan Gosling's triumphant return to acting! We're back with a new episode after nearly three years away from the podcast and four years without a new Ryan Gosling movie. After we take a look at his (stacked!) list of upcoming movies, we dive into The Gray Man, now available on Netflix. We talk...

After last week's clunker in Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy, we needed something strong to close out the regular run of #BoyfriendMaterial, and we found exactly what we needed in Frankenstein and Me. Before we officially announce the Gossies, count down our favorite Ryan Gosling movies, and burn through a clip show episode, we're headed all the way back to 1996, where a fresh-faced Ryan Gosling was...

Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy isn't Ryan Gosling's worst movie, but it's certainly one of his most uneventful. When we tore through Zac Efron's early work on #ZacAttack, we reveled in finding madness in his early movies. While we've found some of those gems in Gosling's early movies, this one grinded us to a nearly screeching halt. The most surprising thing about Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy is t...

Before Ryan Gosling was Neil Armstrong, before he was Seb, before he was the Driver, he was Young Hercules. For fifty. Episodes. Of. Television. Made more than 20 years ago and in no way designed to be binged, Young Hercules perpetuates the same story, over and over again, for roughly 17 hours of runtime. Joey saved Joe Two the gauntlet of this watch, hand-picking the series' six best and wildest...

We are the Titans! Mighty, mighty Titans! Two episodes after talking about Ryan Gosling as QB in The Slaughter Rule, it's time for him to flip to the other side of the ball and line up on defense in Remember the Titans. In this episode, we talk about Gosling getting burnt over and over again in coverage, what position he's best suited for, and what this movie could look like if he played the role...

Considering how incredible Ryan Gosling is in the Believer, it's not too hard to realize why talking about a Neo-Nazi in 2019 isn't a fun topic. We give it the old college try anyway as we admire Gosling's ability to speak Hebrew and his absolute dedication to the portrayal of this conflicted man. Also, Joey pitches a comedy sketch idea inspired by this movie, just to make sure this episode's tone...

Ryan Gosling diehards know he'd star in a football movie in Remember the Titans (coming up in two episodes), but did you know he stepped up to QB in The Slaughter Rule? In this episode, we learn that one of the Joes really connected with the movie, while the other didn't. They debate whether the well-acted movie is too shallow in other regards, whether we've seen this type of story before, and whe...

It’s right there in the title, but it’s still a bit of a surprise that Murder by Numbers is our second “Ryan Gosling as a murderer” movie in a row. It’s clear now that by the time he’d go on to portray Robert Durst, Ryan Gosling had quite the history of cinematic murders under his belt. In this episode, we talk about the film’s astronomical budget (despite its made-for-TV look) and its legendary c...

Several episodes ago (or several years from now, in a normal, non-podcast timeline), Ryan Gosling played a murderer in (essentially) Robert Durst. The United States of Leland shows where murdering Gosling got his start. (Or does it? Is there more murder in Gosling's career? We'll find out together!) In this episode, we discuss the tender side of Gosling as a misunderstood murderer, the sadness of...

The Notebook has been the White Whale of #BoyfriendMaterial. From the very beginning of the podcast, Joey has been looking forward to finally watching what may be *the* Ryan Gosling movie, while Joe Two counted down the days until they got to talk about it. The time has finally come, after the Joes watched it together and recorded live in-person. Did Joey like it? Did he cry? Was the movie worth t...

We've had a good run on #BoyfriendMaterial so far, but we were bound to hit a clunker sooner or later, which we did with Stay. While it's not a completely terrible movie -- and Joey doesn't regret calling it the worst movie he saw all year -- its smug confidence in how cool it is makes this the worst Ryan Gosling movie to date. In this episode, we talk about the incredibly stacked cast, wonder whe...

Not only is Half Nelson one of Ryan Gosling's best performances (netting him his first Oscar nom), it's also the feature film debut of the directorial team behind Captain Marvel! While we still have some big movies left to come (here's looking at you, The Notebook), Half Nelson sort of represents a pivot point between the more obscure half of Gosling's career and his vault into superstardom. We di...

Fracture is the most brain mush movie we’ve had so far in #BoyfriendMaterial, which means Joey hates it and Joe Two loves it. This movie is basically two hours of people saying, "Hey! How dumb does Ryan Gosling look? Pretty dumb, right?" In this episode, we talk about the movie’s connections to The Devil’s Advocate, Ryan Gosling’s sudden obsession with this case, the movie’s wild leaps through tim...

Lars and the Real Girl falls in the heart of a real great run of #BoyfriendMaterial movies, and it's exactly what the doctor ordered after Blue Valentine. Not fully a comedy, not fully a drama, this movie straddles the line between laughter and tears and romance in a way that only a weirdo Ryan Gosling movie can. In this episode, we talk about how this town is the kindest town in history, whether...

Who’s ready to be emotionally devastated? Blue Valentine is one of Ryan Gosling’s best movies, one of his most beautiful, and one of his most depressing. It’s the first of two team-ups for Gosling and Derek Cianfrance (before The Gos Beyond the Pines), and boy does Cianfrance have a vision for Gosling as a dirtbag! In this episode, we recount the times we cried, talk about the most and least #Boyf...

Before Andrew Jarecki made The Jinx, before we all felt in love with Burpin’ Bobby Durst, we saw Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst in All Good Things. Without the aid of resident historian Mike Manzi, we find ourselves thrown all the way back to the 1970s and 1980s, trying to make sense of Robert Durst’s (or, ahem, David Marks’s) murky history. In this episode, we ask, “Hey Gos, what’s in your hands?...

After a quick detour to modern day in First Gos, #BoyfriendMaterial is back on schedule and ready to stomp some heads into a pulp as we talk about Drive. In this episode, we compare and contrast the two NWR/Gosling team-ups, wonder whether the movie would be nearly as cool without its iconic music (spoiler: it isn’t), and discover the alternate ending that never happened. We also blow the dust off...

Just like we did for the newest episode of #MagicMics, we're taking a detour to modern day (or is it the 1960s?) to talk about Ryan Gosling's newest movie: First Man. In this episode, we blast off into the outer space of podcasting to talk about Gosling's portrayal of Neil Armstrong, his re-teaming with Damien Chazelle, and what movies may be on the horizon for #BoyfriendMaterial. We also discuss...

Crazy Stupid Love may not be the best movie we've watched for #BoyfriendMaterial so far... but, wow: Ryan Gosling is incredible in it. To talk about the third (or is it first?) team-up between Gosling and Emma Stone, we welcome in Aislinn Addington of The Contenders. There are complicated (and some may say antiquated) gender politics at work here, so how do they hold up under a critical lens? Does...

The Ides of March may be the most political that #BoyfriendMaterial ever gets, as Ryan Gosling plays the junior campaign manager on the quest to get Governor George Clooney (!!!) (note: not his character's name) re-elected. Adapted from a play written by the guy who created House of Cards, The Ides of March similarly depicts the backroom wheelings and dealings and the mentality of doing whatever i...

Ryan Gosling may only be in a third of The Place Beyond the Pines but, boy, does he ever know how to make a lasting impression! The Place Beyond the Pines is filled with so many moments that could qualify for either most or least boyfriend material that it's hard to know where to begin. The film's first 51 minutes are so jam-packed with #BoyfriendMaterial goodness that any Gosling fan should make...

At times, Gangster Squad is nothing more than a pastiche of cliches, yet there's something about it (hint: Ryan Gosling and also Emma Stone) that elevates it from generic and unforgettable into something that's more than a little fun... as long as you're willing to take the ride. Featuring a star-studded cast, Gangster Squad might not be a great movie... but it's a great #BoyfriendMaterial movie....