Category Archives: HARDBOILED CRIME

No-frills crime films

Posted on November 21, 2024 by I.M. Baytor

At the risk of making Gotham Calling look like a Letterboxd account, this week I’m turning back to movies, spotlighting half-a-dozen stripped down crime thrillers that, in the grand tradition of classics like The French Connection, make the most out … Continue reading →

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Catching up with crime movies

Posted on March 28, 2024 by I.M. Baytor

I had a blast putting together Gotham Calling’s list of top Cold War movies, as I got to dig into cinema history and unearth a slew of gems from the mid-to-late 20th century that approached geopolitics through diverse (and sometimes … Continue reading →

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Catching up with crime comics – Ed Brubaker edition, part 2

Posted on November 16, 2023 by I.M. Baytor

As much as Ed Brubaker’s work can be hit-and-miss for me, he remains one of those writers – like Garth Ennis or Warren Ellis – whose comics I always end up checking out, sooner or later. For one thing, their … Continue reading →

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Catching up with crime comics – Ed Brubaker edition

Posted on November 2, 2023 by I.M. Baytor

Last time I did one of these ‘Catching up with crime comics’ posts was a year ago, back in November 2022, looking specifically at Texas-set yarns (in the meantime, I’ve finally read Ethan Hawke’s and Greg Ruth’s Meadowlark, a superb-looking … Continue reading →

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Catching up with crime comics – Texas edition

Posted on November 3, 2022 by I.M. Baytor

As I’ve been catching up with crime comics from the past year or so, one thing that struck me is the fact that Texas is currently one of the main recurring settings in the genre.         This may be … Continue reading →

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If you like The Big Lebowski…

Posted on October 12, 2022 by I.M. Baytor

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these! After the critically acclaimed maturity and sensitivity of Fargo, Joel and Ethan Coen pulled yet another switch by delivering a stoner crime comedy packed with profanity (it was as if … Continue reading →

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If you like Fargo…

Posted on June 16, 2022 by I.M. Baytor

The film. Not the show. It’s easy to see why Fargo (1996) became the Coen brothers’ most acclaimed picture. The devastating story of a frustrated car salesman (an unnervingly anxious William H. Macy) who hires a couple of thugs to … Continue reading →

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Catching up with crime comics – part 2

Posted on April 20, 2022 by I.M. Baytor

Welcome to another round of quick impressions about recent crime comics! If your definition of crime fiction accommodates horror-like gore and sadism, then these are exciting times, as serial killers remain a very popular trope (although by now everyone uses … Continue reading →

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Catching up with crime comics – part 1

Posted on April 7, 2022 by I.M. Baytor

In the past decade, the small screen has excelled in engrossingly dramatizing capitalism, from the inner workings of corporations in Mad Men, Succession, and Halt and Catch Fire to the parallels – and connections – to organized crime in Better … Continue reading →

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If you like Miller’s Crossing…

Posted on March 17, 2022 by I.M. Baytor

I still haven’t seen The Batman, but here is a great crime movie that I can wholeheartedly recommend: For fans of film noir, like me, few experiences can be more delightful than watching – and endlessly rewatching – Miller’s Crossing … Continue reading →

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