the big knife is required viewing for being a reader of tough business by the way

“THE BIG KNIFE” (1955) dir. Robert Aldrich Jack Palance, Ida Lupino, Wendell Corey, Jean Hagen, Rod Steiger, Shelley Winters, Ilka Chase, Everett Sloane 🎬 United Artists

whenever i’m drawing shoes i feel like someone wants me to die and go to hell

the little quiet moment at the end of slayground is one of my favorite moments in the entire series

Our first interview of the year is up on Tough Business— this time featuring Eisner-winning comic writer Ed Brubaker! This one’s a companion piece to last year’s interview with @seanphillips.bsky.social, and we’re so excited about it! Read it here: toughbusiness.neocities.org/edbrubakerin...

i’ve been reading slayground with the wife and i had a thought that may or may not make it into our eventual review so i wanted to share it here.

happy 93rd birthday to John Boorman

We just posted some highlights from the Point Blank press book on Tough Business… featuring Lee Marvin as a romantic lead? Take a look at some interesting promotional materials and marketing tactics used back in the day here: toughbusiness.neocities.org/pointblankpr...

the year of sugar cubes made him think of horses

criterion point blank release in april? welcome to the year of parker everyone

i’m always saying that

The Point Blank press book & I seem to have very different ideas of what the movie is about.

this factually wrong info from the allison & busby edition is killing me

friday afternoon reading material

Looks like Back Issue #164 is now out! My comps just got here and I couldn't be more delighted to be a part of this nifty little space-themed extravaganza, interviewing DC super stars like Paul Levitz and David Michelinie. Go pick it up wherever comics are sold!

rereading my wife’s parker gay subtext essay and being blown away even though i’ve read it a dozen times before and it’s published in our zine and all over the internet because i love her and she’s the best writer ever

it’s the most exciting thing in the world that people are engaging with tough business. we feel like proud mothers

All Richard Stark/Donald Westlake fans should be checking out this site, BTW, as I've idly mentioned before. Following the good folks behind it also is a fine idea, as I've just done. (The other being @alissadmc.bsky.social )

i found a more detailed one. play dirty goes up there by default because i genuinely watched like two new movies this year but it’s also obviously the best so i’m not upset

Happy 2026! It’s been about a year since we started Tough Business, so we made a little retrospective post about our accomplishments on the site and our favorite things we’ve done this year. Thank you to everyone who’s supported us! Check it out here: toughbusiness.neocities.org/happynewyear

happy letterboxd wrapped to all who celebrate

happily informing you our last film of 2025 was also jean gabin gay cinema

Alain Delon and Jean Gabin on the set of "The Sicilian Clan", 1969. #AlainDelon #Delon #JeanGabin #film

Happy holidays from Tough Business! We’re celebrating with our new favorite Christmas movie, Play Dirty 😊🎁 You can read our interview with director Shane Black here: toughbusiness.neocities.org/shaneblackin...

New on Tough Business: a collection of critical analysis of the homoerotic subtext in John Boorman’s Point Blank, compiled by @alissadmc.bsky.social, including a chapter from the BFI Film Classics book on the film. Check it out here: toughbusiness.neocities.org/pointblanksu...

my lady and i finished reading the big grab, the novel any number can win is based on, and has anyone else in the world read this. it was incredible

My partner @alissadmc.bsky.social and I interviewed crime fiction author and comic writer Max Allan Collins for our site! We discussed his friendship with Mr. Westlake, his influence, and even the Westlakes’ murder mystery parties. Link here: toughbusiness.neocities.org/maxallancoll...

enjoyed jean-paul belmondo’s striptease in up to his ears today

here’s my top ten movies i watched for the first time this year list unless something changes drastically in the next 2 weeks. discovered some great things this year and had fun watching things with my lady. yippee!

my late contribution to the tarantino discussion is that he needed an editor for the outfit chapter of cinema speculation because he appears to think handy’s name is cody in the books and not just the movie

in reference to no particular article i just read a few minutes ago leaving out any mention of mr stark in a discussion of leftist crime fiction remains truly insane to me

“THE BIG HEAT” (1953) dir. Fritz Lang Lee Marvin, Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame 🎬 Universal Pictures 🎞 #FilmNoir

only partially aware of jean gabin gay cinema before tonight and now our lives have been changed

GOLGO 13 commission! The perfect machine of snipe! patreon.com/posts/golgo-13-144811727

We just posted a piece on Butcher’s Moon by Guillermo Piro, translated by my partner @alissadmc.bsky.social. Piro offers a rare exploration of the compelling dynamic at the heart of the final novel in the original Parker series. Read it here: toughbusiness.neocities.org/guillermopiro

Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner “THE KILLERS” (1946) dir. Robert Siodmak 🎬 Universal Pictures 🎞 #Noirvember

it’s my birthday :) enjoying milk and cookies for breakfast

Extremely badass illustration technique

Directing everyone to our translation (by @alissadmc.bsky.social) of a foreword by writer Laura Grimaldi that analyzes Parker from a historical point of view and acknowledges Grofield as a complementary character to Parker. Read it here: toughbusiness.neocities.org/itaforeword

and of course, there's in & out (1997) which is quintessential grofieldian cinema down to the setting of fictional small town of greenleaf, indiana.

since i’ve done a couple “this guy could play parker” threads i figure it’s grofield’s turn, so here’s a quote from author brian garfield about how he and mr. westlake thought kevin kline would be a wonderful grofield

Here's my complete collection of the original Parker series. With a couple first editions in there!

And here's a bit of Westlake (complete Tobins!) and a few adjacent books - comics, translations, different editions etc.

what a completely stunning, heartfelt & evocative piece. if you know you know 🤫

two dark-toned zippered jackets

the way he made two of the greatest crime films in history and also a melancholic little gay film about jean paul belmondo as jean gabin's manic pixie dream girl. who said that

now i just come on here to post about 60-70s movies and leave jk

watched the sicilian clan earlier, made us excited to dig into the rest of henri verneuil’s filmography. any number can win is one of my absolute favorite crime films ever made and i also really enjoyed a monkey in winter so he’s 3/3 so far