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...

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!

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

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

completely agree for obvious reasons. fantastic actor who could’ve easily and effortlessly captured not only grofield’s passionate intensity but the way he gets anxious on a job and how he’s generally kind of a weird person

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!

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

two dark-toned zippered jackets

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

thinking about lee marvin’s 1969 playboy interview in which he talks about how he’s played gay in ways only a person with seasoned knowledge of homosexuality could comprehend, his sympathy for the gay rights movement, and says— in theory— he could’ve been arrested for cruising

color study of lee marvin and sissy spacek in prime cut

lets all watch homoerotic french cinema and also parker #lastfourwatched

Good site! Enjoyed this interview with Shane Black about PLAY DIRTY. For folks who're unhappy about Parker's backstory, I keep wanting to say, "why do you assume Parker's telling the truth?" He's all about the job and whatever will get the job done. He tells the story to gain trust

Always a pleasure writing with my love, but more so when we get to dive into Play Dirty and its wonderfully layered approach to the Parker mythos!

We just posted an article covering all of the Parker series references in Play Dirty, complete with their referenced passages from the novels! Co-written by my partner @alissadmc.bsky.social and available here for your viewing pleasure: toughbusiness.neocities.org/playdirtyrefs

everyone love parker and grofield

its really one of those "sounds real similar" and "it would be funny" things, but i enjoy the idea of parker being wasian

my lady and i watched jacques deray’s borsalino today. holy mother of god gay cinema… despite our best efforts we couldn’t find anyone talking about the homoeroticism in any real capacity which is baffling to be honest. other than that we found it to be wildly entertaining. five stars

We just posted a collection of New York Times reviews of Richard Stark’s Parker on our site, with an intro by @alissadmc.bsky.social! You might recognize some of them from blurbs on the covers of various Parker editions. Check it out here: toughbusiness.neocities.org/nytreviews

a terrific interview with Shane Black about Play Dirty from preeminent Richard Stark/Donald Westlake/Parker scholars @alissadmc.bsky.social & @lilyslabo.bsky.social

Special thanks to @priscillapage.bsky.social - we truly appreciate all your help!

We have another exciting and exclusive interview up on Tough Business— this time with acclaimed director Shane Black! @alissadmc.bsky.social and I sat down to chat with him about Play Dirty and his thoughts on Westlake’s work. Check it out here: toughbusiness.neocities.org/shaneblackin...

We just posted our review of Shane Black’s Play Dirty on our site! Co-written by @alissadmc.bsky.social, we discuss what worked for us as Parker fans and make a few comparisons to the novels. Check it out here: toughbusiness.neocities.org/playdirtyrev...

we'll get around to writing a play dirty review eventually but in the meantime im still thinking about lakeith's amazingly girlish grofield scream before getting hit by a truck. that's not really a spoiler he's ok

Lots of exciting things coming up soon over on Tough Business but my god, Play Dirty was a dream come true!

play dirty was all we dreamed of and more by the way. our beautiful grofield…

by the way, you can see an array of wonderful international parker covers on our website here: toughbusiness.neocities.org/reviews

the artist for the italian il giallo mondadori covers, carlo jacono, also adheres to the blonde grofield belief system like i do, despite him technically canonically having dark hair and green eyes

sometimes it appears that parker is on a grofield cover and vice versa. that’s fine!

showing some appreciation for various international parker covers by picking out some with depictions i feel look the most like him. titles in alt

Always a pleasure to work with my favorite artist in the world/ideal partner @lilyslabo.bsky.social - I'm permanently amazed by the quality of your work, the pulpy tone and the subtext brought out into the open and the delicious layered approach to our little story. Couldn't be prouder!

got our zines in the mail today, written by my love @alissadmc.bsky.social and you can read it here! archive.org/details/fort...

as one half of tough business and as someone who generally really likes lee marvin, this is the kind of performance we should’ve had happening in point blank but unfortunately he was nearly unconscious the entire time

we just watched prime cut (1972) for the first time and why was this the all-time greatest lee marvin performance.. and film

this bit from the handle makes me smile wonderfully every time

extremely solid last four

Seeing a lot of great stuff coming from the advance screenings of Play Dirty! Here's a reminder we've got the scoop on the latest Parker & Grofield adaptation right here on our site, and it sounds like they're doing it surprisingly Stark style!

It's been the greatest joy & pleasure of my life to work with my partner everywhere @lilyslabo.bsky.social on this pulpy little zine!

(4/4) afterword also written by @alissadmc.bsky.social thank you for reading!!!

(3/4)

(2/4)

(1/4) proud to present our new parker comic, forty kinds of trouble! this was such a delight to draw and I'm sooooo lucky to get to work with the best writer in the world, my beloved @alissadmc.bsky.social :) please enjoy this pulp-inspired take on what happens after the end of the handle!

Our new Parker & Grofield zine is now out! With delicious art by the master storyteller @lilyslabo.bsky.social we expand on the rich subtext of Richard Stark's The Handle through the lens of '50s-60s romance pulps. archive.org/details/fort...

Endorsed by the other half of Tough Business! My god!

in many of his crime films he exemplifies the “workman at work” attitude westlake applied to parker, and he sure wasn’t faking it, either.

even the shape of his silhouette looks how parker ought to, not to mention the way he plays certain roles with the same bluntness and attention to detail when it comes to his work that parker exhibits