Category Archives: HARDBOILED CRIME

Amazing crime films from around the world

Posted on February 11, 2026 by I.M. Baytor

I may not need to tell you that eminently quotable gangster flicks like The Godfather and Pulp Fiction are rightly acclaimed as peaks in crime cinema (hell, peaks in film history), as are Goodfellas and, in fact, most Scorsese pictures … Continue reading →

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More global film noirs

Posted on August 28, 2025 by I.M. Baytor

Once again, I’m complementing the latest lists of film noir gems with a handful of foreign-language recommendations that are just as good as – or, in some cases, much better than – their counterparts from the USA and the UK. … Continue reading →

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More cool film noir thrillers – part 2

Posted on July 16, 2025 by I.M. Baytor

If you thought things got dark in part 1, you haven’t seen anything yet… Jinx This week, I’m spotlighting 10 noirs that probably aren’t on anyone’s list of favorites, but which nevertheless kick ass. If anything, I reckon the fact … Continue reading →

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More cool film noir thrillers – part 1

Posted on June 27, 2025 by I.M. Baytor

The times are dark, so I suppose it makes sense to go back to my favorite type of cinema: film noir. Cinema Purgatorio #18 Aesthetically and ideologically, those stark, moody postwar thrillers about chain-smoking anti-heroes, doomed lovers, dirty cops, femmes … Continue reading →

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A handful of good old-fashioned thrillers

Posted on April 10, 2025 by I.M. Baytor

Last time I did one of these lists of crime movie recommendations, I focused on offbeat thrillers, as I felt the current crop on offer felt too formulaic (at the time, I still hadn’t watched – and loved – Anora, … Continue reading →

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A handful of offbeat thrillers

Posted on January 30, 2025 by I.M. Baytor

I haven’t written about films in 2025, although I’m putting together a couple of ambitious lists that should come out later in the year… In the meantime, if, like me, you feel the current offer of crime movies, no matter … Continue reading →

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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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