Jake Gittes Saves the Cat

Films noir, crime novels and detective stories all have a long history of unlikable characters that we cheer for. Bad guys doing good work. Flawed heroes who always know the right line to say and the right time to offer a lady a light. Agatha Christie this ain't, and this week we're getting our hands dirty by talking with Killing Them Softly director Andrew Dominik about violence and "Seduction of the Innocent" author Max Allan Collins about the history of the genre.

He'll offer the best films noir for new fans to start with, and then Geoff and I will discuss how to write unlikable characters with Chinatown in our sites.

For more from us on a daily basis, follow the show (@brokenprojector), Geoff (@drgmlatulippe) and Scott (@scottmbeggs) on the Twitter. And, as always, we welcome your feedback.