The Good, The Blog, and the Ugly

Some folks think it is, and it's definitely a car chase film.  I've read that Peckinpah's original cut was almost three hours long and was more of a darker film about the oppression of the working man by politicians, corrupt police, and corporations.  I'd love to see that, because Convoy, while good, feels like it could've been even better.

Up next are more trucker movies.

By the way, artwork is underway on The Hammer Killer — a 1980s-style slasher horror graphic novel I've written.

Keep it indie.

Enjoy the finale of Every-Con, in which the gang just tries to leave the show.

Keep it indie.

Condorman isn't a car chase film, despite having some spectacular car crashes involving black Porsches.  The chase scene doesn't go on long enough to work as a centerpiece to the film, which is a spy spoof.  Oliver Reed is, as always, excellent, and Barbara Carerra is, as always, stunning.

Up next is a Sam Peckinpah film.

Cobra is a car chase movie because it has a crazy, centerpiece car chase through Los Angeles involving a customized 1950 Mercury Coupe and a lot of car crashing and blowing to bits.  It's become an iconic chase of 1980s cinema.

Coast to Coast has everything you need to make a car chase movie: A young couple, played by Robert Blake and Dyan Cannon, finde love while on the run from a vicious repo man determined to take back Blake's truck and two private detectives determined to return Cannon to an insane asylum before she can wreck her husband's fortune by divorce.  Cannon's character actually is crazy, and Blake's character is a truck driver with nothing but bad luck.  The two of them have to drive across the country (New York to California), and they're being chased the entire way...and there's a $3,000.00 reward for anyone who can get Cannon's character back to the asylum.

Yet, there are no car chases.  There are a couple wicked crashes, and an impressive sequence of a semi driving into a house, but that's it.

Up next is another movie with the same name.

Keep it indie.

Christine is actually low on car chases, but the images of the 1958 Plymouth Fury chasing after high school bullies are iconic, especially of the model they set on fire and drove down the road.

Up next is a movie starring Robert Blake and Dyan Cannon.

Don't forget to come see me at Ft. Wayne, Indiana's Dead Con next weekend at the Grand Wayne Convention Center downtown.  I'll have Pickle Press comics and my disaster film guide for sale there.

Keep it indie.

Checkered Flag or Crash has a clunky title, but plenty of car crashes.  Mind you, not all of those crashes are filmed well, and a lot of the racing footage is grainy, but it is a car chase movie.  

The plot involves Joe Don Baker and Susan Sarandon riding in a modified dune buggy during a one thousand-mile cross-country race in the Philippines.  The majority of the film is racing footage shot on various dirt roads, across rivers, and through farm land.  Thankfully, the romance angle between Baker and Sarandon's characters is kept to a minimum.

Up next is a horror film.

Keep it indie.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, despite having a fun car with all sorts of gadgets, is a musical adventure film.  It's not a car chase movie, even though it has the necessary plot elements to be one.

Dick Van Dyke is, no surprise, outstanding in the film and steals every scene.  The movie is long, complete with an intermission, and must've been a chore for younger kids to sit through all the way.

Up next is a Joe Don Baker movie.

My disaster movie film guide, The Golden Age of Disaster Cinema, got a great review here.

One of my erotica pieces, "Walter's Alignment," was recently accepted for an anthology, and I'm working on a new piece called "Three Minute Wash and Wax."

Keep it indie.

Here's the first car chase film I've covered in the book that is a short film.  It's not even ten minutes long, but it influenced more films than you realize.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by my table at Hall of Heroes Con in Elkhart, Indiana last weekend.  It was my first show worked in four years.  I wasn't sure it was going to be a good one when I arrived and saw my badge (and my name in the program) were listed as such.

Nickle Pickle Press.  I'd listed my name as "Nik Havert / Pickle Press" on the application.

Apart from that, it was a good show.  I made back my table fee, but not quite enough to cover my gasoline expense.  Still, making back my table fee is the best I've done in a long time.  I quit doing shows after I worked six in a row in which I lost money (plus, I had to take time off to write The Golden Age of Disaster Cinema).  Thanks to everyone who showed up in Elkhart and bought some of my stuff.

My next show will be DeadCon in Fort Wayne, Indiana October 15 — 17th.  This is gearing up to be a fun show with a lot of activities the entire weekend ranging from a zombie walk to a rock concert.

Sunday at Hall of Heroes was slower than Saturday, so I had time to start writing a crime noir comic book script that was inspired by a dream I had a couple weeks ago.  I'm already seven pages into it and it's been fun to write.  I have no idea when it will see print.

Keep it indie.