DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

ArtWorks Downtown, in San Rafael, hosts an exhibition of movie models from Industrial Light and Magic this month. The show is called Magic Models; it runs through the end of October. On October 22, the venue will host a discussion with model builders from ILM.

Pieces from about a dozen movies are displayed. I expected a “greatest hits” show, which given ILM’s filmography would fill a city block. So I was disappointed at both the scope and scale of this show, which fits comfortably in a single exhibition room of about 400 square feet.

I liked the Mission: Impossible piece best, perhaps because it was the one movie from which models were taken that I’d seen. Also it was an impressive sequence: fly a helicopter into a tunnel behind a bullet train, have actors leap between train and helicopter, then (natch) blow it all up. The helicopter was built to 1/8 scale and bolted to a sort of railway car which could move at 50 mph, the speed necessary to simulate a 200 mph stunt.