Summer movies are all about sci-fi, fantasy and technology these days. Here is my list of the hottest items to look for in the coming months. Title links lead to trailers:

• Iron Man 5-2-08 A guy builds a high tech exoskeleton that gives him all sorts of heightened powers and can out-fly fighter jets. What’s not to like? (poster)
• Speed Racer 5-9-08 Trailers show a marvelous post-realistic fantasy style with future/retro racers full of wacky gadgets. Looks like solid gadget freak fun to me. (poster)
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull 5-22-08 From flying wings to airship plane docks to classic cars, Indy showed us some of the coolest hardware of the 1930s. We can only expect our man to encounter some great ’50s gear in this battle with communists and mysticism. Knowing George Lucus’ penitent for hot cars, we’ll see plenty of ’50s classics. From the trailer it looks like mid-century military vehicles get plenty of screen time, too. (poster)
• WALL·E 6-27-08 A cute post-apocalyptic robot, a sleek space traveling robot, spaceships– this Pixar offering is chock full of great-looking movie mechanicals. I can’t wait. (poster)
• The Dark Knight 7-18-08 The wide-tired Batcycle alone gets this one on the list. Look for more screen time for bat gadgets now the the obligatory origin film is behind us. (poster)
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars 8-15-08 We’ll see what happened between Episodes II and III this time– in 3D animation. Look for plenty of new SW ships, weapons and droids. (no poster link yet)

Starting a little later than I had hoped with this new site, but it’s happening now and here to stay. I vow daily posts and small tweaks until everything’s right.
–Wade

Posted: March 31st, 2008 under Movies / TV.
Comments: none

I am an old HTML guy, but I’m new to WordPress, so I’ll be spending the next week tweaking things. I promise that soon you’ll see daily news and features with lots of visuals.

Above is my 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea 50th Anniversary Nautilus miniature issued by Disney Store.com in March of ‘04. It was an LE of 1000 and sold out with in one week. I was one of the lucky ones who got one that week for the original price of $250. Within a month, they were going for 3 time that. Crafted by Nautilus model maestros William Babington and Rich Allsmiller for Disney, it is generally considered the most accurate Nautilus model to date. The upper deck was based on the large-scale waterline shooting set and the lower portion was based on the 11′ hero shooting model– which Disney occasionally puts on display. For much more on the Nautilus, this model and others, check out the great fan/modeling site DisneySub.com. Consider joining (it’s free) to access the complete Nautilus plans and hands down the best fan forum of any kind on the web.

–Wade

Posted: March 1st, 2008 under Classic Machines.
Comments: 1