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Arts & Entertainment

Three Iconic Sci-Fi Movies To Screen At Union Station

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The last of America's great train stations will play host to a trio of celebrated science fiction movies this spring when Metro Art presents their latest screening series at Union Station.

The three-part "Sci-Fi At Union Station" series will highlight the role of Los Angeles as a backdrop for many pivotal works within the genre with a carefully curated selection of films shot (at least partially) in the city.

Southern California's cultural climate and landscape has long been an incubator for science fiction, with perhaps no example more potent (or better known) than the dystopian visions of Blade Runner. The iconic 1982 film, which features scenes shot in the station’s Historic Ticketing Hall, will kick off the screening series on Wednesday, April 5 at 7:30 p.m. Former L.A. Times entertainment reporter Susan King, who specializes in “Classic Hollywood.”, will introduce the film.

Them!, a black-and-white science fiction cult classic from 1954, will screen on Friday, May 12 in the station’s North Patio. The nuclear monster/giant insect genre flick follows the accidental creation of man-eating ants that threaten mankind, and features a climactic battle scene set in Los Angeles.

The screening series will close out on Friday, June 9 with a screening of Spike Jonze's Her in the station's Historic Ticketing Hall. Her is set in a fantasy future Los Angeles, and features scenes shot in a reimagined (please, somebody make it real!) L.A. Metro system of the filmmaker's imagination.

Related: Los Angeles' Physical Landscape And The City's Science Fiction Legacy
Spike Jonze's Dystopic Vision of Los Angeles in 'Her'

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