Classic special effects coming to Vancouver!

If you're like me, and you like to catch classic films -- especially classic sci-fi and fantasy films -- on the big screen, then you might want to check out this series on innovative special-effects movies that is playing at the VanCity Theatre over the next few days:

1. Thu Jan 31, 7:00pm -- King Kong (1933)
2. Thu Jan 31, 9:30pm -- Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
3. Fri Feb 1, 7:00pm -- Blade Runner: The Final Cut (1982)
4. Fri Feb 1, 9:15pm -- Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
5. Sat Feb 2, 7:00pm -- Tron (1982)
6. Sat Feb 2, 9:15pm -- The Matrix (1999)
7. Sun Feb 3, 7:00pm -- Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
8. Sun Feb 3, 9:30pm -- Jurassic Park (1993)
9. Mon Feb 4, 7:00pm -- 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Of these nine films, there are seven that I own on DVD or Blu-Ray, and I have already seen all seven of them on the big screen -- though it depends on whether you count Blade Runner, the only version of which that I have seen in a theatre is the "director's cut" that came out in 1992. At any rate, while I would love to see any of these films in a theatre again, I could survive if I missed them.

That just leaves Close Encounters, which I saw on TV a couple decades ago and really should see again some day, and Jason and the Argonauts, which I may or may not have seen on VHS some years ago; I honestly can't remember. So I'll try to catch that one tonight, at least, especially since it is being introduced by Ken Priebe, who literally wrote the book on The Art of Stop-Motion Animation and sometimes writes for HollywoodJesus.com.