You don't need to wear a trench coat, or rock a Tyrell Corporation badge, or carry a device that allows you easy communication with your personal A.I. companion, to feel as though you've entered some surreal sci-fi film whenever you happen to visit downtown Los Angeles.
Thank the remarkably cinematic architecture — yes, we're thinking of you, Westin Bonaventure Hotel, among other glassy gems — and thank the many science fiction films that have utilized the lightly futuristic, heavily skyscraper'd section of our atmospheric megalopolis.
A trio of those genre-defining movies shall screen, for free, at one of the most atmospheric, big-screen-ready, sci-fi-tastic buildings of all: Union Station.
If you think you've seen the Alameda Street train nexus in films, well, you have, including a film called, wait for it, "Union Station."
And if you think it is the ideal place to view 1982's "Blade Runner," the first flick in the free sci-fi film series, you'd be right, given that Union Station's elegant vintage vibes nicely complement the buildings seen in the Ridley Scott-directed masterpiece.
"Blade Runner" rolls on Wednesday, April 5 in the station's Historic Ticketing Hall, for free, but you'll want to RSVP.
Still to come? "Them!" on May 12 — that screening will spread out in the North Patio — while the series returns to the Historic Ticketing Hall on Friday, June 9 for "Her." (Ants and artificial intelligence are the themes, respectively.)
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Three fantastical films, all with downtown LA cred, in one of downtown's most visual spots, a location that could easily appear in a romantic musical or a strange dystopian flick.
Such is the charm of Union Station: You can imagine a thrilling dance scene swirling through the Historic Ticketing Hall or a replicant or two, strolling through, on their way to some foggy, neon-lit downtown street.
