Science fiction on film can be divided into two eras, BSW and ASW, riven by the pivotal day May 25, 1977 — otherwise known to the initiates as “The Day Star Wars Opened.” George Lucas' potent combination of 1940s serials anxiety, Japanese samurai adventure films, Joseph Campbell mumbo jumbo and the aesthetics of Leni Riefenstahl changed sci-fi movies forever, and it's now hard to imagine how things were in the immediate BSW era, when the genre was the province of brainy hippies with political notions. A few weeks after LACMA revived Ralph Bakshi's Wizards, the Cinematheque revisits A Boy and His Dog, another slice of mid-70s social commentary disguised as fantastic dystopia, starring a very young Don Johnson as a hunky everybody, a talking dog, and a script by genial curmudgeon Harlan Ellison, who will be present to answer all your questions and possibly debate feminists about the controversial last scene (which we won't spoil for you). Presented as part of the “Mayan Calendar Countdown” series of apocalyptic films (not that the Mayans were ever wrong about anything else…). American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd.; Thurs., April 19, 7:30 p.m.; $11. (323) 692-3431.

Thu., April 19, 7:30 p.m., 2012

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