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Tron

For men of a certain age (okay, those of us pushing 40), the early '80s were the golden era of video games. And what's the only thing better than being joystick heroes and dropping endless quarters into Tempest, Defender, Robotron and Joust? Being in a video game, of course! Gameboys v1.0 got some of that experience via Disney's 1982 movie Tron, in which a game designer (Jeff Bridges) gets inadvertently zapped into a digital world and is forced to compete in gladiator-style video games while trying to foil a plan to take over the Pentagon's computer system.

Though primitive-looking today, in an age when even The Story of Ben Franklin would have a CGI kite flying into an electrical cloud hologram, the neon-soaked special effects of Tron were cutting-edge at the time. Attendees at the recent San Diego Comic-Con were surprised to see test footage for a proposed continuation, TR2N (again with Bridges) for possible 2011 release. Hey, it's got to be better than a sequel to the Super Mario Brothers movie! 8:30 p.m. Domy, 1709 Westheimer. For information, call 713-523-3669 or visit www.domystore.com. Free.
Mon., Sept. 29, 8:30 p.m., 2008

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Bob Ruggiero has been writing about music, books, visual arts and entertainment for the Houston Press since 1997, with an emphasis on classic rock. He used to have an incredible and luxurious mullet in college as well. He is the author of the band biography Slippin’ Out of Darkness: The Story of WAR.
Contact: Bob Ruggiero