‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ remains magical, 40 years later

Looking back 40 years, it’s clear now that Steven Spielberg’s 1977 science-fiction thriller “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” — hitting theaters this week in a remastered edition — is the Rosetta Stone for understanding everything Spielberg did after.Remarkably, the movie holds up exceedingly well, even better than its box-office rival in 1977, George Lucas’ “Star Wars.” While the two movies are evenly matched in terms of special-effects w