The rumors are true! John Wilson’s The History of Concrete is coming to The Frida Cinema!

The plot is super normal and simple: after attending a workshop on how to write and sell a Hallmark movie, filmmaker John Wilson tries to use the same formula to sell a documentary about concrete.

Don’t miss this extremely informative documentary on the big screen!

Enhanced Accessibility: this film has Closed Captioning capability!

Kwaidan has been given the 4K restoration treatment via our friends at Janus Films, so of course we’re kicking off our October programming with it! 

After more than a decade of sober political dramas and socially minded period pieces, the great Japanese director Masaki Kobayashi shifted gears dramatically for this rapturously stylized quartet of ghost stories. Featuring colorfully surreal sets and luminous cinematography, these haunting tales of demonic comeuppance and spiritual trials, adapted from writer Lafcadio Hearn’s collections of Japanese folklore, are existentially frightening and meticulously crafted.

Please note: the DCP version of Kwaidan is a 4K restoration of the original three-hour cut.

Calling all blondes!  Join us for Julien Temple’s gloriously goofy 1988 sci-fi musical Earth Girls Are Easy – a true essential in our Unsung 80’s Soundtracks series!

Geena Davis stars as Valerie, a manicurist whose boring life takes an unexpected turn when a a trio of extraterrestrials crash-lands in her San Fernando Valley swimming pool.  Played by Jeff Goldblum, Jim Carrey, and Damon Wayans, the three furry E.T.’s are soon given a makeover by Valerie and her ultra-bubbly best friend Candy (Julie Brown, who also served as co-screenwriter), and given the new names of Mac, Wiploc, and Zeebo. Valerie takes them out into the strange world of late-’80s Los Angeles, where they quickly discover the pleasures of Earth life, from dancing to romance to surfing to – why not? – even a couple of musical numbers.

Loaded with some of the era’s most recognizable alternative and new-wave sounds by British punk provocateur and music-video director Temple, Earth Girls Are Easy feels like a two-hour mixtape from the end of the 1980s.  The soundtrack features the B-52’s, The Vandals, The Cramps, Devo, The Go-Go’s, and The Tubes, along with original songs performed by the film’s cast. The soundtrack was released as a companion album in 1988, and has become a sonic time capsule of the late-’80s neon, campy, “far out” alternative scene.

Our Art House 101: Global Queer Cinema series is continuing its journey around the world with a landmark of contemporary African cinema: Rafiki.

When Kena and Ziki, the daughters of two rival politicians in Nairobi, meet and fall for each other, their friendship quickly blossoms into something deeper. But in a country where homosexuality remains criminalized and deeply stigmatized, their romance threatens to upend not only their families’ political ambitions, but their own lives. As the two young women attempt to carve out a space for themselves, they’re forced to confront a world that refuses to accept their love.

Directed by Wanuri Kahiu, Rafiki is a defiantly joyful story of young queer love. Bursting with an undeniable sense of youthful possibility, Kahiu’s film finds beauty and resilience in the simple act of falling in love.

A 4K restoration of the anime classic Ninja Scroll is coming to The Frida Cinema for two days only! 

When Jubei saves a young ninja woman from the unthinkable, he assumes that’s the end of it. To his surprise, it’s only just the beginning. Together, the two investigate the mysterious deaths of an entire village which uncovers a conspiracy of demonic proportions! Getting closer to the truth, the demonic forces will stop at nothing to silence Jubei and his companion for good!                                                                                                                   

Written and directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, Ninja Scroll was originally released in 1993 and is now considered a truly seminal work in anime filmmaking. The restoration, a meticulous process that involved a 4K scan (3840 × 2160 pixels) of the original 35mm negative, was supervised by director Kawajiri.

Set sail for Muppet mayhem as we continue our tribute to beloved character actor and all-around icon Tim Curry with a special 30th anniversary run of Muppets Treasure Island! 

The story follows young Jim Hawkins and his two best friends, Gonzo and Rizzo, as they embark on a voyage across the high seas in search of buried treasure, but soon find that not everyone onboard can be trusted.

But we’re here to celebrate Tim Curry, one of the most endlessly entertaining performers to ever grace the silver screen. With any role that he touched, Curry could turn even the most ridiculous role into something unforgettable. His gleefully villainous turn as Long John Silver is one of his great comedic showcases. Don’t miss it on the big screen with fellow Muppet fans! 

Our Hong Kong Action Essentials series is  growing larger, darker, and more operatic with each and every chapter. There’s no better example of this with our special double feature of A Better Tomorrow II + A Better Tomorrow III!

Directed by John Woo, A Better Tomorrow II picks up in the aftermath of betrayal and loss, following survivors pulled back into a violent underworld they can’t escape. As old wounds reopen and new alliances form, the film pushes themes of brotherhood and sacrifice to even more operatic extremes, all building toward action staged on a mythic scale.

And then after a quick 10 minute intermission…Tsui Hark’s A Better Tomorrow III rewinds the clock, re-centering the saga around the rise of its most iconic figure amid political upheaval and shifting power structures. Steeped in romantic fatalism, this prequel is less about crime than about identity and the cost of survival.

There will be a ten minute intermission between each film. One ticket gets you access to both movies!

Our Hong Kong Action Essentials series explores the time from the mid-’80s through the early ’90s, where Hong Kong filmmakers rewrote the grammar of action cinema forever. Directors like John Woo, Tsui Hark, Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Ringo Lam, and Lau Kar-Leung fused balletic gunplay, risky stunts, martial arts virtuosity, and raw emotional intensity into a new cinematic language that would be oft-imitated but never replicated. (sorry, The Matrix, we love you too!) Join us every month in 2026 as we explore this golden age where style and emotion collided to change movies forever.