Hot off of its 10 Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Editing, Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, and Best Production Design, The Frida Cinema is proud to present Brady Corbet’s audacious masterwork The Brutalist!

Escaping post-war Europe, visionary architect László Tóth arrives in America to rebuild his life, his work, and his marriage to his wife Erzsébet after being forced apart during wartime by shifting borders and regimes. On his own in a strange new country, László settles in Pennsylvania, where the wealthy and prominent industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren recognizes his talent for building. But power and legacy come at a heavy cost.

All screenings of The Brutalist will include a 15 minute intermission.

Revisit one of the most beloved films of all time with Michael Curtiz’s Casablanca, the timeless romantic drama set during World War II.

The story unfolds in the titular Moroccan city, a haven for refugees seeking passage to the Americas. Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), the jaded owner of a popular nightclub, unexpectedly reunites with his former lover, Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), who arrives with her husband, resistance leader Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid). As Rick grapples with lingering feelings for Ilsa, he must decide whether to help the couple escape the clutches of the Nazis, risking his own safety in the process.

Love rains with The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, the 1964 musical romance from Jacques Demy! Now in a brand new 4K restoration! 

This simple romantic tragedy begins in 1957. Guy Foucher, a 20-year-old French auto mechanic, has fallen in love with 17-year-old Geneviève Emery, an employee in her widowed mother’s chic but financially embattled umbrella shop. On the evening before Guy is to leave for a two-year tour of combat in Algeria, he and Geneviève make love. She becomes pregnant and must choose between waiting for Guy’s return or accepting an offer of marriage from a wealthy diamond merchant.

Winning the Palme d’Or at the 1964 Cannes Film Festival, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is celebrated by many as one of the best musicals of all time.

We are partnering with our friends at OC Pride to present a one-off encore screening of Queer, a romantic period drama from director Luca Guadagnino (Challengers, Call Me By Your Name) set in Mexico City.

The film follows William Lee, portrayed by Daniel Craig, an American expatriate who leads a solitary existence among a small American community. His life takes a turn upon meeting Eugene Allerton, a young student played by Drew Starkey, igniting an intense and complex relationship. As Lee becomes infatuated with Allerton, the narrative delves into themes of desire, obsession, and the search for connection in a foreign land.

Adapted from William S. Burroughs’ semi-autobiographical novella, Queer explores the intricacies of human emotion and the longing for companionship against the backdrop of post-war Mexico.

Our 21st Century Cult series kicks off February with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Michel Gondry’s surrealist sci-fi romance!

Gondry and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (who won an Academy Award for his screenplay) capture the mixed emotions of love and loss in a way that no filmmakers have done before or since. Starring Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey in career highlights for both, the film tells the story of a bitter breakup which results in a pair of ex-lovers hiring a radical medical company to erase all memories of each other – and the internal struggle that ensues to try to hold on despite having so many reasons to let go.

Upon its release, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind received critical acclaim, with the movie earning the Movie of the Year award from AFI and being frequently cited on Best of 2000s lists to this day.

Silents Synced is back! After a successful pairing of Nosferatu/Radiohead last year, they are unleashing their newest project onto the world: Buster Keaton’s Sherlock Jr. Soundtracked w/ R.E.M.!

Pairing classic movies with modern soundtracks is always fun—like playing The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wizard of Oz at the same time—and it works especially well with silent films. When one of Buster Keaton’s masterpieces, Sherlock Jr., is re-released in theaters in February, the music will come from R.E.M.’s Monster and New Adventures in Hi-Fi albums. Full details are on producer Blue Starlite Entertainment’s “Silents Synced” series website.

A trailer for the release begins with old-timey music before kicking into R.E.M.’s “Star 69” as Keaton’s character, an aspiring detective, trails a suspect. As the trailer notes, the re-release celebrates the film’s 101st anniversary next year.

Surprise! As a part of our ongoing tribute to cinema legend David Lynch, we are presenting a weekend of Blue Velvet, his surrealist 1986 masterwork.

The film follows Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan), a college student who returns to his small hometown of Lumberton after his father is injured. While walking, he discovers a severed human ear and becomes involved in investigating its origins. As Jeffrey dives deeper into the dark world of crime, voyeurism, and desire, he struggles with the blurred lines between innocence and corruption, while also developing a romantic relationship with Sandy (Laura Dern), a local cop’s daughter. Isabella Rossellini and Dennis Hopper also star in this unforgettable trip into the dark underbelly of suburban life, a trademark attributed directly to David Lynch to this very day. 

Blue Velvet is a touchstone for modern surrealist cinema and is widely discussed in film studies for its exploration into its psychological complexity, and the intersection of innocence and corruption. It garnered Lynch an Oscar nomination for both Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, but its grip on modern pop culture branches far beyond its accolades.