Arthouse 101: Japanese Cinema enters the 80’s with Jûzô Itami’s acclaimed Tampopo (original Japanese title: Tanpopo), an award-winning 1985 film that is truly like no other in our series – or in movie history, really. This deliriously inventive comedy follows a widowed ramen shop owner who, with the help of a mysterious trucker (a stoic parody of Clint Eastwood), sets out to create the perfect bowl of noodles. Along the way, we meet an ensemble of eccentric characters whose lives revolve – sometimes absurdly, sometimes erotically – around food.

Nominated for the Best Screenplay and Best Director awards by the National Society of Film Critics, Tampopo is billed as the first “ramen western,” Tampopo is both a genre spoof and a soulful tribute to Japanese cuisine and community. It’s a movie about perfection, pleasure, and the strange, spiritual rituals we attach to what we eat.

Arthouse 101: Japanese Cinema is a curated 12-film trip through the evolution of Japan—from the quiet post-war resilience of the 1940s all the way to the radical reinventions of the 1990s. This July-October, we will explore a new facet of this incredible nation’s cinematic journey throughout the 20th century. All films will be presented in their original Japanese language with English subtitles, at a reduced ticket price of $8.

Directed and co-written by acclaimed actress Noémie Merlant (Portrait of a Lady on Fire), The Balconettes is her audacious second feature. Co-scripted with Céline Sciamma, it melds comedy, horror, thriller in a genre-smashing good time! 

The story is set in a heat wave that brings a Marseille neighborhood to the boil, where three roommates gleefully meddle in the lives of their neighbors from their balcony. Until a late night drink turns into a bloody affair…

Taking our Arthouse 101: Japanese Cinema series into the 90’s is Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s heart-pounding 1997 thriller Cure, widely regarded as one of the best, most original, and most influential psychological horror films of the decade. 

A detective investigates a string of grisly murders—each victim killed in the same ritualistic manner, each murderer caught at the scene, unable to explain why they did it. The only connection? A mysterious drifter who seems to erase people’s memories—and unlock something buried deep inside them.

With icy precision and a creeping sense of dread, Cure is not just a murder mystery—it’s a meditation on identity and unraveling. Shot in long, haunting takes and drained colors, the film moves like a fog over post-economic-boom Japan: quiet and uncertain.

Arthouse 101: Japanese Cinema is a curated 12-film trip through the evolution of Japan—from the quiet post-war resilience of the 1940s all the way to the radical reinventions of the 1990s. This July-October, we will explore a new facet of this incredible nation’s cinematic journey throughout the 20th century. All films will be presented in their original Japanese language with English subtitles, at a reduced ticket price of $8.

Volunteer of the Month pick, selected by this month’s VOTM — The Amazing Dana!

From director Robert Wise (West Side Story, The Day the Earth Stood Still) comes the first big-screen voyage of one of television’s most iconic crews.

When a mysterious and immensely powerful alien cloud known as V’Ger threatens Earth, Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) takes command of the newly refitted U.S.S. Enterprise. Reuniting with Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and the rest of the legendary crew, Kirk must lead his starship on a perilous mission into uncharted space that will test the limits of their loyalty, their skills, and their very understanding of what it means to be alive.

Featuring eye-popping art direction, groundbreaking visual effects, and a legendary score by Jerry Goldsmith – all of which were nominated for Academy Awards – Star Trek: The Motion Picture will be presented on Paramount Pictures’ striking new 4K Restoration.

Linda Linda Linda is celebrating a 20th anniversary with a brand new 4K restoration via our friends at GKIDS! 

For Kei, Kyoko, and Nozomi, their dream of playing the final high school concert together is dashed when their lead vocalist quits the band. Desperate, they recruit the very first person they see: Korean exchange student Son, played by Doona Bae (The Host, Broker), whose comprehension of Japanese is limited at best. It’s a race against time as the group struggles to learn three songs in three days for the festival’s rock concert.

Linda Linda Linda is an effervescent, tenderhearted snapshot of youth about the unparalleled joy of jamming out with your friends. The soundtrack fuses bangers from iconic Japanese bands The Blue Hearts and Base Ball Bear with original music composed by James Iha of the Smashing Pumpkins. The beloved classic from Nobuhiro Yamashita (Ghost Cat Anzu) is acknowledged by many as one of the greatest Japanese films of the 21st century. 

Class is back in session with our Slash To School Double Feature, featuring two iconic slices of late-‘90s horror!

First period: The Faculty – Robert Rodriguez’s gooey, paranoid, totally underrated teen sci-fi-horror flick where the teachers are definitely not alright. When a group of misfit students suspects their school staff is being taken over by aliens, it’s up to them to stop the invasion before final bell. Featuring a killer cast (Josh Hartnett, Elijah Wood, Famke Janssen, Jon Stewart, Selma Hayek, we could go on and on…), a peak-’90s soundtrack, and a whole lotta body horror.

Then: Scream 2 – Wes Craven’s bloodier, bolder, and arguably smarter sequel that dares to ask: what’s your favorite horror sequel? Sidney Prescott’s trying to start fresh in college, but Ghostface has other plans—and a new list of rules. Featuring one of the best opening scenes in horror history, a razor-sharp script from Kevin Williamson (who also wrote The Faculty), and more brutal kills, Scream 2 turns the slasher meta dial to eleven.

$15 gets you access you both films! 

Hundreds of Beavers, one of the most entertaining and enduring independent films of the past decade, is coming to The Frida Cinema for one last hurrah (or ho-ho-ho?) on Friday, December 5th & Saturday, December 6th!

Called “gonzo cinema distilled from Buster Keaton to George Miller” (LA Times), “one of the most inventive comedies in years” (RogerEbert.com), that “puts most big screen comedies to shame,” (The Daily Beast), this impossible indie has become a word-of-mouth phenomenon — selling out theaters, melting Letterboxd & Rotten Tomatoes, and putting audiences worldwide into stitches.

In the early 1800’s, Jean Kayak, a drunken applejack salesman, finds himself stranded in a surreal winter landscape with nothing but his dim wits to guide him. Against a backdrop of ruthless elements and forest creatures – all played by actors in full-sized mascot costumes – Kayak develops increasingly complex traps in order to win the hand of a mischievous lover. When he discovers that the Beavers have formed their own secret society, he must infiltrate their lair to uncover their secrets and win the day.

Equal parts silent-era stunt work, Looney Tunes energy, and pure filmmaking lunacy, this is a cult hit that’s too much dam fun to stream alone at home!