We’ve added encores of the enduring coming-of-age classic The Graduate!

Ben Braddock (Dustin Hoffman), fresh out of college and disillusioned with life, finds himself stuck between his older lover, Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), and her daughter (Katharine Ross).

Both a biting satire of suburban conformity and a timeless portrait of youthful uncertainty, The Graduate captured the anxieties of a generation coming of age in a rapidly changing America. Revered for its star-making performance from Dustin Hoffman and elevated by the unforgettable music of Simon & Garfunkel, the film perfectly balances sharp comedy with genuine melancholy, a tone often imitated, but never replicated.

Shhhh..Maddie’s Secret is finally sneaking its way to The Frida Cinema!

Comedian, writer, and actor John Early’s critically acclaimed directorial debut stars himself as Maddie, a plucky dishwasher who leaps to viral superstardom at a trendy food content creation company. While her life seems picturesque–complete with an adoring husband (Eric Rahill), ride-or-die best friend (Kate Berlant) and a cupboard full of woman-owned ethically-sourced chili crisp to boot–mounting professional pressures threaten to reawaken a hidden secret from her troubled past.

An auteur emerges from America’s underclass.

From migrant farmworker to revolutionary artist, Luis Valdez changed American culture. His El Teatro Campesino performed on flatbed trucks and helped mobilize California’s farm workers. His Zoot Suit was the first Chicano play on Broadway. Despite critical rejection that killed the show’s New York run, he persevered, creating La Bamba, a blockbuster that brought Mexican-American life to a global audience.

Now in its 60th year, El Teatro continues to be a beacon for Latino creators. American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez is the first feature documentary about this American original, narrated by Edward James Olmos reprising his legendary El Pachuco role, featuring Cheech Marin, Lou Diamond Phillips, Dolores Huerta, and Linda Ronstadt. The film weaves 4K-restored archival footage, including over 80,000 feet of deteriorating 1970s celluloid rescued and digitized for the first time, with the story of a man who proved that Chicanos have always been America.

We are not alone.

We’ve added some Spielberg Summer encores of the Director’s Cut of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the director’s epically intimate Sci-Fi masterpiece!

After an inexplicable encounter with a mysterious object in the night sky, ordinary family man Roy Neary begins experiencing strange visions that consume his life and lead him toward a destiny he cannot understand. As reports of unexplained phenomena spread across the globe, Roy joins a growing search for answers that culminates in one of the most unforgettable finales in movie history.

Where many Sci Fi films imagine alien contact as a threat, Close Encounters of the Third Kind dares to imagine it as a miracle. Spielberg’s knack for groundbreaking visual effects with a deeply human sense of curiosity shine brightly here, paired, of course, with a brilliant score from the one and only John Williams. It’s a reminder of why we go to the movies in the first place.

Join us for a night of networking, celebrating local filmmakers, and award presentation at the Annual Abstract Milk Film Festival!

Doors open at 6:30 with screening beginning at 7 PM, followed by our free networking after party (location TBD)

Hope to see you there!

Our Broadway Thursdays: Segerstrom Center at The Frida kicks off with the greatest love story ever told…the original 1991 Beauty and the Beast! 

When the bright and bookish Belle takes her father’s place as the prisoner of a mysterious Beast, she discovers that the fearsome creature and his enchanted household are hiding a heartbreaking secret. As Belle and the Beast slowly learn to look beyond appearances, an unlikely friendship blossoms into one of Disney’s most enduring love stories.

A landmark in animation storytelling, Beauty and the Beast remains every bit as magical as it was upon its original release. Featuring unforgettable songs by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman and breathtaking hand-drawn animation, it’s a timeless reminder that some fairy tales are simply meant to be experienced together in a movie theater.

Don’t worry, you’ll like it.

Gregg Araki’s long-awaited return to the big screen, I Want Your Sex, is coming to The Frida Cinema!

When fresh-faced Elliot (Cooper Hoffman) lands an exciting job for renowned artist, icon and provocateur Erika Tracy (Olivia Wilde), his fantasies come true as Erika taps him to become her sexual muse. But Elliot soon finds himself out of his depth as Erika takes him on a journey more profound than he ever could have imagined, into a world of sex, obsession, power, betrayal and murder.

More than thirty years after the Teen Apocalypse Trilogy shocked independent cinema, I Want Your Sex proves Araki hasn’t lost his appetite for challenging audiences, reminding us why he is one of American cinema’s most fearless and singular voices.