A masterpiece of cinematic surrealism and a cornerstone of mid-century French art film, Orpheus (Orphée) finds poet, playwright, and visionary Jean Cocteau at his most mysterious and mythic.

A modern retelling of the Orpheus myth set in postwar Paris, the film follows a celebrated poet (played by the impossibly cool Jean Marais) as he becomes obsessed with a shadowy Princess—Death incarnate—and journeys into the land of the dead to reclaim his wife, and perhaps his soul.

Blending classical mythology with avant-garde technique, Cocteau conjures magic from mirrors, rubber gloves, reverse film, and pure imagination. The result is a haunting meditation on fame, creativity, and mortality, where even the afterlife feels like a stage lit by dream logic and doomed desire.

Our second Volunteer Of The Month screening comes courtesy of the amazing Ashley, as she has picked Strange Days, now celebrating its 30th anniversary!

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, written by James Cameron and Jay Cocks, and dropped into theaters at the tail end of 1995, Strange Days imagined the future as 1999—and it still feels prophetic. A blistering mix of cyberpunk noir, apocalyptic paranoia, and visceral street-level urgency, the film follows Lenny Nero (Ralph Fiennes), a black-market dealer of “playback” clips—full-sensory VR experiences recorded straight from the mind—who stumbles onto a murder, a conspiracy, and a revolution in the making.

Set during the final 48 hours of the millennium in a decaying, riot-torn Los Angeles, Strange Days explodes with Y2K anxiety, racial tension, police brutality, and techno-addiction—all filtered through Bigelow’s kinetic, hyper-physical direction and a pounding industrial score.

Celebrate 25 years of Wong Kar Wai’s In The Mood For Love with a brand new 4K restoration and a post-screening nine minute short film entitled In The Mood For Love 2001.

In The Mood For Love: Hong Kong, 1962: Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) and Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung Man Yuk) move into neighboring apartments on the same day. Their encounters are formal and polite—until a discovery about their spouses creates an intimate bond between them. At once delicately mannered and visually extravagant, Wong Kar Wai’s In the Mood for Love is a masterful evocation of romantic longing and fleeting moments. With its aching musical soundtrack and exquisitely abstract cinematography by Christopher Doyle and Mark Lee Ping Bing, this film has been a major stylistic influence on the past 25 years of cinema.

In The Mood For Love 2001: Initially conceived as one third of a triptych about food, In the Mood for Love was expanded into a stand-alone feature that won immediate recognition as a modern-day classic. Another third—intended as the “dessert,” as Wong Kar Wai has put it—was, until now, only screened during his masterclass at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. Now available in wide release for the first time, In the Mood for Love 2001 demonstrates the director’s masterful ability to generate palpable atmosphere and striking characterizations on a miniature canvas—with In the Mood for Love stars Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Maggie Cheung Man Yuk once again providing the sizzling chemistry— evoking the mystery of transient, unexpected connections in the modern city through his inimitable romantic touch.

For the first time in The Frida Cinema’s history, we are presenting a very special run of the 1993 Western classic Tombstone, with an emphasis on celebrating Val Kilmer’s electric performance as the legendary Doc Holliday! And to mark the occasion, we are, of course, running the brand new 4K restoration!

Directed by George P. Cosmatos (and, unofficially, co-directed by Kurt Russell), Tombstone tells the true-ish story of Wyatt Earp and his brothers as they attempt to leave the law behind and settle into a quiet life in Arizona—only to be drawn into a violent showdown with the outlaw gang known as the Cowboys. It’s lightning-fast, guns-blazing, and has an absolutely stacked cast.

In honor of Kilmer’s legendary performance and enduring legacy, we’re bringing the O.K. Corral back to the big screen—where legends belong.

Join us for three talent-packed nights of unscripted comedy as we team up with OCIF to bring you the OC Improv Fest 2025!

First held in 2013, the Orange County Improv Festival was conceived to celebrate the growing and diverse improv community of Orange County, California. Despite prevailing opinions that Orange County is a homogenized wasteland devoid of culture, the OC Improv Fest seeks to expose the vibrant comedy taking place behind the “Orange Curtain.” The largest improv event in Orange County, the OC Improv Fest is committed to the celebration and elevation of improvisation, as well as forging friendships across cities and states with diverse and open-minded performers.

All performances are live, unscripted, and unrated. Line-ups subject to change.

Thursday Block 1 (7:00pm)

PB&J

Roll Play

Funny People Society

Hogwash

Thursday Block 2 (8:35pm)

Jean Wilder

Sini-Gang

THEE Improvised Musical

Ends 10:00pm

For full improv team line-up, workshops, FAQs, visit: https://improvcollective.fun/ocif