Charlie Chaplin was already an international star when he decided to break out of the short-film format and make his first full-length feature–The Kid. The movie doesn’t merely show Chaplin at a turning point, when he proved that he was a serious film director—it remains an expressive masterwork of silent cinema.
In it, he stars as his lovable Tramp character, this time raising an orphan (a remarkable young Jackie Coogan) he has rescued from the streets. Chaplin and Coogan make a miraculous pair in this nimble marriage of sentiment and slapstick, a film that is, as its opening title card states, “a picture with a smile—and perhaps, a tear.”
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Charlie Chaplin’s comedic masterwork—which charts a prospector’s search for fortune in the Klondike and his discovery of romance (with the beautiful Georgia Hale)—The Gold Rush–forever cemented the iconic status of Chaplin and his Little Tramp character. We are celebrating its 100th anniversary with a five film retrospective of Chaplin’s work over the November 28th-3oth weekend!
Shot partly on location in the Sierra Nevadas and featuring such timeless gags as the dance of the dinner rolls and the meal of boiled shoe leather, The Gold Rush is an indelible work of heartwarming hilarity. Our friends at Janus Films have granted us the rights to Chaplin’s definitive 1942 version, for which the director added new music and narration.
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Romanian filmmaker Radu Jude’s new “adaptation” of Dracula is coming to The Frida Cinema!
A Dracula film made in modern day Transylvania? What does it contain? Well…a vampire hunt. Oh, and zombies and Dracula crashing a strike. Also…a science-fiction story about Vlad the Impaler coming back. An adaptation of the first Romanian vampire novella. A love story. A montage film reusing a classic vampire film. A vulgar folktale. Oh, and did we mention it’s three hours long?
While not a “straightforward” adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel, Jude’s take is a bold, satirical, and multi-layered deconstruction of the Dracula myth. Are you ready for the big screen event of the year*?
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She’s not messy. She’s busy! To celebrate new films coming out this year from directors Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig, we are presenting our favorite collaboration between them–the 21st century masterpiece Frances Ha!
Frances is a 27-year-old New Yorker chasing her dream of becoming a dancer long after the world has stopped applauding. When her best friend and roommate Sophie (Mickey Sumner) moves out, Frances stumbles through a series of apartments, odd jobs, and almost-romances in a city that both resists and reshapes her.
Shot in luminous monochrome and pulsing with French New Wave energy, Frances Ha is funny and quietly profound—a portrait of creative uncertainty and the friendships that carry us through it. Baumbach and Gerwig co-wrote the film with such honesty and rhythm that every awkward conversation feels so horrifyingly alive.
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Our In Defense Of…series for November is Chloe’s pick, and she’s chosen the 2011 animated classic Rango!
When Rango, a lost family pet, accidentally winds up in the gritty, gun-slinging town of Dirt, the less-than-courageous lizard suddenly finds he stands out. Welcomed as the last hope the town has been waiting for, new Sheriff Rango is forced to play his new role to the hilt.
A love letter to Spaghetti Westerns and cinematic misfits alike, Rango dazzles with eye-popping animation that can’t be missed on the big screen!
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John Waters’ gleefully campy classic Hairspray is being threaded up by our friends at See It On 16mm for a sock-hopping good time on the big screen!
‘Pleasantly plump’ teenager Tracy Turnblad achieves her dream of becoming a regular on the Corny Collins Dance Show. Now a teen hero, she starts using her fame to speak out for the causes she believes in, most of all integration. In doing so, she earns the wrath of the show’s former star, Amber Von Tussle, as well as Amber’s manipulative, pro-segregation parents. The rivalry comes to a head as Amber and Tracy vie for the title of Miss Auto Show 1963.
A joyous explosion of color and music, Hairspray bridges the gap between counterculture and mainstream celebration. Featuring cameos from Sonny Bono, Debbie Harry, and Pia Zadora, Waters’ affectionate satire of 1960s America remains as infectious as ever.
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Our friends at See It On 16mm are back to spool up another screening of John Waters’ infamous cult classic Pink Flamingos.
In a twisted contest to determine “the filthiest person alive,” underground icon Divine stars as a criminal anti-heroine living in a trailer with her oddball family, battling a pair of jealous rivals for the title. What follows is an unholy parade of crime, perversion, and pop-art anarchy that rewrote the rules of independent cinema—and left censors reeling.
After 50 year since its initial release, Pink Flamingos is filthier and funnier than ever. An exercise in bad taste or a masterpiece of transgressive art? We’ll let you decide!
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He’s a master of kung fu. He’s a hero with soul. He’s got the glow.
Berry Gordy’s Motown martial arts masterpiece The Last Dragon kicks its way into our November lineup, now celebrating 40 years since its initial release!
When Harlem martial artist Leroy Green (Taimak) sets out to achieve the final level of enlightenment—the legendary “Glow”—he finds himself battling street gangs, showbiz villains, and the self-proclaimed Shogun of Harlem, Sho’nuff (Julius Carry, in one of cinema’s most gloriously over-the-top performances). Along the way, he discovers that true mastery isn’t just about fighting—it’s about believing in your own power.
Packed with neon-lit action and an unforgettable soundtrack featuring Stevie Wonder and DeBarge, The Last Dragon is a genre-blending cult sensation. Don’t miss it!
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Celebrate 40 years of mad science and midnight movie mayhem as we present encores of Stuart Gordon’s cult classic Re-Animator in a brand new 4K restoration!
When brilliant but deranged medical student Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs, in a career-defining performance) discovers a serum that brings the dead back to life, his experiments spiral from groundbreaking to grotesque. Soon, morgues overflow, limbs twitch, and body parts revolt in one of the most deliriously gory and darkly hilarious horror films ever made.
Re-Animator is the gold standard for splatter horror and shouldn’t be missed on the big screen!
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It’s still Spooky Season in our hearts, so we’re dusting off a few screenings of Frank Capra’s Arsenic and Old Lace!
Cary Grant stars as Mortimer Brewster, a newlywed whose trip home to visit his eccentric Brooklyn family turns into a macabre comedy of errors. His sweet, elderly aunts (Josephine Hull and Jean Adair) have a deadly hobby: poisoning lonely old men with elderberry wine and burying them in the basement. Add in a delusional brother who thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt, another who’s an unhinged criminal dead ringer for Boris Karloff, and a frantic race to keep the police—and his new bride—none the wiser.
A twisted favorite of ours that’s bursting with screwball energy and classic Cary Grant charm, Arsenic and Old Lace proves that murder can be murderously funny?
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