Pee-wee’s Big Adventure is turning 40, and you better believe we’re playing it!
Before the Large Marge nightmares, before the Alamo letdowns, before you learned what a “Pet-O-Rama” even was… there was the bike. And for Pee-wee Herman, the bike meant everything. Released in 1985 and directed by a then-unknown Tim Burton, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure is the movie that launched a thousand catchphrases, made breakfast machines cool again, and turned a gray-suited man-child with a red bowtie into a pop icon.
Co-written by Paul Reubens and the legendary Phil Hartman, the film is a candy-colored cross-country odyssey filled with ex-cons, cowboys, biker gangs, dinosaurs, and one very memorable basementless Alamo. As surreal as it is sincere, Big Adventure is a perfect mix of Burton’s gothic whimsy and Reubens’ manic, offbeat charm—an outsider comedy that became a generation’s inside joke.
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Batter up! The Sandlot has made the starting lineup for our Fireworks At The Frida week!
The year is 1962. The neighborhood is endless summer. And the only thing bigger than the legend of “The Beast” is the size of the laughs, heart, and pure baseball magic in The Sandlot—the ultimate coming-of-age classic for anyone who’s ever played a game with a taped-up ball and a dream.
Directed by David Mickey Evans and narrated with perfect golden-hour nostalgia, The Sandlot follows new kid Scotty Smalls as he fumbles his way into a ragtag crew of backyard ballplayers led by the mythic Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez. There are scraped knees, Fourth of July night games, fairground crushes, lost baseballs, and epic attempts to recover a Babe Ruth–signed ball from the clutches of one monstrous dog next door. You’re killin me, Smalls!
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Our Technicolor Summer series goes from surreal to scrumptious with Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory—a candy-colored fantasy that has enchanted generations with just the right amount of weirdness and pitch-black humor!
When poor but kind-hearted Charlie Bucket finds a golden ticket inside a Wonka Bar, he wins the chance of a lifetime: a tour of the mysterious, magical chocolate factory run by the reclusive and eccentric Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder, in one of the greatest screen performances of all time). Charlie joins a group of wildly different children—each one a cautionary tale—on a journey through a world of edible delights, fizzy-lifting drinks, and Oompa Loompa morals.
Whether you grew up with it or are discovering it anew, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is a golden ticket to a world where imagination rules—and where the most dazzling sights often hide the strangest secrets.
In the early 1930s, the 3-strip Technicolor process was introduced to audiences, inviting them to experience a world dripping with vibrant saturation for the very first time. The Technicolor Summer series ranges from familiar classics to rarely-screened gems all Summer long!
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Our In Defense Of Series pick for June comes via Isa as she has chosen the underrated musical Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band!
A small town band makes it big, but loses track of their roots, as they get caught up into the big-time machinations of the music biz. Now, they must thwart a plot to destroy their home town. Built around the music of The Beatles, this musical uses some big name groups like Peter Frampton and Aerosmith.
Few films have been more gleefully panned, misunderstood, or prematurely written off than Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the 1978 jukebox musical that dares to turn The Beatles’ most iconic album into a surreal, candy-colored rock opera. Dismissed by critics as a misguided cash-in, the film has long existed as a cultural punchline. But behind the glitter, kitsch, and chaos lies an ambitious, bold, and strangely hypnotic cinematic artifact that deserves a closer look. Isa says “give it a chance!”
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A24 invites you to experience The Legend Of Ochi, a world where mysterious creatures, myths, and adventures await!
In a remote village on the island of Carpathia, a shy farm girl named Yuri is raised to fear an elusive animal species known as ochi. But when Yuri discovers a wounded baby ochi has been left behind, she escapes on a quest to bring him home.
This is a see-it-on-the-biggest-screen-you-can-find-and-bring-the-whole-family kind of movie. Every frame is a painting. Every moment pulses with emotion. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll even get to see another great Willem Dafoe performance! Fans of old school Amblin, Jim Henson, and Studio Ghibli will have a great time.
Ochi is your new best friend and you will love him!
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Our friends at GKIDS are bringing back the 2012 Mamoru Hosoda (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Mirai) film Wolf Children, now restored in glorious 4K!
A luminous coming-of-age fable with a quietly devastating emotional core, Wolf Children is a triumph of animated storytelling. This bittersweet fantasy follows a young mother raising her half-wolf children in the wake of loss—balancing the wonder of childhood with the ache of letting go. Gently surreal and deeply human, it’s a film about love, resilience, and the wild, unknowable paths we all must take to become ourselves.
This screening will be presented dubbed in the English language.
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Our friends at GKIDS are bringing back the 2012 Mamoru Hosoda (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Mirai) film Wolf Children, now restored in glorious 4K!
A luminous coming-of-age fable with a quietly devastating emotional core, Wolf Children is a triumph of animated storytelling. This bittersweet fantasy follows a young mother raising her half-wolf children in the wake of loss—balancing the wonder of childhood with the ache of letting go. Gently surreal and deeply human, it’s a film about love, resilience, and the wild, unknowable paths we all must take to become ourselves.
This film will be presented in its original Japanese language with English subtitles.
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Our 21st Century Cult series heads back down to Bikini Bottom as we present special matinee encores of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie from 2004!
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie takes our beloved underwater fry cook to new cinematic heights—on a quest to save Mr. Krabs, recover King Neptune’s stolen crown, and prove once and for all that being a “kid” doesn’t mean you can’t be a hero. Bursting with surreal gags, sea shanties, and a David Hasselhoff cameo, it’s a deliriously funny deep-sea odyssey that captures the show’s weird genius on a bigger, bolder scale. Goofy? Absolutely. Glorious? You bet your yellow sponge butt it is!
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Our 4/20 Weekend takes a colorful turn as we presented the oft-maligned 2003 live-action version of The Cat In The Hat!
During a rainy day, and while their mother is out, Conrad and Sally, and their pet fish, are visited by the mischievous Cat in the Hat. Fun soon turns to mayhem, and the siblings must figure out how to rid themselves of the maniacal Cat.
Directed by Bo Welch (Production Designer on Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands) and shot by Emmanuel Lubezki (Children Of Men, Gravity, The Revenant, The Tree Of Life, Birdman), The Cat In The Hat was largely panned by critics upon its release despite its all-star cast, with many criticizing the film for not capturing the magic and whimsy of Dr. Seuss’s original story. But as we all know, cats have nine lives, and we’re willing to try to give it one more!
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At Long Last Longworth continues with the iconic Technicolor wonder of the original 1939 American masterpiece The Wizard Of Oz!
Young Dorothy finds herself in a magical world where she makes friends with a lion, a scarecrow and a tin man as they make their way along the yellow brick road to talk with the Wizard and ask for the things they miss most in their lives. The Wicked Witch of the West is the only thing that could stop them.
At Long Last Longworth is a week-long guest programming takeover by author, critic, podcaster, and certified Frida Cinema favorite Karina Longworth. We gave her a promt for four different films: one of her “all-timers” (Trouble In Paradise), her favorite flop (At Long Last Love), a movie she thinks needs to be re-examined (Arizona Dream), and a movie she loves from her childhood (The Wizard Of Oz). Before each screening, there will be an exclusive introduction pre-recorded by Ms Longworth, with the exception of At Long Last Love, which will have an in-person conversation after the screening!
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