What A Cast!…What A Past!…What A Show!…
Our Staff Pick for the month of March comes from Bekah, our Marketing Director, as she has chosen the Shirley MacLaine starrer What A Way To Go!
A four-time widow discusses her four marriages, in which all of her husbands became incredibly rich and died prematurely because of their drive to be rich.
What a Way to Go! is an outrageous 1960s comedy full of campy satire. It’s a sparkling showcase of Hollywood excess and MacLaine’s fearless comedic charm. And did we mention…Paul Newman? Any takers!?
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A Fantasy, A Musical, A Place Where Dreams Come True.
Cinematic Void is back at The Frida Cinema for their Musical March series, and they’ve chosen to highlight Robert Greenwald’s critical-flop-turned-cult-classic Xanadu! And make sure to get there on time as actor and fitness instructor Angie Shriner will be doing a special introduction before the screening!
Xanadu is infamous for being one of Hollywood’s most beloved “so-bad-it’s-good” musicals. Upon release, it was widely panned by critics for its thin story, over-the-top performances, and bizarre combination of roller disco, Greek mythology, and Olivia Newton-John–led pop numbers. Yet its reputation has softened over time. Audiences now celebrate it as a campy, glitter-drenched delight, and the soundtrack, particularly hits from Electric Light Orchestra, remains on repeat in The Frida’s lobby.
And did we mention…Gene Kelly? Need we say more? Grab your friends and get ready to have some fun at the theater!
This event is co-presented by both Cinematic Void and The American Cinematheque!
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Just added: Frida Board Member/Trivia Night host Atalia Lopez (Chapman University) and Porter Gilberg (Frida Director of Development) are back on Thursday 3/19 at the 8:15PM screening for another special pre-screening presentation on The Handmaiden’s literary history and cinematic influences. An interactive discussion will take place immediately following the film.
We’re getting revenge for Park Chan-Wook’s Academy Award snubs this year the only way we know how: bringing back a bona fide Frida Cinema classic–his 2016 twist-filled psychological drama The Handmaiden.
1930s Korea, in the period of Japanese occupation, a new girl, Sookee, is hired as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress, Hideko, who lives a secluded life on a large countryside estate with her domineering Uncle Kouzuki. But the maid has a secret. She is a pickpocket recruited by a swindler posing as a Japanese Count to help him seduce the Lady to steal her fortune.
A meticulously-crafted and lush tale of deception, The Handmaiden is the ultimate film about desire amongst shifting loyalties.
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Baz Luhrmann’s electrifying reimagining of William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet is bursting back onto the big screen at The Frida Cinema!
In this contemporary (to 1996, at least) take on William Shakespeare’s classic tragedy, the Montagues and Capulets have moved their ongoing feud to the sweltering suburb of Verona Beach, where Romeo and Juliet fall in love and secretly wed. Though the film is visually modern, the bard’s dialogue remains.
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes at the height of ’90s stardom, Romeo + Juliet is a charming MTV-era style take on the timeless tragedy with a proper pop soundtrack and a love that burns eternal.
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What if the afterlife isn’t halos and harps…but a courtroom?
Flickrhappy is back at The Frida Cinema to present a special one-off screening of writer/director Albert Brooks’ ingenious 1991 comedy Defending Your Life!
Is there love after death? After he dies suddenly, the hapless advertising executive Daniel Miller (Brooks) finds himself in Judgment City, a gleaming way station where the newly deceased must prove they lived a life of sufficient courage to advance in their journey through the universe. As the self-doubting Daniel struggles to make his case, a budding relationship with the uninhibited Julia (Meryl Streep) offers him a chance to finally feel alive.
Funny and unexpectedly profound, Defending Your Life blends sharp existential satire with genuine romantic warmth. With scene-stealing turns by Rip Torn and Lee Grant, and Brooks at his most vulnerable and witty, the film turns life’s biggest questions into something both hilarious and deeply human.
Join us for this unforgettable big-screen screening and discover why sometimes the only way forward…is to defend your life.
This program is a venue rental engagement. The views and opinions expressed in this program do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of The Frida Cinema or its staff. Flickrhappy is allowing Frida Cinema members to use their regular discounts to this event!
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A powerful socialite and a promising ballet dancer begin a dangerous affair. When he secretly crosses the US-Mexico border, she takes desperate measures to protect their future together.
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Our seaside horror Hallucinations mini series continues with a brand new 4K restoration of the 1961 gem Night Tide!
Night Tide presents a world in which undefined realms float around, blurring boundaries between reality and fantasy. Dennis Hopper is profoundly charming in his portrayal of Johnny, a young sailor who is spellbound by Mora, an enigmatic woman who performs as a mermaid at the Santa Monica Pier carnival.
Set near the water in Santa Monica and Venice Beach, Night Tide dives into the purgatory domain of dreamy love, which is cursed by doomed imagination, like a beautiful nightmare underwater.
Hosted by Polygon’s editor-in-chief Chris Plante, Hallucinations is a monthly event that spotlights movies that challenge our expectations of story, style, and “good taste”. We invite guests to bond over films that change what we expect from the medium, the world, and themselves. So come early, stay late, make friends, and watch something strange, surprising, or just shamelessly sick.
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Join us on Saturday night, February 28th, as we screen Grease 2, the Michelle Pfeiffer star-making sequel to the iconic 1978 musical.
It’s 1961, two years after the original Grease gang graduated, and there’s a new crop of seniors and new members of the coolest cliques on campus, the Pink Ladies and T-Birds. Michael Carrington is the new kid in school…but he’s been branded a brainiac. Can he fix up an old motorcycle, don a leather jacket, avoid a rumble with the leader of the T-Birds, and win the heart of Pink Lady Stephanie?
Grease 2 isn’t Grease. We get it. But we love it because it’s louder and messier, two adjectives used to throw it under the bus upon its initial release. But what was once a punchline has become a midnight movie favorite: a sequel that failed on release but succeeded, decades later, as gloriously ridiculous cult entertainment. The music and feeling go on forever!
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Just added: Robert Daniels, the Associate Editor at RogerEbert.com, will be giving a pre-recorded introduction before each screening of The Annihilation Of Fish!
Robert has also written for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Reverse Shot, Screen Daily, and the Criterion Collection. He has covered film festivals ranging from Cannes to Sundance to Toronto to the Berlinale and Locarno. He lives in Chicago, and is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association
The final film in our Three By Charles Burnett series is his charming 1999 drama The Annihilation Of Fish, now restored in a beautiful 4K restoration!
Lynn Redgrave plays Poinsettia, a former housewife with an imagined lover in the form of 19th-century composer Giacomo Puccini. She moves into a Los Angeles boarding house with an energetic landlady (Margot Kidder) where she meets a Jamaican widower, Fish (James Earl Jones), who has recently been released from a mental institution despite his continued battles against unseen demons. In the face of personal challenges and differences, the couple grows together and begins to discover new things about themselves and the nuances of love and happiness.
Released in partnership with Milestone Films, restoration by UCLA Film & Television Archive and The Film Foundation with funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation.
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William Wyler’s 1939 adaptation of Wuthering Heights is coming to The Frida Cinema as part of our Page To Screen series!
Based on Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel, the timeless story follows orphan Heathcliff, as he is adopted by the wealthy Earnshaw family and moves into their estate, Wuthering Heights. Soon, the new resident falls for his compassionate foster sister, Cathy. The two share a remarkable bond that seems unbreakable until Cathy, feeling the pressure of social convention, suppresses her feelings and marries Edgar Linton, a man of means who befits her stature. Heathcliff vows to win her back.
This adaptation remains one of the definitive screen versions of Brontë’s novel and a landmark of Golden Age Hollywood romantic drama, admired for its visual poetry and enduring performances from Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier.
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