Jack Hill’s Coffy is coming back to The Frida Cinema, guns blazing and ready to burn it all down courtesy of our friends at See It On 16MM!
Long before Tarantino crowned her a legend, Pam Grier became one with Coffy—an explosive, no-holds-barred blaxploitation classic that put her front and center as the fiercest, flyest, most fearsome avenger in ’70s cinema. Dressed to kill (and very often undressed to kill), Coffy is a nurse by day, vigilante by night, taking down the pushers, pimps, and politicians who poisoned her little sister with heroin.
Directed by cult master Jack Hill, Coffy is pure grindhouse satisfaction: outrageous action, killer dialogue, sleazy villains, slow-motion shotgun blasts, and Grier—an absolute force of nature in every frame. This isn’t just revenge—it’s a revolution in heels.
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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.
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Fireworks, parades, patriotic bunting—and one sound that doesn’t belong. A scream? A gunshot? A tire blowout? No Fourth Of July celebration at The Frida would be complete without Brian De Palma’s 1981 masterpiece Blow Out!
John Travolta gives one of his best performances as Jack Terry, a sound technician for low-budget horror flicks who accidentally records a political assassination while gathering ambient sound one night. What follows is a paranoid plunge into reel-to-reel surveillance, media manipulation, and a conspiracy no one wants to hear.
A riff on Antonioni’s Blow-Up and Coppola’s The Conversation, but soaked in De Palma’s signature split-diopter style and operatic tension, Blow Out turns patriotic imagery into a nightmare canvas—stars and stripes flickering under streetlamps and firecrackers masking murder. Featuring Nancy Allen, John Lithgow in full psycho-mode, and a finale that literally weaponizes Independence Day spectacle, this is one of the sharpest political thrillers of the 1980s and one of De Palma’s true masterpieces.
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You sold it last month, so Joel Schumacher’s The Phantom of the Opera (2004) is coming back for a one-night-only encore!
A lavish, operatic fever dream of unrequited love and pure spectacle, this bold adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s iconic stage musical transforms the beloved Broadway production into a grand cinematic spectacle bursting with candlelit catacombs, crashing chandeliers, and soaring ballads. Starring Gerard Butler as the tortured Phantom, Emmy Rossum as the angel-voiced Christine, and Patrick Wilson as the dashing Raoul, Schumacher’s take is a maximalist and unapologetic in a way only he could do!
Boasting a 33% on Rotten Tomatoes, the film was received poorly upon its initial release. Come see it on the big screen and judge for yourself!
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Taking our Arthouse 101: Japanese Cinema series into the 90’s is Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s heart-pounding 1997 thriller Cure, widely regarded as one of the best, most original, and most influential psychological horror films of the decade.
A detective investigates a string of grisly murders—each victim killed in the same ritualistic manner, each murderer caught at the scene, unable to explain why they did it. The only connection? A mysterious drifter who seems to erase people’s memories—and unlock something buried deep inside them.
With icy precision and a creeping sense of dread, Cure is not just a murder mystery—it’s a meditation on identity and unraveling. Shot in long, haunting takes and drained colors, the film moves like a fog over post-economic-boom Japan: quiet and uncertain.
Arthouse 101: Japanese Cinema is a curated 12-film trip through the evolution of Japan—from the quiet post-war resilience of the 1940s all the way to the radical reinventions of the 1990s. This July-October, we will explore a new facet of this incredible nation’s cinematic journey throughout the 20th century. All films will be presented in their original Japanese language with English subtitles, at a reduced ticket price of $8.
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The third film in our Arthouse 101: Japanese Cinema series is Woman in the Dunes, a film about an entomologist on a casual field trip that finds himself lured into a nightmarish existence—trapped in a sand dune with a mysterious woman and forced into a Sisyphean task of survival. What begins as a bizarre circumstance becomes a harrowing philosophical inquiry into time, identity, and the illusion of freedom.
Based on the novel by Kōbō Abe, and brought to life by Hiroshi Teshigahara’s stark, surreal direction and Torū Takemitsu’s haunting score, Woman in the Dunes is a landmark of Japan’s 1960s avant-garde cinema. Nominated for two Academy Awards and winner of the Special Jury Prize at Cannes, it’s both a psychological thriller and a profound existential riddle.
Arthouse 101: Japanese Cinema is a curated 12-film trip through the evolution of Japan—from the quiet post-war resilience of the 1940s all the way to the radical reinventions of the 1990s. Each Monday this July-September, we will explore a new facet of this incredible nation’s cinematic journey throughout the 20th century! All films will be presented in their original Japanese language with English subtitles!
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XYZ Films is bringing you the new film Tatami, being described as a combination of Raging Bull and The Passion of Joan of Arc!
The first feature film co-directed by Iranian and Israeli filmmakers Guy Nattiv and Zar Amir, Tatami follows Leila, an Iranian judo athlete who is put in political danger when her government tells her to fake an injury and withdraw from the world championships rather than face an Israeli rival in the final.
Leila finds herself facing a life-or-death decision that could put the lives of her, her coach, an ex-competitor herself, and her family in danger. In a fight for freedom and dignity, what is she willing to give up.
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The penultimate film in our Technicolor Summer series takes a thrilling detour into espionage and mistaken identity with Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest—a sleek, suspenseful, and wildly entertaining ride across some of America’s most iconic landscapes.
Cary Grant stars as Roger Thornhill, a suave Manhattan ad executive who’s suddenly thrust into a deadly game of cat and mouse after being mistaken for a government agent. Framed, pursued, and utterly bewildered, Thornhill races from New York to Chicago to Mount Rushmore, dodging enemy spies, government secrets, and one unforgettable crop duster along the way. Along for the ride is the enigmatic Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint), whose loyalties—and affections—are anything but clear.
Directed with Hitchcock’s signature style and razor-sharp wit, North by Northwest is a masterclass in cinematic storytelling. Cool, clever, and endlessly rewatchable, North by Northwest is a Technicolor thrill ride that proves Hitchcock didn’t just master fear—he mastered fun.
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 Technicolor Summer takes a darker turn with the lush and haunting Leave Her to Heaven—a psychological thriller cloaked in sun-drenched, beautiful colors.
When novelist Richard Harland (Cornel Wilde) meets the striking and enigmatic Ellen Berent (Gene Tierney), it seems like a whirlwind romance straight out of a dream. But their fairy-tale love story quickly curdles into obsession as Ellen’s possessiveness spirals into something far more dangerous. She doesn’t want to share Richard’s affection with anyone—not his family, not his work, not even his past.
A noir dressed in Technicolor’s finest, Leave Her to Heaven is a masterclass in contrasts: light and shadow. It’s a chilling reminder that darkness can lurk even in the brightest places—and a true gem of Hollywood’s golden era.
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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Ridley Scott’s girl trip Thelma & Louise winds down our Pride Month programming with a brand new 4K restoration!
The story follows Thelma (Geena Davis), a timid housewife, and Louise (Susan Sarandon), a no-nonsense waitress, as they embark on what starts as a weekend getaway and turns into a flight from the law. After Louise kills a man who attempts to rape Thelma, the two hit the road, realizing that the justice system is unlikely to see their side. Their journey becomes one of personal awakening, radical defiance, and ultimately, tragic liberation.
Thelma & Louise is more than a road movie—it’s a feminist landmark, a genre-defying tale of friendship, freedom, and fury that still resonates over three decades later.
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