The Flop House Recomends

In this Tony Award-winning musical by Stephen Sondheim, several fairy tale characters learn the hard way that the 'Happily Ever After' they sought isn't necessarily so happy after all.

Weekend trips, office parties, late night conversations, drinking on the job, marriage pressure, biological clocks, holding eye contact a second too long… you know what makes the line between “friends” and “more than friends” really blurry? Beer.

Shot in France, England, Switzerland and the United States, this documentary covers director Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo, Holy Mountain, Santa Sangre) and his 1974 Quixotic attempt to adapt the seminal sci-fi novel Dune into a feature film. After spending 2 years and millions of dollars, the massive undertaking eventually fell apart, but the artists Jodorowsky assembled for the legendary project continued to work together. This group of artists, or his “warriors” as Jodorowsky named them, went on to define modern sci-fi cinema with such films as Alien, Blade Runner, Star Wars and Total Recall.

A year after Sheila is killed in a hit-and-run, her multimillionaire husband invites a group of friends to spend a week on his yacht playing a scavenger hunt-style mystery game — but the game turns out to be all too real and all too deadly.

On the brink of separation, Ethan and Sophie escape to a beautiful vacation house for a weekend getaway in an attempt to save their marriage. What begins as a romantic and fun retreat soon becomes surreal, when an unexpected discovery forces the two to examine themselves, their relationship, and their future.

一直作為米路斯．科曼劇本鐵三角（另一位是帕培錫，也是本片編劇之一）成員的艾雲．巴薩，當然也走低度戲劇路線。同是音樂家的彼德與卡洛老友重逢，生活狀況大不同，你有伴侶我有家庭，然而都有說不出的不明朗，唯有以酒與音樂代替口水。全片推展不問目的，只在剎那間的意圖，行行企企比起科曼更義無反顧，卻有生活淡如流水的詩意和繆思，叫觀眾聯想到二十年後的伊力．盧馬。巴薩鍾愛音樂的程度不下於文字和電影，古典音樂與民間音樂於全片迴轉迴盪，難怪成了奇斯洛夫斯基十大心愛電影之一。

康城影展青年評審團獎，美國全國影評人協會特別獎

這部1966年的珍品，是捷克新浪潮短暫生命中最佳作品之一。成名音樂家到小鎮探訪舊同學，舊同學是個窮音樂教師，有時在喪禮上吹奏樂曲。平凡的素材在巴素手裡，變出風趣復罕見的旋律，一部憂鬱的喜劇，或灰色喜劇。

- Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

Ivan Passer's (Cutter's Way and Creator) last film to be made in his native Czechoslovakia is about friends – musician Petr and music teacher Karel – reunited when Petr returns to town for a performance. Passer frequently collaborated with Milos Forman and the episodic, low-action aesthetic that was evident in Forman's early work can be seen here. Years of separation have bred apprehension between the two men, and Karel's simmering jealousy makes their meeting all the more awkward. Eventually, the barriers crumble enough for the pair to freely discuss their lives. The film's simple beauty is in the details of the men's reacquainting themselves with each other, discovering each other's regrets and unfulfilled desires. Alive with pathos, humour and insight.

Special Award, National Society of Film Critics Awards

Its simple city mouse-country mouse story involves the meeting of two former schoolmates as they prepare for a small-town concert. Enlivened by Passer's flair for grotesquerie, this unassuming masterpiece maintains a delicate balance between hilarity and despair.

- Elliott Stein, Village Voice

Source: HKIFF Czech New Wave 2006

A soldier introduces himself to the Peterson family, claiming to be a friend of their son who died in action. After the young man is welcomed into their home, a series of accidental deaths seem to be connected to his presence.

A mild-mannered college professor discovers a look-alike actor and delves into the other man's private affairs.

Playing around with a Ouija board, a trio of friends succeeds in contacting the spirit of a young boy. Trouble begins when the evil spirit, Malfeitor, takes over one of their bodies.

Dr. Markway, doing research to prove the existence of ghosts, investigates Hill House, a large, eerie mansion with a lurid history of violent death and insanity.

Dr. Pretorius and his colleagues are working on a sensational experiment: by means of stimulation of the pineal gland, they want to open the human mind to higher dimensions. When the experiment succeeds, however, they are immediately attacked by terrible life forms, which apparently are floating around us all the time. When Dr. Pretorius is killed by one of them, Dr. Tillinghast is under suspect and thrown into the psycho ward due to his stories. Only the ambitious psychologist Dr. McMichaels believes him and wants to continue the experiment.

When average, law-abiding citizens suddenly turn to a life of hedonistic behavior and violent crime, Detective Tom Beck is tasked with helping young FBI agent Lloyd Gallagher determine the cause.

Director F.W. Murnau makes a Faustian pact with a vampire to get him to star in his 1922 film "Nosferatu."

Traveling businessman David Mann angers the driver of a rusty tanker while crossing the California desert. A simple trip turns deadly, as Mann struggles to stay on the road while the tanker plays cat and mouse with his life.

On a stormy night, young Jim, who transports a luxury car from Chicago to California to deliver it to its owner, feeling tired and sleepy, picks up a mysterious hitchhiker, who has appeared out of nowhere, thinking that a good conversation will help him not to fall asleep. He will have enough time to deeply regret such an unmeditated decision.

A young couple, living in a campus apartment complex, are repeatedly harassed by an eccentric plumber, who subjects them to a series of bizarre mind games while making unnecessary repairs to their bathroom.

First-time father Henry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child.

A gang of gold thieves land in a coven of witches who are preparing for an ancient ritual... and in need of a sacrifice.

An unscrupulous used car salesman and aspiring filmmaker in 1950s Los Angeles struggles to get his first film made, at all costs.

Grace, a compassionate young supervisor at a foster care facility, helps at-risk teens. But when a new charge dredges up memories of her own troubled past, Grace's tough exterior begins eroding.