Masterpiece Theatre

OK our 5 films have been selected for the Hidden Masterpieces contest and the viewing has begun.

The films....

Habit (1996) Directed by Larry Fessenden. Shockingly, a revisionist '90s vampire film selected by Joe.

Gambling City (1975) Directed by Sergio Martino. A surprise (perhaps dark horse?) Italian crime pick from Jules.

Little Criminals (1995) Directed by Stephen Surjik. The lone Brit picks an obscure Canadian flick with – apparently – a great soundtrack and coming of age story. The highest rated IMDb selection of the bunch at 7.9

The Elevator Movie (2004) Directed by Zeb Haradon. Dropkick weighs in with a surreal dark comedy in which a man and a woman get stuck in an elevator and are forced to live there for several months. The most recent film entered.

All Night Long (1962) Directed by Basil Deardon. The obvious masterpiece in this lot (and eventual winner, if the rest of these clowns know what's good for them). A brilliant Jazz-infused reworking of Othello chosen by Scott.

The scoring.....

Each of us reviews all the movies except our own and the film with the highest total score takes all.

5 categories are each marked out of 10 a perfect score is therefore 200 points (all 4 reviewers give 10/10 on each of the categories.

Film Quality – A kind of director's mark. The overall quality of the picture in terms of shots, flow, pacing and look. The quality of the print should be disregarded and instead efforts made to rate the director's intent and the final product

Acting – How good is the acting? Are the characters believable and engaging? Is there a standout performance?

Message – Does it have anything to say? Is there a point to it? Is (or was) it relevant? Is (or was) the story fresh, unusual or particularly well-told?

Obscurity – How rare or unknown is it? Does it crop up in any lists or reviews? Has anyone else seen it's merits in the same way you have? If there are many reviews around and/or the film has been named by a critic as a standout film, marks are reduced. If no one's (or very few have) commented on it, the mark is higher.

Masterpiece quotient – Is it? Every film that rates the “masterpiece” label has to have something about it that makes it unique and special. Does the film in question have these qualities?

Bonus scoring....

Jazz quotient - How much Jazz is in the film? Are there Jazz musicians in the cast? (up to 10 bonus points may be given)

Script quotient - How famous is the screenplay? Did someone important pen it? (up to 10 bonus points may be given)

Good luck.

Sporgey.