The Scenesters

I loved this film. I saw it first at the Austin Film Festival and then saw it again when it hit the Chicago Film Festival. The second time I saw it, I got even more out of it. It has gotten some critical acclaim including Best Comedy at the Hollywood Film Festival, Best Director at the Edmunton Film Festival, and, I think it got Most Interesting Film at the SlamDance Film Festival. I know it got other awards, too, but I'm not sure of all of them.

The deliberate change from black & white to color and back again has significance, and it it fun to see it all played out. The film has been cast well and includes some very funny lines and scenes. If you like mystery and spoofs, you would find this film quite entertaining. I definitely recommend this film.

These filmmakers are very underrated.

This is a crime noir, tounge in cheek very clever and subtle comedy.

If people didn't like this film it's because they didn't get the nuance.

I have watched this film so many times. It has become one of my wife's favorites.

I want more people to see this film.

It's black and white and that will turn off a lot of people.

But don't be that guy.

Obviously they didn't have much of a budget and that's another reason to watch it, they did such a great job with what little they had. If you are a fan of film, or comedy or detective noir then you will love this.

When an unsuccessful artsy, film maker is forced to be a crime scene videographer, he finds his surprise inspiration for his next project, in a heartbroken, down on his luck, crime scene cleaner. But there is a serial killer on the loose in Los Angeles and things get personal and intense real fast. An entertaining film on many levels. It's part crime-drama, comedy, romance, court room drama and horror film. This film delivers on many levels! An original story that entertains and also has some good chills, thrills and twists! A very talented cast!! Well directed and super fun!! Plus, it's shot very well. A film within a film that keep us on our toes. Pays homage to the great city of Los Angeles. Some good cameos too.

If you borrow this film based on the 18 Film Festival palms listed at the top of the case, as I did, you're apt to be terribly disappointed by way too many minutes of silly pointless meandering nonsensical filmic moments adding up to less than nothing. Yep, it's edited and has a sound track, but it's no more a hip murder mystery than it's an "award winning" production. It has evidently played at a lot of festivals, and occasionally been deemed "interesting" or "well-written," but unless you're entertained by bad actors pretending to do a documentary, you may end up just wondering as I did: "Why did I bother to watch the whole thing?!" I'd rather watch "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" twice than see even half of this movie again. Even "Hank the Cave Peanut" is more entertaining. There are a few laughs in this, but Ouch! they're spread real thin. Do yourself a favor and watch almost anything else. A moment of camp, another of kitch, 8 moments of dreary cliché posing as art.

The Scenesters (2009)

A series of murders are being committed and it seems the killer is among a group of associates and friends in L.A. who all have a hand in investigating. Some of these people are filmmakers who have decided to film the scenes from the inside, and so there is both the omniscient footage of the overall situation and the footage being shot by the film (video) crew itself. Then there is added footage from other sources, like a training video for crime scene cleaners and the ongoing excerpts of a trial in a courtroom where the main characters appear to talk about the events in retrospect.

So what "The Scenesters" is first of all is complex, an interwoven and sometimes surprising tossed salad of points of view and styles. Some viewers will find it sloppy and annoying, or just confusing enough to give up, but in fact it makes pretty good sense, and the dumbed down acting can be forgiven or absorbed as intentional. Because these are meant to be regular people who happen to be caught on camera.

It's impossible and senseless to talk about plot here, beyond the step by stop procedure of finding another victim and getting more clues and false leads. It's only gruesome in small doses--this isn't a slasher film by any means. If anything it's a little too hip--a film made by young people for young people (people in their 20s, let's say). But that's also what keeps it current and fresh.

It's so much about how it's made you ought to at least try to watch it. I see that the IMDb rating is really low, under five stars, and yet the few actual written reviews give it nine or even ten stars each. That's revealing: people who are into movies and how they are made and really want to work at enjoying them (and who take the time to write reviews) got more out of the this movie. It doesn't mean it's flawless, not a bit, but it's very very interesting, one of the more intriguing movies I've seen in awhile.