What makes it different from others?

Lack of good storyline.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Very few people have reviewed this movie probably because it's not very good (no offense to those who liked it). I saw the movie on one of the premium TV channels and almost stopped after the first 15 minutes. I decided to keep watching to see if it could possibly get better, but unfortunately I wasted my time. I won't try to describe the movie, look at other reviews for that, but essentially, this looks like an attempt by film class students at making a movie. Most of it is shot with the appearance of amateur home movies. It's rated R because of language, adult content and some violence. The IMDb has placed it in the following Genre: Comedy, Crime, Mystery, and I agree. It is humorous at times, but really is more a pathetic attempt at humor most of the time. I really tried to give it the benefit of the doubt so I watched the entire film. In the end I was debating whether to give it a rating of 2, 3, or 4 on a scale of 10. I decided to be generous and give it a 3/10. It isn't the worst film I've ever seen but is certainly in the bottom 5% of the thousands of films I've seen. I would not recommend it and if you are interested in an in offbeat film to pass the time, I'd suggest the movie "11:14" which is 100 times better.

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.

I was fortunate enough to see a screening of this along with the "Annapolis Pretentious Film Society" a few nights ago. In attendance was Todd Berger himself. It was a great chance to hear from the writer/director about the process of making this delightfully funny film-noir/detective movie. As a film lover, I loved that I could sit back and enjoy the gentle mocking of the noir films of days gone by and laugh out loud at some truly absurd moments. Berger helped explain the cameos/bigger-star scenes (Fenn, Landis, etc.). I really hope that some of these stories making it onto the "making of" portion of the DVD. I anxiously await the moment when this gets released on DVD -- because I would love to watch it again with some friends!

I had the chance to see this at the Phoenix Film Fest, I did not really know what to expect going in but I have to say I walked away very pleasantly surprised.The Scenesters is essentially a Murder Mystery, Comedy with some Film Noir thrown in for good measure. This film is very unique not only in its quirky story but also in the way it was shot, the entire film is shot from the viewpoint of Crime Scene video, courtroom video, surveillance video or from the view of the documentary crew following the main characters.This gives the film a very unique feel and yet it does not distract from the story.Writer/Director/actor Todd Berger has crafted a very well put together script, he actually won Best Screenplay at the festival. The story has its fair share of twists and turns that keep you guessing and quite a few laugh out loud moments.Blaise Miller is great as the manipulated hero and both Todd Berger and Jeff Grace are hilarious as the Director and Producer. The Vactioneers (the comedy group Berger, Miller and Grace belong to) is a team that we all should keep our eyes on because if the Scenesters is their rookie foray into feature film-making I cant wait to see what they will do next.Do not hesitate to check this film out if you are lucky enough to get the chance.