Reel Paradise

I've been on a documentary jag recently and I've seen a lot of them, across a wide range of production value and personal interest.I ran across REEL PARADISE and found it REEL HARD TO WATCH. Like sitting next to a... Full review

This sprawling mess went on for almost two hours, and I was getting so irritated that I almost left three different times. This pretends to be a documentary, but it's really an unfocused examination of a dysfunctional family of four... Full review

We rented Reel Paradise anticipating a look into the trials of running a movie theater in a remote location, and dealing with cultural and language challenges. Evidently there weren't enough trials to fill the film, so the trials of being... Full review

This well-made documentary follows the last month of a year long visit of a New York independent film promoter and his family, who are showing free films on an island in Fiji to the local population.The documentary makers realised that... Full review

"Reel Paradise" documents the events surrounding the final month of an American family's one year stay on a remote Fujian island. Even though it deals mostly with John Pierson, previously a highly persuasive voice in promoting independent film, and his... Full review

I viewed this based on, frankly, I can't remember what, but what I came away with was a vision of Americans as much of the world sees us, self-absorbed, selfish, completely unaffected by trampling on the rest of the world... Full review

I fell in love with Fiji several years ago and return every June to detox from America. Fiji represents amazing incongruencies that push the visitor to the edge. You have unspeakable beauty and isolation in such a remote location but... Full review

This movie is well made. It's amusing. It is an interesting portrait of families, cultures, and their various clashes as well has harmonies. It has a bit of an arc to it - enough to keep it going.But this is... Full review

John Pierson imposed himself, his wife, and his two children on the natives of a remote island in Fiji. The island could have used resources for education and health care. John Pierson "contributed" by showing movies to the island people.... Full review

John Pierson's goal was to immortalize himself on film. Mission accomplished. However, this indie film was quite disturbing on several levels. John and Janet Pierson don't have the first clue on how to be parents. John came across in the... Full review

Sometimes a documentary will operate from a premise so irresistible that liking it is a foregone conclusion. Such is the case with Reel Paradise (2005), a film about an American family who moves to the Fijian island of Taveuni for... ... Full Article

pike, Mike, Slackers & Dykes author John Pierson was instrumental in launching the careers of Richard Linklater, Michael Moore, Kevin Smith, and Spike Lee, but after soaking up some 20 years of independent cinema, the man's brain needed rinsing out. ... Full Article

It's a dream entertained by just about everyone I know who takes movies too seriously. We compose special lists of films, and in moments of disappointment and desperation, we retreat into the fantasy of a desert island where we might... ... Full Article