Reel Paradise

This documentary shows what happens when famed producer’s rep/author/gadabout John Pierson convinces his family to move with him to Fiji, where, if all goes according to plan, he can leave behind the indie-film rat race, immerse himself in a completely foreign culture, and, best of all, screen all sorts of movies for the natives.

"...burglaries, and theatre travails galore, but at its core Reel Paradise serves not only as a charming, witty glimpse..."

Sept. 30, 2005 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Return to Paradise

"...Vera Farmiga, Nick Sandow and Ming Lee. Return to Paradise is sort of Midnight Express retooled for Gen-X sensibilities...."

Aug. 14, 1998 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Paradise

Ten years after Gravity, Alejandro Escovedo finds his "Paradise."

"...of everyday life competes with nonexistent decibels. For every reel-to-reel tape player, there's a clothesline of paper cutouts stretched..."

June 28, 2002 Music Feature by Raoul Hernandez

No Family Is an Island

The Piersons on 'Reel Paradise'

"...free screenings at the 180 Meridian Cinema. Steve James' Reel Paradise documents the experience, picking up with the family..."

Sept. 30, 2005 Screens Feature by Spencer Parsons

Anxiety of Influence

Teenagers Georgia and Wyatt Pierson on their family's filmic mission to Fiji

"...to be a comically honest description – much like Reel Paradise, the film made about the experience. In Steve..."

March 11, 2005 Screens Feature by Spencer Parsons

A Full Dance Card

Back in Austin after eight days in the land of mountains and Mormons at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, it's hard to distill the experience into any one verity. The combination of dozens of movies and the oxygen-poor altitude create memories that seem more impressionistic than precise.

"...The documentary Reel Paradise by Hoop Dreams director Steve James features the..."

Feb. 4, 2005 Screens Feature by Marjorie Baumgarten

Love and Cinema: Janet and John Pierson

Texas Film Awards honorees and indie cinema's fairy godparents Janet and John Pierson look back on 40 years at the movies

"...by the DIY ethos of Jim Jarmusch's Stranger Than Paradise. Janet said, "We were alive and young at a..."

March 3, 2023 Screens Feature by Richard Whittaker

Growing Up in War Zones

The magic of cinema inspires kids in a Kurdish village to take camera in hand

"...will feel familiar to those who've seen Steve James' Reel Paradise (2005), which chronicled what happened when John Pierson..."

July 8, 2011 Screens Feature by Anne S. Lewis

Into the Blue

Reacquaint yourself with one Paul Walker, the Jean-Paul Belmondo of the New Preposterousness

"...Reel Paradise (Fox Lorber, $24.98, Feb. 14): The Pierson family..."

Feb. 10, 2006 Screens Review by Spencer Parsons

SXSW Film Reviews

"...REEL PARADISE..."

March 18, 2005 Screens Feature by Marrit Ingman

Page Two

SXSW 2005 looms on the horizon

"...Reel Paradise (Documentary, directed by Steve James): Hoop Dreams filmmaker..."

Feb. 11, 2005 Column by Louis Black

Into Thin Air

The already under way adventures of Austinites at the Dances Sun and Slam, and what they might mean for the local scene

"...the World." Then, in the Sundance Documentary Competition, there's Reel Paradise, concerning the Fijian adventures of John and Janet..."

Jan. 21, 2005 Screens Feature by Spencer Parsons

Three Guys, a Girl, and a Dog Named Friday

Austin film collective Jollyville Pictures on its ingredients for success

"...off chance that you haven't awakened to the sinner's paradise that is this particular music video, go turn on..."

Dec. 18, 2009 Screens Feature by Marc Savlov

Tia Carrera

"...the pinnacle of this three-song session, captured on one reel of 1-inch tape at Sweatbox Studios August 2005 with..."

June 8, 2007 Music Review by Austin Powell

SXSW Film Goes Right to the Moon

Apollo 10 1/2, Sandra Bullock, and more join movie list

"...Punks (Canada) Director: Reginald Harkema, Producers: Nick McKinney, Kim Creelman Through never before-seen archive material, interviews with celebrities, industry..."

Feb. 2, 2022 Screens Post by Richard Whittaker

Terry Allen Revisits His Definitive Albums

Lubbock musician on Juarez and Lubbock (On Everything)

"...North Carolina label Paradise of Bachelors has reissued Juarez and Lubbock (On Every­thing)..."

Oct. 21, 2016 Music Feature by Jim Caligiuri

Jimmy Buffett Revisits Life Before the Beach in Return to Austin

Willis Alan Ramsey and Django Walker bubble up at Moody Center show

"...the anthems of “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” “Cheeseburger in Paradise” and, of course, “Margaritaville,” all soaked up by the..."

June 12, 2022 Music Post by Doug Freeman

Faster Than Sound: The Fable Trilogy, Briscoe Center's "Greatest Hits," and Beerland Sold

Rare local reissues from Jazzman Records, the Briscoe Center’s Music Collections presents its “Greatest Hits,” and – has Beerland been sold?

"...rapper Black Milk's "Money Bags" sampled Starcrost's slinky "False Paradise."..."

May 31, 2019 Music Column by Rachel Rascoe

Extreme Metal All-Stars Vltimas Debut “Monolilith”

Ex-Morbid Angel singer David Vincent hosted local LP sessions

"...doom beacon. Needlepoint guitars, jackhammer hooks, and occult vox reel in another highlight in “Everlasting.”..."

Feb. 28, 2019 Music Post by Raoul Hernandez

A New Era for the Travis County Democratic Party

After years of infighting and a tumultuous election in March, the TCDP must now proceed as one

"...unprecedented, and Limon-Mercado ran a campaign that would ultimately reel in a consequential string of endorsements from those beyond..."

June 15, 2018 News Feature by Nina Hernandez

Page Two: Loving and Hating John Wayne, Meryl Streep, Free Speech

Public or private, unspoken or expressed, the rights of every citizen are guaranteed

"...And don't go mistaking Paradise..."

Jan. 13, 2017 Column by Louis Black

Wreck of the Elizabeth Dane

Ghost stories

"...flares immediately into the movie’s theme, Phantom of the Paradise synthesizer butchering the mood. The piano figure has already..."

July 13, 2007 Music Post by Raoul Hernandez

Doug Sahm & the Sir Douglas Quintet

"...while Sahm's clip-clopping "Be Real" singes the Quintet highlight reel. As delicious as the horn innuendo of Junior Parker's..."

April 15, 2005 Music Review by Raoul Hernandez

The Defiant Deviant

The Austin Film Society and Alamo Drafthouse gang up for Bloodbath and Beyond: The Extreme Cinema of Takashi Miike and more

"...for Shiina reunites the two in the film's final reel, a golden-bathed set-piece of body horror guaranteed to satiate..."

Feb. 25, 2005 Screens Feature by Wells Dunbar

Immigrant Song

Kim Richey -- outta Nashville, into Austin.

"...Rise had its genesis in Bay Area groovers' paradise Mendocino, at the studio of producer Bill Bottrell, whose..."

Oct. 4, 2002 Music Feature by John T. Davis

Summer Film Previews

Pearl Harbor: From Eternity to Here

"...ideals of heroism and sacrifice. Pearl Harbor hopes to reel in great numbers of viewers and ladle out liberal..."

May 25, 2001 Screens Feature by Marjorie Baumgarten

Live at Liberty Lunch

The Neville Brothers

"...It's the standard Austin epiphany -- the gates of paradise thing -- but it never grows old. The original..."

July 23, 1999 Music Feature

The Long, Hot Summer

Books to Spend Your Summer With

"...(Ever been called a crank-sided, blobber-lipped, snaggle-toothed, filthy-mouthed, box-ankled, reel-footed Black Republican? Or been pronounced "so fearfully low down..."

June 5, 1998 Books Feature

Making Movies on Cyber-Location

Doug Block's Film, Home Page, and How It Grew

"...the deal Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky had for Paradise Lost, and The Celluloid Closet had too, and my..."

Feb. 27, 1998 Screens Feature by Jon Lebkowsky

Live Shots

"...Conscious Party. That song, a dreamy, haunting evocation of paradise, not only echoes some of his father's best work..."

Oct. 3, 1997 Music Feature

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