The Age of Commercialism

Thanks for the memories!

An unexpected masterpiece

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Paradise is one of those movies that tries to talk about religion and us trying to find ourselves back. I think Juliane Hough did a pretty good job even Russell Brad was pretty good. Holly Hunter (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice & The Incredibles) also has a small role as her mother and Octavia Spencer. It's not a perfect movie it's pretty small in run time and pretty slow but that doesn't mean it's a 4.9 kind of a movie it hit some of the right buttons and it had 1 or 3 laughs and i enjoyed for what it was besides there are worse movies out there for sure like Cake with Jennifer Aniston. I give Paradise a 7 out of 10 it was pretty good.

3.9 of 10. No excuses for Diablo Cody with this film. She wrote and directed. Despite doing both, she once again shows she has only a grasp of satire the way a virgin has a grasp of sex. It's an improvement upon the Juno mess, but not much.Cody seems to have a strength in ideas and setting up gags, but really needs help from a more expert story teller/director so her stories are something more than artificially prolonged Saturday Night Live gags. As others have pointed out, it starts strong, much like Juno, then Diablo's lack of depth, knowledge, and creativity becomes exposed and turns the film into melodramatic tedium that only someone stuck in a hospital burn unit could enjoy.

I wasn't expecting much from this movie, but I was pleasantly surprised. Not only did it hit home for a friend who was in a similar disfiguring accident, but the characterizations were refreshing and inspired. Bravo to all the main actors, you took me on your journey and I was not disappointed. My only criticism is I would have like to see a bit more of what became of the characters after the events of the movie, or at least Lamb. It shows her tacking up postcards, of her on a plane, her words that she wanted to help people...but was left vague..I would like more details. My friend thinks she blew all her money helping "Amber", I think she had plenty left. An exact dollar amount was never mentioned. "millions" I believe was as close as they came. I think she still had plenty more with which to travel the world. Overall though, I definitely recommend.

After surviving a plane crash that left her with major burns, Lamb (Julianne Hough) begins to question her faith and life. She then flees religious community and goes to Las Vegas in hopes to find herself and live the life she was warned about back home. It is there that she meets William (Russell Brand) and Loray (Octavia Spencer) who teach Lamb the way of life in Vegas, but she also teaches them life lessons of her own. Diablo Cody, the director of Juno and Young Adult is back with a new film that clearly shows her touch. Paradise is a film with as much charm and heart as her previous films. It's a film that speaks to youth about the bigger world around us and how there is so much out there for them to experience. The film features some humorous moments as we watch our protagonist experience all of these new events for the first time as well as her encounters with the people she comes across. The film's meaning stays ever-present throughout until our lead comes to the realization herself. However, there are instances where the film tends to over-preach and draws the viewer out. But it doesn't take away a lot from the story.The film is also backed by some very well-done performances by it's cast. Julianne Hough shines as the naive and innocent Lamb. Hough does an excellent job of bringing these qualities out through her facial expressions and her line delivery. And in the moments when Lamb hits her emotional patches we actually find ourselves caring. Russell Brand and Octavia Spencer provide a lot of the comic relief as Lamb's newfound friends William and Loray. Here we actually see a different side of Brand along with his comedic side as his character becomes compassionate for Lamb during her times of doubt. Spencer becomes the moralistic friend for Lamb when she feels she is getting in too deep, but also has her moments of comedy and sarcasm.Although the film can get very preachy, it has the right amount of comedy, heart, and charm too keep the viewer engaged, along with it's talented cast and professional direction.My Rating: 8/10