Paradise (2013)

One of my all time favorites.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

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.

Leave it to the award winning screenwriter of Juno to write a comedy about a burn victim. Paradise is about Lamb, a highly sheltered young woman who was raised under strict religious values by her family in small town in Montana. A traumatic plane crash leaves most of her body severely burned, she later gets a large settlement of money from suing the plane manufacturer. The movie begins with lamb announcing that she will not give any of her new found riches to the church as originally planned but will go out to Las Vegas and start to enjoy life. When she arrives at sin city Lamb become friends with a female lounge singer, (Octavia Spencer) and an amorous British bartender (Russell Brand). Together they help Lamb check off things from her "Bucket List of Sin" in the city that never sleeps.I must be clear that I am a Diablo Cody fan, I have been since the beginning when she wrote her novel Candy Girl, about her experiences as a stripper. What makes Paradise unique is that this is the first feature Diablo Cody wrote and directed. I had to check this movie out and watched it keeping that in mind. This movie, Paradise was made on a lower budget then the previous films she wrote. It was shot digitally, not on film but I feel this did not take anything away from the story because it was so funny and well written.The witty dialogue in this film is what you would expect from Diablo Cody. It is the kind of humor that makes you laugh and then laugh louder when you think about it more. This writer's use of voice over is also a strong element. Cody said that this voice over was an after thought, conceived while they were editing. This narration helped carry us through the story, I am glad they added it. By the time I reached the films ending it was clear that this movie was more than just your run of the mill comedy. Diablo Cody paid attention to every detail, she foreshadows things nicely and it shows.How well did this accomplished screenwriter do as a director? The movie looked good and showed off a different side of Las Vegas. The camera movement was motivated and supported what was going on in the scene, something first time directors can have trouble with. In a recent KCRW radio interview Diablo Cody said that being a full time mother and a director was too much, that she does not want to direct again. She did a great job. Maybe someday when her kids are older she will changer her mind and take the director's chair again. If Paradise is any indication, her fans will still be there. I know I will.Review written by Curt Wiser, writer director of the thriller Cam-Girl (aka Web-Cam).

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