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www.reel.com - : There's trouble in Reel Paradise for indie film guru John Pierson and his family, the outspoken and volatile subjects of Steve James's engaging, warts-and-all documentary. The acclaimed director of Hoop Dreams trains his cameras on the frequently embattled Pierson clan during the last month of their yearlong stay on the remote Fiji island of Taveuni. Like some cinematic missionary, Pierson dragged his wife and two mouthy kids to Taveuni to show free movies to the natives in the island's sole movie theater. The funny and eye-opening result mostly succeeds at illuminating the vast cultural differences between the Piersons and the islanders, without patronizing or romanticizing Fiji culture. more...
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efilmcritic.com - : SCREENED AT THE 2005 SXSW FILM FESTIVAL: To indie film geeks, Jon Pierson is God. The man who propelled the 90's indie film movement forward with his work on the Independent Film Channel, and with the breakthrough book Spike, Mike, Slackers and Dykes, has always been the kind of dude that an aspiring filmmaker wants to know. He's not only an encyclopedia of film knowledge, and he's not just a guy who clearly loves film more than just about anything, but he's also a heck of a nice guy who enjoys imparting his knowledge on people who share his loves in life. When Jon Pierson befriended Kevin Smith, it was to Smith's ongoing benefit. When he explored Spike Lee's work in detail, he did so from a position of comradery, as they were fighting the same eternal fight to make great, original cinema happen. So when a segment on Pierson's Split Screen TV show took him to the most remote cinema on the planet, a little one-screen shack on a tiny island in Fiji, where he and a filmmaker chose to see what would happen when they showed the locals the indie classic American Movie, it was almost a given that he'd be back one day. And boy howdy, was he. more...
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www.boxoffice.com - : The camera turns to the frontlines of movie magic -- namely exhibition -- in Steve James' engaging documentary ''Reel Paradise,'' which follows the story of cinema operator John Pierson and his family during their final month of a yearlong sojourn in Taveuni, one of Fiji's most remote islands. more...
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Critic Reviews
