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Most Torontonians from my generation remember City TV’s Baby Blue Movies on Saturday nights. More specifically, many people remember watching them at a hushed volume so as to not wake their parents. But, other than the novelty and kitsch value, the movies had few redeeming qualities. If you want to relive the feeling you had while sneaking around watching these exciting, but ultimately terrible soft core movies, you should check out Our Paradise.

Our Paradise revolves around the professional life of Vassili, a full-time prostitute and part-time murderer. One night, while leaving a victims house through the forest, he stumbles upon a bruised and bloody young man with a mysterious past. The young man is unwilling to tell Vassili his name or why he ended up in the forest, but Vassili is drawn to the young man, who he names Angelo. Together, the two of them take part in a seemingly unending number of threesome/murders, including bizarre sex acts involving rats and gas masks.

Over the 90-something minutes this film lasts, we see Angelo and Vassili interact with characters who go nowhere and serve no purpose other than titillation, we see plot lines dropped as quick as they were brought to fruition and we see lots of very explicit moments between Vassili, Angelo and their victims. Sadly, once we reach the climax of the movie, there is so little character development or semblance of anything interesting other than endless sex scenes; no one really cares what happens to Vassili or Angelo.

So, while  Our Paradise does recall  those fun, old skinemax movies, it unfortunately does so through its tired plot line, shallow characters and copious amounts of sex.

Our Paradise is screening  on Monday, May 21,  2012 at 7:00pm. Check the Inside Out website for more details.

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Stephanie Hubbard

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