Ruben Garfias Movies
Adapted from author Lois Duncan's 1971 children's book of the same name, director Thor Freudenthal's Hotel for Dogs follows two mischievous orphans as they attempt to hide dozens of stray dogs in an abandoned hotel. Disheartened by their new guardians' announcement that pets are strictly forbidden, 16-year-old Andi (Emma Roberts) and her younger brother, Bruce (Jake T. Austin), race to find a home for their loyal dog Friday. Fortunately for Friday, there's an abandoned hotel just around the corner, and Bruce possesses just the kind of mechanical smarts needed to transform the rundown inn into a four-star retreat for canines. For a while, Friday and his friends have it made, but when the neighbors start to get suspicious, Andi and Bruce resort to every trick in the book in order to prevent their secret from being discovered. Don Cheadle, Emma Roberts, and Lisa Kudrow star in a family-friendly film penned by screenwriter Jeff Lowell. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Emma Roberts, Jake T. Austin, (more)
William Dear (Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann) helms the period baseball drama The Perfect Game, a cinematization of real-life events that transpired in 1957. Clifton Collins Jr. stars as Cesar Faz, a 1950s baseball player who immigrated from Mexico to the U.S. with the intent of making it as a Major League player. After encountering racism and hostility that stand squarely in the way of his success, Faz high-tails it south of the border and decides instead to coach a Little League team, ultimately guiding it all the way to the Little League World Series. The film co-stars Emilie de Ravin (Lost); W. William Winokur authored the script. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Clifton Collins, Jr., Cheech Marin, (more)
An engaged young couple finds their lifetime of happiness unexpectedly compromised by a pushy minister who insists they successfully complete his comprehensive marriage-prep course before exchanging wedding vows in a matrimonial comedy starring John Krasinski, Mandy Moore, and Robin Williams. Sadie Jones (Moore) has always longed to marry the man of her dreams in her family church. Though she found her lifetime companion in Ben Murphy (Krasinski), Sadie is distressed to learn that St. Augustine's has only one wedding slot available over the next two years. While Sadie and Ben do qualify for the slot, charismatic St. Augustine's minister Reverend Frank (Williams) won't wed the couple until they agree to attend his two-week prenuptial course. Now, as their wedding date draws near, Sadie and Ben must attend every one of Reverend Frank's exhausting classes and complete a series of rigorous homework assignments designed specifically to test their dedication to one another and ensure that their union will have a sound foundation. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robin Williams, Mandy Moore, (more)
- 2004
The president's in town, so The Barn is operating with a skeleton crew, which gives Vic (Michael Chiklis) and the Strike Team a window of opportunity. They somehow have to get the documents denoting the marked bills from the "Money Train" heist, which Aceveda (Benito Martinez) got from the treasury department, out of Aceveda's safe. Vic also has to deal with the mother of a teenaged girl who disappeared. The mom says a local street singer has written a narcocorrido detailing the girl's murder and burial. When Vic goes to search for the girl's body, he finds eight other corpses, all young illegals who died from exposure to methane. Vic also arranges an assignation with Lauren (Natalie Zea) of the canine unit, despite the fact that she's involved in a relationship. Aceveda gets rough with a suspect, and confides in a friend about his traumatic recent encounter with the two gang members. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
Two brothers fall into a destructive cycle of violence that transforms their lives in ways they could have never foreseen. Simon (Douglas Spain) and Pete (JoJo Hendrickson) were orphaned as young boys. Their adoptive father Bert (Ruben Garfias) was a stern police sergeant with a hard heart. Years later, Pete has become a budding journalist, while movie theater usher Simon has adopted Bert's macho swagger. When one of their oldest friends becomes entangled with a vicious loan shark, the stage is set for a violent confrontation. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Douglas Spain, Jojo Henrickson, (more)
In this hard-edged urban drama, when a shocking murder is committed in a Hispanic neighborhood in East Lost Angeles, the local residents are up in arms and demand action from the police. When the cops prove slow to investigate the killing, the local street gangs who prowl the area put aside their differences and set out to find the murderer themselves. Starring Ruben Garfias, Robert Arevalo, and Nenna Quiroz, The Barrio Murders was the first feature film from writer and director Jojo Henrickson. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
This interesting action-horror film stars Mario Van Peebles as a tough cop who becomes the latest recruit in a secret faction of the police which not only operates on the fringes of the law, but is also composed entirely of werewolves. Horror fans who choose to embrace the fundamental goofiness of this premise will find an interesting blend of hyperkinetic John Woo-style action, comic-book fantasy, and good old-fashioned monster mayhem. Inducted into the league of lycanthropic lawmen by one of its more aesthetically pleasing members (Patsy Kensit), Van Peebles partakes of a drug which, like the others on the squad, brings out his animal instincts and endows him with superhuman strength and agility (as well as some unsightly body hair). Despite some touches of black comedy, director Anthony Hickox plays the material fairly straight, with a strong emphasis on slick, tightly edited action sequences. Originally produced for HBO, this was later released on video with some of the gorier footage restored. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mario Van Peebles, Patsy Kensit, (more)
In Patriot Games, Harrison Ford plays former CIA agent Jack Ryan, taking over from Alec Baldwin, who had played author Tom Clancy's brainy protagonist in Hunt for Red October. This time around, Ryan foils an attempted assassination, thereby incurring the wrath of a maniacal Irish radical (Sean Bean). After seemingly neutralizing the villains, and deciding to celebrate the occasion with his wife (Anne Archer) and daughter (Thora Birch), everything appears to be back to normal; then all hell breaks loose. Author Tom Clancy himself bemoaned the liberties taken with his novel in the final sequences; the picture scored with audiences, however, and soon inspired a followup, A Clear and Present Danger (1994), also starring Ford. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Harrison Ford, Anne Archer, (more)
Dan Aykroyd must have practiced for months to perfect his Jack Webb inflections for Dragnet. Screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz's directorial debut (also written by Mankiewicz, along with Aykroyd, and Alan Zweibel) is a gentle spoof of the legendary '50s television police drama -- pitting '50s conservatism smack up against the attitudes of the '80s. Basically, the film is another 48 Hours or Beverly Hills Cop clone. Aykroyd stars as Joe Friday, the nephew of the original Friday. But with his brown suit, fedora, and lockjaw, he could just as well be the incarnation of Jack Webb. He is involuntarily assigned a smart alecky, street-wise partner, Pep Streebeck (Tom Hanks), and they are appointed to investigate a series of religious cult murders in L.A. The two cops follow the trail to a phony televangelist, the Reverend Jonathan Whirley (Christopher Plummer). From there, they are only at step away from uncovering an Orange County-based religious cult calling itself P.A.G.A.N. (People Against Goodness and Normalcy). After sneaking into a secret ceremony, Friday falls in love with the sacrificial victim Connie Swail (Alexandra Paul). So much so that even after his superior Captain Gannon (Harry Morgan, reprising his role from the '60s revival of the Dragnet program) orders him off the case, Friday continues on, with the requisite car chases and crashes that usually climax any '80s cop movie or comedy. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dan Aykroyd, Tom Hanks, (more)
