Saul Rubinek Movies

Set in a future society controlled by the nearly omnipotent Life Corporation, this action drama chronicles the fate of a renegade gun smuggler who sells weapons to a small rebel faction fighting against the huge conglomerate. The gun runner's ordeal begins after he is captured by government officials and killed. As part of a diabolical experiment, they take his still-living brain and place it in his recently-murdered girlfriend's body. Fortunately for the rebels, this action has dire consequences for the Corporation. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this off-beat romance, a medical android used for surgical practice becomes the object of a lonely intern's affections. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Big business dealings, competition, and TV ratings wars are satirized in this biting comedy. Stuart Sain is an egotistical, over-ambitious Jewish executive. He works for Fielding, a company like Nielsen which uses small boxes to garner TV ratings statistics. Stuart is married to Cary, a psychologist. In the opening scenes, the GPN, which has been number 1 for over 10 years, is opening it's new season of drug oriented TV shows. After watching a televised special about Fielding, Sain gets mad and his promotion prospects are grim. He leaves his company and accepts a public relations position from Rachel Rowen, the pc head of PBT, the public television network. Rachel, like her commercial competitors is totally obsessed with being number 1. Her network does seem to be garnering a huge share of Fielding ratings. That may have something to do with the fact that their boxes are malfunctioning. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Actor Bob Hoskins directs this children's fantasy. When Mike (Willy Lavendal) actually finds the end of a rainbow, his friends don't believe it until he shows it to them. After that, they figure out how to find the next time and place for a rainbow-landing, and together they go to it. When they bicycle onto it, they find themselves transported more than a thousand miles away, to Kansas. There, they run afoul of the local Sheriff (Dan Aykroyd) and only make it back to the rainbow and then to their homes in New Jersey in the nick of time. When they tell their parents where they have been, they are quite naturally accused of making it all up. However, strange phenomena begin to occur and color begins to disappear from the world. One of them has taken some golden nuggets from the rainbow, and the nuggets must be returned if the world is to survive. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

A criminal trying to reform is forced to endure the most humiliating punishment of all -- hanging out with his son -- in this family comedy. Ray Gleason (Ted Danson) is a thief whose ambitions far outstrip both his skill and his intelligence; Ray is just bright enough to have realized this, and he's decided to go straight and open a bake shop (he learned how to decorate cakes during his last stay in prison). However, Ray needs to raise some working capital, so in association with his buddies Bobby (Saul Rubinek) and Carl (Gailard Sartain) he is planning his last heist, in which they hope to walk away with a highly valuable collection of rare coins. Ray also happens to have an 11-year-old son, Timmy (Macaulay Culkin), whose mother died several years ago; Timmy has been living with his aunt, but when she gets married and goes away on her honeymoon, Timmy ends up staying with Ray. Timmy is a lot smarter than his dad and quickly figures out what Ray and his cronies have been up to; he's long felt a great deal of resentment toward his father for not being around when he needed him, so Timmy steals the loot from the robbery and uses it to blackmail Ray into spending some quality time with him. Timmy also thinks that it's high time Ray settled down, so when he notices that Theresa (Glenne Headly), an undercover cop, has been following Ray's trail, Timmy tries to play matchmaker and bring them together. Getting Even with Dad would prove to be the next-to-last screen appearance for former pre-teen superstar Macaulay Culkin; he was 14 when this film was released, and within five years he was a married man attending the Rhode Island School of Design. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The late journalist Randy Shilts' best-selling book on the burgeoning AIDS crisis was adapted for cable TV by Arnold Schulman. In 1981, researchers begin discerning a mysterious new disease that apparently affects only homosexual males (or so they thought at that time). Working independently, and with marked hostility toward one another, an American and a French research team manage to identify and name the dreaded HIV virus. The long-range effects of AIDS is experienced through the first- and secondhand experiences of several unfortunates, including a choreographer (Richard Gere) whose character is said to be based on Michael Bennett. The all-star cast (most of whom eschewed their usual high salaries) includes Lily Tomlin as San Francisco health official Selma Dritz, Matthew Modine as Centers for Disease Control researcher Don Francis, Alan Alda as NIH official Robert Gallo (who emerges as the villain of the piece), Ian McKellan as gay activist Bill Kraus, and Glenne Headley, Steve Martin and Anjelica Huston in cameo roles. And the Band Played On debuted September 11, 1993, on HBO. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Tatum O'Neal headlines this dramatic fact-based account of a former model and police officer accused of killing her husband's first wife. The sensationalistic press coverage of her trial turns the ex-cop into a celebrity. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Quentin Tarantino scripted this wild and wooly blend of action and dark comedy, which reached theaters a year before his breakthrough hit Pulp Fiction. Clarence Worley (Christian Slater) is a well-meaning but socially unskilled comic-shop clerk whose idea of a big night out is catching a Sonny Chiba triple-feature at a downtown grindhouse. Clarence is celebrating his birthday in just such a manner when he meets a beautiful girl named Alabama (Patricia Arquette), and it's love at first sight for both of them. Clarence's enthusiasm isn't dampened much when he discovers Alabama is actually a prostitute who was paid by his boss to bump into him; she's only been in the business for a few days, and is more than eager to give up streetwalking to be with Clarence. However, Alabama is certain her pimp, Drexl (Gary Oldman), will not be happy; he's an ill-mannered sort with mob connections and a fondness for violence. Chivalrous Clarence offers to break the news to Drexl and collect her belongings, but he doesn't tell her he also plans to kill Drexl while he's there; a melee breaks out that leaves Drexl and his henchmen dead. Clarence grabs a suitcase that he thinks contains Alabama's clothes, but he discovers it instead holds five million dollars' worth of cocaine. The couple hits the road for California, planning to sell the dope and enjoy the good life in South America with the proceeds, but soon a group of very unhappy underworld characters are after them, as well as the police. True Romance also stars Dennis Hopper as Clarence's father, Christopher Walken as a mob boss who wants his cocaine back, Brad Pitt as a cheerful stoner, and Val Kilmer as the ghost of Elvis Presley. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Actor Jack Nicholson, writer Carole Eastman, and director Bob Rafelson re-team 22 years after their classic Five Easy Pieces, for this romantic comedy. Nicholson plays Harry Bliss, a small potatoes security expert unhappily married to a Japanese woman (he sarcastically calls her Iwo Jima during therapy sessions). Harry's life is coming apart at the seams -- not only is his marriage on the rocks, but the IRS and assorted creditors are nipping at his heels. Then opera singer Joan Spruance (Ellen Barkin) contacts him. It seems she wants Harry's help in obtaining an attack dog for her apartment, since an unknown person has been burglarizing her home and attacking her with an ax. Needless to say, Harry and Joan fall in love. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

While on a dangerous shuttlecraft mission, Data is kidnapped by hobby-obsessed space trader Kivas Fajo (Saul Rubinek), who wants to add the android to his personal collection. To cover his tracks, Fajo destroys the shuttle, leading the Enterprise crew to sadly conclude that Data is dead. Suppressing their grief, the crew sets about to complete Data's mission, while the "deceased" android attempts to outwit his captor. First telecast May 12, 1990, "The Most Toys" was written by Shari Goodhartz. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Young Noam Zylberman, a well-known Canadian child actor (and cartoon voiceover veteran), stars in The Outside Chance of Maximillian Glick. Growing up in a Jewish household during the 1960s, Zylberman would like to escape the confines of tradition and chart his own course. He finally gets the opportunity break free and pursue his ambitions. A have-it-both-ways finale marks this otherwise refreshing youth-oriented Canadian film. Outside Chance of Maximillian Glick was released in the US in 1991, two years after its Canadian premiere. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A grieving mother tries to track down the hit-and-run driver who killed her 12-year-old son in this well-performed drama. Dinah Middleton (Kerrie Keane) is divorced from husband Max (Daniel Pilon). The couple's skateboarding son Alex (Leif Anderson) is hit by Owen Hughes (Saul Rubinek), a New York businessman and later dies in the hospital. After the driver is tracked to the U.S., manslaughter charges are dismissed on a technicality, and Dinah learns the treaty between Canada and the United States will make extradition nearly impossible. The differences and attitudes of the two countries toward each other becomes part of the story in addition to Dinah's search for justice. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi