My Sister’s Keeper

June 26th, 2009 Rubin Safaya 2 comments
SOFIA VASSILIEVA as Kate and CAMERON DIAZ as Sara in New Line Cinema

Kate Fitzgerald (Sofia Vassilieva) isn’t a celebrity, isn’t a supermodel. She’s a 14-year old girl who has lived most of her childhood suffering from acute promyelocytic leukemia. Her sister, Anna (an uncharacteristically thoughtful performance by Abigail Breslin), was engineered in a test tube at the suggestion of their [...more]

Year One

June 19th, 2009 Rubin Safaya 1 comment
Jack Black and Michael Cera in Columbia Pictures' comedy YEAR ONE.  © 2009 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Zed (Jack Black) and Oh (Michael Cera) are outcasts. The former because he ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and the latter because, well, he’s the token sensitive guy (read: pansy). As hunter-gatherers, their primary objective is, according to Oh, to “find all [...more]

The Taking of Pelham 123

June 12th, 2009 Rubin Safaya 1 comment
John Travolta in Columbia Pictures' action thriller THE TAKING OF  PELHAM 123, also starring Denzel Washington.  Photo credit: RICO TORRES

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, based on the novel by John Godey and related to the 1974 film directed by Joseph Sargent, begins with an establishing shot of New York that looks beautiful for about three seconds, until it is interrupted by a typical Tony Scott opening credits [...more]

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The Hangover

June 5th, 2009 Rubin Safaya No comments
(L-R) Alan (ZACH GALIFIANAKIS), Stu (ED HELMS), Doug (JUSTIN BARTHA) and Phil (BRADLEY COOPER) in THE HANGOVER, a Warner Bros. Pictures release.  Photo by Frank Masi.

Even a formula can exceed expectations now and then. That’s what I discovered watching The Hangover, a film about, of all things, a foursome who travels to Vegas on their bachelor party. After the wedding montage, we cut to the disheveled group and Phil Wenneck (Bradley Cooper, looking [...more]

My Life In Ruins

June 5th, 2009 Rubin Safaya No comments
L- R: Nia Vardalos and Alexis Georgoulis. Photo Credit: Teresa Isasi. ©2009, Fox Searchlight Pictures.

I still can’t figure out how or why movies like this are greenlighted. From the opening, postcard-styled titles, Georgia (Nia Vardalos) nearly beats us to death with exposition for the subtextually-impaired. “People come here from all over to see the ancient ruins,” says Georgia. You don’t say? [...more]

Up

May 29th, 2009 Rubin Safaya No comments
(L-R) Dug, Carl Fredricksen, Russell ©Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

Carl Fredricksen (Ed Asner) spent his youth idolizing the seasoned adventurer Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer). Watching an old news reel in a theater, little Carl had his crash helmet and goggles at the ready to dream of traveling the world to see creatures from distant lands—namely Paradise Falls. [...more]

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Sita Sings the Blues

May 22nd, 2009 Rubin Safaya No comments
Image: © Nina Paley 2008

They worship me as One and as many, because they see that all is in me. -Krishna, Bhagavad Gita 9:15

Since its authorship sometime 2,500 years ago, the Ramayana by Valmiki, one of two major Hindu epics, has been translated and adapted countless times. Having been born in India to [...more]

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