Benjamin Lum Movies

A woman who emigrates from China to the United States discovers that life in the "land of the free" isn't all it's cracked up to be. Lee (Lianne X. Hu) came to Los Angeles when her mother fell ill, and her Aunt Jiang (Peggy Lu) arranged for Lee to take a job in a restaurant so she could help pay her mother's medical expenses. However, Aunt Jiang has essentially taken over Lee's life, refusing to allow Lee to go out on dates, visit friends, or have any sort of a conventional social life, and while Lee has been offered a job at a bank with a better future, Jiang insists that Lee keep her job at the Mekong BBQ, where her boss Mr. Fong (Benjamin Lum) treats her with contempt. Lee also bears the brunt of frequent verbal abuse from her co-worker Chiang (Michael Minh) and his girlfriend Wei Wu (Jo Chim). One day, while Lee is being tormented by Chiang and Mr. Fong, one of the Mekong's customers, Steve (Steven Dunning), intervenes to help her. A massive argument results, but Steve feels enough for Lee's plight that he keeps coming back, much to the annoyance of Chiang, who doesn't much care for the nosy American, even if he is a paying customer. Lee soon develops a bond with Steve, despite her wary shyness around customers in general and white people in particular. Now Chinatown was the first feature film from Steven Dunning, who wrote, directed, and produced the independent release in addition to playing Steve. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Alan Alda makes the first of several guest appearances as crusty attending physician Dr. Gable Lawrence, an old friend and mentor of Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes). Lawrence's pomposities -- to say nothing of his eccentricities -- do nothing toward endearing himself to Greene (Anthony Edwards). Meanwhile, the ER is the scene of a brief shoot-out; Kovac (Goran Visnjic) and Lucy (Kellie Martin) try to persuade a woman patient to get out of an abusive spousal relationship; Carter (Noah Wyle) is there for comfort and reassurance as his former sister-in-law, Elaine (Rebecca De Mornay), undergoes a mastectomy; and Jeanie (Gloria Reuben) is given temporary custody of an HIV-positive baby. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on a true story, the sentimental TV movie A Thousand Men and a Baby takes place during the final months of the Korean War in 1953. Spiritually adopting an abandoned boy, the crew members of the U.S.S. "Point Cruz" set about to find a proper home for the infant. All the while, ship's doctor Hugh Keenan (Richard Thomas) struggles to keep the baby alive. According to some sources, the grown-up protagonist of the story appears in a bit role in this film. Originally telecast by CBS on December 7, 1997, A Thousand Men and a Baby has since been telecast in the UK under the slightly more lurid title Narrow Escape. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A fairly faithful remake of Disney's earlier feature of the same name, this version first aired on television. Gaby Hoffman stars as Annabelle, a girl who thinks her mother has an easy life. Her mother Ellen (Shelley Long) thinks Annabelle's life is the better of the two, and after an argument one Friday morning, the two magically switch personalities. After much mayhem and confusion, the two learn that the grass is not really greener on the other side of the fence. Actress-turned-director Melanie Mayron directed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

An autistic boy is a police officer's only hope at catching some robbers in this made-for-TV crime drama. Kelsey Grammer stars as Detective Frank Marlow, a cop assigned to track down some thieves who committed murder. He pins his hopes on a eight-year-old autistic boy (Keegan MacIntosh) who was the only one to see the murderer's face without a mask. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

Life in the spotlight can have its benefits and substantial drawbacks as Larry (Garry Shandling) discovers in this episode of HBO's The Larry Sanders Show. Following a woman's claim that Larry shoved her into a magazine rack and neglected to apologize, the tabloids hang the popular late-night talk show host out to dry. His nerves frazzled, Larry attempts a last-ditch effort at damage control in order to save face. Guest stars include Suanne Spoke, Tom Dahlgren, John Riggi, Paula McClure, Benjamin Lum, Suzanne Vafiadis, Jeanne Basone, Eduardo Quezada, David Paymer, and Bella Shaw. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

At times, Another 48 Hrs. seems less like a sequel to than a parody of the first 48 Hrs., especially when Nick Nolte, repeating his role from the earlier film, begins commenting on the cliched absurdity of the goings on. This time, Nolte risks life, limb and career as he obsessively tries to bring an elusive master criminal known as "The Iceman" to justice. Eddie Murphy, who stole the show in the first 48 Hrs. as the wheeler-dealer convict who becomes Nolte's reluctant partner, is brought into the plotline of the second film when a contract is taken out on his life. The adversarial relationship between Nolte and Murphy, supposedly dissipated by the end of the first film, is revivified in the sequel via a couple of plot devices. Still, Murphy rallies to the occasion, in the process saving Nolte from being thrown off the force. Though not as successful as the first film, Another 48 Hrs. proved that there were still enough Eddie Murphy fans around in 1990 to insure a strong box-office showing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This first-season Next Generation episode finds Captain Picard facing a dilemma previously encountered some nine decades earlier by Captain Kirk and the original Enterprise crew. An insidious mind-altering disease, which prompted the crew of another starship to commit mass suicide, wends its way aboard the Enterprise. Before long, Lt. Geordi LaForge has become infected with the horrible illness. Brooke Bundy guest stars as MacDougal. Written by John D.F. Black and J. Michael Bingham, "The Naked Now" first aired October 10, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide