Sam Lee Movies

Those familiar with the work of the Jackass crew should find much to admire in the video Chiseen. This documentary features a group of Asians who perform a variety of dangerous stunts and practical jokes that occasionally involved some famous faces including Michelle Yeoh. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

This dark-humored feature by Hong Kong's Fruit Chan stars Tsuyoshi Abe as Dong Dong, nicknamed "The God of Toilets" by his friends, who was born and abandoned in the filthiest public toilet in Beijing. Through a series of interconnected narratives set off by Dong Dong's quest to find a wonder drug to cure his dying grandmother, the film follows a variety of characters on similar searches through China, India, Korea, and New York. The disparate characters, representing a polyglot cross section of the Asian diaspora, are linked both in their search for ways to transcend death and by a much less lofty fascination with the ways different cultures dispose of human waste. ~ Tom Vick, All Movie Guide

The debut feature film from Sori is a tale of adolescent angst and stylish table tennis sequences. Ping Pong's main character, Tsukimoto (Arata), is an overly sensitive young man who refuses to actually defeat his opponents at the game table because he does not want them to feel bad. His buddy Peco (Yosuke Kubozuka) is a brashly confident and flamboyant player, who meets his match in Kong (Sam Lee). After suffering injuries and temptations, both enter the same major tournament only to realize that they may end up facing off against each other in the finals. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Soi Cheang's horror film Hunbo Yitsin Chi Dai Tau Gwai Ying (Horror Hotline...Big Head Monster) stars Francis Ng as the producer of a radio program that involves people sharing ghost stories. Ben (Ng) airs a call about a mutant killer baby. Intrigued by the story, he teams up with a reporter (Josie Ho) to investigate. He finds a person involved in the story on the verge of death, while Ben's nurse girlfriend, Helen (Niki Chow), is treating a man who has been attacked by the monster. Helen has a secret she has been keeping from Ben. This secret may have something to do with the monster. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Wilson Yip directs the horror comedy movie Bio Zombie, in which a biological weapon has the power to turn people into zombies. Woody Invincible (Jordan Chan) and Crazy Bee (Sam Lee) are two kids who work at a video store in a mall. While driving their boss' car, they crash into an agent carrying the deadly weapon in a tainted soft drink. Putting him in the trunk, they go back to the mall. However, the dead guy gets loose and the mall eventually gets filled with zombies, with Woody, Bee, and their friend Rolls (Angela Tong) trapped inside. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

A young girl witnesses a horrific street accident. A man (Anthony Wong in a pivotal cameo) is hit by a trolley and decapitated. Fifteen years later, June (Shu Qi) is all grown up, and doesn't even remember the accident. One night at a club, Peter (Eason Chan), an unhappy young man, sees June dancing, wearing an eye patch, and approaches her. She quickly uses him to get away from another man, and drags him to a karaoke bar. Just as abruptly, they leave the karaoke bar, and she has him take her to his place. The next morning, he awakens to find his apartment splattered with red paint, and fifty dollars missing from his wallet. He and his roommate, Simon (Sam Lee), then discover Peter's father (James Wong) lying in the bathtub, jabbering about how he doesn't have Alzheimer's, but he's possessed. Eventually, Peter runs into the elusive June again, and they seem to be developing a relationship. But despite his romance with this mysterious woman, things continue to go badly for Peter. He loses his job as a hairdresser, and his father commits suicide. Soon, he discovers June's secret. Ever since she was a little girl, she's seen ghosts. She wears dark glasses or an eye patch sometimes, so she won't have to see them. Soon, it becomes clear that one ghost in particular is haunting June--the ghost of a man demanding his head back. As Peter gets closer to June, he begins to unravel the mystery, and discovers a connection to his own family's past. Visible Secret was written by Abe Kwong and directed by Ann Hui (Ordinary Heroes). Kwong would later direct the sequel. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Hong Kong director Fruit Chan's second film in a projected trilogy about the city's 1997 transfer of political power from England to China (following 1997's Made In Hong Kong), Huinin Yinfa Dakbit Do/The Longest Summer is an epic drama about a handful of friends who confront the ongoing political upheaval by taking up a life of crime. Three months before Hong Kong is to be returned to China, Ga-yin (Tony Ho) finds himself without a career when the Hong Kong Military Service Corps is disbanded. Ga-Yin and his buddies soon join forces with Ga-Yin's brother Ga-suen (Sam Lee), a petty criminal who wants to make a name for himself with the Triads, and together they hatch an elaborate scheme to rob a bank. The film's original Cantonese title roughly translates as "Last Year's Fireworks Were Especially Big." ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Riley Ip directs his melodrama about a man haunted by his memories. Ailing from Alzheimer's disease, Roy (Eric Tsang) returns to Hong Kong after 30 years in Brazil to track down his former enemy, Nine Dragons. Claiming that he was previously a notorious gangster called Mountain Leopard, he enlists the help of young street tough Smokey (Nicholas Tse). Roy tells Smokey that back in the 1970s, he and his arch-nemesis were rivals for the attention of an enigmatic beauty (Shu Qi). When she seemed to favor Roy, Nine Dragons shot him and ditched him on a barge for Brazil. Yet as the hunt continues, Smokey learns that the truth is a bit different. Meanwhile, Smokey's young heart yearns for the very female cop (Kelly Chen) who once arrested him. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

International action star Jackie Chan shifts gears in Bolei Cheun, in which martial arts are put on the back burner and romantic comedy is in the forefront. Bu (Shu Qi), the daughter of a pair of Taiwanese restaurant owners, one day finds a bottle floating near the docks with a message inside. The note reads, "Do you know I'm waiting for you?" and is signed "Albert," with an address in Hong Kong attached. Bu, convinced this is her destiny, flies to Hong Kong to meet the mysterious Albert, only to find he's a gay cosmetologist (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) who intended for the note to be found by his ex-boyfriend. But Albert is understanding and lets Bu stay at his apartment. Albert lets Bu tag along for a photo shoot he's working and she meets multi-millionaire C.N. Chan (Jackie Chan) when she helps him ward off a gang of toughs hired by L. W. Lo (Emil Chow), who became Chan's enemy in their schooldays and is still out to make his life miserable. Chan is single and a bit lonely, and quickly finds himself attracted to Bu. Bu discovers she likes Chan as well, but things become sticky when her boyfriend flies in from Taiwan to find out what she's done -- and Lo sends an American martial arts champion out to kidnap Chan's new love. While Bolei Cheun does feature a few sequences displaying Jackie Chan's unique fighting style and acrobatic dexterity, the emphasis is on the story and characters rather than the action, with Chan in a rare romantic lead, Leung cast against type and Shu Qi dominating most of the film's first act. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This $80,000 Hong Kong street-punk drama focuses on young tough Chung-chau (Sam Lee) and his slow-witted sidekick Sylvester (Wenbers Li). Sylvester finds blood-covered letters near the body of a suicide victim, schoolgirl Susan (Amy Tam). Chung-chau feels possessed by her spirit and delivers the letters. Chung-chau falls for 16-year-old Ping (Neiky Yim), and when she vanishes, he goes over the edge, agreeing to carry out a killing for his boss, Wing. Winner of a special jury prize at the 1997 Locarno Film Festival, it was also shown at the 1997 Vancouver Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide