Kenneth Tsang Movies

In May 1946, a panel of judges and prosecutors from eleven different nations gathered in Tokyo, Japan to preside over the International Military Tribunal of the Far East, a series of trials held to determine the guilt or innocence of Japanese leaders and military personnel accused of war crimes during World War II. China was represented at the Tribunal, and sixty years later the Chinese film industry offers their perspective on this event in this historical drama. Xiao Nan (Chu Hsiao-tien) is a Chinese journalist who has been sent to Tokyo to cover the tribunal for leftist news outlet Da Gong. Xiao places special emphasis in his coverage on Dr. Mei Ru'ao (Damian Lau), the well-respected Chinese judge who has been sent to represent his nation at the tribunal. It soon becomes clear to many observers that American judge William Webb (Daniel Ziskie) will dominate the proceedings, which is seen as an insult by Mei, especially since China joined the United States in preparing and signing the official documents of surrender. As Mei, Webb and their colleagues weigh the evidence against the men who led the Japanese forces and the troops who slaughtered their enemies in the fields and served as guards in their military prisons, Xiao learns about a possible scandal in the making -- a plot to assassinate Mei and bring the tribunal to a halt. Dongjing Shenpan (aka International Military Tribunal Far East was the first feature film from director Gao Qunshu. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Rumored and anticipated for years, the two biggest icons of the slasher genre finally meet in Freddy Vs. Jason, the eighth entry in the Nightmare on Elm Street saga and the 11th film in the Friday the 13th series, though with Jason X taking place in the future, it should be noted that the events of this film take place after the ninth film Jason Goes to Hell. And it is hell where Freddy Kreuger (Robert Englund) and Jason Voorhees (Ken Kirzinger, donning the hockey mask for the first time in a controversial snub against series veteran Kane Hodder) finally become acquainted. Banished there for eternity, Freddy devises a plan to manipulate Jason into continuing his work, hacking up the teenagers of Elm Street. All goes well at first until Jason realizes he's been duped by "the dream master" and is none too pleased. Coaxed by surviving teenagers Will (Jason Ritter), Lori (Monica Keena), and Kia (Destiny's Child's Kelly Rowland), Jason and Freddy descend upon Crystal Lake for a mano a mano battle royal. Helmed by Hong Kong director Ronny Yu (Bride of Chucky, The Bride With the White Hair), Freddy Vs. Jason features the director of the first Friday film, Sean S. Cunningham serving as producer. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Pierce Brosnan makes his fourth appearance as suave super-spy James Bond in this espionage thriller, the 20th film in the official Bond series. While on assignment in North Korea, Bond is captured by government agents, where he's imprisoned and tortured for over a year. When Bond finally wins his freedom, not everyone is certain 007 is still capable of doing the job, but after Zao (Rick Yune), the North Korean operative who snared Bond, is discovered to be in cahoots with unscrupulous entrepreneur Gustav Graves (Toby Stephens), Bond is back on the case, and he finds the two men have sinister plans which could decide the fate of the world. As Bond hops from England to Cuba to Korea to Iceland in pursuit of his quarry, he (as usual) makes the acquaintance of two beautiful and mysterious women, Jinx (Halle Berry) and Miranda Frost (Rosamund Pike). Judi Dench and John Cleese return in Die Another Day as, respectively, Bond's superior M and gadget-master Q; Madonna contributes the film's theme song and makes a cameo appearance as a fencing instructor. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Music video and TV commercials director Antoine Fuqua made his feature directorial debut with this action thriller starring Hong Kong superstar Chow Yun-Fat. Chinese immigrant John Lee (Yun-Fat) has a violent past as a professional killer. It brings him only remorse, but it makes him the ideal assassin. In exchange for his family's safety, Lee is forced to take a job with a powerful underworld figure, Asian crime kingpin Terence Wei (Kenneth Tsang), who wants Lee to settle a deadly vendetta against police detective Stan Zedlov (Michael Rooker) by killing Zedlov's seven-year-old son. At the last minute, with the boy in his sights, Lee chooses to face Wei's vengeance rather than go through with the killing. In addition to making Lee a target, the decision also endangers his mother and sister back in Shanghai. Planning a return to China, he visits document forger Meg Coburn (Mira Sorvino) to get a phony passport, but they are interrupted by Wei's army of killers, and a lengthy chase and gun battle is set in motion.

Director Fuqua stressed to his team that the aim was to design a "Taxi Driver for the 1990s," with production beginning February 10, 1997 in downtown Los Angeles, and the first shoot at the historic Mayan Theater, refurbished into the trendy nightclub for the film's stylish opening scene with hundreds of extras carousing while Lee guns down Romero (Carlos Leon) at close range. The eight-story, nearly condemned Giant Penny building in the heart of L.A. served as locations for a police station interior, a hotel room, and Meg Coburn's office, and a chaotic gunfight was filmed amid the spray, brushes, and hoses of Joe's Car Wash in LA. The art department transformed one area into a Chinatown-like streetscape of damp, narrow alleys, and blinking red neon lights, site of a night filming where Yun-Fat shot off 546 rounds with two guns, one in each hand, while the repetitive action left his hands blistered and shaking. More gunplay was at a video arcade replicated at the original Lawry's center just north of downtown L.A., and Lee's tranquil Buddhist temple was fashioned under this same roof. In addition to physical training, Mira Sorvino, who had never handled a gun prior to this film, took weapons training to prepare for her role. Sorvino majored in Asian studies at Harvard, speaks Mandarin, and lived for eight months (1988-89) in Beijing, where she studied Chinese, taught English, and saw Chinese films, including Hong Kong action films. She felt The Replacement Killers brought her a step closer to her goal of making a film in Mandarin and working with a Chinese director. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

For this 1991 action comedy from Hong Kong, director John Woo took a break from his ultraviolent thrillers; it was made a year after Bullet in the Head, and a year before Hard-Boiled. Chow Yun-Fat, Leslie Cheung, and Cherie Chung portray a trio of orphans who have grown to become art thieves. When their foster father (Kenneth Tsang), a powerful crime boss, forces them into stealing a painting, they pull off the job but are double-crossed. To get even, the trio plans a heist to steal the painting back. The three lead characters are funny and romantic; they're daring art thieves in the tradition of "The Cat" from To Catch a Thief or The Pink Panther, and the film evokes the same cosmopolitan feel. Once a Thief is far less bloody than Woo's gangster pictures, but in this film, the burglary sequences possess all the astounding grace of his other films' gunfights. ~ Jonathan E. Laxamana, All Movie Guide

Designed for aficionados of mahjongg, a Chinese game involving over a hundred picture-bearing tiles, this comedy tells a baker's dozen humorous stories based on twists in that game. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide