Ping Wu Movies
- 2005
The pressures to pull out of Vietnam reach a crucial turning point as a Viet Cong ambush nearly eradicates an entire American battalion and a student protest in Wisconsin turns suddenly violent in this historically probing installment of the American Experience series based on Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Davis Maraniss' book {-They Marched into Sunlight. With public opinion already divided over the grueling war, the historical events that unfolded in the fall of 1967 left a nation shaken, and forever changed the lives of the soldiers fighting in a far-away land, their worried parents back home, the students who saw that war was not the answer, and the police officers and administrators who struggled to gain control over a situation that was rapidly spiraling into chaos. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2005
Following Mike's (Jude Ciccolella) advice, Logan (Gregory Itzin) asks David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) to join him in the command center and essentially manage the crisis for him. Using her connections, Audrey (Kim Raver) arranges to have Paul (James Frain) flown to a proper hospital in the morning, despite the ban on air travel. But Paul's condition takes a sudden turn for the worse, requiring emergency surgery. Edgar (Louis Lombardi) is able to restore some of Marwan's (Arnold Vosloo) videotaped message, which indicates that his nuclear attack will take place before dawn. Michelle (Reiko Aylesworth) learns that Tony (Carlos Bernard) has been living with another woman when Jen (Roxanne Day) calls CTU to speak to him. Chloe (Mary Lynn Rajskub) unlocks the hard drive of the computer she obtained in the last episode, and finds a connection between Marwan and Lee Jong (Peter Chen), a nuclear weapons expert. (Concerned over her lack of emotion after her violent heroics, she tells Edgar, "I hope I'm not some kind of psychopath.") Lee is a Chinese national, and CTU soon learns that he's taken refuge at the Chinese consulate. Palmer attempts diplomacy, contacting the consul, Koo Yin (François Chau), and asking for permission to interrogate Lee, but Koo is unable to give Palmer a speedy reply, and with the clock ticking, Palmer tells Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) to prepare to do whatever's necessary. Sure enough, Jack commands a secret raid on the consulate (considered Chinese soil) to kidnap Lee, but things go terribly wrong. Koo is accidentally shot by consulate guards, and Lee is also shot and critically wounded. Jack's team races to CTU to save Lee's life so that he can be questioned. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- 2005
Having essentially ordered CTU doctors to let Paul die so they could save Lee (Peter Chen), Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) tries to apologize and explain his actions to Audrey (Kim Raver), but she doesn't want to hear it. The botched mission at the Chinese consulate creates all kinds of problems for CTU. Mike (Jude Ciccolella) warns Jack that the Chinese suspect CTU's involvement, and suggests he assemble his team and make sure they all have alibis. Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) suspects that while the Chinese can't let the incident pass, they will be eager to avoid making it an international incident. He proposes blaming the kidnapping on Asian extremists. Unfortunately, while studying security video, the consul's head of security, Cheng Zhi (Tzi Ma of The Quiet American), sees a brief, blurry image of CTU agent Howard Bern (Robert Cicchini). He contacts the secretary of state, who arranges for Cheng to pay an unwelcome visit to CTU, and alerts Logan (Gregory Itzin), who blows up at Palmer for authorizing the mission. At CTU, Cheng confronts Jack and Buchanan (James Morrison) with the evidence, and they deny Bern's involvement, while Jack arranges for Bern to leave the country. Fortunately, Lee does regain consciousness long enough to give Jack a possible location for Marwan (Arnold Vosloo). At one point during this episode, Buchanan tells Chloe (Mary Lynn Rajskub) that in the midst of the crisis, CTU doesn't "have time for [her] personality disorder," but really, it only takes a few moments each episode, and it's well worth it. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- 2005
Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek (Patrick Dempsey) argue bitterly over their treatment of a paralyzed mountain climber, but that's not the real problem between them. Meanwhile, Izzie (Katherine Heigl) becomes convinced that her patient Duff (Kevin Rahm) develops psychic powers during his seizures; George (T.R. Knight) has difficulty intubating a patient while his peers are watching; and Orthodox Jewish teenager Devo(Sarah Hagan) refuses to allow Alex (ustin Chambers) to insert a life-saving pig valve in her ailing heart. As for Cristina (Sandra Oh), her plans to abort her unborn baby are altered after she becomes acquainted with Zoey (Joan McMurtrey), a middle-aged, pregnant cancer victim. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Jake Gyllenhaal, the young star of the critically well-received October Sky (1999), follows up that film with this offbeat comedy. Gyllenhaal stars as Jimmy Livingston, a teenager with an immune system deficiency who has spent his entire life living in a plastic bubble under the doting, overprotective care of his mother (Swoosie Kurtz). Jimmy is in love with his next-door neighbor Chloe (Marley Shelton), so when he learns that she has left for Niagara Falls in order to be married, he's devastated. He quickly assembles a portable "bubble suit" and sets out on a 2,755.8-mile odyssey in order to stop her and proclaim his affection. Along the way, Jimmy experiences a number of adventures, including encounters with freaks, bikers, rock stars, and a cult. Bubble Boy is a comic riff on the classic TV movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976), which starred a young John Travolta. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jake Gyllenhaal, Swoosie Kurtz, (more)
- 2001
Baldwin Jones (Henry Simmons) gets into a racial confrontation with new ADA Valerie Haywood (Garcelle Beauvais-Nillon) over a case involving a dead Russian, his bigoted wife, and a black gardener. Greg Medavoy (Gordon Clapp) calls in his old friend, Chinatown detective Harold Ng (Tzi Ma), to make sense of a heated dispute between two Chinese street-gang leaders -- a move that leads to a kidnapping investigation and a stakeout at a restaurant. Diane Russell (Kim Delaney) knows she loves Danny (Rick Schroder), but she can't get the late Bobby Simone out of her mind. And Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) bristles at the notion of taking computer training. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1998
In the conclusion of Touched by an Angel's two-part Season Four finale (originally telecast as a single two-hour episode), Monica (Roma Downey) and Tess (Della Reese) have managed to smuggle Chinese defector Jean Chang (Bai Ling) back into Beijing for a reunion with her husband George (Russell Wong). But George has bad news: his and Jean's beloved daughter Piao is missing, and may no longer be alive. Also in Beijing is Jean's American boss Edward Tanner (Adrian Pasdar), a disreputable toy manufacturer who has been exploiting cheap labor provided by George. One of these characters is slated to perform an act of great and selfless courage that will change the lives of many others--but Monica isn't certain whom that person will be, and with the Red Chinese police hot on her heels, she may never find out! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1998
In the first half of Touched by an Angel's two-part Season Four finale (originally telecast as a single two-hour episode), Monica (Roma Downey) and Tess (Della Reese) wonder how many lives can be changed by the courage of a single person--and better still, who will turn out to be the "courageous" one in their newest assignment. Candidiates include Jean Chang (Bai Ling), a dissident Chinese National who fled Beijing after the Tiananmen Square confrontation; Jean's boss Edward Tanner (Adrian Pasmar), a none-too-ethical American toy manufacturer; Jean's husband George (Russell Wong), who stayed behind in Beijing and who now provides low-cost labor for Edward's company; or Jean and George's daughter Piao Yue--who has been missing and presumed dead for years. When this episode was originally telecast, Richard Gere appeared in an introductory segment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In the original box-office smash Under Siege, action hero Steven Seagal played Casey Ryback, a U.S. Navy SEAL who saved the world from nuclear destruction by outsmarting and killing off terrorists who had commandeered a submarine. In this sequel, Seagal's Ryback character does the same sort of thing aboard a train. Ryback now has retired from the Navy and is taking his niece Sarah (Katherine Heigl) on a vacation. They board a train traveling through the Rocky Mountains. Criminal mastermind Travis Dane (Eric Bogosian) is using the train as a control center in his effort to kidnap a top-secret government outer space super-weapon. Dane built the weapon but then was fired by the government before it was deployed. He has hooked up with shadowy Middle Eastern terrorists who have offered him $1 billion to use the satellite to blow up the Eastern seaboard by targeting a secret nuclear reactor underneath the Pentagon. Dane shows the Pentagon that he's got control of the weapon by blowing up a Chinese chemical plant. Officials can't stop him because they can't locate his headquarters. As long as the train keeps moving, his location can't be fixed. Ryback learns of the plot and enlists a porter named Bobby (Morris Chestnut) to help him in his battle. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steven Seagal, Eric Bogosian, (more)
- 1994
Murray the dog "teams" with Kim the grocer (played by Ping Wu) to provide five turkeys for Jamie's ten-person buffet thanksgiving. Among the guests is Aunt Lolly (Meg Wyllie in her first series appearance) -- but whose aunt is she? And will the marshmallows hold out? This is the episode in which John Karlen and Penny Fuller take over the roles of Jamie's parents, Gus and Theresa Stemple. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1994
Eight weeks after attempting suicide, head nurse Carol (Julianna Margulies) returns to work at the ER. Meanwhile, Greene (Anthony Edwards) forces a family to come to grips with a domestic abuser in their midst. And Carter (Noah Wyle) learns a lesson in compassion from a mysterious female patient (played by Rosemary Clooney, the aunt of series regular George Clooney), who bursts into song at the slightest provocation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1994
Lt. Fancy (James McDaniel) discreetly advises the divorce-bound Medavoy (Gordon Clapp) to keep his romantic involvement with Donna (Gail O'Grady) under wraps -- at least in public. An abused woman whom Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) tried to help ends up dead. Kelly (David Caruso) and an Asian-American detective (Tzi Ma) investigate the murder of an off-duty cop in Chinatown. And Detective Adrianne Lesniak (Justine Miceli, in her first series appearance), on the rebound from a sour relationship with another cop, is transferred to the 15th. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A doctor finds out the hard way that there's more to medicine than skill in the operating theater in this emotional drama. Jack McKee (William Hurt) is a gifted but arrogant surgeon who cares little about the emotional welfare of his patients and is little more than a benign stranger to his wife Anne (Christine Lahti) and his son Nicky (Charlie Korsmo). Jack has been suffering from a nagging cough for some time, and when he begins coughing up blood one morning, he finally allows another doctor to take a look at him. The doctor discovers that Jack has a malignant tumor in his throat that could rob him of the ability to speak, or even kill him. Suddenly, Jack is a patient instead of a doctor, and he learns first hand about the long stretches in the waiting room, the indignity of filling out pointless forms, and the callous attitude of the professional medical community. Jack also gets to know June (Elizabeth Perkins), a terminal cancer patient whose joyous embrace of life as her time draws to a close is an inspiration to him. Restored to health, Jack is determined to be a more caring healer and strives to be a better husband and father, but his new lease on life also earns him an enemy in fellow surgeon Murray (Mandy Patinkin), who wants Jack to lie under oath for him in a major malpractice case; and a new respect for Eli (Alan Arkin), an ear-nose-throat man he used to ridicule for his empathetic treatment of his patients. The Doctor was based on the memoir of real-life surgeon Ed Rosenbaum, entitled "A Taste of My Own Medicine." ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Hurt, Christine Lahti, (more)
In this black teen comedy, a young man is thrilled that his kindly older brother has arranged for him to date the bombshell next door. To further impress her, little brother takes his sibling's shiny sports car. If he had known that there were a pair of corpses in the trunk though, the youth may have changed his mind. Matters get really messy when the cops pull him over and check out the trunk themselves. Soon he and his date find themselves pursued by the police, the tong and an irate florist. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ethan Hawke, Teri Polo, (more)
Kathryn Bigelow's fourth action film follows FBI agent Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves) as he goes undercover to infiltrate a cache of Southern California surfers suspected of robbing banks. Utah, a former football player, is assigned to Los Angeles. There, four bank robbers, who wear rubber masks and call themselves "Ex-Presidents," have executed a series of successful robberies which embarrassingly have the FBI stumped. Utah, and his partner Pappas (Gary Busey) suspect that the robbers are surfers and hatch a plan for catching them. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, (more)
- 1990
The made-for-television Hiroshima: Out of the Ashes recounts the August, 1945 nuclear bombing of Hiroshima through the eyes of a number of survivors, including Japanese soldiers, citizens, and American prisoners of war. The film is partly based on Michihiko Hachiya's Hiroshima Diary. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
The first of several films based on Tom Clancy's "Jack Ryan" technothrillers, Hunt for Red October stars Alec Baldwin as eccentric CIA analyst Ryan and Sean Connery as Soviet submarine commander Marko Ramius. Ramius sets the plot in motion when he murders his political adviser, burns his orders, and steers his sub Red October towards American waters, hoping to defect. The CIA, aware that the Red October was about to embark on an evasive mission to demonstrate its ability to avoid detection and fire its nuclear missiles upon U.S. installations, believes that Ramius is insane, and that he plans to start World War III. To cover their own behinds, the Russians back up the CIA's suspicion. Only Jack Ryan believes that Ramius' mission is not as apocalyptic as it seems -- and it is Ryan who is assigned to infiltrate the Red October to prove his theory. The sort of film that in an earlier era would have been called a "thinking man's thriller," The Hunt for Red October ushered in a new series of Hollywood-produced post-Cold War adventure films, including 1995's Crimson Tide. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, (more)
- 1989
- R
To date, there have been few American cinematic attempts devoted completely to including the nationalist Vietnamese perspective during the American involvement in Vietnam. This film attempts to provide a more inclusive perspective. An American soldier, Captain Keene (Beau Bridges) is captured by Ho (Liem Whatley, an idealistic young Vietcong soldier. At first highly distrustful of the young man, a bond develops between them when it becomes clear that the young man is protecting the American from mistreatment by his superiors. A crucial moment comes when the boy chooses to flee with his American captive in order to protect the man's life. Haing S. Ngor, who won an Academy Award for his performance in Killing Fields, makes a brief appearance as a North Vietnamese military man. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Beau Bridges, Dr. Haing S. Ngor, (more)
- 1987
- R
An alcoholic Vietnam vet who has lost both his wife and his job as a cop while struggling to adjust to civilian life in southern California heads out for unintentionally hilarious revenge against the newly immigrated Vietnamese drug lord who slaughtered his best friend and his family in this campy "Rambo-esque" actioner. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1985
Face (Dirk Benedict) unexpectedly receives a pardon after "evidence" surfaces proving him innocent of the Vietnam bank robbery which landed the A-Team in prison. Hannibal (George Peppard) is convinced that there is something fishy about the pardon--especially since he knows darn well that Face was at that bank along with the rest of the Team! Meanwhile, Face basks in the glow of being a celebrity, hiring a public relations firm to handle his fan base. Alas, it turns out the the PR guys are actually CIA agents, who hope to smoke out a fugitive Viet Cong general by setting Face up as a sitting duck. This episode introduces Jack Ging in the role of General Bull Fullbright. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
