Lim Kay Tong Movies
Kill Bill stars David Carradine and Daryl Hannah reunite for this two-part television mini-series set in late 1920s China, and following a Wudang monk and a vengeful lounge singer on their violent quest to assassinate the man responsible for killing their loved ones and destroying their lives. The orphaned son of Western missionaries, White Crane (Carradine) was trained by Wudang monks to become a spiritual leader and martial arts master. When Kahn Xin (Lim Kay Tong) and his murderous henchmen kill White Crane's mentor during a brutal raid on the Wudang temple, Crane infiltrates the Shainghai underworld on a mission to track Kahn down and ensure that justice is served. But during the course of his quest, Crane crosses paths with Jane Marshall (Hannah), a nightclub singer from Manhattan who also has a score to settle with Kahn. Kahn has kidnapped Jane's brother and the time to rescue him is fast running out. When Crane and Jane realize Kahn's diabolical plans are in fact much more ambitious and malevolent than previously suspected, they hatch a daring plan to enter his inner circle and destroy his gang from the inside out. Later, just as everything begins to fall into place and Kahn's empire quickly begins to crumble, Crane suddenly faces a serious moral dilemma - how can he reconcile his all-consuming hunger for revenge with the peaceful teachings of his Wudang mentors? Later, as Crane returns to help rebuild the fallen Wudang temple, he receives word that his old nemesis Bai Tang has kidnapped Jane back in Shanghai. Now, in order to prevent Jane from being forced into a life of sexual slavery, Crane and his faithful protégé Bingo (Osric Chau) set out to rescue her before all hope is lost. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Carradine, Daryl Hannah, (more)
A journey that starts as a die-hard mission to net Christian converts soon evolves into the adventure of a lifetime, in the sweeping historical epic Marco Polo. It is the 13th century. Polo (Ian Somerhalder), a Venetian trader, sets out to both prove the existence of China to European priests, and to bring its residents salvation. En route, he and his traveling companions must battle every extreme form of the elements, from the scorching abuse of the sun to paralyzing blizzards, plus violent maurading thieves and a host of other dangers. Little can Marco Polo predict, however, the dazzling world that awaits him on the opposite end - with such dazzling inventions as paper money, timepieces and a postal system, and such culinary concoctions as ice cream and pasta. And presiding over all of it is the benevolent Kubla Khan (Brian Dennehy) a ruler so impressed with Polo (and vice versa) that the brave adventurer soon becomes part and parcel of his court - and spends the better part of two decades in Asia. Kevin Connor directs, from a script by Ron Hutchinson. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ian Somerhalder, Brian Dennehy, (more)
- 2007
A young karaoke bar hostess vows to fulfill the last wishes of the terminally ill photographer who took her in following a harrowing experience in which she was gang raped by a group of drunken customers in The Photograph. Sita is a 25-year-old bar hostess who also moonlights as a prostitute. One day, after Sita is gang raped and beaten by a violent group of customers, kindly Chinese-Indonesian photographer Johan comes to her aid. Though Johan is twice Sita's age, an unlikely bond forms between the pair when the traveling photographer invites the young woman to move in with him. Upon realizing that she is unable to return to her position as a bar hostess, Sita offers to become Johan's personal servant in exchange for room and board. Later, Johan reveals that he has but a few months to live, yet longs to fulfill three lifelong fantasies represented in three photographs: a photo of the sea represents Johan's wish to travel to China by ship, a snapshot of railway tracks represents his longing to travel by train, and a still life of a camera sitting next to a chair represents his deep desire to find a successor before he passes away. When Sita discovers a dark secret from Johan's past, the enraged photographer does his best to drive her away. Weeks later, on his deathbed, Johan realizes that his time has finally come, and summons Sita back to take one final photograph. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lim Kay Tong, Shanty, (more)
A part-time security guard and taxi driver looking to leave the hypocrisy of the modern world behind finds that peace doesn't come as easily as he suspected in Singapore-born director Djinn's award-winning drama. Harry Lee has grown tired with the slick, status-driven society that dominates his homeland, and has chose to seek out his own personal paradise in the Western Australian city of Perth. But solving ones problems isn't always as easy as simply running away, and when Harry finds his attempt to migrate becoming increasingly complicated, he accepts a job ferrying prostitutes. Upon growing infatuated with one particularly tragic Vietnamese prostitute, Harry is suddenly awakened to the darkness that surrounds him and determines to embark on a dangerous quest to seek redemption as his situation grows increasingly unstable. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lim Kay Tong, Liu Qiulian, (more)
Two carefree Americans embark on an overseas vacation that soon becomes a nightmare in this powerful drama. Alice (Claire Danes) is a headstrong teenager who wants to do something different to celebrate her high school graduation, so she persuades her more reserved best friend Darlene (Kate Beckinsale) to join her on a trip to Bangkok. While enjoying sun and scenery, Alice and Darlene meet Nick Parks (Daniel Lapaine), a charming Australian who shows them the sights and sweet-talks Darlene into a romantic assignation, which is something of a surprise to her bolder friend Alice. Nick then suggests that they join him on a side trip to Hong Kong, but they soon discover that Nick's interest has been neither friendly nor romantic: he has hidden a large amount of heroin in their luggage and is using them as drug runners without their knowledge. When the heroin is found by customs officials, Alice and Darlene are quickly tried and sentenced to 33 years in a hideous prison known to inmates as Broke-Down Palace. Their plight comes to the attention of "Yankee Hank" (Bill Pullman), a renegade American attorney in Asia, but while Hank struggles with the court system to get Alice and Darlene released, they must deal with the living hell of life behind bars, and their own doubts about each other. Brokedown Palace was directed by Jonathan Kaplan, who previously dealt with judicial injustice in The Accused and teens in difficult circumstances in Over the Edge. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claire Danes, Kate Beckinsale, (more)
Adapted from Neil Sheehan's 1988 Pulitzer Prize-winning best-seller, this $14-million TV docudrama, re-creating the Vietnam War with convincing combat footage, was the most expensive two-hour movie ever produced by HBO Pictures. Lieutenant Colonel John Paul Vann (Bill Paxton) spends ten years (1962-72) in Vietnam. When Vann exposes falsified casualty figures, deceptive battle reports, and other lies about the war, journalist Steven Burnett (Donal Logue) relays the truth to American newspapers, and Vann takes heat from higher-ups. Meanwhile, he's involved with a Vietnamese teacher (Vivian Wu), and his wife (Amy Madigan) is forced to lie so he won't be court-martialed for sexual relations with an underage Vietnamese girl. Back for a second tour, he gets another young Vietnamese woman pregnant and is forced to marry her. Returning in 1968 as a civilian, he's decorated and eventually promoted to general for his contributions during the Tet offensive. The music track features Grace Slick singing "Somebody to Love" while peasant villages are bombed. Filmed in Lompburi, Thailand. Premiered May 30, 1998 on HBO. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Paxton, Amy Madigan, (more)
Life in Singapore provides the basis of this drama. Mee Pok Man is a loner living on society's fringe who runs a fish noodle stand on the seamy side of town. Among his patrons is the lovely, but terribly abused and exploited young streetwalker, Bunny. Mee Pok Man sees her as an angel and is secretly obsessed with watching her every move. Even though they have never spoken, he fantasizes about saving her from her grim life, but Bunny has her own dreams that center on the bogus Englishman that she is dating. It is her hope that he will take her out of Singapore and offer her a better life. One night she is beaten senseless by her pimp and tossed out of his car. She is picked up by Mee Pok Man and taken to his room. As he cares for her battered body, the two become strangely attracted, but before they can truly fall in love, Bunny dies. Mee Pok cannot deal with this and ends up keeping the corpse in his apartment for several days afterward. Later, Bunny's naive young brother reads illuminating passages from the young woman's journal. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Loosely based on a true story, this uneven romantic comedy depicts the unexpected way in which a winning lottery ticket unites a pair of strangers. Waitress Yvonne (Bridget Fonda) first meets police officer Charlie (Nicolas Cage) when he eats in her restaurant. Realizing that he doesn't have enough money to give her a tip, Charlie promises Yvonne to split any winnings from the lottery ticket he just bought. The skeptical Yvonne dismisses Charlie as just another cheapskate until he wins four million dollars and, much to Yvonne's surprise, decides to honor the agreement. His action becomes front page news and wins public acclaim, but it doesn't go over nearly so well with Charlie's wife Muriel (Rosie Perez), who has her own plans for the money. Muriel's shallow, greedy behavior disgusts Charlie, who finds himself spending more and more time with Yvonne, developing a friendship that threatens to blossom into something more. Jane Anderson's screenplay stresses the relationship between Charlie and Yvonne's characters over the situation's comic potential; this earnest tone will please romance fans but may disappoint viewers expecting the farcical comedy of writer/director Andrew Bergman's and Cage's previous effort, Honeymoon in Vegas. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicolas Cage, Bridget Fonda, (more)
- 1994
This made-for-television movie spawned several sequels and eventually an adventure TV-series of the same name. Russell Wong and Chi Moui Lo star as brothers Jian-Wa and Wago Chang, respectively, who escape from China's political unrest and take up in the United States. Both try and find new lives in the U.S., with Wago falling in with an organized crime gang and Jian-Wa pursuing a career in music. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- 1994
This story revolves around piano prodigy Leslie Walden (Jenny Lewis) and her demanding mentor Byron (Ronald Guttman). Believing that Leslie would be nothing without him, Byron bristles at the likelihood that he is losing control of the girl's career. Soon afterward, Byron is found murdered--and it is up to Jessica (Angela Lansbury) to perform a few arpeggios and glissandos (metaphorically speaking, of course) to determine the killer's identity. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this blood-spattered actioner, two soldiers of fortune are forcibly recruited by the CIA to lead a group of ill-trained guerillas in hope of staging a Southeast Asian coup against an unfriendly dictator. Matters are not helped by the fact that the mercenaries despise each other. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Weller, Robert Hays, (more)
The brief but eventful life of actor and martial arts trailblazer Bruce Lee is portrayed in this drama, based on a biography written by his widow Linda Lee Caldwell. Lee is introduced to the study of martial arts as a child living in Hong Kong by his father (Ric Young); the father dreamed that a demonic armored dragon would take his son from him, and wanted young Bruce to be able to protect himself. Bruce continues his training as he grows to adulthood, and after the cocky teenaged Lee (Jason Scott Lee, no relation to Bruce) seriously injures a prominent British citizen while fighting a gang of troublemakers at a dance, he's sent to San Francisco. While working as a dishwasher, Bruce begins to study philosophy, and in time develops a personal martial arts discipline, Jeet Kune-Do, which blends Kung Fu fighting techniques with lessons gained from his philosophical research. Bruce decides to open a martial arts academy on the advice of his fiancée Linda (Lauren Holly); Linda and Bruce encounter resistance as a mixed-race couple, especially from Linda's mother Vivian (Michael Learned), and Bruce earns the enmity of traditional Chinese martial arts experts for his new style. But after a strong showing in several public tournaments, Bruce's fighting skill and charisma attracts the attention of TV producer Bill Krieger (Robert Wagner). Bruce is cast as Kato, the karate-trained sidekick on the series The Green Hornet, and while the show is short-lived in America, it's a huge success in Asia, leading to a series of films based around Bruce's remarkable fighting skills. Sadly, shortly before the release of the film that would make him a major screen star in the United States, Enter The Dragon, a mysterious brain disorder sends Lee into a coma that soon kills him. In a tragedy with eerie timing, Bruce Lee's real-life son Brandon Lee died shortly before this film was released, the result of an accidental shooting while completing the picture The Crow. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Scott Lee, Lauren Holly, (more)
- 1992
The two-part Australian miniseries Frankie's House was based on photojournalist Tim Page's autobiography Page After Page. Set during the Vietnam war, the story recounted the adventures of Page (Iain Glen) and his erstwhile photographer partner. After numerous scrapes with death, Page managed to survive to tell his tale, but his partner was not so lucky, disappearing without a trace during a 1970 foray into Laos. The program's title referred to a brothel frequented by the principal characters. The two 120-minute episodes of Frankie's House were broadcast by Australia's ABC network in 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Buck McGriff (Willem Dafoe) and Albaby Perkins (Gregory Hines) are military police from the army's Criminal Investigation Department assigned to find a serial killer in 1968 war-torn Saigon. Hookers have been ritualistically murdered, and the two cops spend their final days of active duty in the sleazy back alleys of Saigon tracking down the killer in this military mystery. One by one, possible witnesses who can shed light on the case are systematically murdered. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Willem Dafoe, Gregory Hines, (more)
Madonna and Sean Penn, who were husband and wife at the time, starred in this notorious box-office bomb that one critic termed "Flop Suey." The film takes place in 1937, during the Japanese occupation of China. Drug runner Walter Faraday (Paul Freeman) is trying to leave the country with a large stash of opium but he is chased by armed guards and killed. A year passes and missionary Gloria Tatlock (Madonna) hires sleazy American con man Glendon Wasey (Sean Penn) to help her find the missing opium. She wants to use the drugs to relieve the suffering of wounded Chinese soldiers -- as she puts it, "Guns cause pain. Opium eases pain." Glendon reluctantly agrees. But unfortunately for the two do-gooders, there are other, more notorious seekers of the opium shipment as well. George Harrison, one of the film's producers, wrote the songs and appears in a cameo role as a nightclub singer. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- 1985
This Australian TV movie is a sequel to the internationally distributed miniseries Tenko. In the year 1950, several former female inmates of Tenko, a Japanese POW camp, stage a reunion in Singapore. Each of the women discusses how their years under the thumb of the Japanese have altered their lives. Suddenly, the group is taken captive by Communist bandits-and it's 1942 all over again. Several of the stars of Tenko (Stephanie Cole, Patricia Lawrence, Emily Bolton, Elizabeth Chambers et. al.) made encore appearances in Tenko Reunion. For the record, the original Tenko has been shown in the US on the A&E and History Channel Cable Services. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
