Hailing from a conservative rural Michigan town with limited access to quality cinema, Lee developed a passion for film at an early age. His earliest movie memories include trips to the local four-screen drive-in (you could see all four screens just by adjusting the mirrors correctly!) and all day sessions at the local cineplex, where he'd often be dropped off for Saturday afternoon movie marathons before obtaining his first driver's license. It was a great but isolating hobby, since the other teen interests in the town ranged from such intellectual pursuits as keg parties in the woods to the redneck art of tipping cows. The town was so cloistered that on one occasion, after a twenty mile drive with a friend to hunt down a single video copy of Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ, the stern, concerned video clerk asked the two teens, "You know what this is about, don't you? Do your parents know you're renting this?" Once the advent of video had begun, the world got much bigger and having a VCR to bring the global cinema to his own bedroom helped him discover that film was more than just a way to pass the time. Nearly derailed by plans to attend Michigan State University and study English, Lee struck out with a friend on a spontaneous jaunt to Chicago, where a last-minute switch took place. Lee arrived in Chicago in 1989 and entered Columbia College in the film program. Lee comes to film criticism with a concurrent career in marketing for a HR consulting firm. In the recent past, Lee served as producer and director for Nightingale-Conant, where he created self-help and motivational audio and video programs with industry giants like Anthony Robbins, John Gray, Suze Orman, Bill Phillips and Seth Godin. In addition to his work with ReelMovieCritic.com, Lee also serves as the resident film critic for a local cable television show entitled Nude Hippo: Your Chicago Show (www.nudehippo.com). He also has his own small freelance production company, Reel Time Productions, and enjoys shooting on the side with his favorite toy, the Canon XL-1. Lee lives on the north side of Chicago.