ToC: 30 Forgotten American Movies from the 1990s Worth Your Time
by cutlass04 | created - 10 Oct 2015 | updated - 10 Oct 2015 | Publichttp://www.tasteofcinema.com/2015/30-forgotten-american-movies-from-the-1990s-worth-your-time/
By Matt Hendricks
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1. Spanking the Monkey (1994)
Unrated | 100 min | Comedy, Drama
A med student is forced by his traveling salesman dad to cancel a top summer internship and look after his hot mom, who's bedridden with a broken leg. Applying lotion to her legs arouses him.
Director: David O. Russell | Stars: Jeremy Davies, Alberta Watson, Benjamin Hendrickson, Elizabeth Newett
Votes: 6,767 | Gross: $1.36M
2. Rush (1991)
R | 120 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Two small-town Texas cops go undercover to catch a major drug dealer and are sucked into the drug culture, compromising their assignment.
Director: Lili Fini Zanuck | Stars: Jason Patric, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Sam Elliott, Max Perlich
Votes: 9,893 | Gross: $7.24M
3. Heaven & Earth (1993)
R | 140 min | Action, Biography, Drama
During the Vietnam War, a Vietnamese woman struggles hustling on the streets, where she comes face to face with those involved in the conflict around her.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Hiep Thi Le, Tommy Lee Jones, Haing S. Ngor, Bussaro Sanruck
Votes: 15,118 | Gross: $5.86M
4. The Opposite of Sex (1998)
R | 105 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A 16-year-old girl visits her gay half-brother and ends up seducing his boyfriend, thus wreaking havoc on all of their lives.
Director: Don Roos | Stars: Christina Ricci, Martin Donovan, Lisa Kudrow, Lyle Lovett
Votes: 21,761 | Gross: $5.88M
5. Red Meat (1997)
Not Rated | 95 min | Drama
Once a month, Stefan and Chris meet up with their buddies to go to the gym, eat red meat, and talk about girls. Each man has had his share of women: loving them, using them, and leaving them. It's the testosterone talking.
Director: Allison Burnett | Stars: Lara Flynn Boyle, James Frain, Dee Freeman, Jennifer Grey
Votes: 293
6. A Midnight Clear (1992)
R | 108 min | Drama, War
The Ardennes Forest, December 1944. A squad of six US infantrymen is sent to occupy a house to use as an observation post as the German Army is expected to advance through that area. However, the Germans seem oddly friendly.
Director: Keith Gordon | Stars: Peter Berg, Kevin Dillon, Arye Gross, Ethan Hawke
Votes: 9,789 | Gross: $1.53M
7. Raising Cain (1992)
R | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
The oncologist wife of a prominent child psychologist suspects her husband has an unhealthy scientific obsession with their child, unaware of what - or who - is really going on inside his head.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: John Lithgow, Lolita Davidovich, Steven Bauer, Frances Sternhagen
Votes: 17,437 | Gross: $21.37M
8. To Die For (1995)
R | 106 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A beautiful but naïve aspiring television personality films a documentary on teenagers with a darker ulterior motive.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Nicole Kidman, Matt Dillon, Joaquin Phoenix, Casey Affleck
Votes: 52,956 | Gross: $21.28M
9. Juice (1992)
R | 95 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Four inner-city teenagers get caught up in the pursuit of power and happiness, which they refer to as "the juice".
Director: Ernest R. Dickerson | Stars: Omar Epps, Tupac Shakur, Jermaine Hopkins, Khalil Kain
Votes: 30,360 | Gross: $20.15M
10. The Road to Wellville (1994)
R | 118 min | Comedy, Drama
A story about the ins and outs of one unusual health facility in the early twentieth century, run by the eccentric Dr. John Harvey Kellogg.
Director: Alan Parker | Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Bridget Fonda, Matthew Broderick, John Cusack
Votes: 13,213 | Gross: $6.51M
11. Schizopolis (1996)
Not Rated | 96 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Mystery
Fletcher Munson, the lethargic employee of a pseudo-religious self help company, and his doppelganger, the friendly but dull dentist Dr. Jeffrey Korchek.
Director: Steven Soderbergh | Stars: Steven Soderbergh, Scott Allen, Betsy Brantley, Marcus Lyle Brown
Votes: 6,051 | Gross: $0.01M
Tied with;
Kafka (1991): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102181/
and
King of the Hill (1993): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107322/
12. Nil by Mouth (1997)
R | 128 min | Drama
A rough, short-tempered patriarch of a working-class family sees his life and the relationships around him slowly unravel.
Director: Gary Oldman | Stars: Ray Winstone, Kathy Burke, Charlie Creed-Miles, Laila Morse
Votes: 10,193
13. If... Dog... Rabbit (1999)
R | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Johnnie Cooper (Matthew Modine) served time for an armed robbery, in which his father and brother also participated. When he's released from jail, he's determined to live a normal life, and... See full summary »
Director: Matthew Modine | Stars: Matthew Modine, David Keith, John Hurt, Maggie Weatherly
Votes: 614
Tied with;
Equinox (1992): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104201/
14. Meet the Applegates (1990)
R | 90 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
Modelling themselves after an idyllic cookie-cutter suburban 1950s family, a colony of insects move from South America into the United States with the intent of getting access to the nation's nuclear resources.
Director: Michael Lehmann | Stars: Ed Begley Jr., Stockard Channing, Dabney Coleman, Bobby Jacoby
Votes: 2,609 | Gross: $0.49M
15. Star Maps (1997)
R | 86 min | Comedy, Drama
Only in America. Only in Hollywood. Only in Beverly Hills could a young man with a dream make his way to the stars. Carlos is a precocious 18 year-old who returns to America from Mexico with dreams of becoming a movie star.
Director: Miguel Arteta | Stars: Douglas Spain, Efrain Figueroa, Kandeyce Jorden, Martha Velez
Votes: 1,048 | Gross: $0.59M
16. The Dark Backward (1991)
R | 101 min | Comedy
Garbage man Marty tries his hand at standup comedy and fails miserably until he adds the third arm to his act that mysteriously grew out of his back.
Director: Adam Rifkin | Stars: Judd Nelson, Bill Paxton, Wayne Newton, Lara Flynn Boyle
Votes: 4,027
17. The Brave (1997)
123 min | Drama
A down-on-his-luck American Indian recently released from jail is offered the chance to "star" as the victim of a snuff film, the resulting pay of which could greatly help his poverty stricken family.
Director: Johnny Depp | Stars: Johnny Depp, Marlon Brando, Marshall Bell, Elpidia Carrillo
Votes: 10,839
18. Trespass (1992)
R | 101 min | Action, Thriller
Two firemen in a burning building get a treasure map - stolen gold church items are hidden in a closed down factory in St. Louis. Once there, they're trapped in by a black gang considering it their territory.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: Bill Paxton, Ice-T, William Sadler, Ice Cube
Votes: 13,948 | Gross: $13.75M
19. Heavyweights (1995)
PG | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
Plump kids are lured into joining a posh fat camp with the promise of quick weight loss and good times, only to find that it is a woodland hellhole run by a psycho ex-fitness instructor.
Director: Steven Brill | Stars: Tom McGowan, Aaron Schwartz, Ben Stiller, David Goldman
Votes: 30,660 | Gross: $17.69M
20. The Indian Runner (1991)
R | 127 min | Drama
A Vietnam vet comes home to his small town and finds himself in conflict with rules that his brother has vowed to uphold.
Director: Sean Penn | Stars: David Morse, Viggo Mortensen, Valeria Golino, Patricia Arquette
Votes: 9,801 | Gross: $0.19M
21. Living in Oblivion (1995)
R | 90 min | Comedy, Drama
This ultimate tribute to all independent filmmakers takes place during one day on the set of a non-budget movie.
Director: Tom DiCillo | Stars: Steve Buscemi, Catherine Keener, Dermot Mulroney, Danielle von Zerneck
Votes: 20,153 | Gross: $1.15M
22. Matinee (1993)
PG | 99 min | Comedy, Drama
The teenage son of a navy sailor newly stationed in Key West gets some excitement with his friends when a small-time film producer comes to town to premiere a kitschy horror film during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Director: Joe Dante | Stars: John Goodman, Cathy Moriarty, Simon Fenton, Omri Katz
Votes: 12,400 | Gross: $9.53M
23. The Paper (1994)
R | 112 min | Comedy, Drama
New York City tabloid editor Henry's faced with tough decisions while he faces several serious life challenges, and a tempting job offer.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Michael Keaton, Glenn Close, Robert Duvall, Marisa Tomei
Votes: 15,098 | Gross: $38.82M
24. Ricochet (1991)
R | 102 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A District Attorney is terrorized by the criminal he put away years ago when he was a cop.
Director: Russell Mulcahy | Stars: Denzel Washington, John Lithgow, Ice-T, Kevin Pollak
Votes: 20,382 | Gross: $21.76M
25. Boxing Helena (1993)
R | 107 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A surgeon becomes obsessed with the seductive woman he once was in an affair with. Refusing to accept that she has moved on, he amputates her limbs and holds her captive in his mansion.
Director: Jennifer Lynch | Stars: Julian Sands, Sherilyn Fenn, Bill Paxton, Kurtwood Smith
Votes: 13,110 | Gross: $1.80M
26. Motorama (1991)
R | 90 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
A ten year-old boy runs away from his abusive parents, steals a Mustang, and a pursues a promotional card game sold at gas stations.
Director: Barry Shils | Stars: Jordan Christopher Michael, Martha Quinn, Michael Naegel, Susan Tyrrell
Votes: 2,197
27. Soapdish (1991)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy, Romance
An ambitious television soap actress connives with her producer to scuttle the career of the show's long-time star, but nothing works as they plan.
Director: Michael Hoffman | Stars: Sally Field, Kevin Kline, Cathy Moriarty, Teri Hatcher
Votes: 17,650 | Gross: $36.49M
28. Nightwatch (1997)
R | 101 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A law student, who takes a job as a night watchman at a morgue, begins to discover clues that implicate him as the suspect of a series of murders.
Director: Ole Bornedal | Stars: Ewan McGregor, Nick Nolte, Anais Evans, Erich Anderson
Votes: 21,306 | Gross: $1.20M
29. Entropy (I) (1999)
R | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Stephen Dorff narrates this tale about how his life goes astray as his character attempts to strike a balance between the demands of directing his first film and the pressures of his new ... See full summary »
Director: Phil Joanou | Stars: Stephen Dorff, Judith Godrèche, Kelly Macdonald, Lauren Holly
Votes: 2,373
30. Trouble Bound (1993)
R | 90 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A former thief unbeknownst to a dead body in his car drives to a bright future- but the men who planted the body now need it back.
Director: Jeffrey Reiner | Stars: Michael Madsen, Patricia Arquette, Sal Jenco, Darren Epton
Votes: 1,015
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