10 Awesome 90s Movies You've Probably Never Seen

The Player was far from a hidden gem or even sleeper hit in its day, but an anticipated return to Hollywood for a renowned director, and a contender for several Academy Awards. It's just that the film may have been overshadowed as time went by, by lead Tim Robbins' The Shawshank Redemption a few years later, as well as director Robert Altman's subsequent success Short Cuts.

Like many Altman films, The Player features an impressive ensemble cast. As a film about the film industry, it also has a number of famous actors playing themselves, including Jack Lemmon, Burt Reynolds, and 50s socialite Dina Merrill. And while the film is a satire of the superficial Hollywood culture, it also runs on these cameos, as well as an engrossing murder mystery plot.

Robbins is a stressed out studio executive who kills a disgruntled writer and gets embroiled in the twisted investigation, as well as his own blackmail. Meanwhile, comic relief abounds in the slew of awful script pitches ("not unlike Ghost meets Manchurian Candidate") and the cheesy Bruce Willis and Julia Roberts film premiere within the film.

It's also famous for its impressive 8-minute opening shot, weaving throughout the employees of the studio ubiquitously.