181. Farewell My Concubine ( Ba wang bie ji )
Year of Release: 1993
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: Mandarin
Genre: Drama/Romance
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Kaige Chen
Actors: Leslie Cheung, Fengyi Zhang, Li Gong, Qi Lu, Da Ying, You Ge
Plot: Two Beijing Opera stage brothers fight over the same woman as we witness China's late-twentieth century political history in a parallel story.
182. Total Recall
Year of Release: 1990
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Action/Adventure
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Actors: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sharon Stone, Rachel Ticotin, Ronny Cox, Michael Ironside, Marshall Bell
Plot: A man, Arnold Schwarzenegger, goes on a virtual reality vacation to mars but when things start getting odd and dangerous he finds himself traveling to Mars for real to get a hold of things.
183. Shine
Year of Release: 1996
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Biography/Drama
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: Scott Hicks
Actors: Geoffrey Rush, Justin Braine, Sonia Todd, Chris Haywood, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Alex Rafalowicz
Plot: Based on the true story of Australian pianist David Helfgott, this delightful movie charts the early and traumatic early years. Telling the story in flashback we see David as he grows up and into a child prodigy while his father abuses him and his siblings with the memory of his childhood in Europe and the loss of his family in the concentration camps. David finally breaks away from his father and goes away to study overseas, he later suffers a breakdown and returns to Australia and a life in an institution. Many years later he is released and through several twists of fate (in reality even more unlikely than film portrays) he starts playing a piano in a bar before finally returning to the concert hall
184. Short Cuts
Year of Release: 1993
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Robert Altman
Actors: Andie MacDowell, Bruce Davison, Jack Lemmon, Julianne Moore, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Robert Downey Jr.
Plot: tory about a variety of characters (including a baker, a phone-sex provider and a clown) whose stale lives intersect and are forever altered through simple twists of fate.
185. Bottle Rocket
Year of Release: 1996
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Adventure/Comedy
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Wes Anderson
Actors: Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Ned Dowd, Shea Fowler, Haley Miller, Robert Musgrave
Plot: Focusing on a trio of friends and their elaborate plan to pull off a simple robbery and go on the run.
186. Amistad
Year of Release: 1997
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama/Historical
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Steven Spielberg
Actors: Morgan Freeman, Nigel Hawthorne, Anthony Hopkins, Djimon Hounsou, Matthew McConaughey, Pete Postlethwaite
Plot: 1839 - the slave ship Amistad is on its way from Cuba to the U.S. when there is an uprising led by a former African tribal leader. Landing in America, instead of freedom, they are once again captured and bound - but an abolitionist lawyer takes their case - arguing they are not slaves, but free citizens from another country. The outcome will not be decided until it reaches the Supreme Court, where John Quincy Adams presides.
187. Bandit Queen
Year of Release: 1995
Overall Rating: 3.1 out of 4 stars
Language: Hindi
Genre: Biography/Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Shekhar Kapur
Actors: Seema Biswas, Aditya Srivastava, Agesh Markam, Ajai Rohilla, Aseem Bajaj, Anupam Shyam
Plot: Phoolan Devi was known as the Bandit Queen - prosecuted by the Indian police while the press fawned over her.
188. In the Line of Fire
Year of Release: 1993
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama/Thriller
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Actors: Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich, Rene Russo, Dylan McDermott, Gary Cole, Fred Dalton Thompson
Plot: A U.S. Secret Service agent, who was part of the team responsible for protecting JFK in Dallas, goes after a man who has threatened the life of the current president.
As the agent, who is paired up with a female agent, goes after the would-be assassin, the fugitive teases him with his failed attempt at saving JFK's life on that tragic day in November.
189. Ninja Scroll ( Jûbei ninpûchô )
Year of Release: 1996
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Anime/Action
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Yoshiaki Kawajiri, Kevin Seymour
Actors: Richard Barnes, Dean Elliott, Richard Cansino, Richard Epcar, Wendee Lee, Dougary Grant
Plot: A traveling ninja for hire fights demons and their henchmen.
190. Muppet Christmas Carol
Year of Release: 1992
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Comedy/Family
MPAA Rating: G
Director: Brian Henson
Actors: Michael Caine, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Jerry Nelson, Frank Oz, David Rudman
Plot: The Muppet characters tell their version of the classic tale of an old and bitter miser's redemption on Christmas Eve.
