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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

See ‘Saving Private Ryan’ on the big screen - again

Dan Webster

Memorial Day has passed, and we're midway between Veterans Days (Nov. 11). But in celebration of both, two area theaters will screen Steven Spielberg's 1998 film "Saving Private Ryan."

The film, which won five Academy Awards — including Best Director and Best Cinematography — will screen at 3 p.m. on Sunday and at 7 p.m. on Wednesday (June 5th) — at the Regal Cinemas sites at Northtown Mall and Coeur d'Alene's Riverstone Stadium.

Of course, what's interesting about the Oscars and "Saving Private Ryan" is the award it didn't win: Best Picture. That honor went to "Shakespeare in Love," John Madden's film that won seven Oscars — which also included Best Actress (for Gwyneth Paltrow), Best Supporting Actress (Judi Dench) and Best Original Screenplay (Tom Stoppard, Marc Norman).

It's only fitting that the win by Madden's film is regularly mentioned in stories about the biggest upsets (see No. 5) in Oscar history. As Gary Susman wrote on Time.com, the difference was likely due to a man who has become a cultural pariah.

"Oscar tends to favor war epics over romantic comedies, but this one had Miramax chief Harvey Weinstein on its side," Susman wrote, "and he made sure that voters were impressed by its literary pedigree and by the luminous breakthrough performance of Gwyneth Paltrow."

Now's your chance to see Spielberg's film, again, and make up your own mind.