59: "Earn This" - Shakespeare in Love vs. Saving Private Ryan

When We Were Young - an 80s and 90s pop culture podcast

Don’t snub our latest episode! It’s awards season, so the When We Were Young podcast is taking a hard look back at the Academy Awards from 1999, which saw a battle royale between Steven Spielberg’s knockout WWII epic SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and the Harvey Weinstein-backed costume rom-com SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE.

First, the hosts reminisce about their earliest Oscar memories and relive some of the telecast’s worst dance numbers. Then, we travel back to D-Day with Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, and a whole lot of bullets and explosions to see if Spielberg’s gritty drama is still as harrowing and awe-inspiring as it was back in 1998. And, more importantly — should it have defeated Shakespeare In Love as the year’s Best Picture?

For Your Consideration: relive one of the 90s most memorable Oscars telecasts, when Roberto Benigni leapt onto the seats and into our hearts, Gwyneth Paltrow tearfully accepted her Best Actress award in an iconic pink Ralph Lauren dress, and host Whoopi Goldberg channeled Queen Elizabeth. The When We Were Young podcast would like to thank our agents, husbands, kids, pets, landlords, therapists, and… hey, stop playing that music, we aren’t finished yet!

When We Were Young is a podcast devoted to the most beloved pop culture of our formative years (roughly 1980-2000). Join us for a look back to the past with a critical eye on how these movies, songs, TV shows and more hold up now. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @WWWYshow, on Facebook at Facebook.com/WWWYShow and email your episode suggestions to [e-mail]. Don’t forget to subscribe and review us on iTunes so more folks check out the show!

Help us defray the costs of creating this show, which includes purchasing movies/shows/music to review, delivery food to eat our feelings, and producing & editing in-house at the MFP Studio in Los Angeles, California, by donating to our Patreon account at patreon.com/WhenWeWereYoung.