10 years of Flick Filosopher: I lose it as Private Ryan is found

One of my least fun but most profound moviegoing experiences came with Saving Private Ryan. From my review:

Saving Private Ryan is every bit as brutal as you’ve heard, and probably more intense than you can imagine (unless you’ve actually been in combat). Director Steven Spielberg has achieved a level of reality here that I’ve never seen before in a film. Ryan opens, as you’ve no doubt heard, with a recreation of the landing at Normandy on June 6, 1944 that is so chaotic, and on such a massive scale, that it’s almost impossible to believe that this could be staged — this must be some long-lost footage from the invasion that we’ve never seen before.

Spielberg’s always been one of my favorite filmmakers, and the one who inspired by love of movies…

• review of Saving Private Ryan, posted 07.27.98