30 Most Memorable Oscar Moments From The Last 30 Years

20. Shakespeare In Love Beats Saving Private Ryan For Best Picture (1999)

Gwyneth Shakespeare In Love Paltrow
Universal Pictures

In what was surely the biggest "put the crack pipe down" moment in Oscar history until the Academy nominated The Blind Side for Best Picture, Shakespeare in Love ended up winning seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress.

In second place that year was war epic Saving Private Ryan, which won five Oscars, the majority of which were crafts wins outside of a well-earned Best Director victory for Steven Spielberg.

But the movie losing out Best Picture to a well-received but ultimately frothy and insubstantial rom-com remains one of the most controversial and shocking results in Oscar history. Its win was widely accepted to be a result of producer Harvey Weinstein's infamously aggressive campaigning.

20 years later, Saving Private Ryan remains a towering classic of the war genre, but who really talks about Shakespeare in Love anymore?

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.