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Even before movies were in color, they were red, white and blue. Hollywood's patriotism goes back to "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939) and "Yankee Doodle Dandy" (1943) and earlier. Here are five more recent films for a star-spangled movie night:
'Bull Durham' • (1988) Ron Shelton's scruffy, sultry ode to America's pastime, about a veteran player (Kevin Costner) and a dumb rookie (Tim Robbins) both attracting the attention of a soulfully sexy baseball fan (Susan Sarandon).
'Independence Day' • (1996) An alien invasion can't keep down the American spirit, or Will Smith's cool, or Bill Pullman's speechmaking skills in Roland Emmerich's wonderfully cornball action movie.
'Saving Private Ryan' • (1998) Steven Spielberg's moving, bloody tribute to the Greatest Generation, perfectly embodied by Tom Hanks.
'National Treasure' • (2004) Nicolas Cage saves the Declaration of Independence, and takes us on a wild ride through American history, in Jon Turteltaub's giddily preposterous thriller.
'Captain America: The First Avenger' • (2011) Joe Johnston re-creates the rousing style of old-fashioned World War II movies in bringing Marvel Comics' hero (Chris Evans) back to life.