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New on Video: Have a 'Pleasant' month Trip back to 'Pleasantville' and Drew Barrymore will be in hot demand in March Friday, February 26, 1999 By Barbara Vancheri, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Videos with Drew Barrymore bookend the month of March, starting with her take on Cinderella called "Ever After" and ending with the romantic comedy "Home Fries." After a feeble February, things start to look up in March, which will bring the videos of "Bulworth," "Pleasantville" and - we can hardly wait - "The Waterboy."
As always, space is limited, but here are highlights:
"Ever After" - "Just breathe" is the mantra of this Cinderella, a 16th-century woman named Danielle (Barrymore) who can quote from "Utopia," sling the prince over her back, stand up to a scheming stepmother (Anjelica Huston) and count Leonardo da Vinci as her champion. A couple of objectionable words have been edited out, enabling the video to get a PG rating. The DVD version will be PG-13. In addition to the video, Fox is selling a line of related items, including body glitter lotion, T-shirts, necklaces and scented candles.
"The Gene Autry Collection" - Buena Vista Home Entertainment is releasing six movies with the late singing cowboy. The first in an expected series: "Gaucho Serenade," "Melody Ranch," "Back in the Saddle," "Bells of Capistrano," "Sioux City Sue" and "Trail to San Antone." Videos will be sold separately, at $14.99 each, or in a boxed set with the suggested price of $74.99. Proceeds benefit the Autry Museum of Western Heritage in Los Angeles.
"Baby Huey's Great Easter Adventure" - Maureen McCormick and David Lander, who respectively gained fame as Marcia on "The Brady Bunch" and Squiggy on "Laverne and Shirley," head a family that adopts Huey. This live-action musical comedy also features Joseph Bologna, Harvey Korman and David Leisure.
"Green Acres" - You knew it had to happen, right? Orion Home Video is releasing four volumes of the '60s TV series starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor. Each tape has four episodes and a suggested price of $9.94. Volume 1 includes the first episode in which Oliver buys the farm.
"What Dreams May Come" - Robin Williams is a physician who goes through heaven and hell, literally, to reunite with his wife and soulmate (Annabella Sciorra). The eye-popping visual effects are nominated for an Academy Award, as is the art direction.
"Slam" - When this movie arrived in Pittsburgh, critic Barry Paris said there was no more eloquent contemporary film about black characters by a white director than this Sundance Film Festival winner. Saul Williams is a prisoner saved by the power and poetry of words in this sleeper.
"Dead Man on Campus" - Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Tom Everett Scott are flunking freshmen who try to take advantage of an arcane rule that awards straight A's to any student whose roommate commits suicide.
"Frank and Ollie" - The 64-year friendship between Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, two of Disney's greatest animators, is examined in this lively documentary directed by Frank's son, Theodore Thomas. It also explores how Pinocchio, Bambi, Baloo and other cartoon characters came about.
"Coming Home" - Peter O'Toole, Joanna Lumley, Penelope Keith, Emily Mortimer and David McCallum star in this Rosamunde Pilcher miniseries set in wartime England. Acorn Media of Bethesda, Md., is releasing the four-volume boxed set.
"What a World We Share!" - Barney embarks on a journey around the world in this direct-to-video tape. When Stella the storytellers loses her suitcase, Barney and friends must travel to France, Canada and Mexico to return it.
"The Waterboy" - Adam Sandler is a socially inept 31-year-old from the swamps of Louisiana who unleashes years of rage on the football field and becomes a star tackler in this blockbuster comedy. Kathy Bates plays his overly protective mother and Henry Winkler is the coach who capitalizes on the waterboy's talent.
"Living Out Loud" - A brittle, blond Holly Hunter is a wealthy Fifth Avenue divorcee who is desperate for human contact. When she reaches out, she discovers a wounded elevator operator (Danny DeVito) who falls for her and a gutsy blues singer (Queen Latifah).
"One True Thing" - Renee Zellweger is an ambitious writer whose perception of her family undergoes a dramatic change when she reluctantly returns home to care for her dying mother. Meryl Streep and William Hurt also star in this recommended tearjerker.
"Bulworth" - Warren Beatty and Jeremy Pikser earned an Academy Award nomination for their original screenplay about a disillusioned senator, also played by Beatty, who tires of politics and life. When a beautiful woman (Halle Berry) makes him rethink death, he turns into a rapping, truth-telling rarity.
"Simon Birch" - John Irving's novel, "A Prayer for Owen Meany," has been turned into a sweet look at the friendship between two outcasts, one an illegitimate boy (Joseph Mazzello) and the other, a diminutive boy who believes he is an instrument of God.
"Polish Wedding" - Claire Danes is a sinfully sexy young woman whose forbidden love affair turns her world upside down. Co-starring Gabriel Byrne as her father, a baker who works at night, and Lena Olin as her mother, a cleaning woman.
"Gunfighter" - Francis Ford Coppola is executive producer of this western starring Keith Carradine as a down-on-his-luck singer named The Kid and Martin Sheen as The Stranger.
"Pleasantville" - Our No. 10 movie of 1998 is an anti-nostalgia comedy about two '90s teens who are transformed into characters on the 1950s sitcom "Pleasantville" where everything is in black and white. Once they begin introducing such modern concepts as free thinking and sexuality, characters begin taking on color - and prejudice, too. Starring William H. Macy, Joan Allen and Jeff Daniels.
"Mighty Joe Young" - Bill Paxton and Charlize Theron star in this Disney remake of the 1949 release of the same name about a 15-foot gorilla transported from Africa to California, where poachers once again stalk him.
"The Best Man" - Set on the last day of 1899, this Italian import is about a bride-to-be who falls in love not with her groom but the handsome best man, a businessman visiting his hometown after making his fortune in America.
"Bride of Chucky" - Now here's a designation you don't often find: rated R for violence, profanity and doll sex. Yes, the satanic doll who comes to life with the soul of a serial killer is back and this time he's found a mate in this absurdly silly movie.
"Ringmaster" - Finally, a movie for people who just can't get enough Jerry Springer. This comedy purportedly takes us behind the scenes of the trashy talk show.
"The Rugrats Movie" - The filmmakers stay true to the simple charms of the wildly popular Nickelodeon show in this leap to the big screen introducing baby Dil Pickles. Making guest voice appearances: Whoopi Goldberg, David Spade and Tim Curry.
"Home Fries" - Drew Barrymore is a fast-food worker who has an affair with a married man, gets pregnant and finds herself the target of his stepsons, one of whom falls in love with her.
You can reach Barbara Vancheri at bvancheri@post-gazette.com.
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March 2