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The Best of 1999/Video
Friday, December 31, 1999 By Barbara Vancheri, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
This is the year Divx died, DVD positioned itself as the format of the future and retailers learned never to underestimate the power of the pint-size patron. Witness the sales of "Pokemon: Seaside Pikachu" and "Mary-Kate & Ashley: Passport to Paradise."
If you don't know Pokemon or the Olsen twins, forget about ever becoming a millionaire in the chair opposite Regis Philbin.
In fact, everything you need to know, you can learn in the video store: Steven Spielberg is king; Tom Hanks is crown prince; buyers love tapes that make 'em laugh; we have seen the future and it is "The Matrix" on DVD; and never underestimate the appeal of Adam Sandler, who ends the year with two movies ("Big Daddy" and "The Waterboy") on the list of top-grossing movies of 1999. That last truth doesn't apply to a movie he merely produces, such as "Deuce Bigalow, Male Gigolo."
My top video pick of 1998 was pretty much a no-brainer: "Titanic." And now, without benefit of Billy Crystal or behind-the-scenes comic collaborator Bruce Vilanch, this year's video list:
1. "Saving Private Ryan" -- Steven Spielberg wuz robbed. This was the best movie of 1998 and the best video of 1999. It arrived on store shelves in time for Memorial Day, while the DVD landed just before Veterans Day. This epic set a new standard for war movies, with its stomach-churning invasion of Omaha Beach on D-Day and its quiet revelations about a teacher and other average Americans pressed into patriotic service.
Tom Hanks truly has the golden touch and, more amazingly, he has escaped that let's build him up-and-tear him down syndrome that affects so many other stars. And it's impossible to forget the sad simplicity of a mother, with four sons in the service, who sees a car chugging toward her farm house and realizes what that means.
2. "Waking Ned Devine" -- This is on the list for the sheer fun of it. It's that rare renter who has taken this one home, slipped it into the VCR and been disappointed. It's a fable about friendship and fortune and the universal dream of winning the lottery. Set in a tiny seaside Irish village called Tully More, "Waking Ned Devine" is about a couple of charming codgers who scheme to cash in a winning lottery ticket that doesn't belong to them.
3. "Notting Hill" -- Hugh Grant as an average schlub? Well, sort of. He's William, the owner of a travel book shop in London's Notting Hill neighborhood, and Julia Roberts is a movie star earning $15 million a picture. The romantic comedy starring this pair -- those teeth, that hair! -- is just good escapist entertainment. And there's nary a prom in sight. Of course it's a far cry from the original Richard Curtis script, which had William choosing between the actress and a sweet, poor, bespectacled woman named Honey who worked in a nearby record store. In the final draft, Honey became William's sister (solving that dilemma), and a very funny one at that.
4. "October Sky" -- It's true, it's inspiring and it's rated PG. What more could you want? Jake Gyllenhaal plays Homer Hickam in this story about a boy who longs to break out of his coal-mining town by reaching for the stars with rockets. Laura Dern is his supportive teacher and Chris Cooper his hard-working father in this rousing, real-life drama.
5. "Arlington Road" -- Since many moviegoers ignored this thriller in theaters, they came to it fresh in video stores. Jeff Bridges is a widower, father and domestic terrorism expert who begins to suspect that his cheery new neighbors (Tim Robbins, Joan Cusack and assorted offspring) may be harboring an explosive secret. The logic of the ending goes a bit haywire, but it does take you by surprise. And it gives you much to think about, virtually all of it disturbing.
6. "The Blair Witch Project" -- When co-director Eduardo Sanchez was in Pittsburgh in October, he issued a challenge to disbelievers. Rent it. Borrow it. Punch the play button at 1 a.m. "And then sit through it, and see if it doesn't at least give you a little insight into fear." And why Heather, Josh and Mike became pop-culture icons (and inspiration for easy Halloween costumes) on the road to "Blair Witch" earning $140.5 million in the United States, before video sales and rentals.
7. "The Matrix" -- You can watch this Keanu Reeves sci-fi pic with the sound off and just stare at the visual pyrotechnics. It became the top-selling DVD, displacing "Armageddon," and confirming the arrival of the format for tomorrow.
8. "Mulan," "A Bug's Life," "Antz," "The Rugrats Movie," "The Prince of Egypt," "Doug's 1st Movie," "Iron Giant" -- If your child can't find a keeper among this movie mix, he or she may be too picky to please. If you like your animation old-fashioned, opt for "Iron Giant." If you like dazzling drawings, rent "Prince of Egypt."
9. "One True Thing" -- It's the time of year to think about family, and Meryl Streep will make you do exactly that in this admittedly chick flick. She earned her 11th Academy Award nomination as a dying mother and wife. Renee Zellweger is an ambitious reporter who reluctantly moves home to care for her mother and gains a new appreciation for the thankless tasks (such as scrubbing the bathroom) she once took for granted.
10. "Election" and "Rushmore" -- No high school proms in these sophisticated, funny and R-rated films. Reese Witherspoon, who will play Rachel's free-spending younger sister on "Friends" in February, is a pushy perfectionist who drives teacher Matthew Broderick crazy in "Election." In "Rushmore," Jason Schwartzman is Max Fischer, a 10th-grader who is flunking all his courses but excelling at extracurricular activities. He ends up competing with his mentor (Bill Murray) when they both fall for a pretty first-grade teacher.
"Life Is Beautiful" and "Shakespeare in Love." I don't know about you, but I'm tired of Roberto Benigni and Gwyneth Paltrow although their Oscar-winning movies are worthy of praise and repeat viewing.
For those not frightened by subtitles: "Central Station" stars Fernanda Montenegro as a lonely and cynical woman who accompanies a motherless boy on his search for his father in Brazil. Befitting the part, she resists looking the least bit glamorous.
Brilliant but bleak: "Affliction," "A Simple Plan."
Best in the box: "From the Earth to the Moon," winner of the 1998 Emmy Award for outstanding miniseries tells the story of the 12 manned Apollo missions. Twelve hours are packaged in a six-tape set. And in honor of what would have been the macabre master's 100th birthday, Universal assembled the "Alfred Hitchcock Centennial Collection," with 13 remastered films.
Boys just want to have fun: "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me." But let's be honest. It was funnier in the theater.
NIMVCR (Not in my VCR): "The Waterboy" and "South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut." A better Adam Sandler fix comes courtesy of "Big Daddy," public urination and plugs for Hooters and McDonald's and all.
We got nuthin': As Jerry Seinfeld might say. Sure, we have "Seinfeld" reruns at 11 p.m. (for when the world is not enough) but no videos without commercials or, better yet, boxed sets. Sounds like a good Christmas 2000 present. Seinfeld's got a honeymoon to finance, after all.
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