Movies/TV on DVD/VHS

Jane, Eden, and Oz

• The Truth About Jane
compiled by Blase DiStefano

The Truth About Jane, which has never been available for sale, originally aired on Lifetime Television, bringing in some of the highest ratings ever for an original cable movie. • The one-and-only Stockard Channing (TV’s The Matthew Shepard Story and The West Wing) and Ellen Muth (Dolores Claiborne) star in this story of a mother’s struggle to come to terms with her daughter’s announcement that she is a lesbian. Tony Award-winner James Naughton (Chicago) and RuPaul Charles (out of drag!) also star. • Channing was nominated for a 2001 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries. Lee Rose, the openly lesbian writer/director of The Truth About Jane, won the 2001 Writers Guild of America Award for Writer for Original Long Form TV Movie. The film was also nominated for a 2001 GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Media Award as Outstanding TV Movie. • On April 9, independent video label Starlight Home Entertainment will release The Truth About Jane ($19.99 for DVD or VHS; can be pre-ordered by logging on to www.starlightfilmgroup.com). After the 9th, it will also be available at most of your favorite stores that sell DVD and VHS.

• Big Eden

Big Eden is a tiny town tucked away in the timberland of northwestern Montana, where cowboys lounge on the porch of the general store to pass the time away. It is also the childhood home of Henry Hart (Arye Gross), a successful but lonely New York artist who returns to care for his ailing grandfather. Back home, he confronts his unrequited passion for his high-school best friend and his feelings about being gay in a small town. Warmed by the openness and affection of old friends, in time he finds new possibilities for friendship and romance. Also stars Academy Award-winner Louise Fletcher. • After winning 15 audience awards at film festivals across the United States and screening in over 100 theatrical markets, Big Eden is the first gay feature to receive the deluxe double-disc treatment from Wolfe Video. The DVD set is full of extras, including director’s commentary, deleted and extended scenes, several behind-the-scenes documentaries, bloopers, original theatrical trailer, and more. Big Eden was also significant for being the first gay feature to receive a PG-13 rating from the MPAA. • Release date: April 30. DVD $24.95, VHS $39.95. You can order Big Eden by visiting www.wolfevideo.com or by calling 800/GET-WOLFE.

• Oz

There’s no place like home once you’ve visited Emerald City, the experimental unit of the Oswald Maximum Security Prison in HBO’s original series, Oz. Now you can go to the land called Oz because the complete first season has hit video stores on DVD and VHS. Featuring eight episodes, Oz: The Complete First Season is packaged in a four-volume VHS set or a three-disc DVD set for $64.98. (Runtime: 450 minutes.) The DVD features special attributes exclusive to the DVD release and includes two audio commentaries delivered by creator, writer, and co-executive producer Tom Fontana and star Lee Tergesen (Beecher). DVD bonus attributes also include deleted scenes with audio commentary by Fontana, a featurette showcasing interviews with Fontana, co-executive producer Barry Levinson, and selected cast members, and a music video from the Oz soundtrack called "Behind the Walls" by hip-hop artist Corrupt featuring Ante Dog. The DVD features episodic previews, cast and crew bios, web links, an episode index, chapter selections, English Dolby Surround Sound, and Spanish Mono. Click your heels.