Giving ‘Heart’ another chance

Despite generally glowing reviews, especially for Angelina Jolie’s performance, “A Mighty Heart� tanked at the box office when it was released in June, making less than $10 million in a relatively wide release of 1,355 theaters.

“A Mighty Heart,� though, is the type of small, intimate drama that often finds its audience on DVD. It arrives in that format on Tuesday.

Though Jolie did a lot of publicity for the film, “Heart� was competing against such summer blockbusters as the last installment of “Pirates of the Caribbean� and the latest “Spider-Man.�

Directed by Britain’s iconoclastic Michael Winterbottom, “A Mighty Heart� is based on the bestselling book by Mariane Pearl, the widow of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl (played by Dan Futterman), who was abducted in Karachi, Pakistan, and subsequently murdered by his captors. Jolie, who plays Mariane Pearl, could be a contender for several movie awards, including the Golden Globes and Oscars.

--

From ‘Studio 60’: its entire output

Last fall, one of the most highly anticipated new TV series was NBC’s “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,� from “The West Wing� creator and executive producer Aaron Sorkin and “West Wing� executive producer and frequent director Thomas Schlamme. The hourlong series, about the machinations behind a weekly live comedy series, starred Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford as a comedy writing team brought in to save the show, as well as Amanda Peet and Steven Weber. But reviews were mixed at best; audiences just didn’t seem to care. The series was canceled before the season ended; its final episodes aired quietly over the summer. Though it may be gone from network TV, “Studio 60� isn’t totally forgotten. This Tuesday, Warner Home Video is releasing the entire series on DVD.

--

Snow already falls for ‘Christmas’

Although Christmas is months away, vintage holiday films, shorts and cartoons are being gussied up and re-released on DVD, including 1954’s sentimental yuletide favorite “White Christmas,� which arrives Tuesday.

The first film to be shot in Paramount’s wide-screen process, VistaVision, “White Christmas� was originally suppose to reunite Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, who had starred in “Holiday Inn.� Der Bingle introduced the Oscar-winning Irving Berlin standard “White Christmas� in the 1942 hit. The semi-retired Astaire turned down the project -- supposedly he wasn’t keen on the script -- and his role was reworked for another song-and-dance-man, Donald O’Connor. But when O’Connor left the project, Astaire’s role was again rewritten for the talents of frenetic Danny Kaye, who was under contract to Paramount. Several Berlin favorites are featured in the musical that also stars Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen and Dean Jagger. Berlin’s new composition “Counting Your Blessings Instead of Sheep� picked up an Oscar nomination -- it lost, though, to “Three Coins in the Fountain.� The film went on to become 1954’s biggest grosser, taking in $12 million -- and solidified Crosby as the No. 1 box office star in Hollywood, with Kaye close behind at No. 3

-- Susan King