Mile high club - 12:01am

Call it the Oscar curse. Once "It Girl" Gwenyth Paltrow won a Best Actress honor for Shakespeare in Love in 1999, and already she's being labeled "box office poison." Ouch! Guess the curse continued with last spring's misfire View from the Top, which sat on the shelf for two years and then...no one cared. Not even the presence of Mike Myers could help this one at the box office, but decide for yourself on September 9th when Buena Vista Home Entertainment gives this one the 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen treatment, complete with a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track and two featurettes, "The Making of View from the Top" and "A History of the Flight Attendant" (no joke), plus a music sampler and the trailer. Retail is $29.95.

Also announced from Buena Vista are the full specs for three delightful family classics. On September 2nd, watch for The Apple Dumpling Gang which will include an audio commentary with stars Tim Conway, Don Knotts, Susan Clark and Brad Savage, the "A Look Back with the Gang," "Conversations with Tim Conway," "Lost Treasures: The Disney Back Lot" and "Disney's Rootin' Tootin' Cowboy Heroes" featurettes, the "Two Gun Goofy" animated short, multiple still galleries, the complete original 1975 studio album and theatrical trailers. Next is the spooky favorite Escape to Witch Mountain, which is set to feature an audio commentary with director John Hough and stars Ike Eisenmann and Kim Richards, the "Making the Escape," "Conversations with John Hough," "Disney Effects - Something Special" and "Disney Sci-Fi" featurettes, the "Pluto's Dream House" animated short and theatrical trailers. The sequel Return From Witch Mountain also includes a commentary with Hough, Eisenmann and Richards, plus the "Making the Return Trip," "The Gang's Back in Town," "Disney's Kids with Powers" and "Lost Treasures: Christopher Lee - The Lost Interview" featurettes, "The Eyes Have It" animated short and theatrical trailers. Both the Witch Mountain flicks also include their complete original studio album, and all three have been remastered in anamorphic widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1. Retail is $24.95 a pop.

Oliver's army - 12:01am

Yet more new Paramount catalog announcements have come in for the holiday season, all due to hit shelves on November 18th. I have to admit that I love new library title announcements like this, because there's always something in there you never knew existed. Who would have guessed that they would have actually tried to make a sequel to the classic weepie Love Story? Yep, Ryan O'Neal returned in the 1978 bomb Oliver's Story, which will get the remastered anamorphic widescreen treatment, along with The Last Tycoon, FairyTale: A True Story and the controversial Brooke Shields hooker drama Pretty Baby. There are no extras, not even trailers, but retail is Paramount's cheapie $14.95.

Also announced are the full specs for a new special edition of the original hit heist flick The Italian Job, due on October 21st. Remastered in anamorphic widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1, extras include an audio commentary with producer Michael Deeley and author Michael Field, three featurettes, a deleted scene with optional commentary and theatrical trailers. Retail is $19.95.

Holiday road - 12:01am

Rounding out this week's news, it's good news for fans of that kooky Griswold clan. Just in time for the holidays, the family that just never learns not to take a vacation is getting their own gift set. Featuring all four of the much-beloved National Lampoon flicks - Vacation, European Vacation, Christmas Vacation and Vegas Vacation - The Ultimate Vacation Collection features all of the new special edition versions as well as a remastered edition of Vegas Vacation in anamorphic widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround (there are no new extras.) The set will be available on September 9th and retails for $59.95, and all of the four Vacation flicks will also be available separately for $19.95 a pop, including the Vegas adventure.