Pleasantville DVD cover

Pleasantville is a film first released in Canada on September 17, 1998 starring Tobey Maguire, Reese Witherspoon, William H. Macy, Joan Allen, and Jeff Daniels. Don Knotts and J.T. Walsh are also featured. The film was written, produced, and directed by Gary Ross, who also performed those duties for the more recent film Seabiscuit, which also starred Maguire and Macy. Pleasantville DVD cover from amazon. ... Pleasantville DVD cover from amazon. ... September 17 is the 260th day of the year (261st in leap years). ... See also: 1997 in film, other events of 1998, 1999 in film, list of years in film. Events February 14 - Sharon Stone marries Phil Bronstein Top grossing films Saving Private Ryan, starring Tom Hanks Armageddon Theres Something About Mary, starring Ben Stiller and Cameron Diaz A Bugs Life... Tobias Vincent Maguire (born June 27, 1975 in Santa Monica, California) is an American film actor. ... Reese Witherspoon Reese Witherspoon (born as Laura Jean Reese Witherspoon on March 22, 1976) is an American actress perhaps most familiar as Elle Woods in the film Legally Blonde (2001) and its sequel Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde (2003). ... Publicity photo of William H. Macy William Hall Macy (born March 13, 1950) is an actor, teacher, and director, in theatre, film, and television. ... Joan Allen (born August 20, 1956 in Rochelle, Illinois, USA) is an American actress. ... Jeff Daniels and Patricia Heaton in a scene from the TNT cable network movie The Goodbye Girl Jeff Daniels (born February 19, 1955 in Athens, Georgia) is an American actor. ... Knotts as Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show Jesse Donald Don Knotts (born July 21, 1924) is an American actor. ... J.T. Walsh (September 28, 1943–February 27, 1998) was an American actor best known for his roles as quietly sinister white-collar sleazeballs (quote from Leonard Maltin) in numerous feature films. ... Seabiscuit is a 2003 American drama film based on the best-selling book Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand. ...

The film received Oscar nominations for its music (by Randy Newman), costume design, and set decoration. Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ... From Rule Sixteen of the Special Rules for The Music Awards Original Score: An original score is a substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer. ... Randy Newman (born November 28, 1943, in Los Angeles, California) is a United States songwriter, arranger, singer and pianist who is notable for his mordant, immaculately written pop songs and for his many film scores. ... This Academy Award was first given for movies made in 1948 when separate awards were given for black-and-white and color movies. ... This Academy Award was first given for movies made in 1948 when separate awards were given for black-and-white and color movies. ...

Plot Synopsis

The story is about David Wagner (Maguire) and his twin sister Jennifer Wagner (Witherspoon), who are magically transported into the world of a black-and-white television program, also titled Pleasantville, where it is the year 1958. Black-and-white (or variations including Black and White) can refer to a general term used in photography, film, and other media (see black-and-white). ... 1958 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Pleasantville is much like the Springfield of Father Knows Best or the Mayfield of Leave It to Beaver. Maguire and Witherspoon play 1990s teenagers thrust into this world involuntarily. The changes they cause in Pleasantville, and the unexpected consequences to themselves, are highlighted through the use of color: the literally monochrome world of Pleasantville blossoms, in steps small and large, into a rainbow of colors from the palettes of Titian, Monet, Gauguin, Renoir, and van Gogh. Color is introduced slowly, subtly, deliberately; at first it may only touch a single flower, or the tongue of a girl. It is always motivated by the events of the film, particularly epiphanies experienced by the characters. Springfield the most common name for a town in the United States, in fact there are more Springfields in the US than states. ... Father Knows Best was an American TV and radio sitcom of the 1950s and 1960s. ... Mayfield in the name of any of a number of places: In Australia: Mayfield, suburb of Launceston, Tasmania, Australia Mayfield, suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia In Ireland: Mayfield, Cork, suburb of Cork city In New Zealand: Mayfield, New Zealand, village in Mid-Canterbury, Canturbury, New Zealand In the... Leave It to Beaver Cast, (from left) Tony Dow, Barbara Billingsly, Hugh Beaumont, and Jerry Mathers Leave It to Beaver was a situation comedy which ran on CBS from October 4, 1957 to 1958 and then on ABC from 1958 to June 20, 1963. ... Events and trends Technology The World Wide Web was born at CERN Explosive growth of the Internet; decrease in the cost of computers and other technology Reduction in size and cost of mobile phones leads to a massive surge in their popularity Year 2000 problem (commonly known as Y2K) Microsoft... An artists palette A palette is: A thin board that a painter holds and mixes colour pigments on. ... Titian. ... Oscar-Claude Monet (November 14, 1840 _ December 5, 1926), French impressionist painter. ... Paul Gauguin (June 7, 1848 - May 9, 1903) was a leading Post-Impressionist painter. ... Pierre-Auguste Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (February 25, 1841 - December 3, 1919) was a French artist who painted in the impressionist style. ... Self-portrait (1886) Vincent Willem van Gogh (March 30, 1853–July 29, 1890) was a Dutch painter, generally considered one of the greatest painters in European art history. ... This article is about a feeling, for other meanings see epiphany (disambiguation) An epiphany is a sudden intuitive realization or comprehension of the essence or meaning of something. ...

The change in color is the primary visual effect used to accent the changes to the people and the world they inhabit, changes which challenge the values and emphasis on continuity and conformity that many consider to be the hallmark of 1950s America. Much of the film's satirical tone is captured in the "Code of Public Conduct" which the Pleasantville citizens establish, trying to protect themselves from upsetting changes. One rule forbids music other than "Johnny Mathis, Perry Como, the marches of John Philip Sousa, [and] the 'Star Spangled Banner' ". Another rule echoes the Scopes Trial by requiring all schools to teach the "non-changist" view of history. On the DVD's director commentary, Ross noted that the film had been called "both amoral and moralistic", a contradiction in which he reveled. Special effects (abbreviated SPFX or SFX) are used in the film, television, and entertainment industry to create effects that cannot be achieved by normal means, such as depicting travel to other star systems. ... In psychology, conformity is the degree to which members of a group will change their behavior, views and attitudes to fit the views of the group. ... Millennia: 1st millennium - 2nd millennium - 3rd millennium Events and trends Technology United States tests the first fusion bomb. ... Satire is a literary technique of writing or art which principally ridicules its subject (for example, individuals, organizations, or states) often as an intended means of provoking or preventing change. ... Johnny Mathis (born September 30, 1935 in Gilmer, Texas) is an American popular singer, and one of the few remaining male vocalists associated with Traditional Pop music. ... Perry Como (born Pierino Ronald Como; May 18, 1912–May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American crooner during the last half of the 20th century. ... John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa (November 6, 1854 - March 6, 1932) is probably the most famous conductor and composer in history of military marches. ... Nicholson took the copy Key gave him to a printer, where it was published as a broadside on September 17 under the title The Defence of Fort McHenry, with an explanatory note explaining the circumstances of its writing. ... Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan chat in court during the trial. ... DVD is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for storing data, including movies with high video and sound quality. ...

The tagline for the film nicely summarizes what the movie is about: nothing is as simple as black and white. A tagline is a variant of an advertising slogan typically used in movie marketing, commercials, and websites. ... A double entendre or innuendo is a figure of speech similar to the pun, in which a spoken phrase can be understood in either of two ways. ...

External link

• Pleasantville (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120789/) at the Internet Movie Database