Notable new releases
P.S. I LOVE YOU (Warner) Hilary Swank runs the emotional gamut in Richard LaGravenese’s button-pushing weepie, going from sexy and self-possessed (in scenes with her boyfriend, played by Gerard Butler) to deflated and depressed (after he succumbs to a fatal brain tumour) to perky and resolute (after receiving his elaborate post-mortem parting gift, which is essentially permission to get on with her life). She pulls out all the stops, and so does the film, but the sheer implausibility of the story (who has time to plan someone else’s vacation in the throes of a brain tumour?) clashes the stray moments of emotional honesty. Additional marks are deducted for flashbacks in which we’re asked to believe that Swank’s character is 19 years old. There isn’t a toque fuzzy enough to carry off that illusion. EXTRAS: bonus scenes, conversation with Cecelia Ahern, “The Name of the Game is Snaps: Learn How to Play,” James Blunt music video.
THE PASSION OF GREG THE BUNNY: BEST OF THE FILM PARODIES, VOL. 2 (Shout) That merry old prankster Lars von Trier might appreciate seeing his Dogville recast with ornery puppets. “Sockville” is just one of several priceless pastiches here. (See also: “Blue Velveteen,” an only slightly sub-Simpsons send-up of Twin Peaks.) EXTRAS: “Fur on the Asphalt” reunion special, deleted scenes, outtakes, music video, webisodes, gag reel, photo gallery, more.
Also out this week
GRIZZLY RAGE (Peace Arch) Teenagers run over a grizzly bear cub and have to deal with its pissed-off mother; it turns out that she’s not more afraid of them than they are of her. Someone needs to get Stephen Colbert a copy of this movie, stat. EXTRAS: none.
OVER HER DEAD BODY (Columbia/TriStar) Eva Longoria Parker gets the Patrick Swayze part in this dire rom-com gloss on Ghost, playing a not-so-dearly departed harridan trying to keep her fiancé (Paul Rudd in the Demi Moore part) from hooking up with a psychic (Lake Bell, acres more fetching than Whoopi Goldberg but unlikely to cop an Oscar for her efforts). EXTRAS: none.
TWISTER: TWO-DISC SPECIAL EDITION (Warner) Twelve years later, I still like the fact that the rival storm chasers drive sleek, black vehicles, ’cause they’re Evil Tornado Experts. EXTRAS: commentary, making-of featurettes, trailers.
Out May 13
I’m Not There, Indiana Jones — The Adventure Collection, The Great Debaters, Mad Money, Untraceable and Francis Ford Coppola’s much-maligned Youth Without Youth.