New on DVD: Dead hubby’s letters sustain Swank in ‘P.S.’

  • By David Germain Associated Press
  • Monday, May 5, 2008 1:15pm
  • LifeGo-See-Do

Selected home-video releases:

“P.S. I Love You”: Just what every widow needs: A hubby thoughtful enough to leave behind a series of letters with life-affirming tasks so she can get on with things (or maybe he’s just too selfish and perverse to go to his grave quietly and let her grief run its course naturally).

Hilary Swank stars as the woman left alone after her husband (Gerard Butler) dies of a brain tumor, his posthumous letters turning up for a year after his death to encourage her to get out of the house and put an end to her moping.

The DVD ($28.98) and Blu-ray high-definition ($35.99) releases come with deleted scenes, a feature, a music video and a chat with author Cecelia Ahern, whose novel was the basis for the movie. An HD DVD high-definition release follows May 20. (Warner Bros.)

“First Sunday”: When they pass the collection plate at church, Ice Cube is there to take out his share. Cube and Tracy Morgan star as a couple of inept crooks who need cash fast and decide to steal it from the local house of worship — only to take the congregation hostage after they discover someone’s already beaten them to the money.

The movie is accompanied by deleted scenes with commentary from writer-director David E. Talbert, who also provides commentary for the full flick. The DVD ($28.95) and Blu-ray ($38.96) releases also have a gag reel, outtakes and a behind-the-scenes segment. (Sony)

“Over Her Dead Body”: “Desperate Housewives” star Eva Longoria Parker is desperately in need of better movie offers — and a different screen persona. This painfully unfunny supernatural romantic comedy casts Longoria Parker as a fidgety, scheming, high-maintenance clone of the character she plays on the TV show — only here, she’s dead, jealously returning from beyond to foul up a potential new relationship for her fiance (Paul Rudd). The wisest move by the people behind this dud: no extras on the DVD. There’s no need to kick a dead housewife. $27.95. (New Line)

“I’m Not There”: One of last year’s boldest films — not just one portrait of Bob Dylan, but six, featuring half a dozen actors taking on aspects of the music icon — proved largely an exercise for hardcore fans. While the movie was too esoteric for general audiences, it features captivating performances, including the Academy Award-nominated turn by Cate Blanchett in a spot-on rendition of the Dylan-goes-electric era of the mid-1960s. In one of his last roles, Heath Ledger also does Dylan, along with Christian Bale, Richard Gere, Marcus Carl Franklin and Ben Whishaw. The DVD has commentary and a conversation with director Todd Haynes, nine deleted scenes, a music video and a making-of segment. Also included are audition reels by Whishaw and Franklin. $28.95. (Genius)

TV on DVD

“The 4400: The Fourth Season”: The series that focused on a group of people who vanished without a trace only to reappear as long as a century later concludes. The set also has deleted scenes, commentary and a director’s cut of the finale. $42.99. (Paramount)

“Bewitched: The Complete Sixth Season”: Year six of the supernatural sitcom brought in Dick Sargent to replace Dick York as hubby to Elizabeth Montgomery’s witch. $39.95. (Sony)

Other new releases

“The Hottie and the Nottie”: Paris Hilton delivers a bomb with this comedy virtually no one wanted to see at theaters. $24.95. (Genius)

“Teeth”: This strange twist on horror comedy centers on a teen (Jess Weixler) who crusades against sex before marriage, then learns a terrible secret about her anatomy — she possesses a toothed vagina that has a tendency to bite at inopportune moments for the men in her life. $24.95. (Genius)

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