Susan Granger’s video/dvd update for week of May 9:
Hilariously satirical and shallow, Tom DiCillo’s “Delirious,” starring Steve Buscemi, reveals the soft, subversive underbelly of the sycophantic entertainment press – from battling rival publicist to eccentric bottom-feeders.
On the topic of vulgar vanity, Paris Hilton embarrasses herself once again, panting “A life without orgasms is like a world without flowers” in “The Hottie and the Nottie,” as Joel David Moore’s object of desire and best friend to an ugly duckling, played by Christine Lakin.
Continuing with sappy, disappointing romantic comedies, “Over Her Dead Body” stars Eva Longoria, Paul Rudd and Lake Bell; it’s about the battle between two women (one of them a ghost) for the love of one guy. There’s another apparition in “P.S. I Love You,” as Hilary Swank flounders as a grieving young widow whose late husband (Gerard Butler), an impetuous Irishman, keeps instructing her on how to rebuild her life; it wants to be “Ghost,” but Swank’s no Demi Moore and Butler’s no Patrick Swayze.
In “First Sunday,” Ice Cube and Tracy Morgan are bumbling petty criminals who concoct a desperate scheme to rob their neighborhood church and end up spending the night in the presence of the Lord, being forced to deal with more than they bargained for.
For youngsters, this week’s best bets are “Treasure Island Kids 2: The Monster of Treasure Island” and “Barney: Hi! I’m Riff,” introducing a new, six year-old Hadrosaur.
PICK OF THE WEEK: If you’re into existential cinema, Todd Haynes’ “I’m Not There” explores the tumultuous life and music of Bob Dylan. What this kaleidoscopic, non-linear meditation lacks in coherence, it makes up for in eccentricity with six actors, including Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Cate Blanchett and Richard Gere, each representing a phase in Dylan’s chaotic life.