Ubuntu :: Remotely Trigger Gnome Apps Over SSH?

I have a keyboard&monitor damaged laptop which I've converted into a media server/HTPC with a large external monitor. I've installed Ubuntu 9.10, and attached an external 1TB HDD with my video collection. As a media player it works perfectly fine. I can connect to it through my home network, both with VNC and with SSH. I can use VNC on my current laptop to access the player's desktop and play video files. However, this is awkward as the screen resolution of the playback monitor is 1920x1080 - much bigger than the laptop's screen - which means I either end up scrolling the viewpoint around, or scaling the virtual screen down to make reading text very difficult.

What I'd like to be able to do is to trigger Gnome applications - specifically the Totem video player - via a SSH session, on the current Gnome desktop. The idea is that I'd like to be able to browse the directories which house my video collection in SSH, launch the player in the session, and have it appear on the monitor. Ultimately, I'd like to be able to invoke this from a PHP script - thus allowing me to create a (simple) web application on a LAMP installation which would allow me to browse & play my video collection. Currently, when I try and invoke totem, it seems to want to connect the invocation of the software to the SSH session, which - of course - it can't do. Where I might start in trying to set this up?