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Film: DVDs

Curb fans will be ripping the wrapping off this set like maniacs, as series five has yet to air here. Expect nothing much different from the previous four seasons: it’s still the most satisfying and original comedy on the box. Larry has returned to LA from his stint in The Producers on Broadway, his life still firmly ruled by the law of Sod. He gets a sandwich dedicated to him at the deli, but he doesn’t like the ingredients. He gets a dog, but it barks at black people. The tone shifts from banality to grotesque farce and back on a dime. This is comedy that makes your brain laugh — and recoil. David is Man in his uncensored state: what he thinks, he says and acts upon. You see that tractor-beam look creep into his eyes and are almost willing him not to embark on a line of inquiry that will then explode repeatedly in his face for the next half-hour. If somebody was a kamikaze pilot in the war, how come he’s still alive? Why isn’t it okay to answer the phone during sex if you are expecting a really important call? David’s method of filming his excellent cast as they improvise around a skeleton script has never worked better: other filmed comedy looks overslick in comparison. And his way with plots is peerless. Try The Christ Nail, an episode in which he whizzes up the tooth fairy, his housekeeper’s new bra, his father-in-law’s love of Passion of the Christ memorabilia and a squeaky pair of orthotic insoles into something riotously irreverent and combustible. The extras — an hour of cast comments and clips — are like the show: not an inch of spare fat. Pretty, pretty good. HH
Warner, 15; £24.99 (2 discs)

The Wicker Man (Collector’s Edition)
Film Four stars
Extras Three stars

If you are thinking of going to see the Nicolas Cage remake, don’t — watch this instead. The 1973 original follows a devout Christian policeman (Edward Woodward) in search of a missing girl to the pagan island of Summerisle, lorded over by Christopher Lee (in what he regards as his best role). Despite a minimal release, after the studio cut 15 minutes, it gradually garnered a huge cult following and is now surrounded by almost as much folklore as Anthony Shaffer drew on when he wrote it. Why was the film cut? How much is missing? Were the outtakes used as landfill under the M3? This set, consisting of both short and long versions (an uncut print was found in America), with a CD of the wonderful folk soundtrack, will be of especial interest to fans. However, contrary to views expressed in the various documentaries included, and those of the director, Robin Hardy, Woodward and Lee, who provide a commentary, the long version does not fundamentally improve what was already an eerie, scary, almost perfect thriller. JP
Optimum, 15, 84/99 mins; £20.99 (3 discs)

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Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
Film Four stars
Extras Two stars

There have been enough documentaries dealing with corruption in high places to make anyone approach yet another with a large scoop of scepticism — but this is an exception. It provides a thorough, insightful and subtly enraging examination of the Enron affair, not merely detailing the dramatic rise and spectacular fall of the energy giant and its CEO, but exploring a corporate culture that feeds on the darker side of human nature: power, greed and arrogance. Alex Gibney, the writer/director, achieves this without needing to extend the truth — the Enron executive team had already obliged. The extras include an interesting commentary from Gibney and the co-authors of the book the documentary was based on. EJ
Lions Gate, PG, 110 mins; £19.99

Confetti
Film Three stars
Extras Three stars

Boasting a veritable who’s who of British comedy talent, this film should have us rolling in the aisles. Unfortunately, it never quite fulfils expectations. It follows three couples trying to win Confetti magazine’s Most Original Wedding of the Year Award. Thus, we watch the tone-deaf, “physically dyslexic” Matt and Sam (Martin Freeman and Jessica Stevenson) struggle through the dance routines of a 1930s Hollywood musical wedding; obnoxious and competitive Isabelle and Josef (Meredith MacNeill and Stephen Mangan) train for tennis-inspired nuptials; and naturists (Olivia Coleman and Robert Webb) do their thing. Shot in mockumentary style by Debbie Isitt, the film is entirely improvised. The result lacks the sharpness of well-scripted comedy, but the finale’s unabashed sentimentality will sweep you off your feet, and the gay wedding planners (Vincent Franklin and Jason Watkins) are priceless. Extras include alternative endings that show what happens when different couples win the prize. EJ
Fox, 15, 96 mins; £15.99

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