"Actor: Ed Herlihy"

• The King Of Comedy | DVD | (19/04/2004) from £9.15   |  Saving you £6.84 (74.75%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The King of Comedy, which flopped at the box office, is actually a gem waiting to be rediscovered. Like A Face in the Crowd (a not-so-distant cousin to this film), Network, and The Truman Show, its target is show business--specifically the burning desire to become famous or be near the famous, no matter what. Robert De Niro plays the emotionally unstable, horrendously untalented Rupert Pupkin, a wannabe Vegas-style comedian. His fantasies are egged-on by Marsha, a talk-show groupie (brilliantly played by Sandra Bernhard) who hatches a devious, sure-to-backfire plan. Jerry Lewis is terrific in the straight role as the Johnny Carson-like talk-show host Jerry Langford. De Niro's performance as the obsessive Pupkin is among his finest (which is saying a lot) and he never tries to make the character likable in any way. Because there's no hero and no-one to root for, and because at times the film insists we get a little too close and personal with Pupkin, some will be put off. Yet it's one of Scorsese's most original and fascinating films, giving viewers much to consider on the subject of celebrity. Its inevitable climax is clever and quietly horrific. --Christopher J Jarmick

• The Last Outlaw | DVD | (02/06/2003) from £10.58   |  Saving you £-4.59 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Riding the coat-tails of the early 1990's Western revival, the HBO television movie The Last Outlaw is a good, taut B-picture evoking the conventions of bigger and better Spaghetti Westerns of the 1960s and 70s. Set in New Mexico in 1873, from the opening bank robbery onwards the movie plays like The Wild Bunch meets High Plains Drifter, the obsessive, psychotic Colonel Graff (Mickey Rourke at his best) hunting down his own men after they refuse to abandon an injured comrade. Facing up to Graff is the impressively understated Dermot Mulroney as Eustis, a man who has seen too much killing and simply wants it to stop. Writer Eric Red spins some interesting variations on a classic Western set-up, delivering a comparable psychological intensity to his earlier The Hitcher (1986); as the story unfolds Graff becomes an avenging emissary of death, the tale assuming a timeless mythological resonance. Director Geoff Murphy stages what comes down to one long chase with considerable style, and while there's nothing here fans of the genre haven't seen many times before, in an age starved of Westerns that's actually a large part of the appeal. --Gary S Dalkin

• The King Of Comedy | Blu Ray | (07/04/2014) from £9.99   |  Saving you £6.00 (60.06%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A struggling comedian gambles his uncertain future on a hare-brained scheme to ransom his way onto television by kidnapping a popular talk-show host.

• MacArthur (Standard Edition) | Blu Ray | (19/08/2024) from £8.72   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  MacArthur is a thoughtful and dramatic look at the life and times of controversial American military leader General Douglas MacArthur. Directed by Joseph Sargent (The Taking of Pelham One Two Three), this celebrated biopic features a hugely authoritative central performance by Gregory Peck, and strong support from Ed Flanders (The Ninth Configuration) and Dan O'Herlihy (Imitation of Life), who play Presidents Harry S Truman and Franklin D Roosevelt, respectively. INDICATOR STANDARD EDITION SPECIAL FEATURES High Definition remasterOriginal mono audioOptional 5.1 surround mixMacArthur: The Rebel General (129 mins): alternative UK home video version containing unique material, presented open matte in Standard DefinitionAudio commentary with film historians Steve Mitchell and Steven Jay Rubin (2021)General Disposition (2004, 5 mins): director Joseph Sargent recalls his time working with Gregory PeckSelection of Pathé newsreels capturing events portrayed in the film: A Tribute to MacArthur (1942, 3 mins), MacArthur in Australia (1942, 1 min), MacArthur Returns to Philippines (1944, 5 mins), MacArthur Steps Down (1951, 2 mins), MacArthur Addresses Congress (1951, 6 mins), and MacArthur Honored on 75th Birthday (1955, 1 min)Original theatrical trailerRadio spotsImage gallery: promotional and publicity materialNew and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing