New DVD releases reviewded by Michael Dwyerand Donald Clarke.

CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM: SEASON 7

Starring Larry David, Cheryl Hines, Jeff Garlin, Susie Essman, Richard Lewis 15 cert

"So your last name is 'Black'?" Larry says. "That's like as if my last name was Jew - Larry Jew. Because you're black and I'm Jewish. Do you see?"

Ah, welcome back Larry David. The humour of inappropriateness has never been so hysterical. Some have dared to suggest that in recent series David's peerless sitcom has been (to use a phrase first coined in the Book of Exodus) "not as funny as it used to be". If this is true, it means as much as saying that the view from K2 is less impressive than that from Mount Everest.

The latest season, currently being broadcast on TG4, changes just enough to keep the show fresh (a family of African-Americans made homeless by a flood come to stay in the David home) while retaining all the classic elements: Larry is still pernickety, Susie is still profanely furious, Richard Lewis is still anxious. There's a major alteration in Larry's circumstances, but it would be a sin to even hint at what that involves.

The DVD extras are modest, but, with material this strong, who cares? DC

THE BUCKET LIST

Directed by Rob Reiner. Starring Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, Sean Hayes, Beverly Todd, Rob Morrow, Alfonso Freeman 12 cert

Diagnosed with terminal cancer and sharing a hospital room, a billionaire (Nicholson) and a garage mechanic (Freeman) escape into the outside world to realise unfulfilled ambitions before they die. There is an evident chemistry between the charismatic co-stars, but not enough to save this uninspired yarn. MD

DEFINITELY, MAYBE

Directed by Adam Brooks. Starring Ryan Reynolds, Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin, Elizabeth Banks, Rachel Weisz, Kevin Kline 15 cert

Ryan, a dad on the brink of divorce, decides to tell his daughter (Breslin) how he met her mother. Turning the tale into a mystery, he changes the names of his three great loves and invites the girl to work out which he ended up marrying. It doesn't really make any sense, but the film is a cut above the average plodding romcom. DC

THE UGLY DUCKLING AND ME

Directed by Michael Hegner, Karsten Killerich. Voices of Morgan Jones, Paul Tylak, Anna Olson, Justin Gregg Gen cert

The classic Hans Christian Andersen fable about finding inner beauty is updated in an appealing animated treatment. It takes playful liberties with the original, introducing a rat as the surrogate father who plots to exploit the duckling as a carnival act. MD

THE BANK JOB

Directed by Roger Donaldson. Starring Jason Statham, Saffron Burrows, David Suchet, Daniel Mays, James Faulkner 15 cert

So-so thriller following the efforts of a group of 1960s geezers to break into a bank vault that contains evidence of a society scandal. It's an interesting story, but the flat acting - Statham is East End granite, Burrows is Mayfair wood - and linear plotting do it no favours. The decent DVD extras investigate the true story behind the caper. DC

UNDERDOG

Directed by Frederik Du Chau. Starring Alex Neuberger, Peter Dinklage, James Belushi, voices of Amy Adams, Jason Lee PG cert

Underdogwas once an enjoyably rudimentary cartoon concerning a beagle that solved crimes. Now we have a version in which a real dog speaks. Please - if I want verisimilitude from my talking beagle movie I'll ask Ken Loach to make it. For very tolerant youngsters only. DC

JUMPER

Directed by Doug Liman. Starring Hayden Christensen, Jamie Bell, Samuel L Jackson, Rachel Bilson, Michael Rooker, Diane Lane 12 cert

A genetic anomaly allows a young man (Christensen) to transport himself anywhere, but a clandestine organisation (led by a white-haired Jackson) wants him destroyed in Liman's simplistic, underdeveloped would-be thriller. MD

WAZ

Directed by Tom Shankland. Starring Stellan Skarsgård, Melissa George, Selma Blair, Ashley Walters, Tom Hardy 18 cert

This grim, violent thriller follows the hunt for a serial killer. Having assaulted our senses with graphic gore, it eventually builds in atmosphere as it follows a twisting course to resolution. Set in the US, it was shot mostly in Belfast. MD