Fancy something different?

DVD: Sunset Boulevard (Paramount Home Entertainment, PG, £15.99)

Even now, so far removed from the upheaval that the coming of sound brought to silent era Hollywood, Billy Wilder's strange, compelling film remains fascinating and relevant - especially since older female stars are still treated as callously as ever.

It's also a cracking tale, told by the stiff in the pool - William Holden, whose ambition as a scriptwriter leads him into dark places after he stumbles on former idol Gloria Swanson (a genuine former silent star) in her creepy mansion at the wrong end of Sunset. There's also a mass of interesting extras.NC

CD: War Child: Hope (London)

The 1995 War Child album raised more than £1million for children in Bosnia. This second peace-themed one for the children of Iraq feels more unwieldy (it contains 18 tracks) and is certainly of more variable quality (it features Ronan Keating), but does possess a New Order version of Jimmy Cliff's Vietnam and a great Beverly Knight cover of Stevie Wonder's Love's In Need Of Love Today among its highlights. There are new songs, too, from Basement Jaxx and Tom McRae, and a couple of surprises: Travis's The Beautiful Occupation is one of the album's stand-out moments. CA

Book: Samaritan by Richard Price (Bloomsbury, £12.99)

Like his previous works Clockers and Freedomland, Price's latest novel attempts to uproot a few home truths from the socioeconomic morass of the New Jersey housing projects. Unlike those earlier efforts, however, Samaritan doesn't quite come off.

It's at its best when (in typical Price style) pitting two characters - stolid, middle-aged black cop Nerese and poor-white-boy-made-good Ray - against each other. But while Nerese's steady unpicking of Ray's almost-fatal beating propels the plot nicely, the pay-off is a disappointment. Hard to see Hollywood clamouring for this one. FM