"Actor: Charlotte Rae"

• Hair | DVD | (06/08/2001) from £15.11   |  Saving you £-2.12 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Milos Forman's 1979 film of the 1968 musical Hair is far more watchable than it has any right to be. Controversial though the original stage version might have been at the time, it has not dated well. It was written back when most people thought the Vietnam War was a good idea and long hair on men a signifier of a hopelessly corrupt society, rather than the other way around. By the time the belated movie adaptation arrived attitudes had changed, and what made Hair so unique had become commonplace. However, the exuberance of the performances (led by Treat Williams) and the enduring appeal of some of the songs makes this movie version of Hair, even today, entirely impossible to dislike. On the DVD: The only extra is the theatrical trailer which, much like the film itself, is quite a cute period piece. Inexplicably, the scene-searching menu is not arranged by song, making it infuriatingly difficult to locate the tune you want, unless you already know the movie so well, which would leave little point in hearing these songs again anyway. --Andrew Mueller

• Bananas | DVD | (19/02/2001) from £10.96   |  Saving you £8.02 (100.63%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Woody Allen's second film as a director was a wild, unpredictable and unlikely comedy about a product-tester named Fielding Mellish (Allen), who can't quite connect with the woman of his dreams (Louise Lasser, Allen's ex-wife). He accidentally winds up in South America as a freedom fighter for a guerrilla leader who looks like Castro. Once he assumes power, the new dictator quickly goes insane--which leaves Fielding in charge to negotiate with the US. The film is chockfull of wonderfully bizarre gags, such as the dreams Fielding recounts to his shrink about dueling crucified messiahs, vying for a parking place near Wall Street. Look for an unknown Sylvester Stallone in a tiny role--but watch this film for Allen's surprisingly physical (and always verbally dexterous) humour. --Marshall Fine

• Diff'rent Strokes - Series 1 - Complete | DVD | (06/10/2008) from £34.99   |  Saving you £-10.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Whatchoo talkin' 'bout Willis? When pint-sized Gary Coleman uttered that phrase to his TV brother played by Todd Bridges audiences were hooked and a star was born. But the show's popularity was based on more than the rise of the diminutive wisecracking Coleman. Diff'rent Strokes was a pop culture phenomenon that broke through cultural barriers as well. The story of two African-American kids from Harlem who move to Park Avenue to live with a wealthy white widower (Conrad Bain) and his precocious teenage daughter (Dana Plato) not only gave audiences lots to laugh about but gave them something to talk about. Along with their no-nonsense housekeeper (Charlotte Rae) this group was anything but average - but they reflected the changing face of the American family and brought issues of race and class into households across the nation.