"Actor: John Ruehl"

• Big | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £4.99   |  Saving you £8.00 (160.32%)   |  RRP £12.99

  A perfect marriage of novel but incisive writing, acting and direction, Big is the story of a 12-year-old boy who wishes he were older, and wakes up one morning as a30-year-old man (Tom Hanks). The script by Gary Ross(Dave) and Anne Spielberg finds some unexpected ways of attacking obvious issues of sex, work, and childhood friendships, and in all of these things the accent is on classy humour and great sensitivity. Hanks is remarkable in the lead, at times hilarious (reacting to caviar just as a 12-year-old would) and at others deeply tender. Penny Marshall became a first-rate filmmaker with this 1988 work. --Tom Keogh

• Frasier Season 3 | DVD | (06/09/2004) from £5.99   |  Saving you £29.00 (484.14%)   |  RRP £34.99

  With this third season, Frasier scored an impressive hat trick, winning its third successive Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series. You don't need too much analysis to get to the bottom of this unprecedented success. The series was a primetime oasis of wit and sophistication, with welcome forays into farce that pricked Frasier's bubble of pomposity. His priceless reactions to the assaults on his dignity are worthy of Jack Benny. Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) can be infuriating, as in "The Focus Group," in which he is obsessed with knowing why a lone focus group participant (guest star Tony Shalhoub) doesn't like him. But he is also endearing in his delusional view of himself as, in the words of one mocking bystander, a "man of the people." Frasier meets his match in new station owner Kate Costas (Oscar-winner Mercedes Ruehl). Their combative relationship turns to lust over the course of the first 10 episodes. But the season's most pivotal story arc is the separation of Niles (David Hyde Pierce) and Maris. "Moon Dance," which marked Grammer's directorial debut, is a series benchmark, as a crestfallen Niles tangos with his unrequited love, Daphne (Jane Leeves), at a high society ball. Not that the Crane family still doesn't have issues to work out. Frasier cannot abide being beaten at chess by Martin (John Mahoney) in "Chess Pains." Frasier and Niles ill-advisedly go into joint practice in "Shrink Rap," and find themselves on the opposite sides of a sanity hearing in "Crane vs. Crane." Lilith is sorely missed, but in this season's blast-from-the-past episode, Shelley Long returns in "The Show Where Diane Comes Back." It is a joy to see Cheers resurrected, if only in Diane's self-absorbed new play, which Frasier agrees to back. And any episode with Frasier's amoral agent Bebe (Harriet Sansom Harris) is must-see television. Frasier's humor was character-based, rather than topical, giving it a longer shelf life. For those who lament the end of one of television's gold standard series, this box set will be excellent therapy. --Donald Liebenson

• Townes Van Zandt - Be Here To Love Me | DVD | (28/08/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  The ultimate songwriter's songwriter Townes Van Zandt had a profound impact on generations of musicians from Bob Dylan to Norah Jones yet he avoided the commercial success enjoyed by many of his own fans. Be Here To Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt provides an intimate portrait of the legendary artist's haunting music and life. Margaret Brown's critically acclaimed documentary Be Here To Love Me combines interviews with friends and family with never seen footage of Townes Van Zandt from rare performance and interview footage to intimate portraits shot in Van Zandt's own home throughout the years. It also includes appearances by many famous musicians including Willie Nelson Lyle Lovett Kris Kristofferson Steve Earle and Emmylou Harris. Tracklist: 1. What A Song Is All About 2. A Cult Figure 3. A Privileged Youth 4. Wild Crazy Things 5. Houston In The '60's 6. Wandering 7. A Genius 8. Addiction 9. Here For The Music 10. Cutting Records 11. Home And Family 12. Flyin' Shoes 13. If I Needed You 14. Pancho & Lefty 15. Marie 16. Normal Life 17. Rake 18. End Credits