"Actor: Laurie Anderson"

• The Rugrats Movie | DVD | (17/04/2000) from £6.97   |  Saving you £6.02 (86.37%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The first theatrical film from the popular television series became the surprise hit of the 1998 holiday box-office crunch, trouncing the highly competitive kids market. The key ingredient to the Rugrats' success is the writing. Venturing into their first theatrical movie, the pals--including the intrepid nappie-wearing Tommy Pickles, the nervous Chuckie, the twins Lil and Phil, and the wonderfully prissy Angelica--garble English into funny prose ("I want those fugitives back in custard-y!") and use movie references in their fantasy life. The opening here is a dead-on spoof of Raiders of the Lost Ark. The big news for the movie is that Tommy gets a new baby brother, named Dylan (or Dil for short). The rest of the film has no real plot but is a series of adventures, as the clan gets lost in the forest riding an inventive Reptar wagon that is the 1990s equivalent of the car in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Parents search for the kids, the kids learn new lessons and everyone goes home happy. The Rugrats Movie is not as wildly appealing as A Bug's Life but is far goofier and wackier with its animation. There's also a tremendous sense of joy that is often missing from cartoons these days and the songs used in the film--from such diverse musicians as Busta Rhymes, Iggy Pop, Lisa Loeb, Lou Rawls, Beck and Devo--add to the fun. It's an acquired taste, but the creators' first efforts to take the 10-minute TV sketches into an 80-minute feature pay off. --Doug Thomas

• Heart of a Dog | DVD | (13/06/2016) from £27.99   |  Saving you £-12.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Hello, little bonehead. I'll love you forever. So begins Heart of a Dog, Laurie Anderson's cinematic journey through love, death and language. Cantering on Anderson's beloved rat terrier Lolabelle, who died in 2011, Heart of a Dog is a personal essay that weaves together childhood memories, video diaries, philosophical musings on data collection, surveillance culture and the Buddhist conception of the afterlife, and heartfelt tributes to the artists, writers, musicians and thinkers who inspire her. Fusing her own witty, inquisitive narration with original violin compositions, hand-drawn animation, 8mm home movies and artwork culled from exhibitions past and present, Anderson creates a hypnotic, collage-like visual language out of the raw materials of her life and art, examining how stories are constructed and told - and how we use them to make sense of our lives.

• Chicago Cab | DVD | (20/06/2011) from £12.87   |  Saving you £-7.88 (-157.90%)   |  RRP £4.99

  It's 6a.m. and 20 degrees below zero in Chicago. When our cab driver picks up his first fare, his day takes a strange turn, setting the tone for the remaining fourteen hours of his shift. Each fare turns out to be an unsettling experience!

• William Burroughs: A Man Within | DVD | (26/12/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  A portrait of one of the 20th century's most influential cultural icons, with testimonies from artists, musicians, writers and friends. William Burroughs is now regarded as a huge influence over late 20th century fiction and cultural life. This documentary features previously unseen footage of Burroughs in conversation, as well as footage of him at many of his infamous readings, where he brought to life his writing, in front of audiences the world over.