'WALL-E'

4 stars = Outstanding
Ratings explained

Even in the world of make-believe, weirdness has its limits.

In early animation for "WALL-E," the Earthlings aboard the Axiom were depicted as "gelatinous blobs," but director Andrew Stanton decided that view of humanity was too bizarre and hard to relate to. So he and his collaborators switched to a "big baby" concept where the travelers lounge about in hoverchairs, eating, drinking ... and gaining weight.

That tidbit comes in the three-disc "WALL-E" set that does everything except separate your recyclables. But then again, it does carry a suggested retail price of $39.99.

If you spring for the single DVD ($29.99), you get the movie, "Presto" short that played in theaters, a new, clever "BURN-E" short, Stanton audio commentary, a couple of scenes that were completed and then deleted (a rarity in animation) and an excellent 18-minute look at sound design. It salutes Disney pioneers who fashioned a wind machine from canvas scraping against wood and their successors, particularly Ben Burtt, whose work on the first "Star Wars" is legendary and who oversaw tens of thousands of sounds on "WALL-E."

As most parents know, "WALL-E" is an animated movie about the last robot left on Earth after mankind bolted. WALL-E keeps plugging away, compacting trash into building-block cubes until a visitor named EVE arrives, providing the spark for a love story and rebirth of the planet.

Pixar continued its unbroken streak of winners with "WALL-E," rated G, and that goes double for the DVD.

-- Barbara Vancheri, PG movie editor

'SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS 2'

3 stars = Good
Ratings explained

The extras on this sequel are as thin as the seat of your favorite, much-laundered jeans. You get a four-minute extra about the stars doing their own cliff-jumping in Greece along with eight minutes of deleted or extended scenes and some flubs and other funny business. In other words, buy it for the movie, not the bonus features.

This is a sequel to the 2005 movie, based on the Ann Brashares novels of the same name. America Ferrera, Alexis Bledel, Blake Lively and Amber Tamblyn are Bethesda, Md., friends who find a pair of jeans that magically fit each of them. Here, the young women start to drift apart as they deal with college, broken hearts, the loss of virginity and possibility of pregnancy and try to figure out who and what they want.

Not appropriate for very young girls but fine for tweens and teens who will be reminded that friendship (like life) takes work. Rated PG-13 for mature material and sensuality.

-- Barbara Vancheri

'TROPIC THUNDER'

4 stars = Outstanding
Ratings explained

The unrated, two-disc director's cut version of "Tropic Thunder" ($24.99) is just like the theatrical version -- only cruder and (could it be possible?), funnier. Director and star Ben Stiller's send-up of the Hollywood Vietnam film doesn't pull any punches in ripping and slashing the genre for all it's worth -- which isn't much once he's through with it.

Director Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan) is over budget with his Vietnam film when he decides to get better and less expensive performances from his dysfunctional cast by dropping them into a Southeast Asian war zone and filming the results. Stiller plays a washed-up action star with limited range and brains. Robert Downey Jr. plays a highly regarded Australian actor who undergoes skin pigmentation treatment to play a black soldier. Jack Black plays a heroin addicted actor who can't distinguish reality from fantasy, and Nick Nolte plays an old Vietnam vet with hooks for hands.

There are lots of memorable characters and performances in this film, including an inspired cameo by Tom Cruise. Jay Baruchel and Brandon T. Jackson almost run away with the film. Jackson plays the obligatory Hollywood rapper in his first "dramatic" role. Imagine the crude possibilities and count on "Tropic Thunder" to double it.

The special features include interviews with the actors talking about their characters and a few bits with faux director Coogan that could double as extensions of the film. An alternative ending is included along with a lot of deleted and extended scenes. There are enough behind-the-scenes features to keep the laughter going long after the movie has ended, which says more about the viewer than the film, I suspect.

-- Tony Norman, Post-Gazette staff writer

• "The Who: At Kilburn 1977": The Dec. 15, 1977, Kilburn show at the Gaumont State Theater in North London, recorded for the movie "The Kids Are Alright," is the last performance by Keith Moon caught on film before his death.