COUCH THEATER

Wall-E Pick of the week

"Wall-E" - Handsdown one of the best films of 2008. This animated comedy/adventure from Pixar tells the story of Wall-E, a wee trash compactor who has spent centuries on a postapocalyptic Earth stacking cubes of garbage, collecting trinkets and watching "Hello Dolly." He discovers a new mission when he meets EVE, an environmental probe, and rises above his programming and in the process discovers love.

There are various packagings, but all will include a director's commentary track, deleted scenes, the short film "Presto" (which showed in theaters before the feature) and a new short film, "BURN*E." The three-disc Special Edition will have all that, plus even more deleted scenes, making-of featurettes, a digital copy of the film for portable devices, a documentary on Pixar and other goodies.

Also this week

. "Tropic Thunder" - One of the funniest and most controversial films of the year — and one of my favorites. "Tropic Thunder" stars Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black as a group of actors filming an "Apocalypse Now" Vietnam epic who are exiled into the jungle to finish the film in a documentary style. Unfortunately, they come across real-life drug lords. But the hapless crew thinks it's all part of the film. Hilarity ensues. The DVD will be released in theatrical version and an unrated version with Extra Naughty.

. "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2" - America Ferrera, Blake Lively, Amber Tamblyn and Alexis Bleidel star in the sequel to the 2005 hit girly pic about a bunch of young girls finding love and ultimately ... themselves. Apparently this can only be achieved with pants. In this installment, the girls "fight heartache and family trouble while seeking adventure during their first year of college." Not having seen the film, I can only imagine the "heartache" to be the Freshman 15. Look forward to 2010's "Sisterhood of the Traveling Slacks with the Elastic Waistband."

Documentary

. "Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson" - Filmmaker Alex Gibney ("Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" and the Oscar-winning "Taxi to the Dark Side") chronicles the life and tragic death of the Dean of Gonzo Journalism, with special emphasis on Thompson's coverage of the 1968 and 1972 presidential elections, featuring indepth interviews with George McGovern, Pat Buchanan, Ralph Steadman, Jan Wenner and Thompson's friends and family. "Gonzo" is possibly the best (and most even-handed) documentary on Thompson yet made.