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Welcome to How to Spend $20, BOP's look at the latest DVDs to hit stores nationwide. This week: A janitorial robot looks to score with a chick bot, Robert Downey Jr. goes prima donna and Werner Herzog films some cold things.

Pick of the Week

For people who never knew incommunicative robots could be so entertaining: WALL-E (Special Edition)

It's been 17 years since an animated film was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. (The lone title is the 1991 Disney classic, Beauty and the Beast). This summer, Pixar's WALL-E was released in theaters, scooping up $223 million domestically and another $262 million abroad when all was said and done. On top of this, the flick received near universal acclaim from critics. And deservedly so. It's remarkably sweet and perhaps my favorite Pixar release to date (take that, Toy Story and Finding Nemo).

So with news of Disney's decision to push this movie as a contender for Best Picture, I couldn't help but wonder whether WALL-E could snap the streak. Having its own animation category at the award ceremony, coupled with the Academy's preference on only nominating movies with actual humans acting, certainly doesn't help matters. But of all the animated films in recent memory, this Pixar gem would certainly deserve such a nomination.

Forget that lame Best Animated Feature award, which has only been around since 2001 anyway. Give WALL-E, about a robot that goes nutso for another robot named EVE, some real hardware!

Disc includes: Audio commentary, BURN-E animated short, Presto animated short, deleted scenes, WALL-E's Tour of the Universe sneak peek, Animation Sound Design featurette, The Pixar Story by Leslie Iwerks featurette, WALL-E's Treasures and Trinkets: Hilarious Moments featurette, BnL Shorts: An Amusing Peek into the Inner Working of the Buy n Large Corporation featurette, Lots of Bots Storybook featurette, Making Of featurette, digital copy of the film





For people who chuckle at the name Les Grossman: Tropic Thunder (Director's Cut)

Tom Cruise making a cameo appearance as a fat, balding guy? Is this not reason enough to see this Ben Stiller comedy? Then throw in a (as per usual) manic Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. in *cough* black face *cough* and you've got yourself a pretty good time. Other actors making cameos as themselves include Christine Taylor (no surprise there), Sean Penn, Jon Voight, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Tobey Maguire and several others.

Written, directed, produced and starring Stiller, the action-comedy is about a group of conceited actors (Stiller, Black, Downey Jr.) who are in the process of making a Vietnam War film when their writer and director decide they want out of the project. Left abandoned in the middle of the Vietnamese jungle, the men are forced to safely find their way out.

Disc includes: Audio commentary, Before the Thunder featurette, The Hot LZ featurette, Designing the Thunder featurette, The Cast of Tropic Thunder featurette, Rain of Madness featurette, Dispatches from the Edge of Madness featurette, deleted/extended scenes, alternate ending, MTV Movie Awards: Tropic Thunder featurette, Full Mags featurette, Video Rehearsals featurettes

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