'Nim's Island' (PG) If you like clean, innocent fun, then you'll be happy to know that it's all smooth sailing to "Nim's Island" -- an entertaining and poignant family movie featuring the talents of rising star Abigail Breslin and also boasts the lighter sides of co-stars Jodie Foster and Gerard Butler.

Foster plays a novelist with a huge following thanks to the popularity of her masculine literary character Alex Rover -- the world's greatest adventure hero. Among Alex Rover's biggest fans is Nim (Abigail Breslin), a feisty young girl who lives on a desolate island with her scientist father, Jack (Gerard Butler).

So when Jack goes missing from the island, Nim's first impulse is to call out to Alex in the hope that this adventuresome writer can help her. The problem is, Alex Rover is really Alexandra Rover -- a reclusive, agoraphobic big city writer who can barely set foot outside of her home in San Francisco, much less go on an island adventure.

But recognizing Nim is all alone, hurt and in desperate need, Alexandra takes a huge leap of faith and heads for the island, and relies on the inspiration of her fictional character (realized in imaginary form as Butler) for courage to aid Nim.

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Co-directed by Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett, "Nim's Island" greatly benefits by the husband and wife filmmakers' inventive storytelling capabilities. Based on Wendy Orr's novel of the same name, "Nim's Island" comes to life in small part like a storybook -- which is a wonderful contrast to the film's breathtaking island vistas (the film was shot on in awe-inspiring locale of Queensland, Australia). The wonderful thing is, despite the film's adventure and fantastic visuals, Levin and Flackett are very careful to make sure the lessons of courage and self-discovery aren't lost on their audience.

"Nim's" biggest strength, not surprisingly, is its characters, fully realized by Breslin, Foster and Butler.

Breslin, whose career continues to steamroll ahead since her Best Actress Oscar-nominated performance in "Little Miss Sunshine," is a natural for the feisty Nim. Like her previous performances, she seamlessly blends into the character to make her feel believable. Even more remarkable, Breslin interacts with her menagerie of exotic and very intimidating looking animal co-stars (which range from a giant sea lion to various lizards) like a seasoned zoologist.

Foster, whose widely known for her stunning dramatic turns in her adult career, returns to the childhood comedy roots without missing a beat. Admittedly, it's awkward to see her act zany at first; but when you watch the subtle ways that she brings the comedy to the big screen through her facial expressions and impeccable timing with her dialogue, you can't help but be stunned once again by the two-time Oscar winner's amazing acting ability.

While Foster and Butler's roles are secondary to Breslin's in the film, both have considerable screen time. Butler, off his ferocious performance as King Leonidas in "300" and a sweet, comical turn in the romantic dramedy "P.S. I Love You," shows his natural charm and charisma again with "Nim's Island," as he nails his dual turns as both Jack and Alexandra's fictional character Alex.

The scenes between Butler and Foster are particularly amusing to watch, as Alex -- the conscience of Alexandra appearing in human form -- makes the whole idea of the writer's character coming to life believable. Foster and Butler's exchanges are often hilarious as Alexandra argues with her fictional creation, which is somewhat a cross between Indiana Jones and Michael Douglas' rugged adventure hero Jack T. Colton from "Romancing the Stone" (starring Kathleen Turner as an adventure romance novelist).

If "Nim's Island" is lacking in anything, it's length. Clocking in at a brisk 96 minutes, the film ends way too soon, as the bulk of it follows Nim's call for help to Alexandra, Jack's struggle for survival lost at sea, and Alexandra's trail of misadventures to the island.

The trailers for the film suggest that Alexandra is traveling to the island to help find Jack, but upon her arrival, late in the film, we discover that it's anything but. The rushed ending is a minor shortcoming, though, for an otherwise glorious trip to an island paradise that, thanks to the film's family friendly tone, the whole tribe can enjoy.

DVD Features: Adventure commentary with Foster and Breslin; commentary with Flackett and Levin; production featurettes; deleted scenes and more. (Fox Home Entertainment)

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Robot Chicken: Star Wars" (Unrated): Actor-filmmaker Seth Green and his horde of action-figure loving, pop-culture spoofing colleagues dedicated an entire episode of their insanely funny Cartoon Network Adult Swim show to "Star Wars," last season, which now has become a must-have disc to add to your "Star Wars" DVD library.

The great thing is, the classic film saga's creator George Lucas and star Mark Hamill are in on the joke, and lend their voices to the skits. The 23-minute special -- containing 30 searing and bordering on offensive shorts -- is supplemented on the disc by several "making of" featurettes to make it a worthwhile buy.

Among the highlights: an uproarious call Emperor Palpatine takes on Coruscant from a whiny Darth Vader, explaining how the rebels blew up the Death Star, as well as Lucas' turn as himself being hounded at a "Star Wars" convention.

Clearly, Lucas took all of the parodies in good stride, otherwise a short spoof showing Luke and Leia in bed together (Leia remarks, "This is so wrong") wouldn't have made the cut.

All told, "Robot Chicken: Star Wars" is a perfect companion disc to the "Family Guy" "Star Wars" spoof, "Blue Harvest." In fact, "Family Guy" creator Seth McFarlane is one of the many celebrity voices featured in the "Robot Chicken" special. It's a real hoot. (Turner Home Entertainment)

"Shutter" (PG-13): Joshua Jackson ("Dawson's Creek") and Rachael Taylor ("Transformers") star as Benjamin and Jane Shaw, a newly married couple who move to Japan seeking job opportunities in fashion photography. But when Ben and Jane discover ghostly images following a tragic accident and begin to investigate the phenomena of spirit photography, they soon learn that some mysteries are better left unsolved.

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Based on the 2004 Japanese film of same name, "Shutter" features solid acting by Jackson and Taylor and has its fair share of jump-out-of-your-seat moments. But on the flip side, it doesn't quite match the daunting atmosphere of other Japanese remakes like "The Grudge" or "The Ring" (the "spirit" in "Shutter," however, has the same sort of frightening presence as the girl in the Naomi Watts thriller).

But while it doesn't quite measure up to its fright-film predecessors, "Shutter" may at least force you to question those orbs you catch in your photos time and again. Click away! (Fox Home Entertainment).

"21" (PG-13): Charismatic British import Jim Sturgess, the Paul McCartney clone from the Beatles-inspired musical "Across the Universe," stars in this story based on real story about a group of MIT math wizards who hope to win millions of dollars by counting cards in Las Vegas. Kevin Spacey, Laurence Fishburne and Kate Bosworth also star. (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)

"Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay" (R and Unrated Editions): Still hungry for raunchy comedy? After all it's been nearly four years since their raucous, ganja-fueled trip to "White Castle," but stoner-buds Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) are back with another gross-out comedy. But unlike the dopey, so to speak, premise of "White Castle," "Guantanamo Bay" has more of political satire twinge to it. Neil Patrick Harris, who showed up in a surprising and laugh-out-loud-funny, self-effacing cameo in the first "Harold and Kumar" movie, returns for the sequel to play himself. (New Line Home Entertainment)