Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) surveys a wasteland that is really a simulation in a scene from "X-Men: The Last Stand."

From comic books to politics, heroes and villains come in all forms on ...

The big screen scene: In the amped-up, dumbed-down finale to a killer trilogy, "X-Men: The Last Stand" (Fox), the discovery of a pharmaceutical "cure" for mutants puts Magneto (Ian McKellen) on a collision course with Prof. Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and Storm (Halle Berry).

Turning to political satires, one of the year's best movies turns up: "Thank You for Smoking" (Fox Searchlight), a defiantly un-PC tale of a slick tobacco industry lobbyist (Aaron Eckhart, lighting up the screen). Maria Bello, William H. Macy, Rob Lowe, Sam Elliott and Robert Duvall lead the top-chop supporting cast.

Two horror titles round out today's recent releases. In 1965, mysterious doings in "The Woods" (Sony) spook the denizens of a private all-girls school (including "24's" Agnes Bruckner, Patricia Clarkson and Bruce Campbell). And in "The Covenant" (Allumination), teenage warlocks (Steven Strait, Toby Hemingway, Chace Crawford and Taylor Kitscsh) unwittingly unleash an evil force.

Critic's choice: Humphrey Bogart soldiers on in "The Signature Collection, Vol. 2" (Warner), featuring the DVD debuts of the World War II tales "Across the Pacific" (1942), "Action in the North Atlantic" (1943) and "Passage to Marseille" and the spy drama "All Through the Night" (1942). Rounding out the collection: a three-disc special edition of the 1941 detective classic "The Maltese Falcon."

Shifting to new movies that never played locally, William H. Macy stars as "Edmond" (First Independent), based on David Mamet's play about a milquetoast turned monster. The festival favorite "America 101" (Xenon), meanwhile, follows two brothers from Mexico on the trail of the elusive American dream.

And Gerard Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve play long-ago lovers reunited in French veteran André Techiné's "Changing Times" (Koch Lorber).

Hot docs: A magical soccer team's impact on an embattled city in the summer of '77 inspires "Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos" (Miramax).

Elsewhere on the sports page, "Viva Baseball" (Anchor Bay) explores Latino contributions to America's pastime.

On a musical note, the Emmy-winning "Itzhak Perlman: In the Fiddler's House" (EMI Classics) finds the renowned violinist exploring klezmer's roots. And, turning to comedy, "Cedric the Entertainer: Taking You Higher" and "Lewis Black: Red, White and Screwed" (both from HBO) lead the laugh parade.

Kidvid corner: The movie that touched off Disney's recent animation renaissance, "The Little Mermaid" (1989), returns in a digitally restored, two-disc "Platinum Edition" featuring deleted scenes and other extras.

And for those counting the days until the next big-screen "Chronicles of Narnia," there's always the BBC's "Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawntreader" (Homevision).

Live-action favorites making the leap to DVD range from "The Three Stooges: Stooges on the Run" (Sony) to "Hip Hop Kidz: It's a Beautiful Thing" (HHK Entertainment), while animated titles include "Tom and Jerry Tales, Vol. 1" (Warner) and "G.I. Joe Sigma 6: First Strike" (Paramount).

TV transfers: Las Vegas' own bad boys of magic return in the Emmy-nominated "Penn & Teller: Bullshit -- The Complete Third Season" (Showtime).

Some ground-breaking cable movies, meanwhile, finally arrive on DVD.

HBO's "A Private Matter" (1992) stars Sissy Spacek as "Romper Room" host "Miss Sherri" Finkbine, who sparked controversy in the '60s when she decided to seek an abortion -- after learning that a tranquilizer she took had seriously deformed her unborn baby. And 1994's "Against the Wall" (also from HBO) dramatizes the 1971 Attica prison uprising; Kyle MacLachlan and Samuel L. Jackson lead the cast.

Also on the made-for-cable front, "Avenger" (Warner) stars Sam Elliott as an ex-Special Forces officer out for vengeance, while "Women & Men: Stories of Seduction" (HBO) adapts short stories by Ernest Hemingway, Mary McCarthy and Dorothy Parker, with Beau Bridges, Melanie Griffith, Ray Liotta, Elizabeth McGovern, Kyra Sedgwick and James Woods.

Series arriving on DVD include "Andromeda: Season 5 Collection" (ADV), "Forever Knight: The Trilogy, Part 3" (Sony), "McLeod's Daughters: Season One" (Koch Vision), "Medium: The Complete Second Season" (Paramount), "Stargate SG-1: Season 9 Boxed Set" (MGM), "Three's Company: Season Eight" (Anchor Bay), "Twilight Zone: The Complete Collection" (Image) and "The Greatest American Hero: The Complete Series" (Anchor Bay) -- the latter complete with cape so you can play hero yourself.