DVD releases May 26th ON REVIEW

New in Town - C- (Don't Bother)

New in Town is a dull, boring and forgettable movie from the start. It takes 45 minutes into the movie to get anywhere, and when it does finally get going you realize that you no longer care. The last half an hour is rushed and provides little to no explanation as to what is going on. You can tell that the editing floor removed a large portion of this movie as many scenes were disconnected from what was happening in the movie. The scenes that provided any laughs were few and far between, and mostly could be seen in the previews. The only saving grace is the performances by Renee Zellweger, Harry Connick Jr. and J.K. Simmons. If you’re interested in seeing this, just rent Hope Floats or Sweet Home Alabama instead as they are far superior versions of the same movie.

Night Train - C+ (Wait for It)

This unknown film is almost a throwback to the classic Hitchcock film with a current twist, at least at first. It begins as a captivating mystery movie combined with Pandora’s Box. However, as the movie progresses the inexperience of the director boldly stands out. He tries to throw too many twists, add too many elements, and make the whole movie far more interesting than it actually is. The idea that Pandora’s Box shows the truth of your soul is poorly executed. The characters are quite interesting, especially Leelee Sobieski who plays a crafty medical student. As the movie progresses though, the director fails with the character development and tries to show too many sides of each person. I’d say the movie is worth a rent, if only for the first half of the movie, as the last half is unfortunately disappointing and poorly executed.

Kill Shot - B- (Wait for It)

Although Kill Shot is very predictable, and it’s quite obvious that a majority of the film was edited out at one point or another, the great performances of the cast make this worth watching. Joseph Gordon-Levitt proves that he can take hold of nearly any role. Ignoring the part that Mickey Rourke is supposed to be a Native American (as he clearly isn’t) he plays a very cold and intimidating hitman. Alongside them Diane Lane, Thomas Jane and Rosario Dawson all give very solid performances. It provides good suspense at times, and is overall entertaining. It’s just a shame that with all the re-shoots, delays and editing this film went through; an opportunity for a great film was lost.

Powder Blue - B (Wait for It)

The artistic film in which many storylines seem to collide together seems to be the flavor-of-the-month movie genre, as this is another example of movies like Crash and The Air I Breathe. Forrest Whitaker seemingly reprises his same role from The Air I Breathe, although he does another good job. Jessica Biel is very poorly cast, as she’s not believable as a drug addicted stripper. Her performance itself isn’t bad, but it’s hard to see someone that attractive playing that role. Her relationship with Ray Liotta is a little unnerving as he’s almost 30 years older than her. Overall it’s an interesting movie that keeps your attention and makes you wonder as to what will happen next. Its main downfall is that it followed 2 other great films that are in the same style and very similar storylines. Unfortunately I think it will mainly be remembered for a very specific, seductive scene with Jessica Biel.