Episode 6: Brad Pitt, Ryan Reynolds and an angel

Hello and welcome to Reel Weekend, I'm Ben Howard, back again with the picks of this week's cinema and DVD releases. On this week's show, one Brad Pitt, three Ryan Reynolds, an angel and news of our very first Reel Weekend competition.

Everything about the first of this weekend's releases is long – the coats worn by the main characters, the barrels of the guns they shoot, the running time of the movie and in particular the title. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is the epic story of the relationship between legendary bank robber James and his young protégé Ford, who ended up shooting Jesse in the back.

Brad Pitt takes on the role of James, and it's good to see him leaving the red carpet and his empire of orphans behind and return to proper acting. He gives a subtle, unshowy performance as the world-weary gunslinger, but the thespian honours go to Casey Affleck as Robert Ford. Ben may have the celebrity and the movie star chin, but Casey seems to have the Affleck family's true acting chops – don't be surprised to see his wired, nervy performance recognised around awards time.

The Assassination of Jesse James is directed by New Zealander Andrew Dominick, whose last film was the brutal but hilarious Chopper back in 2000. This time he's channelling the spirit of Terrence Malick, and although the languid pace, lack of action and near three-hour running time may put some off, it's a beautiful and haunting slice of serious cinema.

One Ryan Reynolds is more than enough for some people, particularly those who've had to sit through the likes of Van Wilder: Party Liaison or The Amityville Horror. So the fact that Reynolds plays three separate characters in his new movie The Nines doesn't bode well. But this is a surprisingly good, very clever metaphysical thriller. It's the directing debut of screenwriter John August, and like his film Go weaves three stories into one twisty, turny whole. The small cast – including Reynolds, Hope Davis and Melissa McCarthy – play different characters in the three stories, but slowly we realise that this is part of a bigger whole.

August is aiming high here – questions about the meaning of reality, the existence of God and whether it's possible to make an intelligent film starring Ryan Reynolds abound. You can tell Reynolds is in serious actor mode because he's sporting a beard for much of the film, but he gives a terrific performance in three very different roles.

Not everything works, but full marks for August for trying to challenge his audience. There are thematic similarities to this year's The Fountain, but unlike that pretentious flop, The Nines also manages to be entertaining and witty.

Let's face it, video games might be fun, but they tend to make for bad movies. It's a genre where Mortal Kombat is pretty much the cream of the crop and Paul WS Anderson is the most talented director, but there are trashy thrills to be had in movies like this week's Hitman. Like the game, it focuses on a Vatican-trained assassin known only as 47, who finds himself caught up in a web of deceit and betrayal involving a sexy Russian hooker, dodgy politicians and an obsessed Interpol agent.

No one will be coming to Hitman for high art, despite French director Xavier Gens' best attempts to make the movie look as slick and stylised as possible. Actually, rumour has it that Gens was kicked off the movie when the studio saw his initial cut, and the messy results certainly suggest that.

It's confusing, silly with some borderline terrible performances, but it certainly delivers the goods in violent action. Timothy Olyphant takes the morally ambiguous lead role, shaving his cranium and letting the world know what Smashing Pumpkins' frontman Billy Corgan might have looked like had he gone into political assassination rather than music.

And if you want to go that one step further to becoming Agent 47 you can enter this week's competition in which you can win all manner of Hitman related goodies, including a deluxe watch, a USB stick, laptop case and these rather fetching leather gloves... brilliant for murder without any of the pesky incriminating evidence.

To win, all you need to do is answer this question – autuer, Paul WS Anderson, has directed two movies based on video games, name them. Send your answer to hitman@cnettv.co.uk and we'll announce the winner in two weeks' time.

On to a couple of this week's DVD releases, and the most interesting title is the 1998 Japanese drama After Life. This unusual film looks at the age-old question of what happens after we die. Writer/director Hirokazu Koreeda believes that we congregate in a crumbling, disused school to decide on a single memory from our lives to take with us on our journey into the great beyond.

Much of the first half of the film consists of the dead talking to the camera about their lives, trying to decide on that single, most important memory. Once the memory has been decided upon, it will be recreated and filmed on a rickety film set, and amusingly Koreeda makes life at this building seem like any other job. After Life is alternatively warm, funny and sad, but never sentimental, and a must-see for fans of Asian cinema.

Finally tonight, there are certain movies that are re-released so often that it's hard to believe that everyone doesn't already own a copy. That perennial festive favourite It's a Wonderful Life returns to DVD this week, ready for another round of festive sales. Of course, everyone knows and loves this story of George Bailey, the selfless, caring everyman played by James Stewart, who is shown just how is important he is to his friends and family by a kindly angel.

For a movie that generations have spent warming their cockles to, it's easy to forget that It's a Wonderful Life gets pretty-damn bleak in places. Okay, we're not talking about a Yuletide Nil by Mouth here, but George's descent into despair as he sees his banking business collapse around him is still surprisingly powerful. And let's face it, the film has never been more topical,with all those scenes of anxious people desperate to get their money out of a bank on the verge of financial collapse.

Okay, that's it for this week, join me nest week for more of the same. Until then, enjoy the weekend.