Michael Vartan

CHICAGO – Only the director of “The Transporter 3” could make a movie in which the gorgeous Zoe Saldana changes outfits as often as she speaks lines of dialogue as dull as the tedious, illogical, useless “Colombiana.” Sure, the final showdown has some damn cool action but it takes a hundred often-unbearable minutes to get there.

CHICAGO – The popular cable TV series “HawthoRNe” throws down a dramatic Season 3 premiere, featuring the star talents of Jada Pinkett Smith and a great supporting cast. The medical series returns on TNT Network on June 14th.

CHICAGO – Summer is the time for fluff. And that’s what “Hawthorne” is. It’s a drama that crosses the genre boundary into the realm of soap opera. Having said that, the second season premiere of “Hawthorne” is not nearly as melodramatic as TNT’s on-air promos might have you believe with their “she’s all woman” tagline.

CHICAGO – The wave of TV on DVD sets that always comes crashing down upon us after the end of a traditional September-to-May season is still a few months off, but a few interesting releases have popped up recently and we thought they each deserved a mini-review for potential fans out there looking for something new now that their DVRs have gotten pretty empty. Take notes, there might be a test at the end.

CHICAGO – TNT’s medical drama “HawthoRNe” would have felt overly generic in any month of the year, but debuting in the same one as Showtime’s far darker, subtler and more entertaining “Nurse Jackie” does the show no favors at all. Jada Pinkett Smith executive-produces and stars in a well-intentioned program with a good pedigree (John Masius of “St. Elsewhere” is one of the producers) but one that feels like a relic of a bygone era of more manipulative television.