you could also sign up for adobe cloud free 30 day trial, see what you think of it. Although if you aren't seriously into creating stuff, then you're probably gonna be ripping yourself off in the long run, adobe software is meant for professionals and that's why it costs so much. It's very rich featured.
If you aren't seriously into creating stuff at the moment you should try out pinnacle, like mylifeatsega suggested, I've never used their software, but it looks nice from what I've looked up about it. You could also see if they have a free trial.
If you cant make gradients in pinnacle you can always download GIMP. I hate gimp, it's realllly confusing interface xD but it's better then MS Paint and it's free unlike Photoshop.
You can do gradients with Pinnacle; easy money. A basic package is about $100 and it gives you plenty of features, such as color correction, 2D/3D transitions, green-screen capabilities, etc. There's also a bunch of gimmicky effects, like smoke and camera-shake, but you can customize everything so as to look more natural. I'm a very simple editor though. I just like being able to cut at the precise frame. Couldn't really do that with MovieShaker or iMovie. Not easily, at least.
I just like it because it's cheap, easy to use, and you can upgrade the software if you wanna' do more complicated stuff.
Another plus is that you can experiment and discover new things. When I was making Quiet Torments, I needed a shot to establish the passage of time and transition to the next scene. I thought, "If only I had a shot of the moon." Using a standard-def JVC camera, I knew the built-in lens wasn't good enough to capture the image I wanted. So I found a really nice still from a friends vacation photo taken at dusk. I cropped my buddies out of it, desaturated the image - Quiet Torments was a B&W short - made it darker while making the moon brighter, added the smoke filter - made quick and easy adjustments to modulation, detail, transparency and speed - then made use of a blur effect so it would look like the moon was shining through the cloud....
When I showed the finished movie, my friends and family asked me how many times I had to shoot the moon to get that perfect shot. That made me laugh. If you're clever, you can polish a turd.
However, some folks prefer Final Cut Express and Adobe. That's all well and fine. In the end, you gotta' find what works best for you. However, if you're not used to this sort of thing, Pinnacle is a nice, cheap starter kit.