David Vaughn

A childhood illness gave George (Matt Damon) a unique ability to communicate with the deceased and the ability to lead a normal life vanished in the process. A French journalist Marie (Cecile de France) barely survives a horrific tsunami and for a brief moment enters the afterlife and begins to ask questions. Then there's young Marcus (Frankie and George McLaren), who loses his twin brother in an accident and he wonders where he's gone and if he can ever speak to him again. At some point, these three lives will intersect and set their lives on a better path.

Two time Oscar-winning director Clint Eastwood has brought us some outstanding films but his last two, Invictus and now Hereafter, haven't measured up to his better projects. While I wouldn't say this is a bad film by any stretch, but it's pacing is too slow and runs about 20 minutes too long. Overall I thought the topic was interesting and I felt for each of the characters.

With her biological clock running out, Kassie (Jennifer Aniston) decides to take matters into her own hands and have a baby via artificial insemination. Her neurotic best friend, Wally (Jason Bateman), tries to talk her out of it but she ignores him and enlists the help of a sperm donor (Patrick Wilson) to complete the process. On the night of the "event," Wally has one too many drinks and may have tampered with the donation and when he meets Kassie's son seven years later his suspicions start to grow when the two have way too many similarities.

Jennifer Aniston's venture into feature films hasn't been a resounding success thus far, but this may be her best project. The chemistry she and Bateman share is outstanding and there are some serious laugh-out-loud moments starting with the crazy homeless man in the first scene of the movie. When the kid (Thomas Robinson) enters the picture it can get a tad sappy, but that's OK because he's adorable and the relationship he develops with Bateman's character is very touching.

Smooth-talking playboy Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal) is on the fast track to the top of the pharmaceutical-sales industry promoting a new miracle drug called Viagra. However, when he meets Maggie (Anne Hathaway) during one of his sales calls, he falls madly in love with her and is forced to choose between his career and the girl who captured his heart.

The trailers made this look like your typical romantic comedy, but it’s anything but. While it has its funny moments, it takes a very serious tone when tackling the subject of Parkinson’s disease and its effects on relationships. Hathaway and Gyllenhaal display great onscreen chemistry, but the supporting cast can be distracting, especially Gyllenhaal’s onscreen brother (Josh Gad), who’s quite annoying with his sophomoric behavior. If you find Hathaway attractive (I certainly do), then you’ll love the multiple sex scenes as she shows a lot of skin (and looks marvelous)!

Price: $400 At A Glance: Google TV and Wi-Fi • Speedy loading of Blu-ray Discs • Ergonomically challenged remote control

Blu-ray meets Google TV

Google TV strives to deliver a new experience by bringing your TV and Internet together. It gives its users access to more entertainment options, and its powerful search capabilities make it easier to find what you want to watch. Two of the first products to incorporate Google TV are the Logitech Revue and Sony’s Internet TV Blu-ray player (NSZ-GT1). While both are based on the same platform, Sony ups the ante by including a Blu-ray player with a $100 price premium. While Kim Wilson explored the virtues of Google TV in our February 2011 issue, I’ll take a look at the NSZ-GT1’s Blu-ray capabilities and see how a Google TV–powered player stacks up against the other streaming Blu-ray players on the market.