Money, Money, Money

Changing the face of money: The new $100 bill includes 3D security tricks — and hidden secrets galore

Have you seen the long-anticipated new $100 bill yet? The new money makeover is so busy and yet so cool that it could make you want to save a few.

It was nearly three years ago when the Federal Reserve board announced redesign plans for the Ben Franklin-faced bill. However, the release date's been continuously pushed back with the problems attributed to production issues. Now, currency collectors and financial institutions are expecting the note to finally begin circulating Oct. 8.

For starters, the new note has a sweet 3D ribbon on its face, making various designs (on the ribbon) look in motion. This and a number of other security features are designed to make the new $100 bill easy for consumers and merchants to authenticate and difficult for counterfeiters to replicate.

Here are some key features that are all so National Treasure (nerdy, I know) :

The 3-D Security Ribbon is cool enough for a movie. When you tilt the note back and forth while focusing on the blue, you will see the bells change to 100s as they move from right to left. If you tilt the bill side to side, they move up and down.

A Security Thread can be seen if held up to the light. The thread runs vertically to the left of Ben's face. Ever so patriotically, the thread is imprinted with the letters USA and the numeral 100. This is repeated along the thread. Also, under ultraviolet light the thread glows pink.

There is a Bell in the Inkwell. The inkwell color shifts from copper to green if you tilt the note. This effect gives off the illusion that a bell appears and disappears inside the inkwell.

The Watermark didn't change. When you hold the bill up to the light you see a faint and rather sad picture of Ben in the (one) blank space to the right of the portrait. The watermark is visible from both sides of the note.

Color-Shifting Ink turns the numeral 100 in the lower (front) right corner of the note from copper to green.

And those are just the main security features. There are still more Where's Waldo? type things to keep you interested. Microprinting on Ben's jacket collar that can only be seen with a magnifying glass, for instance.

It took nearly a decade for officials from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve system and the United States Secret Service to design, create and unveil the new bill.

So, let the countdown begin and here's to hoping we all get paid!

The new $100 bill brings 3D tricks to American money.

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Movie review

Will Arnett shines in Bradley Cooper’s divorce drama Is This Thing On?

Photo by Searchlight Pictures/Jason McDonald

Will Arnett in Is This Thing On?.

With 12 Oscar nominations in the past 12 years in multiple categories, Bradley Cooper has turned into not only an acclaimed actor, but also a touted filmmaker. Given that pedigree, it might be difficult to remember that he first gained recognition as a comedy star in movies like Wedding Crashers, Yes Man, and The Hangover series. For his latest directorial effort, he has married comedy with drama in Is This Thing On?.

Unlike the previous two films he directed, Cooper only has a supporting role, ceding the lead to Will Arnett. He plays Alex Novak, who, as the film begins, is starting the process of divorce from his wife of 20 years, Tess (Laura Dern). Forced to move to a depressing apartment in New York City and only getting limited time with his two kids, Alex finds the unexpected outlet of stand up comedy when he signs up for open mic night at the famous Comedy Cellar.

The film follows Alex as he continues to pursue comedy while still having to see Tess on a regular basis, thanks to a shared custody agreement and get-togethers with friends like Balls and Christine (Cooper and Andra Day) and Stephen and Geoffrey (real life couple Sean Hayes and Scott Icenogle). While the comedy serves as a form of counseling for Alex, truly moving on proves more difficult than expected.

The film, co-written by Cooper with Arnett and Mark Chappell, is loosely based on the real-life story of British comedian John Bishop, so one of the biggest things they needed to get right was the comedy itself. Alex’s marital situation lends his comedy more of a confessional style than actual jokes, and his evolution in that space is done well. Shooting in the actual Comedy Cellar and populating the club with real comedians like Amy Sedaris, Jordan Jensen, Reggie Conquest, and more gives those scenes an extra dose of realism.

As if to underscore the personal and emotional nature of the story, Cooper and cinematographer Matthew Libatique make liberal use of closeups with handheld cameras. The camera is constantly moving around and often seems to be right in the actors’ faces, something that is most noticeable when Alex is performing. As if the stories Alex was telling weren’t intimate enough, having Arnett's entire face fill the frame forces the audience to pay attention to what his character is saying.

If there is something to knock about the film, it’s a lack of dramatic stakes. While there’s natural tension between Alex and Tess due to the divorce, it’s way less than in a movie like, say, Marriage Story. There’s also a sneaking suspicion that Cooper was just looking to have fun with the film, casting himself as the comic sidekick and working with good friends like Arnett and Hayes. If ever there was a good hang divorce movie, this is it.

Arnett rarely gets to be in movies, much less as the lead, but he ably embodies this somewhat dramatic part. It helps that he’s given a great scene partner like Dern, who knows when to dial her acting up or down for a particular situation. Cooper and Day are also good despite their story being slightly superfluous, and Christine Ebersole and Ciarán Hinds as Alex’s parents lend the film some extra gravitas.

Is This Thing On? is a much different type of film from Cooper’s first two directorial efforts, A Star is Born and Maestro, and it’s nice to see the filmmaker offer something new. It has a relatable story for anyone who has ever been married while offering an element of uniqueness with someone discovering an undiscovered skill late in life.

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Is This Thing On? opens wide in theaters on January 9.