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

Fun final act isn't enough to make Clayface DC's next great movie

Tom Rhys Harries and Naomi Ackie in Clayface

Photo by Parisa Taghizadeh

Tom Rhys Harries and Naomi Ackie are patient and doctor in Clayface.

The history of DC Comics in movies has been hit-and-miss, especially when it comes to anything not directly involving Batman or Superman. Over the years, films have been headlined by heroes like Catwoman, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Shazam, the Flash, and more, and while some succeeded, none left a lasting mark on moviegoers’ imaginations.

Much like they did with Joker, the powers-that-be behind DC Studios productions are trying to entice viewers with a no-holds-barred story in Clayface. Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries) is an A-list movie actor with both critical and commercial appeal. Unfortunately, a night of celebration for his recent Oscar nomination leads to him sleeping with Theresa (Ruby Sear), the girlfriend of Markos Szabo (David Dencik), a prominent mobster in Gotham City. Markos then enacts revenge by taking a razor to Matt’s face.

Desperate to find a way to look like his old self again, Matt seeks out Dr. Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie), who’s conducting cutting-edge nanotechnology research that can heal any kind of damage. While the solution works on Matt, it also has the side effect of his body doing unintended things, even morphing into those with whom he comes into contact. After initially struggling with his new body, Matt decides to use his powers to enact revenge on those who’ve done him wrong.

Directed by James Watkins (Speak No Evil) and written by Mike Flanagan (The Life of Chuck) and Hossein Amini, the film is only intermittently entertaining as it tries to sell its ridiculous premise. Right from the start, it seems like the filmmakers have been given a limited budget, as everything from the sets to the CGI to the stilted dialogue feels cheap. For a film coming from a major studio, the whole thing comes off as schlocky and undercooked.

Watkins and his team try to make up for that shoddiness by delivering R-rated thrills like nudity and body horror, but those elements can only distract for so long. Much of the film is spent dealing with Matt’s trauma, and the downbeat nature of his body issues combined with very little action makes the movie not very fun to watch. The film also tries to make hay with more than a doctor-patient bond between Caitlyn — who has a boyfriend on the police force — and Matt, but like the most of the film, it never connects.

It’s not until the final third of the movie that the filmmakers land on the tone they should have been using the whole time. Matt’s ability to transform himself, while illogical and confounding, provides multiple over-the-top, funny moments and some legitimately creative kills. Instead of taking forever to set up Matt/Clayface’s origin story, Watkins and his team should have just cut to the chase and let him loose to see what the character could truly do.

This is the first big role for Welsh actor Harries, and while he’s not exactly magnetic, he proves himself worthy of the lead role. Ackie is also fine, but after several years of trying to advance up the Hollywood ladder, she may be running out of time to show she’s a star. The supporting cast has a couple of familiar faces, but it’s mostly lesser-known actors who do nothing to indicate they deserve bigger showcases.

It’s difficult to imagine any non-DC Comics fans having a strong attachment to the character of Clayface, and the film fails to make the case that he should be a continuing character. The poor quality of almost everything that appears on screen is indicative of the kind of effort and money that was put into the film, and sometimes you really do get what you pay for.

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Clayface opens in theaters on October 23.

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