Mattel was fined $2.3 million for violating a federal lead paint ban that resulting in the recall of Barbie and other popular toys. Due to the high cost of the fine-Barbie will have to make some changes to her luxurious life style. For example, Barbie’s Malibu dream house is up for sale-it will be replaced by Barbie’s dream Westwood studio apartment and beach Barbie will be replaced by diner waitress Barbie.

Also in the news today the president announced that he would not release torture pictures. In a related story Dick Cheney offered to share his wallet size torture pictures he carries around with him.

My Movie Grade: B

State of Play, the new Russell Crowe/Ben Affleck film was one of the better thriller movies I have seen in the last year or so. The film was an adaptation of the acclaimed 6-part television serial which aired on BBC One in 2003. This film is your basic political thriller with plot twist and nail biting suspense all set against the backdrop of a changing newspaper industry struggling to stay relevant. Interestingly enough, Brad Pitt was originally cast to play the role Russell Crowe ended up playing, but dropped out of the project a week before it was to begin shooting. Due to scheduling commitments caused by the delay in shooting Edward Norton asked to leave the project. Ben Affleck replaced Edward Norton. Russell Crowe gave a good performance as a dedicated “old school” Washington news paper journalist. Ben Affleck gave a less memorable performance as a Congressman who finds himself in the middle of a scandal. Rachel McAdams plays a young reporter who is taking under Crowe’s wing and taught the journalism businesses. I thought McAdams’ performance was decent, although her character could have given her a more dynamic role in the film. She often finds herself at the mercy of Crowe’s wisdom. I would have liked to have seen her have a more assertive role. Jeff Daniels and Helen Mirre’s performance are two of the highlights of the film. Jason Bateman also steals the scenes he is in adding an injection of humor to the film Overall, I enjoyed this movie and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys political thrillers.

My Movie Grade: A-

I was in New York a few days ago and had the opportunity to see Anvil: The Story of Anvil in Times Square. I thoroughly enjoyed document film about the little-known Canadian heavy metal band Anvil. This documentary revolves around original members of Anvil Steve “Lips” Kudlow and Robb Reiner-as they struggle to tour Europe and live everyday lives in chilly Toronto. I found it to be humorous, informative and most of all an inspiring story about a band struggling to live their dreams.  So far this film as won audience awards at the Sydney, Los Anglesey and Galway Film Festivals. If this film is playing in your city I would recommend seeing it.

I would recommend not observing and reporting to this film. Observe and Report, Seth Rogan’s new movie was not bad, but not nearly as good as I expected. Observe and Report is a dark comedy written and directed by Jody Hill. The premise of the movie seems perfect for Seth Rogan. Basically, Rogan plays a mall security guard trying to prove himself in a world that does not respect him-similar to Paul Blart Mall Cop—although this film is much darker and deals with more adult themes than the last mall cop movie….I still cannot believe there were two mall cop movies released within a few months of each other. Nevertheless, Observe and Report starts strong—but then slowly fades into what seems to be a very long movie to sit through. My main criticism of this film was that it just seemed to drag. There were vaarious story lines that all seemed to take forever to develop. Also, I felt as though fowl words were used in place of witty jokes, not in a way to set up or enhance the humor of the film. The highlight of the movie is the strong soundtrack, which adds to the feel of the film. Overall, I would wait until it comes out on DVD to see it. It is not an awful movie-it is just not as good as it could have been.