*With apologies to Roger Ebert, here's a big thumbs up to "State of Play," the Russell Crowe thriller involving politics and newspapers. Lots of current strands run through it, including the financial climate of my industry and the shift to Internet "news" and blogs. And if you love the newspaper business, you'll want to sit through the closing credits, when you'll see the production process from computer to negative to plate to press to mailroom to delivery.

*Speaking of Roger Ebert, sadly he's lost his ability to speak, so he's no longer able to do his weekly review show, the granddaddy of the genre he launched decades ago with the late Gene Siskel. A subsequent version of the show, featuring Richard Roeper and a weekly guest host, held up well. But the producers decided to start anew, bringing in Ben Lyons and Josh Mankiewicz. It's unwatchable. Closest program to the old Siskel and Ebert is NBC's Saturday morning show "Reel Talk" with Jeffrey Lyons (Ben's dad) and Allison Bailes.

*I'm very late to the dance on this one, but I finally caught up with an original version of 1991's "The Commitments." It's about working class kids in Dublin and their attempt to form a band. It's a great story, well-performed. And if you like soul music, you must go out of your way find it on DVD.

*On the other hand, if there's a movie featuring Adam Sandler, I'll skip it. I've never been able to figure out his appeal.

*Finally, in the tradition of the shameless plugs I've offered for my son Matt's writing on TV's "American Dad," I also must point out that his fiance, Jessica Replansky (a Rhinebeck native, by the way), will be back on the costume design staff of the next "Sex in the City" movie. Jess has been a costume designer for the first "Sex in the City" movie (plus the cable series), as well as "The Devil Wore Prada," "Confessions of a Shopaholic" and TV's "Ugly Betty" and "Kath and Kim," among other projects.