Scarface

KTLA's presentation of the movie "Scarface" (Feb. 22-23) was a complete waste of four hours due to the amount of footage edited out of the violent scenes. KTLA apparently didn't want to encourage violence and drugs; however, it may have done exactly that by broadcasting a horribly ruined copy of the film. Matthew Okada, Pasadena

Richard Lynch, 72, a veteran actor with platinum hair and a scarred face who played villainous characters in such films as "Bad Dreams" and "The Sword and the Sorcerer," died June 19 after suffering a heart attack, his family announced. A resident of the San Bernardino County community of Yucca Valley, Lynch appeared in dozens of horror and science-fiction films in a career spanning four decades. He played a school principal in director Rob Zombie's 2007 "Halloween" remake. His most recent role was in Zombie's "The Lords of Salem," which has not yet been released.

There's as much anger, frustration and venom on this album as you'll find on any three gangsta rap collections. This bold, intelligent rapper is in a class with Ice Cube, Ice-T and Chuck D. when it comes to eloquently and forcefully delivering messages about the plight of ghettoized African-Americans. At times Paris can be a dazzling rapper, spewing out his acidic lyrics at a jagged pace, backed by driving jazz/funk beats.

The so-called Scarface bandit, a suspect in 11 bank robberies, was arrested Wednesday night in Garden Grove, ending a three-month robbery spree. Michael Lee Felix, 34, allegedly robbed five banks in Orange and hit one branch four times, said Orange Police Sgt. Dan Adams. Officers pulled Felix over near his home Wednesday night and arrested him. Authorities matched his prints with a partial print lifted after one robbery, Adams said. Felix was booked at Orange County Jail on an outstanding traffic warrant and for heroin possession, Adams said.

The stocky Scarface looks like your stereotypical hard-core rapper--tough enough to take care of himself in a back-street rumble. So it's a surprise that his biggest hit turns out to be one that showcases his tender side. "I Seen a Man Die" is the best song on his latest hit album, "The Diary."

Scarface, "The Untouchable," Noo-Trybe/Rap-A-Lot. Scarface is one of hip-hop's greatest narrators (for proof, try the Geto Boys' insightful "Mind Playing Tricks on Me" and his haunting solo piece "I've Never Seen a Man Cry"). On "The Untouchable," the constant funk barrage and the gangster themes become mind-numbing after a while, but the heavy-bottomed, molasses-smooth ambience proves irresistible. A must for the car system. Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair)

There is a germ of an idea at the core of "8 Million Ways to Die" (citywide): cop burn-out and AA recovery. And probably no first-class actor can look burned out better than Jeff Bridges: Spittle collecting at the corner of his mouth, with ugly gashes from falls he doesn't even remember, he's the young alcoholic incarnate. He is, as ever, marvelous, but that's the only good thing you can say for the film.

The so-called Scarface bandit, a suspect in 11 bank robberies, was arrested Wednesday night in Garden Grove, ending a three-month robbery spree. Michael Lee Felix, 34, allegedly robbed five banks in Orange and hit one branch four times, said Orange Police Sgt. Dan Adams. Officers pulled Felix over near his home Wednesday night and arrested him. Authorities matched his prints with a partial print lifted after one robbery, Adams said. Felix was booked at Orange County Jail on an outstanding traffic warrant and for heroin possession, Adams said.

Scarface is a traditionalist, a gangsta veteran committed to hip-hop's core elements, to tough talk about "money and power," but with enough modern flavor to keep his voice alive. It's fueled a lasting solo career far beyond his role with the notorious Houston group the Geto Boys, even as most of his contemporaries have fallen away. At the House of Blues on Thursday, Scarface was joined by his Geto Boys collaborator Willie D.

WHEN "Scarface" came out 20 years ago, Brian De Palma's outlaw immigrant saga was greeted with scathing reviews ("one of the largest empty vessels to float on an ocean of celluloid," wrote the Los Angeles Times' Sheila Benson) and lukewarm box office. The picture was considered one of the lesser lights in the director's canon of works, which included "Carrie," "Blow Out" and "Dressed to Kill."

Scarface is a traditionalist, a gangsta veteran committed to hip-hop's core elements, to tough talk about "money and power," but with enough modern flavor to keep his voice alive. It's fueled a lasting solo career far beyond his role with the notorious Houston group the Geto Boys, even as most of his contemporaries have fallen away. At the House of Blues on Thursday, Scarface was joined by his Geto Boys collaborator Willie D.

Cronyism has overrun hip-hop to the extent that where you're from has become less important than whom you roll with. Today, survival-hungry rappers run in creative cliques, with several artists riding the popularity wave of one stellar peer. With notable exceptions--the Wu-Tang Clan's spinoffs and reunion double CD and Master P's entire No Limit Records roster--originality usually suffers and redundancy rules when like minds coalesce.

U2's position at the top of the national album chart with its new "Pop" collection lasted only a week. Rapper Scarface's "Untouchable" took over at No. 1 with sales of nearly 169,000 copies, pushing "Pop" to No. 2, based on sales of about 150,000, according to SoundScan. Sales of "Pop," however, are expected to pick up again when U2 begins its world tour next month in Las Vegas and is the subject of a one-hour prime-time ABC-TV special set to air April 26.

The flashy cocaine cowboys of South Florida's infamous 1980s are gone. But the drugs keep coming, thanks to a quietly effective 1990s breed of trafficker. South Florida is home to even more traffickers now than it was a decade ago, says James Milford, acting deputy administrator for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. "Miami is the North American headquarters for the South American cartels," says Pam Brown, spokeswoman for the DEA's Miami's field office. "They haven't gone away.

Certainly, the weirdest figure to come out of the movies' early-'30's fascination with gangsters has to be Tony Camonte in Howard Hawks' "Scarface: The Shame of the Nation." Played by a twitchy Paul Muni, he had both Edward G. Robinson's Rico Bandello ("Little Caesar," 1931) and James Cagney's swaggering upstart in "Public Enemy" (also 1931) beat on the obsessive/compulsive scale.

Cronyism has overrun hip-hop to the extent that where you're from has become less important than whom you roll with. Today, survival-hungry rappers run in creative cliques, with several artists riding the popularity wave of one stellar peer. With notable exceptions--the Wu-Tang Clan's spinoffs and reunion double CD and Master P's entire No Limit Records roster--originality usually suffers and redundancy rules when like minds coalesce.

Scarface, "The Untouchable," Noo-Trybe/Rap-A-Lot. Scarface is one of hip-hop's greatest narrators (for proof, try the Geto Boys' insightful "Mind Playing Tricks on Me" and his haunting solo piece "I've Never Seen a Man Cry"). On "The Untouchable," the constant funk barrage and the gangster themes become mind-numbing after a while, but the heavy-bottomed, molasses-smooth ambience proves irresistible. A must for the car system. Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair)

It's a given that star-powered movies are the bread and butter of the video business. But despite the demands of a fickle public, some videos manage to consistently do business months, even years, after their release. These are the so-called evergreens, the precious perennials that are embraced by customers and whose enduring popularity is sustained by word of mouth. Evergreens span all age groups and genres.