MUSIC

Flowers
The Rolling Stones
ABKCO, 1967

The world's oldest surviving intact boy band, The Rolling Stones, were in their prime almost 35 years ago but who cares. Though it's only rock and roll, some girls (and boys) have been getting satisfaction and emotional rescue from the band even in their worst moments when they felt like beasts of burden with nothing more promising than waiting for a friend. I'm not one of those. The group's best album, for my money, is Flowers released in 1967. Admittedly, the disc contains two rather famous songs which first appeared on Between the Buttons released earlier that year, namely "Let's Spend the Night Together" and the still catchy "Ruby Tuesday." The latter's been covered by so many other artists, she must owe her longevity to the fact that she's changing with every new day. Flowers, on the other hand, hasn't had to change, not with songs like pharma-booster "Mother's Little Helper" and the classic love peon "My Girl." Speaking of girls, which the Stones do quite a lot of, "Backstreet Girl" is perhaps as close as the bad-rep boys come to endorsing the sanctity of holy matrimony and then, naturally, only in the most backhanded of ways. Addressed to the girlfriend, never to be a spouse, the lyrics go in part, "Please don't be part of my life/ Please keep yourself to yourself/ Please don't you bother my wife/ That way you won't get no help. / Don't want you out in my world/ Just you be my backstreet girl." Zero for taste, 10 for honesty. It's the kind of societal taste that's kept them on the top of the heap from the 1960s into their own 60s.

� Cliff Roberts

FILM

Scarface
Dir: Brian De Palma
Universal, 1983
DVD release 2003

This bloodstained film takes you into a world of drugs, guns and the twisted mind of one ambitious Cuban immigrant, Tony Montana (Al Pacino) and his rise to drug lordship. Scarface is Brian De Palma's update of the classic 1932 crime drama by Howard Hawks. Oliver Stone wrote the screenplay and his history of cocaine addiction gave him some firsthand experiences trolling the mean streets. Forty-three murders appear on screen during the course of the three-hour film. The first three submitted cuts of the film received an X rating by the MPAA. The film got its R after Brian De Palma cobbled together a panel of narcotic experts to attest that the violence in the film was an accurate portrayal of real life. Violence aside, the film captures the essence of the 80s decadence with glitz, glam and mountains of cocaine. Everything in the film ran to extremes � including Mr Pacino's performance. Scarface isn't the kind of movie that appeals to everyone, but those who like it will never forget the raw passion that fills the screen.

� Carla Sparks