Scarface Free

Tony Montana manages to leave Cuba during the Mariel exodus of 1980. He finds himself in a Florida refugee camp but his friend Manny has a way out for them: undertake a contract killing and arrangements will be made to get a green card.

He's soon working for drug dealer Frank Lopez and shows his mettle when a deal with Colombian drug dealers goes bad. He also brings a new level of violence to Miami.

Tony is protective of his younger sister but his mother knows what he does for a living and disowns him. Tony is impatient and wants it all however, including Frank's empire and his mistress Elvira Hancock. Once at the top however, Tony's outrageous actions make him a target and everything comes crumbling down. Every great gangster movie has under-currents of human drama. Don't expect an emotional story of guilt, retribution and despair from 'Scarface'. This is a tale of ferocious greed, corruption, and power.

The darker side of the fabled 'American Dream'. Anybody complaining about the 'cheesiness' of this film is missing the point. The superficial characters, cheesy music, and dated fashions further fuel the criticism of this life of diabolical excess. Nothing in the lives of these characters really matter, not on any human level at least. In fact the film practically borderlines satire, ironic considering all the gangsta rappers that were positively inspired by the lifestyle of Tony Montana. This isn't Brian DePalma's strongest directorial effort, it is occasionally excellent and well-handled (particularly the memorable finale), but frequently sinks to sloppy and misled. Thankfully, it is supported by a very strong script by Oliver Stone (probably good therapy for him, considering the coke habit he was tackling at the time).

The themes are consistent, with the focus primarily on the life of Tony Montana, and the evolution of his character as he is consumed by greed and power. The dialogue is also excellent, see-sawing comfortably between humour and drama. There are many stand-out lines, which have since wormed their way into popular culture in one form or another.

The cast help make it what it is as well, but this is really Pacino's film. One of his earlier less subtle performances (something much more common from him nowadays), this is a world entirely separate from Michael Corleone and Frank Serpico.

Yet he is as watchable here as ever, in very entertaining (and intentionally over-the-top) form. It is hard to imagine another Tony Montana after seeing this film, in possibly one of the most mimicked performances ever. Pfeiffer stood out as dull and uncomfortable on first viewing, but I've come to realize how she plays out the part of the bored little wife. Not an exceptional effort, but unfairly misjudged. The supporting players are very good too, particularly Paul Shenar as the suave Alejandro Sosa. Powerful, occasionally humorous, sometimes shocking, and continually controversial. 'Scarface' is one of the films of the eighties (whatever that might mean to you).

An essential and accessible gangster flick, and a pop-culture landmark.

Ben on the first pitch of Scarface It is almost impossible for me to understand how we prepare and execute in moments of doubt and uncertainty. But when all the pieces fell into place instead of being concerned, or even confident I was empty. This was the feeling I needed. Not the feedback loop from the pump in my forearms, not the desire for glory that would only undermine my success. I needed the feeling of flow and floating, when I came to the crux, a reach I could barely make, I just needed to try.

At first I didn't even know how to try. Thrice I had gotten to the move, the move that made or broke Scarface for me. My mind was too afraid of failure, and unsure how to proceed.

Each time I had failed to stick the hold. Of course I had done the move before, I knew it was possible, but the thousand feet of climbing had worn me down and put seeds of doubt in my head.

Ben following the 'Crumbling Empire' aka the chossy pitch With the feeling of emptiness I tried as hard as I could and went for the hold. This time, as my body came to rest, my fingers still gripped the rock. It wasn't over. I had to keep in my zone; but it was finally happening. I went through the motions, the beta freshly ingrained in my mind, and kept climbing.

Soon enough I clipped the anchors of the eighth pitch and was overcome with excitement and relief. Ben on the splitter pitch five Finger tip destruction!= The waves of emotion had been cresting and breaking all day. Pitch after pitch led us closer to the elusive one day red point of Scarface.

We had near misses with a foot slip on some dirty rock, a broken hold on another pitch. Finally the tension was broken when Ben fell off the first crux of the fifth pitch. As I lowered him back down I started weighing the options. I had faith in my partner and I knew Ben would keep it together and send.

And so he did, fighting the deep pump and getting us past the first trial of the day. Too stubborn to listen to the pump I too made it through. Laybacking up the tips crack on Pitch Five Getting ready for the final crux on Pitch Five We cruised up the clean white granite for a few pitches but my confidence was shaky. Nervous and unsure I fell off the Cubano Corner, pitch 8, and came back to the belay. As Ben pulled the rope I was hopeful about the situation.

I had easily made it to the crux, an improvement on last time, despite feeling so far away from the 'jug'. I worked on my mental attitude, tried to get my breathing in check and rallied.

Sticking the move was unreal, it was right at the limit of my reach and in that moment I saw the whole route come together. So excited to be done with the first crux, almost too pumped to move. Ben followed without a problem, but later told me he found these situations almost more stressful than leading.

Once I had sent the pitch it was up to him to keep the FFA going and rally to the top. We kept swapping leads and in no time we were on the summit, having climbed the second all free route up Liberty Cap.

The dream of free climbing Liberty Cap was a reality!! Ben following the Cubano Corner, Pitch Eight I would be remiss to discount the fact that I had wanted to be the first up Liberty Cap, one of the few un-freed faces left in Yosemite. But when we reached the summit there was nothing but bliss.

Scarface Free Online

I'm proud of all of the friends who have helped me on this project. The times spent on the wall hoping it would go and putting the pieces together were incredible. For a group of weekend warriors to put up a new free route in Yosemite is amazing! I also am stoked that freed Mahtah earlier in the season.

I spent many days talking details with Lucho, sharing the psyche and rehashing all the work that goes into freeing a route. Hopefully 2013 will be remembered in Yosemite as the year of Liberty Cap with two free routes going up the Southwest Face. Ben finishing up the golden granite of Pitch Nine This is the longest FFA that I've done and some of the pitches are surely 4 and 5 star climbing. Not every pitch is amazing and the dirt and foliage on the first few pitches may dissuade people from continuing up the route. But if you make it to the fifth pitch you will be rewarded with five back to back high quality pitches. Right now Scarface climbs more like an alpine route with lichen and gritty rock.

With time and traffic this could change and maybe Scarface will become a classic. If you ever find yourself waiting in line for the Harding route, I highly recommend walking another 500 feet and getting on Scarface! As I've mentioned before this route would also be a great adventure at 5.11a C2 and could be done in a day. Eight of the pitches are in the 5.10 range with only two pitches at 5.11- and two at 5.12. Summit success! Mountain View Author's Reply Jan 8, 2014 - 07:33pm PT If the weather stays dry it's prime season to go up and climb Liberty Cap.

Even when there is snow on the Muir trail you can be climbing in a T-shirt when the sun hits the wall. A solid team should be able to pull off Scarface in a day, even at 5.11a C2 The first few pitches of Scarface get a little seepage if there is snow on the summit. The crux and the other pitches in the rock scar stay dry. I'm pretty sure you could pioneer a variation that starts one crack system to the left that would always stay dry. I've climbed those pitches but didn't clean or free them. I know a few guys have been thinking about going up for the 2nd ascent.

Scarface The Movie

Hoping for some traffic in 2014.