The director's famed 'spaghetti westerns' will be on display in the retrospective 'Once Upon a Time.'

The best way to find a good guy in the westerns of director Sergio Leone is to look for a worse guy. The Italian director's penchant for blurring of the lines between heroes and villains stood in stark contrast with the clear distinctions found in traditional Hollywood westerns and helped modernize and revitalize the genre, two facts readily apparent "Once Upon a Time: The Films of Sergio Leone" at the American Cinematheque beginning Friday.

Grammy-winning Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés will have the Cuban-New Orleans connection in mind as he performs with the Afro Cuban Messengers.

Among the accolades heaped on Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés is a honorary citizenship from the city of New Orleans.

He had slipped into obscurity until samplings of his work by the likes of Jay-Z and Kanye West made him in demand. His anthology is up for two Grammy Awards.

It's been close to 10 years since Chicago soul/funk legend Syl Johnson played L.A. on or off camera. "I did 'Soul Train' and 'American Bandstand' out there," said the singer and guitarist, whose 1967 hit, "Different Strokes" (with its signature grunts and laughs), was a calling card of sorts for Johnson. "I used to love L.A."