Asian on celluloid: Christopher Lee

Christopher Lee will always be my favorite Dracula. I have watched the entire Hammer Film library of Dracula movies, including the ones without Lee.

Monster great: Mutated bear thug in the woods

John Frankenheimer’s “Prophecy” was that environmental message film of the 70s where gigantic animal mutations roamed the peaceful American woods terrorizing loggers, locals and Talia Shire.

Funk/Friday Tune: Hot Fun in the Summertime

All you had to do was turn on KDIA-AM to hear Sly and the Family Stone’s “Hot Fun In The Summertime” flying across the airwaves.

Asian on celluloid: Marlon Brando

Marlon Brando is an icon, one of the greatest American actors on film. I fell in love with Brando one lonely Saturday afternoon while watching “On the Waterfront”.

Monster great: The Triffid

“The Day of the Triffids” is a classic 1960s era sci/fi horror film. The movie begins with a bang, followed by mass blindness and a invasion of the mighty, vegetable-like Triffids. In between, there are a variety of characters that exemplify different degrees of the human condition, some worth dying or saving.

Funk/Soul Friday tune: Soul Makossa

Cameroon’s Manu Dibango’s “Soul Makossa” has plenty of rhythm, vibrating sound and lyrics that no one seems to understand. I was once told that the lyrics were filthy, which might this song even cooler.

Finding perfection in a “Right Place”

A quirky 7-11 worker that demands uniformity, but not conformity, finds his place under the sun in “Right Place,” a delightful very short 5+ minute film.

Monster great: Gorgo’s parent

Hell hath no fury like a monster who is in search of its Gorgo, a tiny tot monster who has been removed from its home in the Irish waters to become a Battersea Park sightseeing attraction.

Funk/Soul Friday tune: Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag

Nobody could dance like James Brown, a consummate entertainer, but my father could come close. He would shuffle across the carpet in his blue velvet house slippers while clapping his hands, every so often inserting a few twirls.

“Lagyu” offers an honest look at teen pregnancy

The religious and political rhetoric on teenage pregnancy is overwhelming, overshadowing the simple fact that two young people are caught making a decision that is not as simple as some make it out to be.