Don Glut and Christine Nguyen At Film Fest

by Armand Vaquer


Writer-producer-director-dinosaur expert Donald F. Glut catches up with always-radiant actress/model Christine Nguyen (at right) at the Boobs and Blood Film Festival yesterday.

According to Glut, it was "a small "film festival" over this weekend, held at the New Beverly Theatre."

Nguyen starred in The Mummy's Kiss: Second Dynasty (2006) that was written and directed by Glut and was released by Frontline Entertainment.

Above, Christine is interviewed by Don on stage.

Photos courtesy of Don Glut.

Christine Nguyen Photo Session Part 2

by Armand Vaquer

Photographs Courtesy of Don Glut

To help celebrate Independence Day, here's some more photographs of Christine Nguyen.

Frontline Entertainment's writer/director/producer Donald F. Glut sent over some more photos of Christine Nguyen from their recent photo session for your viewing enjoyment. A couple of them had been posted previously, but these are larger photo files.

Above, this is a new photo of Christine in Don's den.

Above, this shot of Christine and "The Donald" was posted previously, but this is a much larger version.

Above, Christine poses while holding an Apatosaurus bone from Don's collection.

Above, this photo of Christine was posted previously, but this is a larger version.

Above, Christine sports a t-shirt from Chicago's Field Museum, which has one of the most extensive dinosaur fossil collections in the world. This photo should be "PG" enough to post here.

To see his page of collection photographs, some featuring Christine, go here.

Christine Nguyen At The House of Glut

Above, Christine Nguyen this week at The House of Glut. Photo courtesy of Don Glut.

Christine Nguyen At The House of Glut

by Armand Vaquer

Producer/director/writer Donald F. Glut of Frontline Entertainment completed a photo shoot of Christine Nguyen this week at his Burbank home, which is also a museum of dinosaur artifacts, science-fiction & horror movie memorabilia and various other interests.

The photo shoot had been delayed due to Christine's busy schedule. This week, she's been at work on "MILF," a comedy from The Asylum.

Above, Christine Nguyen and Don Glut. Photo courtesy of Don Glut.

Christine starred in Glut's The Mummy's Kiss: Second Dynasty in 2006.

Glut has an amazing collection of dino artifacts and movie memorabilia. Whenever he can, he checks out auctions and sales of dino artifacts to add to his collection.

To see his page of collection photographs, some featuring Christine, go here.

A Real Sweetheart: Christine Nguyen!

Photo courtesy of Christine Nguyen.

A Real Sweetheart: Christine Nguyen!

by Armand Vaquer

A funny thing happened the other night.

I was about an hour and a half away from going off-duty in my "parachute" job as a security patrol officer when I stopped at the guard shack at one of the gated communities I patrol in Malibu.

Inside, the guard had on television the Poorman's Bikini Beach show. The show was about ten minutes away from ending and they played a teaser (just before a commercial break) of their hotline segment with a panel of three bikini-clad lovelies who would answer callers' questions. One of them was very familiar to me, but I wasn't sure as the teaser whisked by.

After the commercial break, segment came on and one of the panelists was Christine Nguyen! Hot damn! (Ahem.) It truly is a small world.

I told the guard of Christine and he was very impressed with her. He hadn't heard of her before, and he comes from a show-biz family (his uncle was comedian Billy Gilbert from the Hal Roach Laurel & Hardy comedies (see "The Music Box" or "County Hospital") and his mother acted in many Gene Autry westerns) He also has acted and is a card-carrying SAG member. I sent Christine a text message telling her that we just saw her on the show.

Minutes later (around midnight) she text her thanks. Tom, the guard I was with, speculated that she may have been up watching too.

The next day, I followed up by telling Christine the circumstances on how we happened to see her on the show. I won't post what she said in our exchanges (at one point she did say I made her "blush"), but Christine is one real sweet lady! (I knew this before, as she was the first to send me a condolence message the morning of my mother's passing.)

It is Christine's natural sweetness and humor that comes through in her acting and model work. One cannot avoid being drawn to her. That shouldn't be too difficult to understand: she's an Aquarius! Christine and I both were born on February 4.

Besides being a fan, it is an honor for me to also be a friend of Christine Nguyen. She's a real sweetheart!

Superman and The Mummy's Kiss: Something Shared

Above, the E. Clem Wilson Building, something that the "Adventures of Superman" and "The Mummy's Kiss: Second Dynasty" have in common.

Superman and The Mummy's Kiss: Something Shared

by Armand Vaquer

After I posted my spotlight feature on actress/model/language instructor Yuu Asakura on Monster Island News, I was in the mood to watch Don Glut's The Mummy's Kiss Second Dynasty tonight. In the movie, Yuu Asakura had a bit part as Marie, the assistant to the tabloid editor. Christine Nguyen played the tabloid's ace reporter who gets wrapped up in the mummy story.

For the first time, I watched the movie with the commentary track on and noted Don's comment that he wanted to use the E. Clem Wilson Building on Wilshire Blvd. at La Brea Ave. in the movie as the tabloid office so he could correct an error in the first (1951) season DVD set of the Adventures of Superman, starring George Reeves.

Above, the E. Clem Wilson Building as the Daily Planet Building in 1951.

In the commentary track, Glut said that the commentators in the Superman DVD said that the building used for the Daily Planet Building was Los Angeles City Hall. In actuality, the E. Clem Wilson Building was used as the Daily Planet in 1951. Starting in 1953, City Hall was used as the Daily Planet until the show ended in 1957. Both Gary Grossman (Superman: Serial To Cereal) and Chuck Harter made the same error in their commentaries.

I guess we can now deem the error corrected, thanks to Don Glut.

Focus On: Yuu Asakura

Above, this shot of Yuu is my personal favorite.

Focus On: Yuu Asakura

By Armand Vaquer

Some have wondered who the model is holding a copy of The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan in several blog posts on the travel guide. Some thought she looked familiar, but couldn't quite place her.

Her name is Yuu Asakura, and according to Wikipedia:

Yuu Asakura (born in Kawanishi, Hyogo, Japan in 1976) is a Japanese actress, dancer and language instructor based out of Los Angeles, California, USA.

She moved to Los Angeles after graduating from Tokyo University in 2000 with a B.A. in linguistics and area studies. She has worked as a translator for Hollywood production companies and tutored students at various stages in speaking Japanese, including a series of short clips released on the website expertvillage.com on basic spoken Japanese. She taught English in Japan for many years and views her work in language training as offering a "communication tool for better understanding for one another."

I first noticed Yuu in Don Glut's The Mummy's Kiss: Second Dynasty (that stars Christine Nguyen) in which she had a bit part as Marie, the assistant to a tabloid editor. I needed an Asian model for a publicity photo shoot for The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan and was able to obtain Yuu through Don. When we first met for the shoot at Lake Balboa in the San Fernando Valley (we were going to do it at the Japanese Gardens in Van Nuys, but a recent storm made the place unusable due to mud), I mentioned first seeing her in The Mummy's Kiss: Second Dynasty and she responded with a giggle.


I found Yuu very easy to work with and she obviously knew how to pose without much direction by me.

As mentioned above, Yuu is also an actress and has appeared in several movies besides the Glut mummy movie. To see her IMDB listing, go here. There's another Yuu Asakura who appears in Japanese porn movies, so don't get confused. The other Yuu Asakura does not even look like this Yuu Asakura.










Left, one of several photos of Yuu Asakura Don Glut sent me when I was deciding on a model for the photo shoot.

Yuu has her own website. To see it, just click here. Here, one may contact her for arranging Japanese language instruction as well as modeling and acting work (naturally, she'd direct the people making the query to her management company).





She's a member of SAG and AFTRA and is represented by Infinite Talent Agency ((818)955-8662).

Would I recommend Yuu Asakura to anyone in need of a Japanese model? I sure would!

All About "The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan"

Above, Yuu Asakura with "The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan." Photo by Armand Vaquer.

by Armand Vaquer

The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan is the world's first and only Japan travel guide especially tailored to tourists who are also fans of Japanese science-fiction and fantasy movies.

Several studios have produced Japanese science-fiction and fantasy films. Studios include Toho Company, Ltd., Kadokawa Herald, Ltd. (formerly Daiei Pictures) and Toei Co., Ltd.

Most of the locations covered in The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan are primarily from Toho's Godzilla series of movies, but other studios' monster movies are also covered. Toho started the giant monster movie (daikaiju eiga) genre in 1954 with Godzilla. The action in Godzilla takes place primarily in Japan's capital city, Tokyo. Locations used include the Wako Department Store in the Ginza section; The Kachidoki Bridge on the Sumida River; and The National Diet Building. These and other Tokyo locations are covered in The Guide.

The Guide starts with the island of Hokkaido and makes its way down the main island of Honshu and finishes off on the island of Kyushu.

Helpful articles on what a visitor to Japan needs to do and know are also included. Articles on currency, the JR Railpass, the Shinkansen (bullet trains), weather and others are included in The Guide. Where available, lodging information is also included. If there's a hotel or ryokan (Japanese inn) I have personal knowledge of, I will make a recommendation.

The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan was started in early 2008. I wrote the text and most of the photographs are from my five trips to Japan in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. G-FAN magazine editor and publisher J. D. Lees assisted with editing, location ideas and the layouts. 20-year graphic designer Archie Waugh created the cover, based on a rough idea by me. The photographs on the cover were all by me. The big photo on the cover is of the Godzilla statue located in the Hibiya section of Tokyo, which is next to Ginza. I took that photo during my April 2007 trip to Japan.

Thanks to a recommendation by Mad Scientist magazine editor and publisher Martin Arlt, it was decided to employ the services of ComiXpress to provide the printing and handle sales of The Guide. I was impressed with the work ComiXpress does for Mad Scientist and their terms, so I elected to use them.

I may do further updated versions of The Guide. But that is at least a couple of years away. Other travel guides do annual updates, but I am not "corporate America," so it will have to wait a while. I do hope to return to Japan later this year and obtain more material for future updates.

Above, Yuu Asakura. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The retail price for The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan is $15.00 US. There is also a wholesale price for travel/tour companies, bookstores, comic book shops, newsstands and other retailers. ComiXpress does ship overseas. Contact them for overseas rates at www.ComiXpress.com.

The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan will also be a useful tool for travel professionals who can use it to plan special tours of Japan for monster enthusiasts. They can also sell copies to their customers and make money on it.

Go to ComiXpress.com and set up a retailer account. It's fast and easy!

To order a copy, go here.

I hope you will find The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan informative as well as entertaining. Thank you for picking up a copy!

Note: The model in the two accompanying photos, Yuu Asakura, appeared in Don Glut's The Mummy's Kiss: Second Dynasty.

Happy Birthday, Christine Nguyen!

Photo courtesy of Christine Nguyen.

Happy Birthday, Christine Nguyen!

by Armand Vaquer

Actress/model Christine Nguyen (The Mummy's Kiss: Second Dynasty) celebrates her birthday tomorrow.

By coincidence, I also will be celebrating my birthday, although I've a few years on Christine.

When she found out that my birthday falls on the same day as hers, she said, "OMGoodness! You're birthday is on February 4th, too?!?! So cool! You are the first person I have ever known with my birthday! We must remember to toast each other that day!"

I'm entirely not sure, but I think a relative of mine also has her birthday on February 4.



Christine is currently in a contest called The 1 Contest. She has received many votes since Ted Newsom (who did the poster above), Don Glut and I started campaigning for her, but she needs more to have a chance to win. So...to help make Christine's birthday a good one, go to the link below and vote for Christine.

To vote, go here: http://www.the1contest.com/. Voting ends March 15.

Happy Birthday, Christine! (From one Aquarius to another!)