This week’s column over at The Film Experience finds me eulogising the late, insufficiently lamented Annette Funicello, with special attention paid to her run of beach party movies at American International. Pictures. None of my regular readers here will be overly surprised, I think, to learn of my affection for this somewhat tacky but deeply enjoyable phase of the graduate Mouseketeer’s career, or the key role she played in making those movies some of the most alive in AIP’s history. But it’s worth reiterating how much of an engaging screen presence she had, even if she was nobody’s idea of a great actress.