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As Action and Action's patriarch figure travels back from his extended tour around the land of snogs, scarves, and casual attitudes towards dental hygiene, here's a cool video that has nothing to do with any of that.



There's all kinds of compilations of the Wilhelm scream on youtube, but I found this video to be the most interesting and informative, though they fail to mention its common use in video games as well.

Years ago I brought this familiar scream up to a film studies friend of mine who said 'Oh yeah, the Wilhelm scream.' I always wondered how he knew that, and in the back of my mind thought he could be making that name up to sound knowledgeable. Score one for him.

Ryu Wannabe rages against machine

Another video game re-enactment from those lovable Japanese. I had always felt that the 90's movie adaptation of Street Fighter failed because it completely skipped over these bonus stages.



I wonder what this guy's story is. Over a million views in less than a month is pretty impressive, particularly for a youtube user with no previous videos. I did find this comment on his profile pretty funny:

donksvilesghost (5 days ago)
hey stop sending me videos advertising cameras UNSUBBED!!!!!!!!!!!!

All of a sudden all those cutaways to the camera make a lot more sense. Oh you crafty Japanese :D

I'm sure Rage Against the Machine would have a thing or two to say about Samsung if they knew about this.

a Top Shelf site for geeks.

Having spent most of my teenage life as a bit of a movie toy collector (also called 'figurines' if you own a comic book store, or 'dolls' if you're a jerk), I still have several 'dork shelves' in my parents' house dedicated to my Star Wars and Mcfarlane obsessions. I think this phase reached it's peak when I was in the 11th grade and went to Zellers on my lunch break to pick up most of the newly released Episode 1 figures, Jar Jar and all (keep in mind the movie wasn't out yet). I took solace that I did not go it alone, as on that particular day I was joined by someone who is now the co-creator and main contributor of a very comprehensive site on comics, film and video games called 'Dork Shelf.' I think he deserves some credit here as I have posted several videos to Action and Action which he has brought to my attention (Hard Ticket to Hawaii, He Loves a Fat Girl), including this one which was recently posted to their site. (If you're not familiar with Magnum P.I., I may recommend going straight to the side by side comparison of that show's opening and the video posted below).



The astute observation was also made that Tom Selleck was originally cast to play Indiana Jones but couldn't due to a conflict with his Magnum P.I. schedule, so George Lucas agreed to free Ford of his carbonite prison long enough to film 1982's Raiders of the Lost Arc before re-freezing him in time for Return of the Jedi. This adds another coincidental layer to the likening of these two characters.

Other things worth checking out on Dork Shelf include Will's list of 'Great Moments in Stop Motion Animation' (which was featured on popular site fark.com) as well as the soon to be posted 7th podcast featuring a very special guest (I'll give you a clue, it's me).

enough is enough.

Wow, we sure have been posting a lot of Star Trek / Star Wars / generally geeky material here recently. I think we should probably tone it down a little, and try to inject a little more "maleness," (as Noah refers to it,) into this blog. Actually, wait a second, what the fuck am I saying? Of course I'm going to post this incredible Star Trek TNG modded iPhone.



This is so cool, it makes me feel kind of funny, like when we used to climb the rope in gym class. I must have one.

10 Reasons why George Lucas shouldn't have directed the Star Wars Prequels.

1999 was a much more innocent time than the one we live in now. The world's intelligentsia all believed whole heartedly that the new millennium would bring about a technological apocalypse, few of us had even heard of George Walker Bush yet, and right about this time ten years ago, fans began to line up for 'The Phantom Menace' and thought it was going to be good. I have a distinct memory of Liam Neeson promoting the film on The Rosie O'Donnel show, saying that Ahmed Best (aka Jar Jar) was going to be the next Eddie Murphy.

I've been looking forward to seeing how the film 'Fanboys' portrays this period ever since it was finished 2 years ago. After some re-shooting, re-editing, and redirecting (the original director was replaced), the film finally got its (limited) US release last month. No word yet on when the Canadians will get to see it, even though there's a bunch of us in it (Jay Baruchel plays one of the main characters, Seth Rogan and William Shatner both have cameos as well). For those of you unfamiliar with the plot of the film, it involves a group of fans trying to sneak into the Skywalker ranch to get a copy of the first unreleased Star Wars prequel so that their dying friend can see it.

While they may have not known the disappointment that awaited them, the world today is much wiser to the directorial skills of Darth Lucas. The following list isn't really what the title of this post suggests, but more just a list of really cool things other people have done with the Star Wars universe, showing that 'fanboys' sometimes grasp the content better than its creator.

10. Troops (1998)

9. Masters of Teras Kasi (1997)
Ever wonder who would win in a fight between Han and Chewie? I know, it would never happen, right? Except in this awesome Star Wars fighting game for the original sony playstation.


8. Robot Chicken: Star Wars (2008)
This is just one of the many great moments of the 23 minute special.


7. Darth Vader with removable helmet toy (1996)
His hand comes off too. Totally boss.

6, 5, 4 Timothy Zahn's 'Thrawn Trilogy'
'Heir to the Empire' (1992) 'Dark Force Rising' (1992) and 'The Last Command' (1994) take place about 5 years after Episode 6 and are the first serious and successful literary contribution to Star Wars' expanded universe. It's been a long time since I've read a Star Wars book, but I would probably read these again before picking up anything new, as I'm sure these are superior.

3. Warning: mind is at risk of being blown if image below is clicked to enlarge.



2. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Okay, this film has no literal connection to Star Wars whatsoever, though I'm sure one could uncover several thematic links. The first time I watched this martial arts masterpiece, these links are what made me think Ang Lee would be a much better man for the job that Lucas, blinded by self importance, refused to let anyone else have.


1. 'Fette's Vette' by MC Chris
Wanting to post this video was the primary catalyst behind this entire post. It's a great rap, and the videogame footage they show is pretty incredible as well, though I'm not sure where it comes from. Kevin Smith used the song in 'Zack and Miri Make a Porno' and it's ten times better than that Chewbacca song he used in 'Clerks.'

The only thing that George Lucas has done in the last 15 years that's anywhere near as cool as anything in the list above, was setting Hayden Christensen's stumps on fire, and he made us sit through three movies before that happened.

Click here to read what like-minded individuals over at Dork Shelf have to say about Lucas beginning production on a live action Star Wars series.