Moan of the Dead

[tinhuvielartanis]

Our cable company is giving us a free HBO preview right now, so I'm overdosing on movies while I have the chance. It's been my experience that the movie channels show just a handful of new movies and a whole bunch of old crapola you've seen 1000 times over and over like the Energizer Bunny, so it's just not worth it to pay what they want for hooha like that. So I run marathons when they give me free previews of any of the movie channels.

Last night I got to see Shaun of the Dead. It was one I'd been wanting to see for a couple of reasons: 1) I'd heard it was damned brilliant and 2) I'd heard that Peter Serafinowicz is in it. When I saw the movie was coming on, I'd forgotten about #2 and was very pleasantly surprised.

First off, let me say that this movie is a great big ole hoot. This is a movie I am now hellbent on having on DVD. All of the characters are likable, the pacing of the story is spot-on, and the comedy is perfectly balanced with just the right amount of horror and drama. I think Simon Pegg is a gift to movie geeks worldwide.

Now, for Peter Serafinowicz. I have literally spent years wondering what he really looked like and wanting to hear him speak some more. See, I know his voice well.....oh so well. For folks who may not know, Mr. Serafinowicz is the voice of Darth Maul. Ray Park is Maul in appearance and mad Kung Fu moves, but Peter Serafinowicz provides Darth Maul's sultry, growly, sexy voice. Nothing can send me into fits quicker than "Tatooine is sparsely populated. If the trace is correct, I will find them quickly, Master." I'd only seen Peter in a small role in a movie called The Magical Legend of Leprechauns, but it was so brief and he was so far away, I really couldn't get a good look at him. Pictures of him online are few and far between, so I was thrilled to see his extensive pre-zombie scene in Shaun of the Dead.





I knew he was cute, but I didn't realise he was so blasted good-looking. I have a weakness for men with large eyes, pale skin, and small mouths. That 80s music star/Elven look always fries my ice cream. I caught myself thinking, "He's even fine as a zombie. Yeah, I'd let him bite me, especially if he talks to me with that Sithly voice."

Comments

[dferguson.livejournal.com]

Enjoy it your free movies! Dunno how I missed the free HBO/CineMax free preview DirecTV was offering from the 16th to the 20th. And that was for FIVE DAYS instead of the usual weekend.

[tinhuviel.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Sorry you missed your preview. That pretty much sucks.

[dferguson.livejournal.com]

Not really. Just last month Starz! had a Free Weekend that was mad cool 'cause I got to record SIN CITY, THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE SIZZOU and about a dozen other movies onto my TiVO which I then burned onto DVDs.

Whenever anybody asks me why I prefer satellite to cable I tell them it's because of the free weekends. Hardly a month goes by when either Showtime,
Starz! or HBO doesn't have a free weekend. And during the summer months DirecTV will just give us a free month of HBO or Showtime.

[jonathonbarton.livejournal.com]

OOOH...

How *do* you do that...

I've got 50 hours of COMBAT! (with Vic Morrow!) I want to burn onto DVD!

[dferguson.livejournal.com]

Get yourself a DVD player/recorder. That's the first thing. But now we come to the tricky part:

There are several different types of DVD discs available such as DVD+R and DVD+RW. I'd stay away from those if I were you. Get yourself a DVD player/recorder that plays and records on DVD-RW and DVD-R. Here's why:

DVD-RW discs you can use over and over again. You can delete whatever programsyou've placed on them and use them again. Or if you've screwed up trying to record a program on them, no problem. Delete it and try again.

I suggest this because all the other types of DVD discs can be recorded on ONCE and what's on there stays on there so if you've messed up a recording, you've also messed up the disc. And trust me, until you get the hang of recording from your TiVO, you will mess up more than one disc.

The machine I have is an Emerson EWR10D4 that I've used for about three years now with little problem and a great deal of satisfaction. It's easy to use and easy to hook up to your TiVO.

[jonathonbarton.livejournal.com]

Duh...

I'm such a computer geek, sometimes I can't see the trees for the forest.

What I assumed: That you were burning from Tivo to a DVD-ROM on a computer. *DOH*

Burning a data DVD is old hat to me...and you're right, you do screw up the first couple learning...which is why I bought a 50 pack when I got the burner... :)

Do I correctly presume that you're using S-Video or Component Video Out from the Tivo to the corresponding input on your standalone DVD recorder, capturing the recording at that point, and thence passing the signal out one of the outputs from the Emerson to your TV?

My *ultimate* solution would be to capture programs on our Dual DVD Satellite Recieiver, and then be able to output them across our wireless home network to any TV or PC in the house. =)

[dferguson.livejournal.com]

Oh, NO...I'm nowhere near the level of comptency to burn stuff from my TiVO to my computer.

Everything is hooked directly into the TiVO: the two cables for my DirecTV as well as the recorder. There's only one cable that carries the signal going from my TiVO to my TV.

Peter Serafinowicz

[durgablue.livejournal.com]

Fuck me...he has that whole "Simon Le bon" thing going..melts..I saw this film, and I must have been with some dopey friend who would have teased me relentlessly if I drooled outwardly over lovely Peter. How else would I have missed him the first time!?

Re: Peter Serafinowicz

[tinhuviel.livejournal.com]

Now <a="http://www.dmeb.net/sounds/music.shtml">go and listen to his sexy self and twitch along with me.

Re: Peter Serafinowicz....oooohhhhhh!!

[durgablue.livejournal.com]

Oh ma goed...that, is my new boyfriend...ok, I really need to get out more..and get a date...or something.

Re: Peter Serafinowicz

[tinhuviel.livejournal.com]

BUH!

an actual link

[miintikwa.livejournal.com]

HBO is a pretty decent movie service. I get it for Bill Maher's show. I love his stuff. I would have Showtime, too, because DUDE! PENN AND TELLER! but C says I have to choose, and HBO tends to have better movies- and he likes the Sopranos. So... :)

[tinhuviel.livejournal.com]

I always preferred Showtime 'cos they tended to be more sympathetic to science fiction buffs.

[miintikwa.livejournal.com]

Showtime is also more liberal. Which I like. But eh. I gotta let the man have his say, too, and Sopranos is a good show.

[lindsaybits]

Oddly enough, i do find him rather bone-able.

I say oddly, because normally i wilt for guys with light eyes and dark hair. Like James McAvoy. It's what's for dinner. Rowr.

[tinhuviel.livejournal.com]

Oh, he's pretty. Very pretty. I'll be taking him now.

[missautopsy.livejournal.com]

They are both tasty treats. James McAvoy; it's what's for dinner!

[brujah.livejournal.com]

*purr*

Yum.

[tinhuviel.livejournal.com]

I love your safe sex.

[brujah.livejournal.com]

Oh and I LOVED
lovedlovedloved
SHAUN OF THE DEAD!

[jonathonbarton.livejournal.com]

I've got SOTD (awesome!) and 28 Days Later (Not Awesome, but good enough, and still a UK Zombie Movie) and Dog Soldiers (Not even as good at 28DL, but still not horrid) lined up in my Netflix Q.
Gonna be a Guinness Swilling, Shepherd's Pie horking, United Kingdom Horror Par-Tay Weekend! :)

[dostoevsky-girl.livejournal.com]

i actually liked dog soldiers better than 28 days later, even if the effects are a touch cheesy in places.

[tinhuviel.livejournal.com]

Am I invited?

[melancthe.livejournal.com]

THAT'S the voice of Darth Maul? I lusted shamelessly after that voice, and now that I have a face to go with it ...

... er, excuse me, please: I'll be in my bunk. ;)

[tinhuviel.livejournal.com]

Dudette, you didn't KNOW? ::falls over::

Enjoy the bunk time. Heheheheheh

[melancthe.livejournal.com]

I knew who did the voice and that it wasn't Ray Park, but I didn't know he was so HOT. I bet he'd look smexy in Sithly robes ...

[tinhuviel.livejournal.com]

I think he could have been a delicious Darth Maul. Kung Fu can be taught, as we all know. :)

[ex-glittert.livejournal.com]

Wow! I didn't realize he was Darth Maul. That pic is very Simon Le Bon - bzuh....

[tinhuviel.livejournal.com]

He was the voice. Lucas *had* to use a voice different from Ray Park's. Ray has a high-pitched Cockney accent that has not shred of Sith Lord in it. Sidious would have had to destroy him if Maul had opened his mouth and sounded like Ray Park.

[bloominglotus.livejournal.com]

Shaun of the Dead is a fantastic movie. I had no idea that I would laugh at a zombie movie that much.

[tinhuviel.livejournal.com]

I didn't think it was possible, really. Those crazy Brits.

[mizliz.livejournal.com]

I LOVED Shaun of the Dead. I will love it more the next time around, once I've cured my zombie illiteracy (I don't think I've ever seen a single zombie movie before SOTD - it's beyond ridiculous, given my likes). I need to line up a zombie marathon of all the classics, so maybe next time I'll laugh AND get all the inside references/jokes.

[tinhuviel.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, you need to zombiefy. Romero is the perfect place to start, but I'm sure you've been told that a million times.

[falkenna.livejournal.com]

How funny, I just saw SOTD last weekend for the first time. And had forgotten Peter was in it. And did get a bit of the old tango in the stomach pit, even though large lolloping types don't really do it for me (that gorgeous pic is just a *tadette* on the flattering side). (Am I fantasizing or was there a shirtless zombified scene that -- despite the total lack of resemblance to Vin Diesel -- took my breath away?)

But yeah, great homage movie, hilarious. And after you've visited, you'll get not only the movie references, but the UK cultural jokes. (Americans take refuge in shopping malls-- Brits in pubs.)

[tinhuviel.livejournal.com]

I noted the mention of pub quizzes and thought of you.