I don't think it's universal that casting a name actor as an animated character is a bad idea. Jack Black is just a good example of someone who can just give a good voice only performance, and a lot of the casting in Into the Spider-Verse was...you know, primarily live action actors that people were legitimately excited to see cast (though it leaned a lot less on its casting than say, A Shark Tale did)
Other than Nick Cage, I don’t remember any particularly big names that were being used to push Spiderverse?
Not used in the advertising but those in the know were pleased with Jake Johnson and John Mulaney in the Spider-cast.
minor incidentexpert in a dying fieldnjRegistered Userregular
Goon 2 isn’t bad. It’s not great — the first is genuinely great — but it’s an okay follow up. Rotten tomatoes has them at around 80% and 50% I think. I’d bump both up by about 10% in my personal estimation, but that’s a reasonable measure of how they compare.
Ah, it stinks, it sucks, it's anthropologically unjust
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Munkus BeaverYou don't have to attend every argument you are invited to.Philosophy: Stoicism. Politics: Democratic SocialistRegistered User, ClubPAregular
I don't think it's universal that casting a name actor as an animated character is a bad idea. Jack Black is just a good example of someone who can just give a good voice only performance, and a lot of the casting in Into the Spider-Verse was...you know, primarily live action actors that people were legitimately excited to see cast (though it leaned a lot less on its casting than say, A Shark Tale did)
Other than Nick Cage, I don’t remember any particularly big names that were being used to push Spiderverse?
Not used in the advertising but those in the know were pleased with Jake Johnson and John Mulaney in the Spider-cast.
I forgot about Mulaney! But I still dunno Jake Johnson
Humor can be dissected as a frog can, but dies in the process.
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FencingsaxIt is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understandingGNU Terry PratchettRegistered Userregular
I don't think it's universal that casting a name actor as an animated character is a bad idea. Jack Black is just a good example of someone who can just give a good voice only performance, and a lot of the casting in Into the Spider-Verse was...you know, primarily live action actors that people were legitimately excited to see cast (though it leaned a lot less on its casting than say, A Shark Tale did)
Other than Nick Cage, I don’t remember any particularly big names that were being used to push Spiderverse?
Not used in the advertising but those in the know were pleased with Jake Johnson and John Mulaney in the Spider-cast.
I forgot about Mulaney! But I still dunno Jake Johnson
I don't think it's universal that casting a name actor as an animated character is a bad idea. Jack Black is just a good example of someone who can just give a good voice only performance, and a lot of the casting in Into the Spider-Verse was...you know, primarily live action actors that people were legitimately excited to see cast (though it leaned a lot less on its casting than say, A Shark Tale did)
Other than Nick Cage, I don’t remember any particularly big names that were being used to push Spiderverse?
I'm sure that John mulaney has already been pointed out even before but man this is funny considering the movie that sparked this whole conversation.
Edit- just to be clear I don't mean this maliciously I just think it's very funny that we are talking about a movie starring John mulaney and whether casting people like him is good for the movie or not and someone forgot the John mulaney was in spider-verse.
I don't think it's universal that casting a name actor as an animated character is a bad idea. Jack Black is just a good example of someone who can just give a good voice only performance, and a lot of the casting in Into the Spider-Verse was...you know, primarily live action actors that people were legitimately excited to see cast (though it leaned a lot less on its casting than say, A Shark Tale did)
Other than Nick Cage, I don’t remember any particularly big names that were being used to push Spiderverse?
Not used in the advertising but those in the know were pleased with Jake Johnson and John Mulaney in the Spider-cast.
I forgot about Mulaney! But I still dunno Jake Johnson
Jake Johnson was Nick Miller in New Girl and also was the designated funny guy in Jurassic World. He's pretty reliably a funny guy (he's Peter B. Parker in Spiderverse).
My point was that Spider-Verse cast almost entirely people who were not voice actors and it not only worked in the context of the performances, it worked to get people excited to see the names.
I mean, Cage was the big name in the cast, but Hailee Steinfeld was an Oscar nominee, Jake Johnson was the romantic lead of a fairly successful sitcom, and John Mulaney was and remains one of the top stand-up comedians in the country. Even when you dig into the supporting cast, you run into Mahershala Ali, Kathryn Hahn and Lily Tomlin. Like I said, it's not really the same approach something like A Shark Tale did, where they grabbed what celebrities they could and plastered that they got Will Smith everywhere, but part of the marketing did emphasize the cast, and that marketing absolutely did work to get people excited to see the movie, and I'm saying that because I read people getting excited about the casting on these very forums. But, like I said, the "here's a cast of names you know!" marketing was much more subtle than some of these movies, because, I assume, they had more confidence in the final product.
Thinking of other cases where movies do push the cast really hard, and you know, I think movies like Kung Fu Panda or Shrek occupy a slightly different territory, in that...you know, the performance is more integral to the movie. Kung Fu Panda especially feels like a movie that'd be different without Jack Black's involvement. Meanwhile, like...I don't know that casting Jonah Hill as one of the vikings in How to Train Your Dragon moved the needle much, but I don't know that anyone really tried to make it move the needle.
Really, I think the main reason you try to grab Zendaya for your animated movie isn't so much because Zendaya is going to give a performance that only Zendaya could give, the main reason you try to grab Zendaya is so you can send Zendaya on a press tour and the Tonight Show will actually book her, and Zendaya will take it because it's pretty easy money to be Meechee, you know, and she can fit the recording in around projects she's probably a bit more passionate about. Maybe nobody goes and looks at a poster that says "Lebron James is Gwangi," and goes, "oh shit, I have to see this," but Lebron is going to post about it to a bunch of people who might have kids they need to drag out of the house, and he wasn't gonna do that if he wasn't in the fucking yeti movie I've forgotten the name of despite knowing that Danny DeVito is...Dorgle?
Asking "Why do they cast big actors in animated movies instead of voice actors" is like asking "Why do they keep doing remakes and reboots instead of making original things"
Because it gets butts in seats and even the people who complain still see it because they don't ACTUALLY care. If people who didn't like celebrity voices in their children's movies just, like, stayed home? If they were a statistically significant portion of the audience? The tendency would drop with a quickness.
Turns out begrudgingly-spent money is worth just as much as happily-spent money.
It just doesn't make sense to me. I'm not going to watch a film because I want to hear the voice of someone famous, I want it to be good with good voices. There's a novelty if a big name shows up and you can recognize the voice but I prefer Sonic's voice who is voiced by someone, not someone uber-famous as far as I know, than Chris Pratt voicing Mario, or John Mulaney not even trying to change his voice.
But there must be a lot of people saying "Hey let's go watch that film, it has a famous person's voice in it!
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Johnny ChopsockyScootaloo! We have to cook!Grillin' HaysenburgersRegistered Userregular
I mean, there's tons of voice actors who only do the one voice and don't change it for any role, and that's 100% fine. H Jon Benjamin, Patrick Warburton, Kristin Schall, Lance Reddick, Michael Ironside... it's not always about being a vocal chameleon, it's "can you put the right tone/inflection/emotion on the read."
It just doesn't make sense to me. I'm not going to watch a film because I want to hear the voice of someone famous, I want it to be good with good voices.
I don’t say this as an antagonistic jab, just an honest assessment: you’re the minority.
Like Pooro pointed out, Scooby Doo or Sonic the Hedgehog fanatics may (will) bitch about the new voice cast ceaselessly on the internet, but at the end of the day, they’re all probably (definitely) gonna see it regardless because they’re already on the hook. But then, having some big names pulls in those people who were on the fence about what to see that weekend, as wild as that sounds.
It’s kind of like voters who are undecided a week before Election Day. I can’t personally put myself in that mindset, but I know there are a fucking lot of people like that.
Ah, it stinks, it sucks, it's anthropologically unjust
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The GeekOh-Two Crew, OmeganautRegistered User, ClubPAregular
Good lord, that Rescue Rangers trailer looks soooooo bad.
This is hell. We invented hell.
And it's full of ponies.
Chip's missing an ear
Applejack's hat and what looks like the texture for her hair is behind Twilight's tail.
stolen from the trailer thread
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StraightziHere we may reign secure, and in my choice,To reign is worth ambition though in HellRegistered Userregular
Nobody mentioning Shameik Moore in their discussion of the live action actors who were cast in Spider-verse suggests that more of y'all need to go watch Dope
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MaddocI'm Bobbin Threadbare, are you my mother?Registered Userregular
edited February 2022
I still have not and will not watch Scoob, for the record
Can't decide what to cut, and not decided that it's top 50, anyway, so y'all get this.
The 10th Victim (La decima vittima)
from an IMDB review, "The Tenth Victim is at once a biting critique of capitalism and all assorted paraphernalia and a thoroughly enjoyable absurdist comedy."
It is also a thoroughly Italian and 60s skim-scifi retro-future dystopia, with the bonkers fashion and laconic sideplots (including Euro-style sex farce) to prove it. This film absolutely plays dumb, it is not highbrow.
If you've ever played the LARP Assassins / Killer / etc. at university or a con, you can likely thank this movie for inspiring someone to revive this 'traditional' (hard to find its roots, but possibly early twentieth century?) pervasive game style. I have no proof, just a feeling.
A campy, wry, and darkly comedic literal battle of the sexes, starring Ursula Andress and Marcello Mastroianni. Poorly dubbed sexpots, respectively, loosely playing an American, and being Italian. The plot hangs together well enough, but this is a pure mood piece, the style vastly dominating and somewhat obscuring the societal commentary.
It's a weird one, but that's satire for you.
...I just twigged to an apt comparison for dynamic if not vibe or exact plot, though I'm not a fan: the Brangelina Mr. and Mrs. Smith(2005). MaMS is less charming or interesting despite more bombastic action; La decima vittima is a mostly-amiable amble, with the opposite of any attempt at realistic gunplay.
In the 21st century, the 'global moral institution [...] has restrained and legalized violence.' As the Ministry-run voluntary outlet for violent (homicidal or suicidal) tendencies, The Big Hunt offers international competitors the chance to win a fortune in a game of ten alternating rounds: 5 you are the Hunter, 5 you are the Victim -- every round you win, gain a prize. Survive your tenth Hunt, and lauded as the rare decathlete, win a million dollars. Not to mention the fame and sponsorships you attract with every success, and nationalistic regard from your countrymen. Just the setup for a meet-cute.
Caroline (Andress) is on her tenth Hunt, as Hunter; Marcello, his sixth, the Victim. She and her team of handlers spend the film trying to manipulate Marcello to the shooting location of a commercial and of Marcello. He mostly attempts to avoid the various women in his life, now including her, and becomes increasingly paranoid and conflicted the more intriguing Caroline becomes.
Based on a Robert Sheckley story (itself inspired by "The Most Dangerous Game"), it is a precursor for stories->films of televised gladiatorial entertainment like Rollerball, The Running Man (1987), Death Race 2000, Battle Royale, and The Hunger Games, also TAG: The Assassination Game, Gotcha, Tag (2018), and --testament to its role as a satirical comedy-- it is apparently the genesis for the Austin Powers character, with many direct references in Austin Powers. (Mike Myers' band was named for the latest corporate sponsor for Andress' character.)
But it is unique or at least the first, I think, in that all participation in The Big Hunt is seemingly voluntary, with full fore-knowledge of the conditions of play. (Propaganda encourages volunteering as the solution to mass violence, but it does not seem widespread -- The Big Hunt's Roman Ministry is the only site with a loudspeaker or lectures on the subject. ... Which could imply that The Big Hunt is perhaps so culturally important, propaganda is just reinforcement rather than advertising.) A less-subtle nod to the wider dystopia is discussion and treatment of elders like Marcello's parents. Marcello worriedly trying to determine if Caroline is his Hunter is based in the rule that a non-regulation killing would mean 30 years in jail, and the swift, nigh-immediate presence of uniformed personnel to any death speaks to an omnipresent governmental eye. Cynicism and commodification of spirituality, sexuality, and conception/birth. All of it is just in the background or fodder for passing conversation, simply cultural niceties of American vs Italian experience. These characters aren't dismantling the structures of their dystopia or even commenting on it, they actively participate throughout.
But structurally, it's a romcom.
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PiptheFairFrequently not in boats.Registered Userregular
Nobody mentioning Shameik Moore in their discussion of the live action actors who were cast in Spider-verse suggests that more of y'all need to go watch Dope
I didn't even know all those people Geebs mentioned were famous names. I only knew of Nic Cage.
Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
Straightzi??
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Raijin QuickfootI'm your Huckleberry YOU'RE NO DAISYRegistered User, ClubPAregular
I’m watching the new Scream and so far it is horribly unbelievable…there is no way that house would have a landline
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Munkus BeaverYou don't have to attend every argument you are invited to.Philosophy: Stoicism. Politics: Democratic SocialistRegistered User, ClubPAregular
Nice to see Bowen Yang getting to do some cool shit, too.
I was very pleasantly surprised by how quickly SNL moved him to center stage. He's been ready to go for fuckin' years, it rules to see him chalking up so many wins
Posts
Not used in the advertising but those in the know were pleased with Jake Johnson and John Mulaney in the Spider-cast.
Goon is a genuinely good and funny move that also somehow makes Sean William Scott physically imposing.
Just, stay the fuck away from Goon 2.
Cheers
"Ah, donair sauce on the house."
Less enthusiastic cheers
"Water down the donair sauce!"
I forgot about Mulaney! But I still dunno Jake Johnson
Lily Tomlin?
I'm sure that John mulaney has already been pointed out even before but man this is funny considering the movie that sparked this whole conversation.
Edit- just to be clear I don't mean this maliciously I just think it's very funny that we are talking about a movie starring John mulaney and whether casting people like him is good for the movie or not and someone forgot the John mulaney was in spider-verse.
Jake Johnson was Nick Miller in New Girl and also was the designated funny guy in Jurassic World. He's pretty reliably a funny guy (he's Peter B. Parker in Spiderverse).
I mean, Cage was the big name in the cast, but Hailee Steinfeld was an Oscar nominee, Jake Johnson was the romantic lead of a fairly successful sitcom, and John Mulaney was and remains one of the top stand-up comedians in the country. Even when you dig into the supporting cast, you run into Mahershala Ali, Kathryn Hahn and Lily Tomlin. Like I said, it's not really the same approach something like A Shark Tale did, where they grabbed what celebrities they could and plastered that they got Will Smith everywhere, but part of the marketing did emphasize the cast, and that marketing absolutely did work to get people excited to see the movie, and I'm saying that because I read people getting excited about the casting on these very forums. But, like I said, the "here's a cast of names you know!" marketing was much more subtle than some of these movies, because, I assume, they had more confidence in the final product.
Thinking of other cases where movies do push the cast really hard, and you know, I think movies like Kung Fu Panda or Shrek occupy a slightly different territory, in that...you know, the performance is more integral to the movie. Kung Fu Panda especially feels like a movie that'd be different without Jack Black's involvement. Meanwhile, like...I don't know that casting Jonah Hill as one of the vikings in How to Train Your Dragon moved the needle much, but I don't know that anyone really tried to make it move the needle.
Really, I think the main reason you try to grab Zendaya for your animated movie isn't so much because Zendaya is going to give a performance that only Zendaya could give, the main reason you try to grab Zendaya is so you can send Zendaya on a press tour and the Tonight Show will actually book her, and Zendaya will take it because it's pretty easy money to be Meechee, you know, and she can fit the recording in around projects she's probably a bit more passionate about. Maybe nobody goes and looks at a poster that says "Lebron James is Gwangi," and goes, "oh shit, I have to see this," but Lebron is going to post about it to a bunch of people who might have kids they need to drag out of the house, and he wasn't gonna do that if he wasn't in the fucking yeti movie I've forgotten the name of despite knowing that Danny DeVito is...Dorgle?
Because it gets butts in seats and even the people who complain still see it because they don't ACTUALLY care. If people who didn't like celebrity voices in their children's movies just, like, stayed home? If they were a statistically significant portion of the audience? The tendency would drop with a quickness.
Turns out begrudgingly-spent money is worth just as much as happily-spent money.
But there must be a lot of people saying "Hey let's go watch that film, it has a famous person's voice in it!
Steam ID XBL: JohnnyChopsocky PSN:Stud_Beefpile WiiU:JohnnyChopsocky
I don’t say this as an antagonistic jab, just an honest assessment: you’re the minority.
Like Pooro pointed out, Scooby Doo or Sonic the Hedgehog fanatics may (will) bitch about the new voice cast ceaselessly on the internet, but at the end of the day, they’re all probably (definitely) gonna see it regardless because they’re already on the hook. But then, having some big names pulls in those people who were on the fence about what to see that weekend, as wild as that sounds.
It’s kind of like voters who are undecided a week before Election Day. I can’t personally put myself in that mindset, but I know there are a fucking lot of people like that.
https://time.com/6148756/john-waters-interview-maisel-2022/
Steam
Literally:
stolen from the trailer thread
The 10th Victim (La decima vittima)
It is also a thoroughly Italian and 60s skim-scifi retro-future dystopia, with the bonkers fashion and laconic sideplots (including Euro-style sex farce) to prove it. This film absolutely plays dumb, it is not highbrow.
If you've ever played the LARP Assassins / Killer / etc. at university or a con, you can likely thank this movie for inspiring someone to revive this 'traditional' (hard to find its roots, but possibly early twentieth century?) pervasive game style. I have no proof, just a feeling.
A campy, wry, and darkly comedic literal battle of the sexes, starring Ursula Andress and Marcello Mastroianni. Poorly dubbed sexpots, respectively, loosely playing an American, and being Italian. The plot hangs together well enough, but this is a pure mood piece, the style vastly dominating and somewhat obscuring the societal commentary.
It's a weird one, but that's satire for you.
...I just twigged to an apt comparison for dynamic if not vibe or exact plot, though I'm not a fan: the Brangelina Mr. and Mrs. Smith(2005). MaMS is less charming or interesting despite more bombastic action; La decima vittima is a mostly-amiable amble, with the opposite of any attempt at realistic gunplay.
In the 21st century, the 'global moral institution [...] has restrained and legalized violence.' As the Ministry-run voluntary outlet for violent (homicidal or suicidal) tendencies, The Big Hunt offers international competitors the chance to win a fortune in a game of ten alternating rounds: 5 you are the Hunter, 5 you are the Victim -- every round you win, gain a prize. Survive your tenth Hunt, and lauded as the rare decathlete, win a million dollars. Not to mention the fame and sponsorships you attract with every success, and nationalistic regard from your countrymen. Just the setup for a meet-cute.
Caroline (Andress) is on her tenth Hunt, as Hunter; Marcello, his sixth, the Victim. She and her team of handlers spend the film trying to manipulate Marcello to the shooting location of a commercial and of Marcello. He mostly attempts to avoid the various women in his life, now including her, and becomes increasingly paranoid and conflicted the more intriguing Caroline becomes.
Based on a Robert Sheckley story (itself inspired by "The Most Dangerous Game"), it is a precursor for stories->films of televised gladiatorial entertainment like Rollerball, The Running Man (1987), Death Race 2000, Battle Royale, and The Hunger Games, also TAG: The Assassination Game, Gotcha, Tag (2018), and --testament to its role as a satirical comedy-- it is apparently the genesis for the Austin Powers character, with many direct references in Austin Powers. (Mike Myers' band was named for the latest corporate sponsor for Andress' character.)
But it is unique or at least the first, I think, in that all participation in The Big Hunt is seemingly voluntary, with full fore-knowledge of the conditions of play. (Propaganda encourages volunteering as the solution to mass violence, but it does not seem widespread -- The Big Hunt's Roman Ministry is the only site with a loudspeaker or lectures on the subject. ... Which could imply that The Big Hunt is perhaps so culturally important, propaganda is just reinforcement rather than advertising.) A less-subtle nod to the wider dystopia is discussion and treatment of elders like Marcello's parents. Marcello worriedly trying to determine if Caroline is his Hunter is based in the rule that a non-regulation killing would mean 30 years in jail, and the swift, nigh-immediate presence of uniformed personnel to any death speaks to an omnipresent governmental eye. Cynicism and commodification of spirituality, sexuality, and conception/birth. All of it is just in the background or fodder for passing conversation, simply cultural niceties of American vs Italian experience. These characters aren't dismantling the structures of their dystopia or even commenting on it, they actively participate throughout.
But structurally, it's a romcom.
they did my man matthew dirty
I didn't even know all those people Geebs mentioned were famous names. I only knew of Nic Cage.
Steam
Honestly, if I squint a little bit, this is basically Walk Hard
Steam
WRONG KID DIED
Oh no
Hmm don't know if this sounds any good, I don't see even a single mention of a cartoon from the 80s or 90s, it's like they're not even trying here
Steam
it's okay they are catering directly to me, the Nathan Lane demographic
He was so fucking good on Only Murders in the Building, always fun to see him really give a shit
I was very pleasantly surprised by how quickly SNL moved him to center stage. He's been ready to go for fuckin' years, it rules to see him chalking up so many wins