Yeah, I stuck with the post 9/11 era of superhero films, more or less on purpose.
Laurence Fishburne shows up in a lot of comic book movies as a gravitas bringer as well - not so much superhero flicks though
― El Tomboto, Thursday, 26 November 2015 01:54 (eight years ago) link
The first of this era is Singer's X-Men. After that casting coup followed by bajillions of dollars the doors came off. Iron Man was just the beginning of the Marvel Studios machine - it really seems funny to think that back when that came out it was seen as a gamble
― El Tomboto, Thursday, 26 November 2015 01:57 (eight years ago) link
most of these ppl were notorious hams willing to appear in any piece of garbage as long as the check cleared long before batman began. i mean - michael caine? anthony hopkins?
― balls, Thursday, 26 November 2015 02:21 (eight years ago) link
And how much Mark Millar stuff do we want to bring in?
― Professor Goodfeels (kingfish), Thursday, 26 November 2015 03:18 (eight years ago) link
hey Michael Caine did the occasional Quiet American tho
― skateboards are the new combover (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 26 November 2015 03:22 (eight years ago) link
I brought in exactly the amount I was comfortable with when I made the poll. Wasted precious cycles on considering, then discarding his shit instead of remembering Sally Field
― El Tomboto, Thursday, 26 November 2015 03:27 (eight years ago) link
Kevin Costner's appearance in Man of Steel made me wonder if anybody phoned his agent and said "He does know he's not in a comedy, right?"
― Hammer Smashed Bagels, Thursday, 26 November 2015 15:36 (eight years ago) link
I luckily don't remember much from that movie. Only reason I had to watch any of it is because the wife ws Henry Cavill.
― El Tomboto, Thursday, 26 November 2015 16:28 (eight years ago) link
are we voting for the performance of the gravitas bringer(s) or the film itself? because ian mckellan over ben kingsley for the former but guardians of the galaxy for the latter
― balls, Thursday, 26 November 2015 16:48 (eight years ago) link
honorable mention to andre braugher in fantastic four two, because it really did get the ball rolling on his inheriting leslie nielsen, leading to his truly amazing work on brooklyn 99
― balls, Thursday, 26 November 2015 16:52 (eight years ago) link
thing about ben kingsley (***(***SPOILERS FOR IRON MAN 3***)***) is that his gravitas-bringing is part of the joke/twist, like he's exactly who they would cast if they were trying to step up their villains to this OMG THIS IS SERIOUS AS SHIT "dark knight" level, and then kingsley and the character both turn out to be the exact opposite of that. which was great. but it sorta disqualifies him from the gravitas-bringing contest in a way.
mckellen/stewart combo is pretty hard to top imo. though i'm surprised to realize i haven't seen most of these movies! they've really cranked 'em out while i wasn't paying attention.
― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 26 November 2015 16:54 (eight years ago) link
Connery's appearance in LXG literally drove him out of the movie business. Don't get much more "Have my agent killed and send the widow a ham" than that.
― Resting Bushface (Phil D.), Thursday, 26 November 2015 17:04 (eight years ago) link
To be fair, he was getting on in years, and there was already a three-year gap between Finding Forrester and LXG. The amazing thing is how many successful films he'd had in his sixties.
― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 26 November 2015 18:44 (eight years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Wednesday, 16 December 2015 00:01 (eight years ago) link
Actually Michael Douglas gravitas-bringing is pretty central to Ant-Man, I mean he even gets shot and you think he might actually be dead for a couple minutes - basically the only dramatic weight of the movie right up until the ludicrous "villain gratuitously decides to imperil hero's child" ending
― El Tomboto, Wednesday, 16 December 2015 01:00 (eight years ago) link
But I guess we'll never know if he could have won this poll
or Sally Field but seriously those movies are terrible
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Thursday, 17 December 2015 00:01 (eight years ago) link
I thought the hydra reveal was dumber than the imperiling of child -- that was mostly a set piece setup for the whole "fighting among toys" bit
― μpright mammal (mh), Thursday, 17 December 2015 00:06 (eight years ago) link
wow low turnout!
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 17 December 2015 00:06 (eight years ago) link
http://nerdist.com/bryan-cranston-zordon-power-rangers-nerdist-news/
― tales of a scorched-earth nothing (Doctor Casino), Tuesday, 7 March 2017 18:17 (seven years ago) link
(not really "comic book," i know. and that's a five-minute video to get you a single blurry still of someone's phone camera photo of a VR headset promotional thing. but i thought the URL was pretty on-point for the thread.)
― tales of a scorched-earth nothing (Doctor Casino), Tuesday, 7 March 2017 18:19 (seven years ago) link
also, skimming through Least promising Sequel/Remake/Franchise Flick of 2017 it looks like this trend may have slackened just a bit, unless post-Birdman Keaton as The Vulture, Cate Blanchett as Hela, Willem Dafoe as Aquaman's Pal Nuidis Vulko, or Kurt Russell as Ego the Living Planet (bafflingly not a planet in the movie) count. From last year I can only recall Jeremy Irons as Alfred and Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One.
― tales of a scorched-earth nothing (Doctor Casino), Tuesday, 7 March 2017 18:28 (seven years ago) link
Kurt Russell should never count as a gravitas bringer, and he always seems to be enjoying himself.
― El Tomboto, Tuesday, 7 March 2017 18:53 (seven years ago) link
Russell as Ego the Living Planet (bafflingly not a planet in the movie)
lol wtf is this nonsense I WILL STAB WHOEVER IS RESPONSIBLE
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 7 March 2017 18:54 (seven years ago) link
But yeah this particular Save The Cat ingredient does seem to have fallen off, even in the origin story / franchise kickoff ones where it's seemingly inescapable
― El Tomboto, Tuesday, 7 March 2017 18:54 (seven years ago) link
I forget where I read about it, but I guess Cranston was involved with the original iteration of Power Rangers in some non-performing capacity so this isn't quite as much a stretch as some of these other examples.
― (Got A) Key In My Peehole (From Peeing Through a Keyhole) (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 7 March 2017 19:40 (seven years ago) link
okay good point about Russell. he's old now but definitely brings fun and joy moreso than gravitas. not sure i've ever disliked him, even in some real shitty movies.
next year, the famously selective Josh Brolin will be playing Thanos in the third Avengers movie. Brolin was looking to explore the humanity of the character, saying there are "parts of him that are unfounded to me, which will be found." i guess he was in the last one for a second but i don't remember that at all.
― tales of a scorched-earth nothing (Doctor Casino), Tuesday, 7 March 2017 20:17 (seven years ago) link
Thanos has made I think two appearances thus far that amount to a cumulative 3.5 seconds of screen time.
― (Got A) Key In My Peehole (From Peeing Through a Keyhole) (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 7 March 2017 20:43 (seven years ago) link
no one tell Brolin that Thanos isn't human
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 7 March 2017 20:47 (seven years ago) link
really wish H'wood would move past this phase already
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 7 March 2017 20:48 (seven years ago) link
I'm sticking with my conspiracy theory that they're lying about GOTG 2 and Stallone is actually playing the living planet
― mh 😏, Tuesday, 7 March 2017 21:29 (seven years ago) link
pretty sure james gunn has promised that ego the living planet will appear in his full planetary glory for at least part of gotg2
― frankie r. failson (bizarro gazzara), Tuesday, 7 March 2017 21:51 (seven years ago) link
and i for one will rip up seats in the cinema if it doesn't happen because i have PRINCIPLES dammit
― frankie r. failson (bizarro gazzara), Tuesday, 7 March 2017 21:53 (seven years ago) link
fans to marvel: "let show my ego!"
― tales of a scorched-earth nothing (Doctor Casino), Tuesday, 7 March 2017 22:25 (seven years ago) link
Patrick Stewart in Logan: definitely enjoying himself with the lack of eyebrow-work, also not really bringing the gravitas.
― Andrew Farrell, Wednesday, 8 March 2017 11:23 (seven years ago) link
Isn't Hugh Jackman the gravitas bringer in Logan?
― El Tomboto, Wednesday, 8 March 2017 12:27 (seven years ago) link