The Hollywood Career-O-Matic

Eric turned me on to this article, and though I rarely make a whole blog post from a link to another site, in this case I simply must. The reason is not the article itself, entertaining though it is. The reason is the interactive tool that the fine folks at Slate included, a tool that lets you compare the careers of different actors, directors, and so on. Check it out here.

What I find particularly interesting is that this assemblage of ratings from Rotten Tomatoes shows how very up and down most careers are. As near as I can tell, no one is a sure-fire winner, even Will Smith (though I still want him to option the Jon & Lobo books). If you're going to have a long career, you're going to get panned sometimes.

The most fun, though, comes from comparing the paths of actors, particularly bad ones. Chuck Norris vs. Steven Seagal. Chuck Norris vs. Dolph Lundren (which Kyle observed resembled a suicide pact). Pick your comparisons, and have fun!

We also finally have, as Kyle also noted, proof positive that Michael Caine will appear in absolutely anything.