Thursday
Apr252013
Why do recommendation algorithms suggest other movies with the same actor?
Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 08:26AM Isn't that like recommending other books printed in the same font?
Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 08:26AM Navigation
Alexander Jablokov
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I'm a writer, mostly of science fiction, with a new novel, Brain Thief.
The name is pronounced Yablokov, and the legal name is Jablokow. My best friends can't spell or pronounce it, so you shouldn't worry about it either.
Write me at alexjablokow [at] comcast.net
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Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 08:26AM
Reader Comments (2)
Well, in an ideal (actor's) world, maybe that would be true. But actors are and have been typecast, they tend to work with the same directors, and they are better at certain types of roles than others.
Example: I will at least consider going to see any movie with Johnny Depp in it. He picks odd projects, he can get away with playing odd characters, and he seems to pick movies that are interesting to work on, rather than what will pull the biggest paycheck. (Mostly.)
Whereas I find Shia LeBoeuf makes my flesh crawl in every part I've seen him in since he was a kid in _Holes_. His agent has steered him into projects like Transformers and the fourth Indiana Jones movie.
(The principle may hold more for comedians and action stars than for other actors -- comics tend to have a stock persona no matter what the script and the director say, and action stars tend to fall into the same mode.)
The shining exception to all of this is Nicholas Cage. When he's in a movie I have no goddamned idea what to expect. It could be good, it could be bad, it could be wonderfully bad.
Depends on the actor. If they always play themselves or are talentless, yes. If they sink underneath the surface of their characters, different story.