Time is kind to directors. Is it the same for actors?

What can we learn about filmmakers by analyzing the website Rotten Tomatoes? Here’s one statistical analysis:

…A director’s first movie averages a Tomatometer rating around 55 percent. But the average ratings for the next few movies don’t drop much at all, never falling below 54 percent. Then, between the average director’s seventh and eighth movie, the Tomatometer ratings jump dramatically, from 55 percent to nearly 63 percent. That score stays steady for the average director’s ninth through 11^th films and then jumps again to the 80s and 90s for the rest of his career.

Read the rest of the article here.

Ode to the Femme Fatale

“She’s in trouble, she says, and needs his help. He hesitates a second while his brain tries to work. Whatever her problem is — something about her husband working her over, the sick bastard — she can take care of herself, from the looks of her. But hello, the looks of her: those long legs, those tremulous lips, those wounded eyes. This dame isn’t in trouble, she is trouble, his brain shouts — but those eyes, those eyes. He’s way past listening to his brain. The only sound he can hear is her voice, whispering that she needs him, wants him, can’t live without him. And if his brain turns out to be right, if she ends up dragging him down into depravity, madness and murder, well, tough. If there was ever a thing worth going straight to hell for, she’s it.”

Read the rest of the article from Obit Magazine here.

Five Books About Film Noir

From the Five Books website–film writer Barry Forshaw picks the five books you should read to learn about film noir.

(He also reminds you that you should be watching Double Indemnity and The Postman Always Rings Twice!)

Read the article here.

Screenwriting, Cinema’s Invisible Art

A cool article from Granta magazine about screenwriting. Of course, the Coen brothers are considered among the gods of the craft.

Read the article here.

“Up in the Air” has nothing to say about America in 2009

At least that’s what Dennis Lim of Slate.com thinks. He writes “Whether consciously or not, a Jason Reitman film is a mass of self-negating contradictions—they may add up to the illusion of complexity, but the net effect is zero.”

I haven’t seen the movie, so I am not posting this because I agree. In fact, I hope you read this and let me know if the writer makes a good point.

Find the article here.

The four rules Kathryn Bigelow breaks every time

An interesting article from Slate about how the director of “The Hurt Locker” does not follow typical action movie techniques.

Please, No More Mr. Bad Guy Roles! (But Creepy Is Fine)

An article about Christopher Walken, notorious creepy actor. He is starring in a new play written by Martin McDonagh, who directed “In Bruges”.  You will totally want to know what the title is. I’m not going to tell you. You are going to have to read the article here.