The Oracle of Bacon

As delicious as that may sound, the Oracle of Bacon is a computer program designed by some dude (I suspect) at the University of Virgina's Computer Science Department. No doubt you're familiar with the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. Gameplay example: I name an actor and you try to find a movie with him in it. The catch is, the movie also has to have another actor who either acted in a movie with Kevin Bacon, or acted in a movie with someone who acted with Kevin Bacon in a third movie. OK, so Arnold Schwarzenegger was in "Twins" with Maury Chaykin, who was in "Where the Truth Lies" with Kevin Bacon. So, Arnie has a "Bacon Number" of 2. Obviously, you have to have extensive movie knowledge or just be some kind of genius to play the game well. Not Anymore! The Oracle of Bacon uses IMDb data to match any actor to Kevin Bacon in as few movies as possible. Elvis Presley? Bacon Number of 2.

Elvis Presley was in Harum Scarum (1965) with Suzanne Covington who was in Beauty Shop (2005) with Kevin Bacon

Charlie Chaplin? Bacon Number of 3.

Charlie Chaplin was in A Countess from Hong Kong (1967) with Sophia Loren who was in Between Strangers (2002) with Kathryn Winslow who was in Where the Truth Lies (2005) with Kevin Bacon

Chuck Norris? Bacon Number of 2.

Chuck Norris was in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004) with Cayden Boyd who was in Mystic River (2003) with Kevin Bacon

Wicked cool. But the fun doesn't end there. You can find the degrees of separation for any actor from any other actor you want (under Advanced Search). Bruce Lee has an Elvis Presley Number of 2, by the way.

Bruce Lee (I) was in Marlowe (1969) with Nicole Jaffe who was in The Trouble with Girls (1969) with Elvis Presley

Ooh. Check it out here.