The past few years, I’ve been really into watching movies. I try to see as many Oscar-nominated movies as I can and am often re-watching old favorites of mine when I’m bored.
Before I discovered Letterboxd, I went from website to website trying to find the next big movie and other people’s reviews of them. I would search through Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb, but it still never felt like there was any connection between my thoughts on a movie and a wider community.
There’s social media apps for everything nowadays, mainly aimed at bringing people in similar communities together. When I was watching a movie review on Youtube, I saw a mention of the app, Letterboxd, which I’ve been addicted to ever since.
Letterboxd is a social media site/app for anyone who loves movies. You’re able to create your own movie diary,write reviews and read what others have to say. Today, I’ll go through some of my favorite features of the app and show you why it should be your next app to download.
Top Four Movies
There’s the people that have a ride-or-die favorite movie, and then there’s those who can never choose one because it changes too often. With Letterboxd, you can display your four favorite movies on your profile, and I think this ranking is very telling of someone’s character.
For example, a childhood favorite movie of mine is “The Parent Trap,” the one with Lindsay Lohan. I feel like it’s quite childish however, and I usually say that “La La Land” is my favorite movie since it’s one that most people know. On my Letterboxd profile, however, it’s different. I have “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” as the top movie, then “La La Land,” “Lion” and “The Parent Trap” to round out my final four. Based on the mood I’m in, I can change the movies however I want to.
Looking at other people’s movie choices is also very compelling, since it’s all based on personal interest. I once saw someone that had “Hacksaw Ridge” and “Cars” in their top four, which is certainly a statement.
The Movie Diary
Every time you watch a movie, you can put it in your Diary, which shows all the movies you’ve ever watched (of course once you start putting them into the app). You can rate the movie out of 5 stars, add your own blurb about what you thought, and indicate whether you’ve seen the movie before or if it’s your first time. Your profile shows the most recent movies you’ve watched, but you can go deeper and look at their entire diary if you wish.
I’m the kind of person who loves to go to the theaters and watch movies for the first time, or watch the same movies over and over again from my laptop. Right now the four most recent movies I’ve watched are “Red, White and Royal Blue,” “Ratatouille,” “This Place Rules” and “Clueless.” Quite an odd selection, I know.
Trending Movies
If you don’t know what movies are popular or what you should be watching, Letterboxd has that solved for you. Right on the homepage, there is a feed of the most popular movies (according to other users on Letterboxd) and you’re able to click on each one, read the description and browse reviews from other people. Each movie also has a rating meter that shows what other people thought of the movie, which makes it fun to compare your rating to theirs.
Right now, the most popular movies on Letterboxd are “Barbie,” “Talk to Me” and “Bottoms.” “Barbie” has been ruling the website since July, but for good reason (at least that’s what I think).
Lists and Journal
The last thing I want to highlight is the creation of lists and the Letterboxd journal. Lists are a great way for users to share their favorite movies based on a certain mood or theme. For example, you could have the theme of “Summer” and fill it up with your favorite rom-coms and beach movies. It allows the user to be creative and curate their own content.
The Letterboxd journal contains content that’s made by the Letterboxd staff. It often includes interviews with actors or directors in popular movies, in-depth reviews, or previews of movies that are about to be released. All of the content I’ve read off in the app is well done and fun to read, and it’s more indulging than watching Instagram reels or Snapchat Spotlight.
Perfect for Movie Buffs
I’m not saying that this social media app is for everyone—if you hate movies or never watch them, then you will find this pretty useless. However, if you enjoy rating movies and writing your own reviews, along with seeing what’s popular, this can be a lot of fun. I’ve had it for about half a year, and have really enjoyed it. I feel even more set up for the Oscars next year, and am excited to log a movie every time I watch one.