Letterboxd

Movie Reviews

Letterboxd

Letterboxd has a unique community that dominates its niche of consumer movie reviews. IMDb and rotten tomatoes both approach movie reviewing differently, focusing on critiquing and how much money the movie makes in the box office. These are valid ways to judge content, but we should view films movies, and shows as works of art, which deserve to be talked about and not just judged. The community that is thriving in letterboxd allows for a free discussion of the movie or show almost like an Instagram comment section. Users can grow their accounts based on the quality of reviews they leave. This allows the community within the app to raise up the best commentators and reviewers. Formatting film reviews like this makes it easier for the audience to discern what they might want to watch because they can get involved in a community of like-minded individuals who have the same tastes. This app is not limited to film and show reviews, with some of the top reviews being jokes or jabs it allows people to just talk about a movie in an open setting. We do not really have an opportunity for this in our current theatre and streaming service-dominated society. Letterboxd perfectly fits into this niche where people can talk about their favorite movies with other fans. Instead of running into critics or people just posting for clout, letterboxd funnels the people who are excited to talk about a film into a common area where they can communicate freely. This application feels like a film lover’s dream, almost like Twitter in the way that the users interact with words more than pictures, it encourages thoughts and ideas to be the focus.

Letterboxd keeps track of all the movies that you watch, so you can see who has similar tastes and watches similar movies. Allowing the user to rate the movie on a 5-star scale allows the user to come to a conclusion based on their own opinion and keep that on their page. The like system they implemented is similar to social media like Instagram Facebook and Twitter which groups users together based on their likes and interests. You can also follow your friends and see what they are liking and rating.

The user “tyler” is a patron ( a premium user ) who writes reviews incorporating popular memes and words that are more likely to resonate with people who keep up with modern memes. He has amassed over 3000 letterboxd followers and reviews lots of movies as they come out. Movie critics are always being paid by somebody, and knowing that it is a real person and not a robot leaving reviews makes them resonate more. Not everyone can go to the theatre anymore and having a social outlet for people is necessary with all the good new movies coming out. Letterboxd was purely used by cinephiles at one point, but they have done lots of work to bring in less intense users. It has blossomed into a large community, with many small users and big users all leaving reviews and getting agreed with or disagreed with. Follower count is not shown upon seeing a person’s profile, you have to click on it so everyone has an even playing field. There is no feed to scroll through, instead just a list of movies to click on. This eliminates a lot of time wasting, with people meaninglessly scrolling through their phones barely processing the content, letterboxd is refreshing with the way you choose a movie title and then see what everyone else has to say in the comments. When a new movie comes out you can wait till you see the movie, then go look at the reviews if you do not want it to be spoiled. I avoid social media especially twitter after a new movie is released, because people post spoilers. I had Avengers Endgame spoiled for me through a twitter meme, and I would not wish that hell even on my worst enemy. Letterboxd has taken the aftermovie social hour and turned it into a comprehensive movie review archive. In 100 years our children will be able to look back and see what their grandparents thought about the latest iteration of Batman.

“In my defense, your honor, I was in goblin mode when everything went down” was a comment on the Northman left by the same user Tyler, getting 4.5 thousand likes. A popular meme with a classical format of pleading in front of a judge was able to rise to the top. He gave the movie 5 stars, so goblin mode is a positive thing, at least to him. This review made me want to go watch the Northman, just so I can figure out what this user thinks goblin mode is. Whether it is accurate to the meme or not, it is funny and got lots of people to click like. Goblin mode always makes me laugh when I see it on my feed or on my story for other social media apps that I use, and so like the other users, it resonated with my meme knowledge. This kind of cross-platform reference only happens with the internet. Someone who is only interested in movies and not other forms of media might completely miss this reference and think that there really is a goblin in the movie. These complex references are only really understood by someone who is completely plugged into the current internet culture. It is hard to keep up with though, with new memes coming in every day and older ones being phased out. Some last for a day and some last for years, and change with the tides of popularity as things trend and fall into obscurity.

DUNE

“I relate to Paul because I also have recurring dreams about Zendaya” was a comment left by a user named molly who got almost 7 thousand likes on her comment. She does not have many followers, but her comment resonated with many users, and got a lot of likes. One of the common themes among the comments about Dune was the lack of screentime that Zendaya had. Most people bought there ticket to see her on the big screen, and I read that she got 30 minutes total screentime during the 2 hour and 30 minute movie. She was in most of the advertisements, but her character does not enter the story until about halfway through. Since the movies are splitting the book into two parts, we only get to see the first half of the story. The next movie will get her more screentime but you can really tell that people were disappointed based on the reviews they left. The next part of the story will focus heavily on Zendaya’s character Chani, making the first movie basically her introduction. The part 2 will give the fans the screentime they want, but the movie had to follow the plotline of the book. Paul was seeing his future with Chani in the first movie, just getting glimpses of what was to come in prophetic visions. There has to be some space between the vision and the becoming of the vision. Suspense is such a key element in film, and what we are seeing is a building process. We see glimpses of these mysterious character and then right at the end of the film we are introduced to her. Now we have to wait years for the next movie, with the end pf the movie really just teasing her character. Their intention is to generate hype, and get people excited. This is going to disappoint some initially, especially if they just bought a ticket to see their faves Timmy and Zendaya sucking face on the big screen. Letterboxd is the only place you’d get such a specific opinion on a movie like this.

“I’m sorry but I can’t take Timothee Chalamet seriously, he looks like a guy who knows too much about TikTok” said the user Julien Debaker. While he gave a good review of the movie, he had a negative opinion about one of the actors. He was able to express his rating of the movie but at the same time talk about the casting choice and how he did not approve. I also picked out this review because TikTok is such a huge app right now for young people. This reviewer is obviously not a young person since they use it as a slight on the actor. Picking up on small context clues like that remind you of how this is basically a social media. While you are not able to post pictures and videos, you are able to post your thoughts. This is much more beneficial for the user because they are funneling their reaction to the movie into a few sentences instead of just posting that they saw it and giving it a thumbs up or a thumbs down. Social media has a reputation for being fake, for prioritizing likes and shares over actual content and information. Virality has become the main focus of these sites and it throws meaningful communication out the window. With letterboxd you are able to see people’s thoughts and emotional reactions to a movie. You might never even see their face unless they post it as their profile picture. Most people just choose a meme or an anime character to be their header, so that they can remain anonymous. Anonymity allows the user to go all out and leave very opinionated comments and not worry about the repercussion on their reputation. This can be a good or a bad thing depending on the user.

“Denis Villeneuve: you remember that movie Seven where Brad Pitt was asking whats in the box?

Timothee Chalamet: oui

Denis Villeneuve: soo we’re gonna need you to put your hand inside it

Edited – a monumental cinematic achievement made with love and care the Frank Herbers novel well deserves.

Thank you Denis” said the user hunter strawberry, who cracked a joke and then immediately edited his comment to give respect to the Director. The joke got a 5 thousand likes. He incorporated Timothee’s French origins, another good film with a box reference, and another famous actor, Brad Pitt. These 3 major media references helped the comment gain traction, and the fact that the jokes punchline was funny pushed it to the top of the reviews. Seven is a fairly serious film, and it makes sense that a person who has seen it would have good enough taste to watch Denis Villenueve’s new movie. This is what I mentioned in my introduction, that people with similar movie taste just end up in the same comment sections because they all like the same films. These spaces have replaced the traditional town center gathering area that was the only place to socialize before the internet. While it means less in person communication is happening around these movies, more virtual communication is happening. This can be recorded, shared, and kept forever in the websites archives. While you can argue that it is less valuable because it is not face to face communication, it is still very effective. It shifts the conversation from just one person to allowing everyone with an internet connection to take a peak or chime in. This shift is happening with all digital communities, as younger generations are raised on their phones they know how to navigate these digital communities better than real communities.

“Lady next to me played candy crush through the hour then fell asleep” said trin, a user with 17 thousand followers. Her comment got 5 thousand likes, and was able to generate lots of activity and responses despite being a short review. It really hammers my point home about people being stuck on their phones. A piece of cinema that is as beautiful and expansive as this being ignored oor a mobile game? It is sad how people choose the quick return instead of investing in a long. Candy Crush triggers quick dopamine bursts in the brain,. The movie is very long, over two hours. While this is going to deter people with short attention spans, I see it as a challenge for younger people to invest their time into something worthwhile. If she played candy crush through the whole movie I would be very annoyed but the fact that she fell asleep almost makes me feel better about the situation. While she wasted her time and money, the box office still has a record of her ticket. Most other disrespectful people might take a phone call or eat a loud snack during a movie. Falling asleep isn’t bothering anyone. If anything it makes the experience more enjoyable for others, because her phone light is not distracting from the big screen. Comments like this are what makes letterboxd special, because that woman is guaranteed to never see that comment. If she is not passionate or at least interested in movies and television and media then she has no reason to even download the app.

This digital community is growing at an increasing pace, leaving the niche of just catering to cinephiles and jumping into the mainstream. This allows more people to get into the community, since it is not just a place for criticism it allows new perspectives and ideas to come forth form the people who love the movies. Letterboxd has taken movie reviews and carved out its own corner of the internet to let people leave their thoughts on the works of art that are being pumped out by major movie studios. Letterboxd is very successful, increasing their ad revenue 243% in a year. This is unsurprising seeing how well their platform works. Letterboxd is a great case of thoughtful web designers making a platform that everyone who loves movies can use and socialize on.