This summer was no doubt a huge shift in momentum for the film industry, with “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” both coming out on the same day, creating an iconic trend for movie watchers as they attended “Barbenheimer”, and the unexpected success of “Sound of Freedom.” 

The success of these films made movies a part of much banter in plenty of friend groups this summer. There was a feeling around films that had not been felt since before the pandemic. Don’t get me wrong, when “Top Gun: Maverick” was the first blockbuster to really take off after the pandemic ended, there was excitement. But nothing like what we saw this summer with “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer”. These two films brought back true appreciation for good films. Which brings me to Letterboxd. 

Truthfully, when I was sitting on the couch with my buddies this summer and they told me about Letterboxd, I expected myself to download it and delete it after a week or so. The usual phase of excitement would happen, and then after a few days, I would forget all about it. I was wrong. The moment I opened this movie review app, I really had never seen anything like it. Literally every movie from every year was right in the palm of my hand to review, add to my watchlist, or make lists about. As simple as it sounds, for a movie nerd like myself, this is literal heaven. With the abundance of movies on the app, it is incredibly easy to see a movie that you have completely forgotten about and add it to your watch list. 

Every user on this app has their own profile, which is my favorite part. In my opinion, the movies you watch and enjoy really tell you a lot about a person. On each profile you can see that person’s watchlist, their top four films of all time, and a diary keeping track of not only the movies they have watched, but the reviews and critiques they have given. The great thing too, is that it’s all your opinion. There is no right way to review, it is truly just your preference, and that is what makes this app so cool and unique. What I find as a masterpiece might be a piece of garbage to someone else. But like I said, our profiles say a lot about who we are. 

You can find my profile at “anchorman3” (no pun intended). I will use my account as an example of what a Letterboxd account is like. When you go to my profile, my bio explains the idea behind how many stars I give each movie that I watch, and my top four favorite films. According to my philosophy, reviews go as follows: 

  •  a five star is a masterpiece
  •  a four and a half is phenomenal 
  • a four is great 
  • a three and a half is very good 
  • a three bis solid 
  • a two and a half is not great but good enough to finish 
  • a two is mediocre 
  • a one and half is not good 
  • a one is horrible  
  • half a star is “Crimes of Grindelwald” type of bad (don’t get me started on this movie)
  • and a zero star is so bad I could not finish the movie. 

The four films that will pop up are “The Great Gatsby”, “Django: Unchained”, “Interstellar” and “The Social Network”, which are top tier films.

Next to the profile is the diary section, which is a diary keeping track of every movie you put into the app. Personally, as soon as I finish a movie, I will log it in the app so I do not forget down the road. You would see that the most recent movie I had watched was: “This is Where I Leave You”, which I actually gave this five stars. Highly recommend you watch it. It’s on Netflix. 

The list part is where the fun comes in, because you get to nerd out about all the movies you have watched. On my profile I have three separate lists: my favorite films of all time, best acting performances, and my ranking of the “Harry Potter” movies. You basically can do whatever you want. Then there’s the watchlist if you see a film that catches your eye in their database.

This app is a blast for friend-groups, a portfolio for movie watchers like myself, and a great topic for banter when you are out and about. This app is the real deal. Stay classy, DePauw.