If you are a true cinephile, film fanatic or even avid watcher of motion pictures, stop reading this article and download Letterboxd immediately. There’s no better reason to offload a whole bunch of apps or delete the screenshots of last week’s lecture slides than to make space for this.
Co-founded by Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow, Letterboxd is an online social networking site focusing on “sharing opinions about, and love of, film.” Ever since I’ve gotten it, I’ve been attempting to log all the movies I’ve ever watched (which are split between the pre-Chicken Run era and post-Finding Nemo eras). At the very least, it is nice to know what all my hours of procrastination were spent on.
Its most addicting feature is definitely its best — the ability to read reviews from anyone who has an account, which frequently oscillate between contemplative think pieces (user Jake Cole’s review of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker or Philbert Dy’s fabled retelling of Parasite) to quippy one sentence reviews, which often read as glorified YouTube comments (listed below):
1. Aliens (1986, dir. James Cameron)
“producer guy 1: next on the agenda, what should we call the sequel to alien?
producer guy 2: well i had an idea …. there’s going to be, in fact, more than one alien in this one, correct?
producer guy 1: yes, plural. go on
producer guy 2: how about we just call it … Aliens. stick an S on that bad boy
producer guy 1: bruh
producer guy 2: bruh”
by Lucy
2. What We Do in the Shadows (2014, dir. Taika Whatiti)
“Cracking open a boy with the cold ones”
by kanja
3. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015, dir. George Miller)
“Baby Groot Furious Road: Imperator Furiosa Unleashed”
by Miles Das
4. The Fate of the Furious (2017, dir. F. Gary Gray)
“I have no idea who allowed George Miller the amount of creative freedom and budget to make 2 hours of Mario Kart From Hell, but they deserve a medal.”
By Dan Doherty
5. Blade Runner 2049 (2017, dir. Denis Villeneuve)
“Obviously liked it but was a bit lost. Probably because I haven’t seen Blade Runners 2-2,048”
by Adrian Balboa
6. The Dead Don’t Die (2019, dir. Jim Jarmusch)
“If I was the dead I simply would not die. Rip but I’m different”
by Brady Childs
7. 6 Underground (2019, dir. Michael Bay)
“This movie is the answer to the ultimate question … “Can Michael Bay Become More Michael Bay Than Michael Bay Is Michael Bay?”
by Maria
8. Underwater (2020, dir. William Eubank)
“If I was underwater I would simply swim to the surface”
by Lucy
9. Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) [2020, dir. Cathy Yan]
“Marty would call this … cinema”
by Alex Hunter
10. The Invisible Man (2020, dir. Leigh Whanell)
“Bro where is he?”
by Crusader Of Disappointment
Zachary Lee is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at [email protected].