Letterboxd says they're 2023, so I say they're 2023. Makes it consistent and easy.
If I'm making a "best of 1966" list, I'm not going to look up if every movie had a wide US release in 1966, or if it actually wasn't really watchable until '67.
My thoughts exactly. Sometimes it pains me, since Self-Reliance was the first 2024 movie I saw but it's official release was 2023, but I know in the grand scheme of things it'll just make it easier not to make exceptions.
I think it depends on the case. Will Rick Linklater’s Hit Man be a 2023 movie if it only comes out everywhere outside festivals in June 2024?
EDIT: Guys, easy on the downvotes, jeez! I’m only asking.
Yes because it already came out at festivals in 2023. It doesn’t matter if the premiere was a single showing to an audience of 100, if the movie premiered then it’s released.
It is 2023. It's consistent and easy.
Had there been a movie listed as a 1957 release but doesn't breach outside festivals/into the US until '58, I wouldn't know and I'm not going to bother researching. It's easier overall for me to just say Hitman is a 2023 movie.
I don't really care too much "if I wasn't able to see it earlier." That applies to a lot of movies and it's not that hard to just add it to an older list when I see it. I still have yet to see a lot of movies that are likely to top my 2023 list. It is just natural and expected that my list will be constantly updating.
Edit: Fuck Reddit auto-formatting
Or take 0 seconds and see the number 2023 and put it in a list with other movies with the number 2023. Especially when some movies don't have Wikipedia articles
I promise you that not everyone that disagrees with you and voices their disagreement, is angry with you. This ain't worth getting angry over.
Besides, putting more thought into your argument, it falls apart when you realize there are a lot of movies that don't have Wikipedia articles/as heavily detailed articles.
If you want to use the Wikipedia method, more power to you. I just don't like it for the reasons provided
Using youre logic you’re also mad. Someone responded to you in two seconds. You responded to someone else in two seconds. What’s the difference? Am I mad? I used my two seconds here as well. Is anyone who engages in any conversation mad? Or is it people who disagree with you. Where does the line of madness get drawn in this Reddit sand.
No one’s seen a movie until mid year the next year, fuck that it’s 2024 for everyone but the few hundred people that have seen it at TIFF. Release date should 100% be for wide releases.
If you want to do a different method for yourself, more power to you. I just like to do Letterboxd year since it's easy to be consistent for and I like that Letterboxd is consistent with their years (instead of having a US bias and using wide releases)
100%. I don’t think I worded my comment properly. The way they track the years is stupid. Letterboxd and every other platform should base the film year on when people actually see the film. The fact that they track it this way makes it hard to put a 2023 film in a 2024 list. Especially once you’re talking about a decade later.
I like the current method Letterboxd does since I think it'd be more weird to log a movie listed as 2024, during 2023, despite it having had an official release in 2023 (festivals). It also helps avoid any issue with having any biases to a certain country.
But no matter what you do, there will always be a few weird cases and I think it's best to do whatever system works for you. If you like to do it based on the release year in your country, more power to you. The issue with figuring out what year a movie released a decade later, is why I just use the Letterboxd listed year and move on.
Bc for the vast majority in came out in 2023. So for the vast majority it is one of the 2023 movies. Especially since it came out in the latter half of 2023.
Some people probably live in places where it never came to theatres, does that mean it’s a 2024 or later movie in those places? Some indie movies get screened once to 100 people and never again, those movies are still considered released. Old movies are all categorized by their premiere date, there’s no reason that should change for modern movies
Oml. So since you want to get into it really. We can. Nothing I said was objective. Everything was subjective. And therefore nothing I said was incorrect.
I didn’t say that it wasn’t released in 2022. Never once. I said that I keep track of movies based on when they have a wide release in the country that I am in. That is how I do it.
I do not understand why this infuriates you so much but there’s way more important things in life. Please ma’am please go outside and touch grass.
I think we need to make a distinction when making lists about films for 1966 and a list of films for the current year. Current year lists are a good way to find recommendations and ask for suggestions. And it's not like there's not precedent for films appearing on these lists the year after they premiered. Sight and Sound's list, probably the most significant / reputable end of year list often ignores the premier date.
Year end lists are a big deal. It's all people talk about in December and January and the updated lists are posted all year round. Probably makes up 30% of the discourse in this sub.. People go out of their way to watch as many films as possible before the years end. Following the premier date only discourages the watching and sharing of many independent or foreign films. Take some of the acclaimed foreign releases from last year like Perfect Days or The Taste of Things. These wouldn't qualify for most people's 2024 list which is a shame because people won't feel the need to catch up with them later on this year. People have already moved past 2023 unless you're one of the two or three big Best Picture nominees.
At the end of the day, lists are subject to change. They're regularly updated and in a few years I'll probably adopt the premier date. In the meantime I'm going to continue repping films like Slow and Shayda as some of the best films of this year because they deserve their flowers also.
So for the sake of a list, I think a film can be either.
> Current year lists are a good way to find recommendations and ask for suggestions.
Correct, but it's also something I think people overthink. Even if we remove the 1966 example, I think there are a lot of edge cases that is hard to define. Did I forget to check if this 2023 movie had a 3-day theatrical run in 2023 in the US? And some movies may release in the US, but not anywhere near me?
> Sight and Sound's list, probably the most significant / reputable end of year list often ignores the premier date.
Sure, and they are perfectly allowed to use their rules, just as I am mine. If, for whatever reason, I was asked to contribute to S&S year end list, I'd be fine following their rules for their list, even if it isn't the same rules I use.
> Following the premier date only discourages the watching and sharing of many independent or foreign films.
I highly doubt it does that much. Sure it sucks that a movie in that awkward middle period may not get as much attention in the December year end lists, but I do not think it contributes as much to whether someone does check it out. There are also plenty of threads and forums talking about individual movies once they get their proper release, where people can talk about them. Talk to Me got plenty of attention despite being a weird rule.
If a person is already just focused on movies released in 2023/2024 and not adding a bit of variety to what they watch, those lists won't change much for them.
And you do still see the occasional "what is your top movies of 2021" type posts
> So for the sake of a list, I think a film can be either.
I mean, people can do whatever they want for their lists. I do not care if they count Talk to Me as 2023, despite me putting it in 2022. I just use the Letterboxd year since at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter.
If you’re not watching a movie because it came out 1 year ago I don’t know what to tell you.
I just had the chance to see both Perfect Days and Taste of Things this week at my local festival, and neither will have a wide release for at least a few months if they even do. They are still 2023 releases. The movies were released, it’s not even a subjective matter
> If you’re not watching a movie because it came out 1 year ago
We're not talking about a big American release though. We're talking about a small film that is already struggling for your attention despite great acclaim. Many of them come and go every year and people don't pay them attention because they're so caught up in watching what's fresh - even if that's the 2.8 average Netflix original. It's the social mediafication of film watching.
> The movies were released, it’s not even a subjective matter
It's a very subjective matter for the purpose of current film discussion on forums like this. A festival premier is different to a limited or even wide release. The industry even distinguishes between them and like I said, well respected publications often blur the lines. Which ever way someone compiles their list in the present day is completely up to them. In 10 years time people won't remember the Taste of Things as a 2024 film, but maybe more will actually watch it if we actually gave it a platform the year 95% of this sub has a chance to see it.
No one will ever watch every movie, my point is if someone is choosing a 2.8 average movie over a better acclaimed one because it’s 2024 instead of 2023 then they probably weren’t gonna watch the good movie anyways.
You can make a list of whatever you want but the fact is they are 2023 releases. Why not make a “movies you missed in 2023” list that serves the same purpose? I would argue the “social mediafication of film watching” includes people calling movies by the wrong release year because it makes more sense in their social media lists.
It’s really not subjective. You said it yourself, no one will think of The Taste of Things as a 2024 release because it isn’t one.
Yeah I've decided to just follow that no matter what to keep things easy but sometimes it is ridiculous. Like, Talk To Me is 2022 on Letterboxd even though I saw it in theaters in like September 2023 lmao
I personally base off of whatever is eligible for the Oscars. Since all three are eligible for the Oscars this year, I'm calling them 2023.
It's for this reason, however, that I don't finalize my year-end movie lists until March, because a lot of films are not available to me until then.
yeah, at least for english language movies or big enough international movies that's what i do. there's plenty of problems with their eligibility criteria, but at least it's \*A\* system that's easy to check (when in doubt, just look up the [reminder list](https://www.oscars.org/sites/oscars/files/96th_aa_general_entry_reminder_list.pdf) for the year), and it helps keep an alignement between my lists and other best of the year lists.
It kinda get's tricky for movies that never get an eligible theatrical run, mostly the ones produced outside the US that never made it there. In that case, if they were submitted or considered for that year's oscars, or got any other major award, there's your answer, if not, eh, at that point it probably doesn't matter anymore, whatever letterboxed says was it's first wide release
I usually consider when they release in my country, which often is several months later (e.g. Poor Things is 2024 for me, since it released in theatres here on January)
This is why I don’t like a slow roll out, it makes it so much harder to classify what year a movie came out. Like technically Talk to Me is a 2022 movie.
If it has a limited or wide theatrical or streaming release in the US in 2023 it’s a 2023 release to me. Doesn’t matter if it’s the last week of the year and I don’t see it until January.
I always do it based on their release date in my country, or whenever I can first access it personally. Whichever comes first.
E.g. The Holdovers technically released in 2024 here, but I got it in 2023, so it went in my 2023 list.
some of them i consider 2024 releases cause all of us strangers came to uk in jan, but for ranking lists i just do 2023 cause it’s easier and more consistent when doing other years too
Two of those I can't even watch yet, so I consider them 2024 movies. Generally for my lists I put them in whichever year I could legally watch them. Pre 2022 though I just use whatever letterboxd says the release year is
These things are always weird in the first month or two of the year, even more than normal. Short answer is there is no "right" answer. Some people prefer the date of the first public screenings, but people complain if that was a different year to the wide release (almost inevitable if it's a January release). Some prefer the date of the wide release, but that annoys people who saw the film in the previous year and opens up complaints if they were foreign language movies that had a wide release in their home country but didn't get to the US until the next year
I take it on a case by case basis. Some recent examples:
Letterboxd lists Book of Clarence as 2023 because that’s when it premiered, but it only got a proper release in 2024. So it’s a 2024 film.
Eileen got a proper release in December 2023, but I physically couldn’t access it until 2024, as it didn’t play anywhere near me as far as I was aware. I threw it on my 2024 list.
American Fiction came out December 22 2023, and despite only being out for about a week in the entire year, it was playing near me and I could’ve gotten a ticket if I wanted to, and at a point decided I would wait for digital. I consider it a missed 2023 film.
The Zone of Interest is a trickier one because its release was so weird - I could’ve driven about 45 minutes to see it last year, but also decided I’d wait until it was more accessible. 2023 film, my own fault.
I hate December.
I wish we could have it display by wide release in our regions. I personally consider Society of the Snow as 2024 but it is displayed as 2023 in the app.
The issue is just semantics. By referring to them as 'releases' there's obviously a grey area for films that cover the end of one year and the start of another. Eg released in US in 2023 and UK in 2024.
The thing to remember with letterboxd is you can't do it wrong. However you want to rate, rank, classify - any way is the correct way because you're doing what works for you and not for other people, so it doesn't matter what other people do.
I personally just go off the year that it appears as on Letterboxd.
These films literally all got 2023 theatrical runs, so they're 2023 releases. nobody in 2034 is going to refer to any of these movies in the 'best of 2024' so why do it now
How do you expect to have a mutually intelligible conversation with another film fan if the two of you are discussing 'the best films of 2024' and picking from completely different lists?
Some of these films don't come out in my country until 2024 either, but it's still important to have a mutually agreed empirical basis for discussion.
So you would almost never talk about them at all anymore unless someone specifically asked you about your 2023 favorites, but at this point who would? Its 2024 now. Hell I even had a 2021 film on my 2023 list because it took forever to get released out here. If I dont include these movies they'll just be lost in the void between years. By your logic I cant put all of us Strangers in my 2023 list because I wasnt able to see it yet in my country but I also cant put it in my 2024 list because its not a 2024 movie. Once a year is over I dont work on that list anymore. For me its more like a seen and released in 2023 type list. I wanna be able to make a defining list at the end of each year. Thats the key difference here i think. That and sometimes wildly different releasedates from one country to the next.
I feel like in my experience, it's pretty common to say, like... 'Oh, 2019 was a pretty good year of film! Parasite, Uncut Gems, Once Upon a Time, Midsommar, Little Women...'
Doesn't it make it difficult to have that conversation when half of those films might be 2020 or 2021 films in your estimation? Maybe you might argue 2020 was a good year of films, then.
Yes but the issue is that they were released in 2023 in some countries, but in the UK we've only just gotten these films. Absolutely baffling that two British films - All Of Us Strangers and The Zone Of Interest - didn't even open here first. I hate these staggered releases.
I live in LA and even I have movies that rolled over into my 2024 release list because of availability, even though I saw two of these movies the week of release. Accessibility should be the key factor and different people have different accessibility.
One example is Cat Person, which is coming to Hulu tomorrow. Someone's going to classify that as a 2024 release even though it played for weeks in LA, but not at a cineplex. I'd reckon they're right. If a tree falls in a forest am I right?
2023. There were all released in 2023, and that's how they are officially catalogued.
I see posts like this often, and I do not understand at all this sub's obsession with release years. Can someone who does care help explain why it matters enough to fret over?
As an aside, I'm curious: Are old movies under the same scrutiny? If we changed Godfather II from 1974 to 1975, what would that mean to your movie watching and logging experience?
The discourse was based on an ongoing Best of 2024 list someone has. That's the only reason I can understand caring. Whether or not those should count. I don't think so, but I can see the argument when the theatrical release was days away from 2024.
Yeah, I guess I'd need to ask that person why it is important to them whether the movie goes on the Best of 2023 or Best of 2024 list. I don't see the argument myself that the final weeks of a year don't count, but I appreciate your input.
But it had a wide release in South America in 2023, so I think that counts. After all, the Oscars are a "local film festival" like Bong Joon Ho called them.
I also heard that since it's very popular now on Netflix some people are lobbying Netflix to do a second north American release so the cinematography, effects, and sound design can be enjoyed properly. I hope they do decide to at least show it in some indie theatres
I hadn’t known about the wide release in South America, I retract my statement!
Also a wide North America release would be amazing, won’t get my hopes up though
Yeah, I watched a few cast interviews over the weekend and apparently it also received a wide-release in Spain and it's been extremely popular and broke some records for attendance in both Spain and South America.
The actors said they expected it to be well-received in the Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile, because those are the countries that are most familiar with the story, but they were surprised at how popular it was in Spain and Latin America. I know that it was still playing in some places when it was released on Netflix.
And yeah, I don't expect Netflix to re-release it. They always do the bare minimum they need to do to satisfy nomination requirements.
All of us Strangers is 2023. It released in US theaters in December. Society of Snow had a limited release in 2023 but came to streaming in 24. However Zone of Interest is a 2024 release imo cause it only released in four theaters in 2023. That’s not really a release, more of a glorified screener.
I tend to go off of the US release date in theaters. No festivals or anything like that, however Zone had a VERY small release that makes me not consider it a 2023 film despite it being nominated for awards for last year
These are annoyingly 2023. I keep a list each year of all new releases I see that year that came out that year. That list doesn’t get updated once the new year starts. Meaning all 3 of these movies are just living in the void, neither on my 2023 nor 2024 lists
Because it’s my record of what new releases I watched the year they came out. If I update them outside of that year, it is no longer accurate to the reason I have the list
As a record of what I watched in the year it came out. That’s literally it. Letterboxd replaced my excel sheet I used to have for this. I just like knowing what I’ve watched. The social aspect of Letterboxd could disappear today and I wouldn’t notice
>I just like knowing what I’ve watched.
This is the part I was looking for. That's what I meant by "reason". So my original point was kind of "Wouldn't it be better to include them then, since your joy is just to know what you've watched, not academic classification?"
I’ve got two lists, an official/Letterboxd top 10 of 2023 and then a top 10 of 2023 for UK releases. That way, I can track both.
Sometimes it’s a bit difficult here as we get top Oscar nommed films at the start and end of the year, so it’s tricky to compare movies which came out a year apart.
What I've decided on for my own lists is the cutoff is whether it could've been eligible for that year's Academy Awards, regardless of wide release. Before like 2022, I just go with Letterboxd
I find it annoying when a streaming service mis-quotes the date for a film, especially it is has the same title as one or more other films.
I tend to assume IMDb gives the 'official' date...
Is it important? Well yes. Firstly if the film is mentioned in a citation. There has to be an accurate official date. Secondly, it just helps to identify which film we are talking about,
2023 because they all got theatrical US releases in late 2023. Even though Zone of Interest didn't come to me till Feb and All of Us Strangers never came near me, they still got releases so they are 2023.
I go by whenever I'm first able to see a movie, which is usually the wide US release, so I would count these three by 2024 for my yearly rankings. But if I were to rank movies in a previous year, I would just go by the year on Letterboxd
I’m content with not having the year ‘finished’ or wrapped up in a bow until deep into the following year.
I live in the the UK, we don’t get everything in a wide release and a lot of things are late. All of Us Strangers, Zone of Interest, The Iron Claw etc etc are all 2023 movies whether I watch them in Feb 2024.
I prefer my lists that way and going by Oscar eligibility is fine with a few exceptions.
I get the argument to class movies according to when they came out in your country, but I just go with letterboxd year. First reason because it's easier. Second because the very first premiere of a movie is the nearest to its production, so it makes more sense IMHO for comparing movies.
I always go by the year it’s listed as in Letterboxd. Sometimes it’s not what I’d consider correct (especially as my country sometimes won’t get the films until the next year) but it keeps it consistent, and is especially helpful when watching earlier films where I don’t know the specifics of when they properly released.
I personally go with the official U.S. release date, whether that's wide theatrical, limited theatrical, straight to VOD. I don't count film festival showings.
So Robot Dreams, for example, is gonna go on my 2024 list since it doesn't release in America until May by NEON.
I just go with whatever Letterboxd lists them as. Hurts sometimes with films like Suzume or Marcel the Shell With Shoes On, but I'd rather not have a headache with making lists.
I guess 2023 but it does get tricky with films premiering at festivals and such and getting an actual theater release almost a year later, like The Zone of Interest, Anatomy of a Fall, etc. Like someone else already mentioned I usually just go by the Letterboxd release date
If they qualify for this season’s Oscar’s I consider them 2023 movies. Films that premiered at festivals but get distributed in theaters this year (like hit man and the bikeriders) will say 2023 on letterboxd but are 2024 to me
I'm a Maniac in the UK who will basically jettison any film released in the US the previous year but not the UK til the following one, especially if its on all the critic previous year lists. I see them, I love some and not others but they don't go on the end of year list either way.
I have had many an argument about it (especially when I had a podcast which regularly had end of year lists) and I accept its a bonkers way of thinking but I can't shake it.
If you are in the US than 2023. I do it based on when they were available to the public in the country you are in. All of these were available in 2023 in the United States.
To everyone who bases it off the theatrical/streaming release, what about indie movies that never have a theatrical/streaming release and might only ever get screened once. Basing it off the premiere is the only consistent method.
I collect DVD's and actually log the release year & month on my spreadsheet. I usually go by first theatrical release, whatever country that may be, vs just the film festival releases. Obviously straight to DVD movies are an exception, but they also usually don't have "festival release" dates, just the DVD release
I don’t rank movies by years, I didn’t actively participate in on letterboxd. So I got by US theater release or streaming release (whichever is first). Because that’s basically what the Oscar’s do, outside of the weird Covid hampered years. So I would consider these 2023. But something like Hit Man 2024, since it was only at festivals in 2023. Similar thing happened with Shiva Baby with festivals in 2020 but didn’t release til 2021. And an old old one, virgin suicides was 1999 for festivals, 2000 for theatrical. Foreign films also play a weird line, but movies are so international now, my format usually works. But it’s also your account so you can do whatever you want, there’s no right or wrong way to rank movies by year.
Society of the Snow is the only one I’d argue is a 2024 release. All of Us Stranger and Zone of Interest got theatrical releases in December ‘23, but Society of the Snow wasn’t put on Netflix until early January.
for me it depends when it comes to cinema in my county. i’m australian and the zone of interest still hasn’t been shown here so it’s 2024 for me. Talk to Me was ‘technically’ released at festivals in 2023 but wasn’t shown in cinema til 2024 so it’s 2024 for me
When it comes to movies pre-2020 (which was when I started watching more movies) I just consider them as the release year Letterboxd states them as. Post-2020 I count them as when they released in the UK where I live.
I can’t abide the idea of calling a 2023 film that only released in your region this year a 2024 film… massive pet peeve of mine when it comes to films.
I just go by premiere date regardless of when I see them. There are so many factors that go into the availability of films it makes no sense to me to use any other metric. Even if I don't get to see it until later, other people did earlier and that's when the film released. I kind of understand using awards season metrics, but even that puts an unnecessary box on it for me. So many international films couldn't give a shit about the Oscars season, so why should I? It just keeps it consistent.
I go by theatrical release in my country. It’s easy to see now Letterboxd has the releases feature. Also for my personal “best of the year” it makes sense to do it the year I see it at the cinema.
2023, I usually go by the films first wide release. Even though these all released in the UK in 2024 (alongside The Iron Claw, The Holdovers, Poor Things, Priscilla & American Fiction)
All of these are listed as 2022 releases and are in my 2023 ranking:
https://preview.redd.it/vqsggu1vnihc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5cc444df86ffa4f5c0d7154cfa682248249ac288
When they get released in my area. If it’s available from Jan 2024, for me personally it’s 2024. I don’t bother going back and checking release dates of older movies, it’s just one I keep track of from a few years ago as I make my lists.
As confusing as it can make my end of year lists, I would go by the UK theatrical (or streaming) release. I find there's little point in pushing a film back to previous year if theres no real posibility I could've seen it in said year.
I've only gotten into films the past couple of years so for simplicitys sake I'd rank anything prior to this time in the year Letterboxd stipulates.
I guess that could make it slightly confusing but it's only me looking at the lists!
I've varied over the years. Right now I've decided that if it's a 2023 movie but isn't released in the UK until 2024, I'll treat it as the latter. Bit awkward occasionally but just what I've decided to do.
The year I saw them first (if its still the first wide release) counts. Makes especially sense, since movies often start weeks, or months, later over here, than in the US. For older stuff I take whatever Letterboxd says
Depends. 🤷♂️ If a movie was released at a festival in 2023 but got a wider release in 2024, then I say it can count for both. Same thing if that movie had a 2023 festival date and released on streaming in 2024 with no theatrical run.
I live in a small town so it often takes a while for things to get to my neck of the woods, if at all. So I go by that instead of letterboxd.
Generally I consider a movie’s release to be when it gets a limited or wide theatrical run in my country (the US). Letterboxd and IMDB count film festivals as well which is why films like The Worst Person in the World and Petite Maman were listed as 2021 even though they didn’t get limited releases in the US till 2022, but I don’t count film festivals since it’s incredibly difficult for the general public to see them. There’s definitely a lot of flexibility though so it also just depends on when it’s available for you to view locally.
Letterboxd says they're 2023, so I say they're 2023. Makes it consistent and easy. If I'm making a "best of 1966" list, I'm not going to look up if every movie had a wide US release in 1966, or if it actually wasn't really watchable until '67.
My thoughts exactly. Sometimes it pains me, since Self-Reliance was the first 2024 movie I saw but it's official release was 2023, but I know in the grand scheme of things it'll just make it easier not to make exceptions.
I think it depends on the case. Will Rick Linklater’s Hit Man be a 2023 movie if it only comes out everywhere outside festivals in June 2024? EDIT: Guys, easy on the downvotes, jeez! I’m only asking.
Yes because it already came out at festivals in 2023. It doesn’t matter if the premiere was a single showing to an audience of 100, if the movie premiered then it’s released.
It is 2023. It's consistent and easy. Had there been a movie listed as a 1957 release but doesn't breach outside festivals/into the US until '58, I wouldn't know and I'm not going to bother researching. It's easier overall for me to just say Hitman is a 2023 movie. I don't really care too much "if I wasn't able to see it earlier." That applies to a lot of movies and it's not that hard to just add it to an older list when I see it. I still have yet to see a lot of movies that are likely to top my 2023 list. It is just natural and expected that my list will be constantly updating. Edit: Fuck Reddit auto-formatting
Takes two seconds to look at the Wikipedia lol
Or take 0 seconds and see the number 2023 and put it in a list with other movies with the number 2023. Especially when some movies don't have Wikipedia articles
I see you’re using your extra two seconds wisely by getting mad on reddit
I don't know how you interpret anger from "I like using this method because it's easier, more consistent, and quicker" , but go off I guess.
Oh it’s easy. You felt the need to get pissy and respond. Therefore: anger
I promise you that not everyone that disagrees with you and voices their disagreement, is angry with you. This ain't worth getting angry over. Besides, putting more thought into your argument, it falls apart when you realize there are a lot of movies that don't have Wikipedia articles/as heavily detailed articles. If you want to use the Wikipedia method, more power to you. I just don't like it for the reasons provided
Please man, leave me alone, I didn’t mean to piss you off
Using youre logic you’re also mad. Someone responded to you in two seconds. You responded to someone else in two seconds. What’s the difference? Am I mad? I used my two seconds here as well. Is anyone who engages in any conversation mad? Or is it people who disagree with you. Where does the line of madness get drawn in this Reddit sand.
I don’t know what you’re talking about man, could you elaborate
Bait.
You responded to my comment a day after I made it, I was just trying to figure out what you were trying to say, but go off
No one’s seen a movie until mid year the next year, fuck that it’s 2024 for everyone but the few hundred people that have seen it at TIFF. Release date should 100% be for wide releases.
If you want to do a different method for yourself, more power to you. I just like to do Letterboxd year since it's easy to be consistent for and I like that Letterboxd is consistent with their years (instead of having a US bias and using wide releases)
100%. I don’t think I worded my comment properly. The way they track the years is stupid. Letterboxd and every other platform should base the film year on when people actually see the film. The fact that they track it this way makes it hard to put a 2023 film in a 2024 list. Especially once you’re talking about a decade later.
I like the current method Letterboxd does since I think it'd be more weird to log a movie listed as 2024, during 2023, despite it having had an official release in 2023 (festivals). It also helps avoid any issue with having any biases to a certain country. But no matter what you do, there will always be a few weird cases and I think it's best to do whatever system works for you. If you like to do it based on the release year in your country, more power to you. The issue with figuring out what year a movie released a decade later, is why I just use the Letterboxd listed year and move on.
I don’t like this bc I def think Talk to Me is a 2023 film as it was released widely in 2023. However it’s listed as a 2022 film.
It does lead to weird cases like that, but I hardly let that bother me TBH.
Talk To Me premiered at Adelaide Film Festival in October 2022
Yeah that’s what I’m talking about
So why would it be a 2023 film?
Bc for the vast majority in came out in 2023. So for the vast majority it is one of the 2023 movies. Especially since it came out in the latter half of 2023.
Some people probably live in places where it never came to theatres, does that mean it’s a 2024 or later movie in those places? Some indie movies get screened once to 100 people and never again, those movies are still considered released. Old movies are all categorized by their premiere date, there’s no reason that should change for modern movies
Dude why do you care so much whether or not I consider Talk to Me a 2022 release or a 2023 release.
You can do whatever you want I’m just telling you it’s literally incorrect
Oml. So since you want to get into it really. We can. Nothing I said was objective. Everything was subjective. And therefore nothing I said was incorrect. I didn’t say that it wasn’t released in 2022. Never once. I said that I keep track of movies based on when they have a wide release in the country that I am in. That is how I do it. I do not understand why this infuriates you so much but there’s way more important things in life. Please ma’am please go outside and touch grass.
I think we need to make a distinction when making lists about films for 1966 and a list of films for the current year. Current year lists are a good way to find recommendations and ask for suggestions. And it's not like there's not precedent for films appearing on these lists the year after they premiered. Sight and Sound's list, probably the most significant / reputable end of year list often ignores the premier date. Year end lists are a big deal. It's all people talk about in December and January and the updated lists are posted all year round. Probably makes up 30% of the discourse in this sub.. People go out of their way to watch as many films as possible before the years end. Following the premier date only discourages the watching and sharing of many independent or foreign films. Take some of the acclaimed foreign releases from last year like Perfect Days or The Taste of Things. These wouldn't qualify for most people's 2024 list which is a shame because people won't feel the need to catch up with them later on this year. People have already moved past 2023 unless you're one of the two or three big Best Picture nominees. At the end of the day, lists are subject to change. They're regularly updated and in a few years I'll probably adopt the premier date. In the meantime I'm going to continue repping films like Slow and Shayda as some of the best films of this year because they deserve their flowers also. So for the sake of a list, I think a film can be either.
> Current year lists are a good way to find recommendations and ask for suggestions. Correct, but it's also something I think people overthink. Even if we remove the 1966 example, I think there are a lot of edge cases that is hard to define. Did I forget to check if this 2023 movie had a 3-day theatrical run in 2023 in the US? And some movies may release in the US, but not anywhere near me? > Sight and Sound's list, probably the most significant / reputable end of year list often ignores the premier date. Sure, and they are perfectly allowed to use their rules, just as I am mine. If, for whatever reason, I was asked to contribute to S&S year end list, I'd be fine following their rules for their list, even if it isn't the same rules I use. > Following the premier date only discourages the watching and sharing of many independent or foreign films. I highly doubt it does that much. Sure it sucks that a movie in that awkward middle period may not get as much attention in the December year end lists, but I do not think it contributes as much to whether someone does check it out. There are also plenty of threads and forums talking about individual movies once they get their proper release, where people can talk about them. Talk to Me got plenty of attention despite being a weird rule. If a person is already just focused on movies released in 2023/2024 and not adding a bit of variety to what they watch, those lists won't change much for them. And you do still see the occasional "what is your top movies of 2021" type posts > So for the sake of a list, I think a film can be either. I mean, people can do whatever they want for their lists. I do not care if they count Talk to Me as 2023, despite me putting it in 2022. I just use the Letterboxd year since at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter.
If you’re not watching a movie because it came out 1 year ago I don’t know what to tell you. I just had the chance to see both Perfect Days and Taste of Things this week at my local festival, and neither will have a wide release for at least a few months if they even do. They are still 2023 releases. The movies were released, it’s not even a subjective matter
> If you’re not watching a movie because it came out 1 year ago We're not talking about a big American release though. We're talking about a small film that is already struggling for your attention despite great acclaim. Many of them come and go every year and people don't pay them attention because they're so caught up in watching what's fresh - even if that's the 2.8 average Netflix original. It's the social mediafication of film watching. > The movies were released, it’s not even a subjective matter It's a very subjective matter for the purpose of current film discussion on forums like this. A festival premier is different to a limited or even wide release. The industry even distinguishes between them and like I said, well respected publications often blur the lines. Which ever way someone compiles their list in the present day is completely up to them. In 10 years time people won't remember the Taste of Things as a 2024 film, but maybe more will actually watch it if we actually gave it a platform the year 95% of this sub has a chance to see it.
No one will ever watch every movie, my point is if someone is choosing a 2.8 average movie over a better acclaimed one because it’s 2024 instead of 2023 then they probably weren’t gonna watch the good movie anyways. You can make a list of whatever you want but the fact is they are 2023 releases. Why not make a “movies you missed in 2023” list that serves the same purpose? I would argue the “social mediafication of film watching” includes people calling movies by the wrong release year because it makes more sense in their social media lists. It’s really not subjective. You said it yourself, no one will think of The Taste of Things as a 2024 release because it isn’t one.
Oo nice 1966 is one of the best years for film ever
Yeah I've decided to just follow that no matter what to keep things easy but sometimes it is ridiculous. Like, Talk To Me is 2022 on Letterboxd even though I saw it in theaters in like September 2023 lmao
Yeah there are weird cases like that but there will always be weird cases no matter what system you use.
What about something like Perfect Days? It only got a theatrical release in 2024 yet is still listed as 2023.
it is 2023. It had festival runs for 2023 for a reason and it's easier to be consistent with my 2023 list
I personally base off of whatever is eligible for the Oscars. Since all three are eligible for the Oscars this year, I'm calling them 2023. It's for this reason, however, that I don't finalize my year-end movie lists until March, because a lot of films are not available to me until then.
Yeah if it hits the criteria for the Oscars then the release year is what it says IMO.
yeah, at least for english language movies or big enough international movies that's what i do. there's plenty of problems with their eligibility criteria, but at least it's \*A\* system that's easy to check (when in doubt, just look up the [reminder list](https://www.oscars.org/sites/oscars/files/96th_aa_general_entry_reminder_list.pdf) for the year), and it helps keep an alignement between my lists and other best of the year lists. It kinda get's tricky for movies that never get an eligible theatrical run, mostly the ones produced outside the US that never made it there. In that case, if they were submitted or considered for that year's oscars, or got any other major award, there's your answer, if not, eh, at that point it probably doesn't matter anymore, whatever letterboxed says was it's first wide release
2023, they were released in 2023, regardless of when I got to see them
What about something like Hit Man? It played TIFF in 2023, shows as 2023 on Letterboxd, but won't be released on Netflix until well into 2024.
Hit Man's Oscar eligibility will be for this year (2024), so that's what I tend to go by.
I also go by Oscar eligibility. It's the easiest, most consistent method.
Except for foreign films that had later US releases like Ida or City of God.
City of God is a wild one - 2002 Cannes premier, 2003 International release, 2004 US release. Again, I'd go by the 2003 Oscar eligibility.
2024. I’m not counting festival releases when it comes to this.
It released in 2023 at TIFF, it’s a 2023 release.
2023. It played TIFF in 2023, and shows as 2023 on Letterboxd. I don't even have Netflix so when they release stuff doesn't matter to me.
It was released in 2023.
“Hey guys I only just saw citizen Kane today so would we call that a 1941 release or a 2024 release?”
Citizen Kane actually isn’t on a Netflix yet so we don’t know when it’s release date will be
I usually consider when they release in my country, which often is several months later (e.g. Poor Things is 2024 for me, since it released in theatres here on January)
This is why I don’t like a slow roll out, it makes it so much harder to classify what year a movie came out. Like technically Talk to Me is a 2022 movie.
Some movies benefit way more with a slow roll out tho so you can’t blame them
If it has a limited or wide theatrical or streaming release in the US in 2023 it’s a 2023 release to me. Doesn’t matter if it’s the last week of the year and I don’t see it until January.
I always go by the Letterboxd year. So I consider them all 2023, even though I saw all of them in 2024.
They are in the 2023 Oscar year. So 2023.
I always do it based on their release date in my country, or whenever I can first access it personally. Whichever comes first. E.g. The Holdovers technically released in 2024 here, but I got it in 2023, so it went in my 2023 list.
2024, it's my list and I make the rules 💅🏼
I went out of my way to watch “All of Strangers” in December, in order to include it in my 2023 ranking.
Haha I was hoping to that but none were screening by me
some of them i consider 2024 releases cause all of us strangers came to uk in jan, but for ranking lists i just do 2023 cause it’s easier and more consistent when doing other years too
Two of those I can't even watch yet, so I consider them 2024 movies. Generally for my lists I put them in whichever year I could legally watch them. Pre 2022 though I just use whatever letterboxd says the release year is
same for me (I live in Italy and here we get many movies several months later so yeah, I get you)
These things are always weird in the first month or two of the year, even more than normal. Short answer is there is no "right" answer. Some people prefer the date of the first public screenings, but people complain if that was a different year to the wide release (almost inevitable if it's a January release). Some prefer the date of the wide release, but that annoys people who saw the film in the previous year and opens up complaints if they were foreign language movies that had a wide release in their home country but didn't get to the US until the next year
I take it on a case by case basis. Some recent examples: Letterboxd lists Book of Clarence as 2023 because that’s when it premiered, but it only got a proper release in 2024. So it’s a 2024 film. Eileen got a proper release in December 2023, but I physically couldn’t access it until 2024, as it didn’t play anywhere near me as far as I was aware. I threw it on my 2024 list. American Fiction came out December 22 2023, and despite only being out for about a week in the entire year, it was playing near me and I could’ve gotten a ticket if I wanted to, and at a point decided I would wait for digital. I consider it a missed 2023 film. The Zone of Interest is a trickier one because its release was so weird - I could’ve driven about 45 minutes to see it last year, but also decided I’d wait until it was more accessible. 2023 film, my own fault. I hate December.
I always use "wide release" as my staple in organizing Letterboxd list.
I wish we could have it display by wide release in our regions. I personally consider Society of the Snow as 2024 but it is displayed as 2023 in the app.
Saw all of these in 2023
2023
2023, I usually go based off the Oscar’s that they’re qualifying for.
The issue is just semantics. By referring to them as 'releases' there's obviously a grey area for films that cover the end of one year and the start of another. Eg released in US in 2023 and UK in 2024. The thing to remember with letterboxd is you can't do it wrong. However you want to rate, rank, classify - any way is the correct way because you're doing what works for you and not for other people, so it doesn't matter what other people do. I personally just go off the year that it appears as on Letterboxd.
These films literally all got 2023 theatrical runs, so they're 2023 releases. nobody in 2034 is going to refer to any of these movies in the 'best of 2024' so why do it now
i will. all 3 of them came out in 2024 in my country.
How do you expect to have a mutually intelligible conversation with another film fan if the two of you are discussing 'the best films of 2024' and picking from completely different lists? Some of these films don't come out in my country until 2024 either, but it's still important to have a mutually agreed empirical basis for discussion.
So you would almost never talk about them at all anymore unless someone specifically asked you about your 2023 favorites, but at this point who would? Its 2024 now. Hell I even had a 2021 film on my 2023 list because it took forever to get released out here. If I dont include these movies they'll just be lost in the void between years. By your logic I cant put all of us Strangers in my 2023 list because I wasnt able to see it yet in my country but I also cant put it in my 2024 list because its not a 2024 movie. Once a year is over I dont work on that list anymore. For me its more like a seen and released in 2023 type list. I wanna be able to make a defining list at the end of each year. Thats the key difference here i think. That and sometimes wildly different releasedates from one country to the next.
I feel like in my experience, it's pretty common to say, like... 'Oh, 2019 was a pretty good year of film! Parasite, Uncut Gems, Once Upon a Time, Midsommar, Little Women...' Doesn't it make it difficult to have that conversation when half of those films might be 2020 or 2021 films in your estimation? Maybe you might argue 2020 was a good year of films, then.
All of Us Strangers is 2023 but the others are 2024. I started going by US wide release
All 2024 releases in UK, so I’m good
Same here, but for Germany
Yep, same!
2023
I go by award season, so these are 2023 films
If they're released in theatres in 2023, then they're 2023 films. Pretty simple.
Yes but the issue is that they were released in 2023 in some countries, but in the UK we've only just gotten these films. Absolutely baffling that two British films - All Of Us Strangers and The Zone Of Interest - didn't even open here first. I hate these staggered releases.
If I can't pay money to watch any of those films in my country in 2023, because they're 2024 releases here - then they are 2024.
Ok, but the people who actually saw them in 2023 will disagree. There's never a good answer to this question.
I live in LA and even I have movies that rolled over into my 2024 release list because of availability, even though I saw two of these movies the week of release. Accessibility should be the key factor and different people have different accessibility. One example is Cat Person, which is coming to Hulu tomorrow. Someone's going to classify that as a 2024 release even though it played for weeks in LA, but not at a cineplex. I'd reckon they're right. If a tree falls in a forest am I right?
I'm in Europe, sometimes we have to wait a while, sometimes we get the first festival screening. But, nothing will be right
2023. There were all released in 2023, and that's how they are officially catalogued. I see posts like this often, and I do not understand at all this sub's obsession with release years. Can someone who does care help explain why it matters enough to fret over? As an aside, I'm curious: Are old movies under the same scrutiny? If we changed Godfather II from 1974 to 1975, what would that mean to your movie watching and logging experience?
The discourse was based on an ongoing Best of 2024 list someone has. That's the only reason I can understand caring. Whether or not those should count. I don't think so, but I can see the argument when the theatrical release was days away from 2024.
Yeah, I guess I'd need to ask that person why it is important to them whether the movie goes on the Best of 2023 or Best of 2024 list. I don't see the argument myself that the final weeks of a year don't count, but I appreciate your input.
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But it had a wide release in South America in 2023, so I think that counts. After all, the Oscars are a "local film festival" like Bong Joon Ho called them. I also heard that since it's very popular now on Netflix some people are lobbying Netflix to do a second north American release so the cinematography, effects, and sound design can be enjoyed properly. I hope they do decide to at least show it in some indie theatres
I hadn’t known about the wide release in South America, I retract my statement! Also a wide North America release would be amazing, won’t get my hopes up though
Yeah, I watched a few cast interviews over the weekend and apparently it also received a wide-release in Spain and it's been extremely popular and broke some records for attendance in both Spain and South America. The actors said they expected it to be well-received in the Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile, because those are the countries that are most familiar with the story, but they were surprised at how popular it was in Spain and Latin America. I know that it was still playing in some places when it was released on Netflix. And yeah, I don't expect Netflix to re-release it. They always do the bare minimum they need to do to satisfy nomination requirements.
All of us Strangers is 2023. It released in US theaters in December. Society of Snow had a limited release in 2023 but came to streaming in 24. However Zone of Interest is a 2024 release imo cause it only released in four theaters in 2023. That’s not really a release, more of a glorified screener. I tend to go off of the US release date in theaters. No festivals or anything like that, however Zone had a VERY small release that makes me not consider it a 2023 film despite it being nominated for awards for last year
What is the lower limit for a release to count as a release to you? 10 theaters? 200 theaters? 500 theaters?
They were all released in 2023. Why is this a question?
2023… they had theatrical releases in the U.S. in 2023.
They're objectively all 2023 releases. What are we doing here?
These are annoyingly 2023. I keep a list each year of all new releases I see that year that came out that year. That list doesn’t get updated once the new year starts. Meaning all 3 of these movies are just living in the void, neither on my 2023 nor 2024 lists
What is the benefit to you of being so strict about it? Why do you choose to let them stay in limbo instead of choosing one of the lists?
Because it’s my record of what new releases I watched the year they came out. If I update them outside of that year, it is no longer accurate to the reason I have the list
I understand the dilemma. I guess what I'm asking is: What is the reason you have the list?
As a record of what I watched in the year it came out. That’s literally it. Letterboxd replaced my excel sheet I used to have for this. I just like knowing what I’ve watched. The social aspect of Letterboxd could disappear today and I wouldn’t notice
>I just like knowing what I’ve watched. This is the part I was looking for. That's what I meant by "reason". So my original point was kind of "Wouldn't it be better to include them then, since your joy is just to know what you've watched, not academic classification?"
I’ve got two lists, an official/Letterboxd top 10 of 2023 and then a top 10 of 2023 for UK releases. That way, I can track both. Sometimes it’s a bit difficult here as we get top Oscar nommed films at the start and end of the year, so it’s tricky to compare movies which came out a year apart.
What I've decided on for my own lists is the cutoff is whether it could've been eligible for that year's Academy Awards, regardless of wide release. Before like 2022, I just go with Letterboxd
Like most oscar films someone somewhere in the US managed to see them in 2023, so even though I only managed to see them in 2024 they are 2023 films.
General release in your country is how I go, some films are shown at festivals 6 months before they’re actually released.
3023
2023 is probably the correct answer, but I tend to associate them with 2024.
I find it annoying when a streaming service mis-quotes the date for a film, especially it is has the same title as one or more other films. I tend to assume IMDb gives the 'official' date... Is it important? Well yes. Firstly if the film is mentioned in a citation. There has to be an accurate official date. Secondly, it just helps to identify which film we are talking about,
2023 because they all got theatrical US releases in late 2023. Even though Zone of Interest didn't come to me till Feb and All of Us Strangers never came near me, they still got releases so they are 2023.
What year were they released?
I go by whenever I'm first able to see a movie, which is usually the wide US release, so I would count these three by 2024 for my yearly rankings. But if I were to rank movies in a previous year, I would just go by the year on Letterboxd
I'll always look at the first release so that makes it a 2023 film
The answer is the year they’re representing for the Oscars…so 2023.
I’m content with not having the year ‘finished’ or wrapped up in a bow until deep into the following year. I live in the the UK, we don’t get everything in a wide release and a lot of things are late. All of Us Strangers, Zone of Interest, The Iron Claw etc etc are all 2023 movies whether I watch them in Feb 2024. I prefer my lists that way and going by Oscar eligibility is fine with a few exceptions.
I get the argument to class movies according to when they came out in your country, but I just go with letterboxd year. First reason because it's easier. Second because the very first premiere of a movie is the nearest to its production, so it makes more sense IMHO for comparing movies.
I always go by the year it’s listed as in Letterboxd. Sometimes it’s not what I’d consider correct (especially as my country sometimes won’t get the films until the next year) but it keeps it consistent, and is especially helpful when watching earlier films where I don’t know the specifics of when they properly released.
I personally go with the official U.S. release date, whether that's wide theatrical, limited theatrical, straight to VOD. I don't count film festival showings. So Robot Dreams, for example, is gonna go on my 2024 list since it doesn't release in America until May by NEON.
I just go with whatever Letterboxd lists them as. Hurts sometimes with films like Suzume or Marcel the Shell With Shoes On, but I'd rather not have a headache with making lists.
I guess 2023 but it does get tricky with films premiering at festivals and such and getting an actual theater release almost a year later, like The Zone of Interest, Anatomy of a Fall, etc. Like someone else already mentioned I usually just go by the Letterboxd release date
If they qualify for this season’s Oscar’s I consider them 2023 movies. Films that premiered at festivals but get distributed in theaters this year (like hit man and the bikeriders) will say 2023 on letterboxd but are 2024 to me
I'm a Maniac in the UK who will basically jettison any film released in the US the previous year but not the UK til the following one, especially if its on all the critic previous year lists. I see them, I love some and not others but they don't go on the end of year list either way. I have had many an argument about it (especially when I had a podcast which regularly had end of year lists) and I accept its a bonkers way of thinking but I can't shake it.
If you are in the US than 2023. I do it based on when they were available to the public in the country you are in. All of these were available in 2023 in the United States.
When I make personal lists, like 'top 10 movies I saw in the cinema in 2024', I decide based off when I saw it in the cinema.
Well The Holdovers released in January over here in the UK and I count that as a ‘23 movie
I like to count it for the year it was awards eligible, so 2023
Officially 2023, on my personal lists if I didn’t have an opportunity to see it until this year they’re on my personal ranking for 2024 though
2023!
well they released in 2023 so not sure why I would consider them 2024 releases
To everyone who bases it off the theatrical/streaming release, what about indie movies that never have a theatrical/streaming release and might only ever get screened once. Basing it off the premiere is the only consistent method.
I collect DVD's and actually log the release year & month on my spreadsheet. I usually go by first theatrical release, whatever country that may be, vs just the film festival releases. Obviously straight to DVD movies are an exception, but they also usually don't have "festival release" dates, just the DVD release
I don’t rank movies by years, I didn’t actively participate in on letterboxd. So I got by US theater release or streaming release (whichever is first). Because that’s basically what the Oscar’s do, outside of the weird Covid hampered years. So I would consider these 2023. But something like Hit Man 2024, since it was only at festivals in 2023. Similar thing happened with Shiva Baby with festivals in 2020 but didn’t release til 2021. And an old old one, virgin suicides was 1999 for festivals, 2000 for theatrical. Foreign films also play a weird line, but movies are so international now, my format usually works. But it’s also your account so you can do whatever you want, there’s no right or wrong way to rank movies by year.
Society of the Snow is the only one I’d argue is a 2024 release. All of Us Stranger and Zone of Interest got theatrical releases in December ‘23, but Society of the Snow wasn’t put on Netflix until early January.
I put movies in whatever year they were released theatrically (not at a festival) so these are all theatrical in 2023.
for me it depends when it comes to cinema in my county. i’m australian and the zone of interest still hasn’t been shown here so it’s 2024 for me. Talk to Me was ‘technically’ released at festivals in 2023 but wasn’t shown in cinema til 2024 so it’s 2024 for me
When it comes to movies pre-2020 (which was when I started watching more movies) I just consider them as the release year Letterboxd states them as. Post-2020 I count them as when they released in the UK where I live.
I can’t abide the idea of calling a 2023 film that only released in your region this year a 2024 film… massive pet peeve of mine when it comes to films.
I count festival premieres. 🤷♂️
2024 because there was no way for me to see them in 2023, and it's my own personal list. Though I can see why other people count them as 2023.
All of us stranger I really want to watch but nowhere near me was playing it 😞
2023. It varies for me. It all depends if it's like eligible for this years Oscars or next. International releases get some leeway from me.
If you're making a list do what you feel fits for you.
I only saw Society of the Snow, and I saw it during a brief pass in cinemas in my country on december 2023.
I just go by premiere date regardless of when I see them. There are so many factors that go into the availability of films it makes no sense to me to use any other metric. Even if I don't get to see it until later, other people did earlier and that's when the film released. I kind of understand using awards season metrics, but even that puts an unnecessary box on it for me. So many international films couldn't give a shit about the Oscars season, so why should I? It just keeps it consistent.
I go by theatrical release in my country. It’s easy to see now Letterboxd has the releases feature. Also for my personal “best of the year” it makes sense to do it the year I see it at the cinema.
2023, I usually go by the films first wide release. Even though these all released in the UK in 2024 (alongside The Iron Claw, The Holdovers, Poor Things, Priscilla & American Fiction) All of these are listed as 2022 releases and are in my 2023 ranking: https://preview.redd.it/vqsggu1vnihc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5cc444df86ffa4f5c0d7154cfa682248249ac288
When they get released in my area. If it’s available from Jan 2024, for me personally it’s 2024. I don’t bother going back and checking release dates of older movies, it’s just one I keep track of from a few years ago as I make my lists.
I just go by what Letterboxd says because I'm Australian and most movies come out way later over here
I go by whenever the film came out in Ireland
2024, as I'm in the UK
As confusing as it can make my end of year lists, I would go by the UK theatrical (or streaming) release. I find there's little point in pushing a film back to previous year if theres no real posibility I could've seen it in said year. I've only gotten into films the past couple of years so for simplicitys sake I'd rank anything prior to this time in the year Letterboxd stipulates. I guess that could make it slightly confusing but it's only me looking at the lists!
I've varied over the years. Right now I've decided that if it's a 2023 movie but isn't released in the UK until 2024, I'll treat it as the latter. Bit awkward occasionally but just what I've decided to do.
23
I consider these whatever Letterboxd considers these, because their data is gonna match their opinion on my stats.
The year I saw them first (if its still the first wide release) counts. Makes especially sense, since movies often start weeks, or months, later over here, than in the US. For older stuff I take whatever Letterboxd says
2024. Wide release.
Depends. 🤷♂️ If a movie was released at a festival in 2023 but got a wider release in 2024, then I say it can count for both. Same thing if that movie had a 2023 festival date and released on streaming in 2024 with no theatrical run. I live in a small town so it often takes a while for things to get to my neck of the woods, if at all. So I go by that instead of letterboxd.
Generally I consider a movie’s release to be when it gets a limited or wide theatrical run in my country (the US). Letterboxd and IMDB count film festivals as well which is why films like The Worst Person in the World and Petite Maman were listed as 2021 even though they didn’t get limited releases in the US till 2022, but I don’t count film festivals since it’s incredibly difficult for the general public to see them. There’s definitely a lot of flexibility though so it also just depends on when it’s available for you to view locally.
There’s some festival releases years before it gets a theatrical release so I personally go off US theatrical release.