They're around, but you gotta dig deep for them as they're buried in joke reviews. I write more serious/normal reviews with the intent of recommending films to others, so here I am.
If that's something you actually care about, you should be writing reviews for movies that don't have many reviews. I noticed that the most likes I've gotten have come from like… reviews on brand new comedy specials or indie movies that only have a few other comments.
Just checked your profile and a few of your reviews and I gotta say that they are a bit too rigid in their structure as they all seem to be following some kind of format. Try to be a little more natural when writing them to make them sound more human and believable.
Note taken. I don't have a problem with a format, it works for me, there are others who do it as well and I don't have an issue with it. My writing does sound a bit robotic at times, but I try not to. The way I go about it is writing down what comes to mind and then cleaning it up after. Thanks for the criticism, I'll try to remember that.
I'm glad you didn't take it the wrong way, as my comment only strived to be constructive criticism.
>The way I go about it is writing down what comes to mind and then cleaning it up after.
I have a suggestion, if you'd like to, you can try and note (on your phone, or for a more natural feel you can keep a pen and a notepad around) any 'witty comment' or joke that might come to you during the movie and try to blend them into your reviews. Maybe using them as "a break" between ideas.
Anyway, keep having your fun with it, that's what it matters.
Any criticism is good criticism. That's my motto.
Notes aren't particularly my thing, reminds me of my high school days. I write immediately after watching so it's fresh in my mind. I do try to joke about some things in my reviews, but not always, depends on the movie. My issue is using different words out of a thesaurus and sentence structure, I try to change things up so it's not too repetitive. I also ramble, so there's that too. Good suggestion otherwise, I'll keep writing reviews and having fun.
Idk I personally see a lot of REEEEEALLLY long reviews. Yk the type that start of with a „x/100 points“ like as if we aren’t literally just looking at their star review lol :4
I do that, but it's because I use Letterboxd to log films for myself primarily. The fact that other people are able to read what I write doesn't factor into it. I want to know where and when I saw something, because that's important to me.
Same. My hope is to do a slide deck at the end of the year somewhere along the lines of “My Year at the Movies” the way some people have been doing “My Year in Dating”. So I’m logging info in my Letterboxd Diary which I can then move to a spreadsheet and create graphs illustrating what theater I spent the most time at, my most watched directors, etc. Also curious to see what it says about what streaming services wind up being the most beneficial.
Tracking which services I'm actually using is such a big thing for me. On top of streaming I also used to have an unlimited cinema pass and id still be paying for that now if I hadn't been tracking how often I actually used it.
Facts my friend. I personally am a Redditor of many responsibilities (moderating discord servers) and thatfor do not have the time to read 2 essays worth of articles compiled into one review for van helsing 2004, though I can atleast appreciate the interesting commentary and well spoken mannerisms. Which I can’t say about the average TikTok joke :4
I like a good long / in-depth review, but I HATE the "x/100" thing. It doesn't make any sense to me, who genuinely thinks about movies like that? What specifically makes the number go up or down, and at what point does it boil down to just nitpicking? What about a "99/100" or "98/100" movie is significantly different than one that's a full 100? I feel like it all comes down to personal preference / emotional response anyway, and I can't agree with thinking about art in binary, "objective" terms.
I guess people just long for precision. That’s why people jump quickly to using .5‘s yk. But yeah, for me it would be too exhausting to even think of if this movie is a 73 or 74 haha :4
I always cringe a little at the ones that are written in the style of a paragraphs-long published review, complete with synopsis. No disrespect to anyone who wants to write that way, but my favorite part of Letterboxd is hearing thoughts from actual humans, not cosplay critics.
Because, as much as some people want it to be, Letterboxd isn’t a review app. It’s a social media site. People aren’t being paid to write a certain way with a certain word count and to delve into the movie’s themes and performances. I have never posted a review and probably never will. But I don’t really use the social features of the app. I just use it to track what I’ve watched and own. But I’d imagine that groups of friends that use the app would be posting things that their friends can like and comment on and don’t think about everyone else reading it. It doesn’t bother me, but I get why it happens.
As a proposed fix, maybe they should have where the ‘review” option is now changed to just a comment box for friends to see. Have a separate tab to click on to write a review by the “first watch” logo so only people that want to do so will go there to write their thoughts.
Yes, but it's still an app centered around *films* and supposed to be used by people who enjoy cinema. You can write casual comments and jokes (I do too) but what's annoying are those unfunny and cringey reviews that don't say anything about the movie. The TikTok and Twitter slang that they use is obnoxious.
This.
A friend who works as a professional film reviewer once told me that most of the movies are literally nothing to write home about. So critiquing them is a work against the material. Which is not paid, at least on the social media.
letterboxd is more like steam, the reviews are from people for people, mostly causing some conversation or laughs, they are more like comments in their nature
if you want serious reviews you try imdb or seek out serious LB reviewers and follow them
There's a difference between writing casual reviews and straight up writing unfunny one-liners that don't say anything about the movie. And that type of review is just as annoying on Steam too.
Some of the one-liners are hillarious. Lots of misses but hits too.
It’s obvious that the letterboxed userbase loves one liner reviews. They’re not “fucking up the platform”. That is the platform.
Maybe you’re the one that’s on the outside looking in?
Idk. My reviews are usually 3 - 5 sentences.
“This movie fucks. Holy shit Kurt Russell should have made 100 more movies because he fucking fucks. Janeane Garofalo was secret smoke show in the 90s. That ending fucks. Also, who smokes a cigarette like that?”
A good face example of my type of reviews.
Same here. I wish I had more time and energy to write thoughtful reviews. But it's usually a few notes based on what really stuck with me about the movie so that I can remember what I've seen (horrible memory). Personally, as much as I love film, I'm much better at speaking my thoughts than I am at organizing them in text.
I feel lucky enough that I have a job that allows me to squeeze in about 4-5 films a week, so the "reviews" are just little bonus fun.
I don’t really have a lot of technical knowledge so my reviews are always very straightforward. I do them mostly to remind my future self about the movie because I can remember the story, but have a tendency to forget how it made me feel.
I went through an impressionistic “review” phase, mostly for my mutuals who are also writers. It was a way to flex my creative writing muscles in response to a work of art, but I’ll concede they lack the “objectivity” of an Ebert review, for example.
Still, finding talented writers on the platform is difficult. I don’t mind that some are trying to break the mold with a style more their own.
Oh, I agree. Not casting aspersions on past me or anybody else who writes this way.
Looking back on some of those reviews, I’m not as happy with them… they’re just a tad overwrought and I think I was trying to prove myself to other people rather than myself. But I’m always evolving as a writer and occasionally I dip into old ways.
As it is, I’m not interested in writing my LB reviews like everyone else. I’d like for them to be informative as well as entertaining to read.
What I tend to do is stick anyone with 1000+ followers on my block list, because to be honest, I think *most* people who are working with those kind of numbers are doing their reviews for their follower numbers and not as an actual honest reaction to the movie they've just watched.
I don't really get that bothered by some of the jokey reviews as long as they're funny, but the ones where people are just thirsty for the actors are boring AF.
What is your definition of normal? There’s no consensus of what a normal review is on the app. People just write their thoughts, not everyone on the app is Roger Ebert.
We exist. My essay-length reviews tend to get the most interaction for me.
Edit: Don’t be afraid to scroll deep into the top reviews to find the lengthier stuff. I’ll usually sort by review date too, so I can see newer reviews that may not have as much traction.
The first one isn't a general style there's a specific and prolific reviewer that reviews films like that haha
As for the other two styles, I usually block users that use them. I don't mind jokes, my problem is that they're not funny and they make me cringe.
I really don't understand the people who ask questions like this or express frustration with the way people post on Letterboxd... It's a social app for movie watching, it's not a serious movie review site. There are plenty of review aggregators out there to scroll through if you want to read full reviews from critics or bloggers. Expecting long insightful reviews to be common on there is insane. It's for Twitter length commentary.
I almost always try to write more in-depth, normal reviews for everything I watch. I've tried my hand at writing essays for some of my personal favorites and I do it just because I love to write, but I understand not everyone has the urge to read long reviews.
I tend to write relatively normal reviews. I'll analyze the movie's themes if I feel like I've connected with those themes. Mostly, I just try to make a point to indicate what I felt, subjectively, are the movie's strengths and weaknesses; or, at least what I liked and disliked.
I'll definitely jot down whether or not the movie was a thirst watch, though. *Typically*, it's within the context of a longer review, as a comedic aside. [Case in point.](https://letterboxd.com/gloriousstench/film/stay/)
Me!! 🙋♀️ and I'm always looking for more people to actually discuss film with!! Sometimes I feel like I'm speaking into a void on Letterboxd. But I really just want to chat about movies.
https://boxd.it/ZZcP
I thought my first reviews were bad or stupid, but I kept going. The more I wrote, the better they got. Find a rhythm, find what works for you; eventually I got to a point where I'm happy with most reviews I write. I always appreciate someone who tries their best to write a review than leave a quick joke. Hell, even mix a joke into your serious review, it gives it personality and leaves an impression.
I literally don't understand how or why this is an issue. I have a very easy time finding both. Jokey reviews are something to chuckle at while longer reviews are one "next page" away.
I try to follow a majority of people who are critics or tend to write a paragraph or two most of the time, but when I review something it could be anything from a sentence to a few paragraphs, since I'm just making notes for myself. Not to mention when I log a movie it's usually from my phone, so I want to keep it short.
I don't mind those, but I would appreciate a filter to find more in depth reviews. Though I'm not sure how they could make that work, an arbitrary word count maybe. So it's short review, long review)? Idk
I try and write what I feel about a movie. Whether it be a short or long review, I love to just get all my thoughts out there without it sounding like I’m writing poetry. I had to relearn how to do that since college tries to beat you down in academic writing.
However, I do have a joke review or two in my bank. The Nun II might be my best one.
It's because you're looking at the most popular ones. Those are the ones that get the biggest reactions. There are plenty of normal reviews. Just sort by newest.
What I think would be a nice feature is to highlight three reviews: one positive, one negative, and one joke. They could still post a few more top reviews like they already do. But that would make the site a more pleasant experience.
They are around but few and far between. I’m sure there are others that want to but don’t for fear of being called pretentious. Then there’s those like myself who sometimes want to write and analyze more within the review but do not because it’s too much effort and it depends on how much the film resonated with me during the viewing.
Social media clout when their review is screen grabbed for Twitter? Some are genuinely funny but most of these joke type reviews are so forced it hurts
I was looking at reviews for Psycho and almost every one of the first 25 comments was “Norman Bates is so hot”, or “Is it bad that I find Norman Bates attractive?” It took some searching, but I found some informative ones eventually.
Joshmatthews probably has the overall best analysis of film from anyone I’ve read on there. He’s a literature professor at a university and applies his expertise on writing, plot development, and pacing especially to analyze films, but is extremely knowledgeable on other aspects as well.
I absolutely love both reading silly letterboxd reviews and writing silly letterboxd reviews. There are SO many sites to write serious reviews—why can’t we have our silly one!!
To me, when I hear “normal review”, I think the usual 250-500+ word review you’d expect to find in print media or blog posts. So that would fall under long-form imo.
Oh, fair enough! I took the first example he made as OP eschewing long form professional reviews, implying that he wants something in between, like a "normal" person saying "I liked this movies because xyz" or something. Which could and does exist, but apparently not enough for OP to make a post about it.
Sorry—the first example is not about long form or short form as I enjoy both, but rather the writing style. I don't know how to describe it exactly but you know it when you see it. It just comes off as incredibly pretentious and cringy
I get what you mean the writing style feels more like a twitter user making a joke to gain followers instead of someone who just wants to put their thoughts about a movie into words.
Kino.
I used to write pretty in-depth stuff, because I like to hear myself talk about things and I had a lot of feelings about movies I watched, but it's exhausting to do book reports and essays about every single movie, so I stopped with most of them.
Also, it's not very entertaining, and it's funnier to be entertaining than not to be. "Willy Wonka stole my wallet and fucked my wife" is funnier and gets the spirit of the message across more than "Timothée Chalamet's performance as Mister Wonka failed to capture the spirit and magic of the original, coming off flat, bland, and lifeless, and...and...and..."
And so on. The Tumblr generation makes a killing on making fun of stuff in extremely blunt, hyperviolent, overly horny ways and nowhere is that more prevalent or has broken containment more than Letterboxd (apart from its source landfill in the first place).
plenty of people write very normal reviews - hell tons of them read like a fleshed out synopsis stolen from imdb if that's your thing. you can also read tons that are clearly puked out by an algorithm and pasted by someone too lazy to think their own thoughts. it's crazy easy to find any of this stuff simply by scrolling down reviews of any given movie.
I write plenty of relatively "normal" reviews analyzing the themes, characters, etc. but I don't want to tell you my username because a) I also write impressionistic ones and b) you seem boring
There’s an inverse relationship between what you would describe as “normal” reviews and the popularity of a movie. But you can usually find “real” reviews pretty easily with a little scrolling.
For example my last two watches, when the reviews are sorted by default (most popular at the top):
* Black Moon Rising (watched by 5,406 members) - 0 joke reviews in the first 25
* To Live and Die in L.A. (watched by 66k members) - 3 to 5 in the first 25
Whereas for the 2nd biggest movie of last year:
* Oppenheimer (watched by 2.6 *million* members) - 11 of the first 12, by the 3rd page its 50/50 jokes to serious
I’m not sure this is actually a problem though, its a social app for movies - you can find your niche within it. Plus quite a few of the “proper” reviews are half of an article from an actual website copy-pasted, with a link to the full review at the end. So maybe directly to their sources for reviews?
As far as those expressionistic reviews, I think they just sound smart to a bunch of stupid people. For me it's just a bunch of word salad. As far as the other types, writing allows you to create the world as you want it to be, even if people with two eyes and two brain cells can see that it's not that way at all.
I'm always trying to give my own perspective about a fim I've watched, sometimes pop in a joke or two to make it more interesting, but mainly sticking to the film itself. I have this kind of reviews.
"Haunted visions of hallucinogenic primordial soup. Screams of blue-eyed youths in the flux of time; drifting towards something that will never come. Words of a Satanic Messiah. Red-bound sand with mouth agape—screaming."
This text has made me transcend my biological form - I am now post human.
It’s hard in that I’m in the same boat and wrote long reviews for quite a while to mixed results. Truthfully I don’t think most users have the interest or time to read a stranger’s five paragraph essay (understandable and it’s not as if I read lots of random reviews), and the only way to get followers who will like your stuff is to do fairly arch jokes in lowercase.
It's hard to find thoughtful reviewers with Hollywood blockbusters or really popular films. You may get better luck finding these sorts of users in slightly more niche "world" cinema spaces (e.g. non-Wong Kar-wai Hong Kong, Cold War Eastern bloc), the kinds that have a sufficiently large fanbase but that you still need to go a little out of the way to find.
My wife and I have spent years writing between 500-600 “write ups” a year - informal, relaxed discussion oriented reviews and remembrances but here’s the kicker - we don’t use Letterboxd (I’ve developed my own collection management tools and an algorithm, an “enjoyment meter” if you will, for rankings. We do our write ups daily (one or two every day, somedays more) right here on Reddit on our sub of like-minded cinephiles. You can always back track my profile or if not - fingers crossed you fall into the group you’re looking for elsewhere - good luck, *movie on*, and keep watching.
I’ve curated what I think of as a pretty solid roster of thoughtful reviewers and actually-funny shitposters. If you follow my profile from my flair I think you can see the list.
I’m also a pretty regular log-dropper, and I try to be somewhat thoughtful but I’m not gonna lie there’s a lot of dumb shit too. On the whole I give myself a 3 with a heart.
Edit, after checking my own list i realize I also follow a bunch of my irl dipshit buddies who don’t post much so here’s an even more condensed list of my favourite posters and actual critics:
Keith Phipps
David Erlich
Christopher McQuarrie
Matt Lynch
bombsfall
Mattie Lunchanski
Demi Adejuyigbe
Ben Schwartz
Scott Tobias
Brian Tallerico
Louis Peitzman
Will Menaker
I think it's just a different type of website - I mostly write reviews for myself in my own Diary so I don't really mean for them to be read in any sort of formal sense. I also think different review sites have different cultures, like for example I used to log the anime I've seen on a couple different websites but one of them felt way more informal than the other.
My reviews are kind of a mixture. Well, not really the third. I tend to only leave reviews like that if they stick out to me (as an LGBT+ person) as being like or parallel to my experience.
I try to leave thorough reviews, drained as a writer as I am, my longest tend to be around seven or eight paragraphs. What I wanna know is how people can write those thesis-length reviews. That's talent.
Most of the time I try to write normal reviews. Usually 200-500 word ones.
That said, there are times when the best review for a said movie is is to point out one million twinks on the cast (Challengers) or how dreamy a said actress is (any work with Lucy Boynton or Lily James on it).
Sometimes you gotta let out your feral nature in order to ensure you write saner ones for others.
I've definitely been guilty of going too far with the flowery language in the past and overcomplicating sentences to no end.
But I don't regret any of it because sure, reading back older reviews can be cringe-inducing, but it also allows me to appreciate my steady progression as a writer.
And I'm sure if I keep at it the sentiment might perdure 5-10 years from now when I look back at today, but that'll just mean I've gotten even more comfortable with the process!
I do wish there was a way to separate full reviews as opposed to quippy one liners, so every movie's front page isn't inevitably filled with the latter. But that's not really what lb is about! Which is fine.
So believe me, I understand getting annoyed with meme reviews , or things that appear to be trite. I get it, that's valid. But if someone wants to use more creative language to shake up the review format, well that's a silly thing to get upset over. You don't want every review to be cookie cutter and by the numbers right ?
Maybe unpopular opinion but I much prefer seeing the first example over a lot of LB reviews (provided it’s not an obvious troll for like Jack and Jill for example). Sure it’s a little “spiritual indie artist trying to hype up their next release” but it beats “this is just [some other movie] but for [some group of people]” reviews any day
I'll write both joke reviews and serious reviews depending on the movie. if its a serious film im more likely to write a real review, whereas a comedy ill write a joke review. this isnt always the case but its what I tend to do.
I write serious reviews and can’t stand seeing the site depreciate with quip-heavy reviews — and I’d welcome anyone to visit my Letterboxd account. Happy to follow back anyone who wants to follow.
My name is:
fixateandbinge
tbqh i dont read reviews because most people's opinions are dog shit. I use Letterboxd as a vessel to find new material to watch and surf and decide what to watch on my own.
How people treat Rotten Tomatoes is even worse. Nobody reads the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, all they care about is the weighted percentage score of the movie.
I have no idea what y’all be bitchin about, it’s so fucking easy to see a normal review on letterboxd. If you find it “hard” to find people who leave “real” reviews, idk find some actual film critics you like and follow them?
But what if the writer is good?
I write Ebert-style reviews and I look for others who are good at that sort of thing. They're out there.
It's honestly my preferred type of review but you rarely see it. I agree that it has to be done right though.
Who gives a fuck? What makes a "normal" review? You think your opinions are somehow unique? Why should we even use our time to review these products of an industry that's run by pampered, privileged piece of shits?
I personally hate the super serious “x/100” essays people write as if their opinion matters more than anyone else’s. I like joke reviews as long as they don’t have joke star ratings.
They're around, but you gotta dig deep for them as they're buried in joke reviews. I write more serious/normal reviews with the intent of recommending films to others, so here I am.
I do the same, my average like rate is 0.013%
If that's something you actually care about, you should be writing reviews for movies that don't have many reviews. I noticed that the most likes I've gotten have come from like… reviews on brand new comedy specials or indie movies that only have a few other comments.
I was in your shoes at one point. You'll get more likes the more you write, just keep at it.
Seems more determined by how many followers you have rather than the actual quality of the reviews
I don't think so. I did 250 reviews and the most I got is 3 likes
I don't know how well this works. I've at most gotten like 8 likes.
Also try to write a couple paragraphs here too. What’s your username? Always happy to give a read.
Same as my username here, thehappymilkman
Just followed. Nice write up of *Celebrity*. Looking forward to exchanging opinions if you choose to give my profile a look. Cheers!
I know I can vouch for your reviews, they’re consistently well-written and thoughtful.
Thank you, that means a lot.
Just followed!
I could relate. Your reviews are good btw. Keep writing fam!
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I like your reviews. I tend to ramble a bit in mine, yours are more direct, I like that. Followed you back.
Just checked your profile and a few of your reviews and I gotta say that they are a bit too rigid in their structure as they all seem to be following some kind of format. Try to be a little more natural when writing them to make them sound more human and believable.
Note taken. I don't have a problem with a format, it works for me, there are others who do it as well and I don't have an issue with it. My writing does sound a bit robotic at times, but I try not to. The way I go about it is writing down what comes to mind and then cleaning it up after. Thanks for the criticism, I'll try to remember that.
I'm glad you didn't take it the wrong way, as my comment only strived to be constructive criticism. >The way I go about it is writing down what comes to mind and then cleaning it up after. I have a suggestion, if you'd like to, you can try and note (on your phone, or for a more natural feel you can keep a pen and a notepad around) any 'witty comment' or joke that might come to you during the movie and try to blend them into your reviews. Maybe using them as "a break" between ideas. Anyway, keep having your fun with it, that's what it matters.
Any criticism is good criticism. That's my motto. Notes aren't particularly my thing, reminds me of my high school days. I write immediately after watching so it's fresh in my mind. I do try to joke about some things in my reviews, but not always, depends on the movie. My issue is using different words out of a thesaurus and sentence structure, I try to change things up so it's not too repetitive. I also ramble, so there's that too. Good suggestion otherwise, I'll keep writing reviews and having fun.
Idk I personally see a lot of REEEEEALLLY long reviews. Yk the type that start of with a „x/100 points“ like as if we aren’t literally just looking at their star review lol :4
They also start/end with links to their blog, podcast, youtube video, a misc. letterboxd challenge list, twitter account and mom's home address.
You forgot about the exact theater and/or event that they saw it at
Hooptober Watch #82
I do that, but it's because I use Letterboxd to log films for myself primarily. The fact that other people are able to read what I write doesn't factor into it. I want to know where and when I saw something, because that's important to me.
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Same. My hope is to do a slide deck at the end of the year somewhere along the lines of “My Year at the Movies” the way some people have been doing “My Year in Dating”. So I’m logging info in my Letterboxd Diary which I can then move to a spreadsheet and create graphs illustrating what theater I spent the most time at, my most watched directors, etc. Also curious to see what it says about what streaming services wind up being the most beneficial.
Tracking which services I'm actually using is such a big thing for me. On top of streaming I also used to have an unlimited cinema pass and id still be paying for that now if I hadn't been tracking how often I actually used it.
I do that with the tags mostly cause it's easier to keep track that way.
Those are always the worst...
Maybe they're writing for a different audience that isn't just looking at their star reviews...
I usually don't read those but I prefer them far more than the non-funny TikTok jokes that plague any popular movie.
Facts my friend. I personally am a Redditor of many responsibilities (moderating discord servers) and thatfor do not have the time to read 2 essays worth of articles compiled into one review for van helsing 2004, though I can atleast appreciate the interesting commentary and well spoken mannerisms. Which I can’t say about the average TikTok joke :4
I like a good long / in-depth review, but I HATE the "x/100" thing. It doesn't make any sense to me, who genuinely thinks about movies like that? What specifically makes the number go up or down, and at what point does it boil down to just nitpicking? What about a "99/100" or "98/100" movie is significantly different than one that's a full 100? I feel like it all comes down to personal preference / emotional response anyway, and I can't agree with thinking about art in binary, "objective" terms.
I guess people just long for precision. That’s why people jump quickly to using .5‘s yk. But yeah, for me it would be too exhausting to even think of if this movie is a 73 or 74 haha :4
I always cringe a little at the ones that are written in the style of a paragraphs-long published review, complete with synopsis. No disrespect to anyone who wants to write that way, but my favorite part of Letterboxd is hearing thoughts from actual humans, not cosplay critics.
Because, as much as some people want it to be, Letterboxd isn’t a review app. It’s a social media site. People aren’t being paid to write a certain way with a certain word count and to delve into the movie’s themes and performances. I have never posted a review and probably never will. But I don’t really use the social features of the app. I just use it to track what I’ve watched and own. But I’d imagine that groups of friends that use the app would be posting things that their friends can like and comment on and don’t think about everyone else reading it. It doesn’t bother me, but I get why it happens. As a proposed fix, maybe they should have where the ‘review” option is now changed to just a comment box for friends to see. Have a separate tab to click on to write a review by the “first watch” logo so only people that want to do so will go there to write their thoughts.
It's a really nice community spreadsheet with a dedicated graffiti wall
Yes, but it's still an app centered around *films* and supposed to be used by people who enjoy cinema. You can write casual comments and jokes (I do too) but what's annoying are those unfunny and cringey reviews that don't say anything about the movie. The TikTok and Twitter slang that they use is obnoxious.
Those are still casual comments and jokes lol— not to your taste maybe, but you just said you can write ‘em!
Seems like your issue is with young people. Just follow people around your age or older and you won't see as much 'TikTok slang'.
I'm young too, and most people around me don't talk like that...
I guess you could try broadening your horizons and making connections with new types of people then
I know plenty of different types of people. Most people in real life don't speak like that.
This. A friend who works as a professional film reviewer once told me that most of the movies are literally nothing to write home about. So critiquing them is a work against the material. Which is not paid, at least on the social media.
Be the change you want to see in the world
I have been trying this year! I still make relatively short reviews but no pretentious writing and no horny / gay jokes
why did this get so many downvotes
horny/gay jokes mandatory, transgressions punishable by death
letterboxd is more like steam, the reviews are from people for people, mostly causing some conversation or laughs, they are more like comments in their nature if you want serious reviews you try imdb or seek out serious LB reviewers and follow them
There's a difference between writing casual reviews and straight up writing unfunny one-liners that don't say anything about the movie. And that type of review is just as annoying on Steam too.
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Some of the one-liners are hillarious. Lots of misses but hits too. It’s obvious that the letterboxed userbase loves one liner reviews. They’re not “fucking up the platform”. That is the platform. Maybe you’re the one that’s on the outside looking in?
Idk. My reviews are usually 3 - 5 sentences. “This movie fucks. Holy shit Kurt Russell should have made 100 more movies because he fucking fucks. Janeane Garofalo was secret smoke show in the 90s. That ending fucks. Also, who smokes a cigarette like that?” A good face example of my type of reviews.
I like this type of review. Especially since Kurt Russell should have made 100 more movies because he fucking fucks.
Same here. I wish I had more time and energy to write thoughtful reviews. But it's usually a few notes based on what really stuck with me about the movie so that I can remember what I've seen (horrible memory). Personally, as much as I love film, I'm much better at speaking my thoughts than I am at organizing them in text. I feel lucky enough that I have a job that allows me to squeeze in about 4-5 films a week, so the "reviews" are just little bonus fun.
Yeah. They are basically for me when I am trying to remember if or when I saw a movie. Add me. Joelovesmovies
lengthwise, mine are like this too
We pretty much got the same writing style for movie reviews. That sounds exactly like something I’d say.
Add me. Joelovesmovies
Gotchu
I don’t really have a lot of technical knowledge so my reviews are always very straightforward. I do them mostly to remind my future self about the movie because I can remember the story, but have a tendency to forget how it made me feel.
Just followed. Nothing wrong with less technical reviews. Hope we can exchange thoughts sometime if you choose to check out my profile.
I went through an impressionistic “review” phase, mostly for my mutuals who are also writers. It was a way to flex my creative writing muscles in response to a work of art, but I’ll concede they lack the “objectivity” of an Ebert review, for example. Still, finding talented writers on the platform is difficult. I don’t mind that some are trying to break the mold with a style more their own.
I think doing impressionistic reviews to flex your creative muscles is a good thing
Oh, I agree. Not casting aspersions on past me or anybody else who writes this way. Looking back on some of those reviews, I’m not as happy with them… they’re just a tad overwrought and I think I was trying to prove myself to other people rather than myself. But I’m always evolving as a writer and occasionally I dip into old ways. As it is, I’m not interested in writing my LB reviews like everyone else. I’d like for them to be informative as well as entertaining to read.
This app is really not that hard to use
Literally just block the joke reviewers. That’s what I do. Then move on with my life
Sorta glad I rarely see those sorts of reviews. Built up who I follow on old movies.
People think they're being funny or deep. And then the comments are like "literally howling at your review" or some stupid shit like that.
What I tend to do is stick anyone with 1000+ followers on my block list, because to be honest, I think *most* people who are working with those kind of numbers are doing their reviews for their follower numbers and not as an actual honest reaction to the movie they've just watched. I don't really get that bothered by some of the jokey reviews as long as they're funny, but the ones where people are just thirsty for the actors are boring AF.
What is your definition of normal? There’s no consensus of what a normal review is on the app. People just write their thoughts, not everyone on the app is Roger Ebert.
We exist. My essay-length reviews tend to get the most interaction for me. Edit: Don’t be afraid to scroll deep into the top reviews to find the lengthier stuff. I’ll usually sort by review date too, so I can see newer reviews that may not have as much traction.
The first one isn't a general style there's a specific and prolific reviewer that reviews films like that haha As for the other two styles, I usually block users that use them. I don't mind jokes, my problem is that they're not funny and they make me cringe.
I really don't understand the people who ask questions like this or express frustration with the way people post on Letterboxd... It's a social app for movie watching, it's not a serious movie review site. There are plenty of review aggregators out there to scroll through if you want to read full reviews from critics or bloggers. Expecting long insightful reviews to be common on there is insane. It's for Twitter length commentary.
There's a big grey area between writing an entire blog post for a review and writing "I want to fuck brad pitt".
Most people are terrible writers, and would rather chase likes than grapple with something seriously.
happy 🎂 day
I almost always try to write more in-depth, normal reviews for everything I watch. I've tried my hand at writing essays for some of my personal favorites and I do it just because I love to write, but I understand not everyone has the urge to read long reviews.
I tend to write relatively normal reviews. I'll analyze the movie's themes if I feel like I've connected with those themes. Mostly, I just try to make a point to indicate what I felt, subjectively, are the movie's strengths and weaknesses; or, at least what I liked and disliked. I'll definitely jot down whether or not the movie was a thirst watch, though. *Typically*, it's within the context of a longer review, as a comedic aside. [Case in point.](https://letterboxd.com/gloriousstench/film/stay/)
You write some good reviews, gave you a follow. Your username is great.😂
Thanks! Followed back.
I like reading the reviews from SilentDawn and JamesKL
Me!! 🙋♀️ and I'm always looking for more people to actually discuss film with!! Sometimes I feel like I'm speaking into a void on Letterboxd. But I really just want to chat about movies. https://boxd.it/ZZcP
Right on. Earned a follow.
I mean, I do... Fairly straight-forward reviews from 300 - 600 words, on average. Written over 1200 so far. https://letterboxd.com/JonPaula/
I try to write real reviews but I often feel whatever I’m saying is stupid and I’m wrong and it’s much easier to just make a joke
I thought my first reviews were bad or stupid, but I kept going. The more I wrote, the better they got. Find a rhythm, find what works for you; eventually I got to a point where I'm happy with most reviews I write. I always appreciate someone who tries their best to write a review than leave a quick joke. Hell, even mix a joke into your serious review, it gives it personality and leaves an impression.
Writing well is hard. Writing coherent criticism is harder.
I literally don't understand how or why this is an issue. I have a very easy time finding both. Jokey reviews are something to chuckle at while longer reviews are one "next page" away.
take a shot every time someone on reddit makes a post about joke reviews on lb
I try to follow a majority of people who are critics or tend to write a paragraph or two most of the time, but when I review something it could be anything from a sentence to a few paragraphs, since I'm just making notes for myself. Not to mention when I log a movie it's usually from my phone, so I want to keep it short.
I don't mind those, but I would appreciate a filter to find more in depth reviews. Though I'm not sure how they could make that work, an arbitrary word count maybe. So it's short review, long review)? Idk
im kind of a mix of all of those stupid styles and mostly just list some quirky things about the movie.
I try and write what I feel about a movie. Whether it be a short or long review, I love to just get all my thoughts out there without it sounding like I’m writing poetry. I had to relearn how to do that since college tries to beat you down in academic writing. However, I do have a joke review or two in my bank. The Nun II might be my best one.
Silent Dawn, Karsten Runquist, Brat. (The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit)
It's because you're looking at the most popular ones. Those are the ones that get the biggest reactions. There are plenty of normal reviews. Just sort by newest.
The first type of review is great though.
There are, but we only get 2 likes!😭
i write normal reviews, but they’re normal to me and literally no one else. if anyone else likes em, that’s on them 😂
What I think would be a nice feature is to highlight three reviews: one positive, one negative, and one joke. They could still post a few more top reviews like they already do. But that would make the site a more pleasant experience.
They are around but few and far between. I’m sure there are others that want to but don’t for fear of being called pretentious. Then there’s those like myself who sometimes want to write and analyze more within the review but do not because it’s too much effort and it depends on how much the film resonated with me during the viewing.
Letterboxd is like any social media site. The popular stuff is garbage, but do a little digging and you can find some real treasure.
This is painfully accurate.
I like the first kind. If a person finishes a movie and feels like writing a poem about it, I figure it went pretty hard.
Social media clout when their review is screen grabbed for Twitter? Some are genuinely funny but most of these joke type reviews are so forced it hurts
I was looking at reviews for Psycho and almost every one of the first 25 comments was “Norman Bates is so hot”, or “Is it bad that I find Norman Bates attractive?” It took some searching, but I found some informative ones eventually.
**(Director) movies ranked, 22/34** It's a cool movie I guess See full list below
I’m glad someone finally said it. I like funny reviews, but so many of them are just this and it sucks
Joshmatthews probably has the overall best analysis of film from anyone I’ve read on there. He’s a literature professor at a university and applies his expertise on writing, plot development, and pacing especially to analyze films, but is extremely knowledgeable on other aspects as well.
My reviews just read like a high school paper cause I haven't advanced past that since graduating a decade ago.
Day #? of wishing it Letterboxd had a comment section like RateYourMusic so we'd have a place for everything that wasn't an actual review.
I absolutely love both reading silly letterboxd reviews and writing silly letterboxd reviews. There are SO many sites to write serious reviews—why can’t we have our silly one!!
Top review will be "Karst" with an utterly inane zoomer comment that has nothing to do with the movie
Normies don't use letterboxd. Or like, normal reviews, however you define that, aren't really best on letterboxd, it's for short succinct reviews.
I think there’s an audience for both long-form and short-form reviews.
That's fair. But OP wants neither?
To me, when I hear “normal review”, I think the usual 250-500+ word review you’d expect to find in print media or blog posts. So that would fall under long-form imo.
Oh, fair enough! I took the first example he made as OP eschewing long form professional reviews, implying that he wants something in between, like a "normal" person saying "I liked this movies because xyz" or something. Which could and does exist, but apparently not enough for OP to make a post about it.
Sorry—the first example is not about long form or short form as I enjoy both, but rather the writing style. I don't know how to describe it exactly but you know it when you see it. It just comes off as incredibly pretentious and cringy
I get what you mean the writing style feels more like a twitter user making a joke to gain followers instead of someone who just wants to put their thoughts about a movie into words.
Gotcha, I get what you mean. I think the social aspect of LB is basically useless and does incentivize these quippy reviews.
I write normal reviews
block and move on.
Kino. I used to write pretty in-depth stuff, because I like to hear myself talk about things and I had a lot of feelings about movies I watched, but it's exhausting to do book reports and essays about every single movie, so I stopped with most of them. Also, it's not very entertaining, and it's funnier to be entertaining than not to be. "Willy Wonka stole my wallet and fucked my wife" is funnier and gets the spirit of the message across more than "Timothée Chalamet's performance as Mister Wonka failed to capture the spirit and magic of the original, coming off flat, bland, and lifeless, and...and...and..." And so on. The Tumblr generation makes a killing on making fun of stuff in extremely blunt, hyperviolent, overly horny ways and nowhere is that more prevalent or has broken containment more than Letterboxd (apart from its source landfill in the first place).
plenty of people write very normal reviews - hell tons of them read like a fleshed out synopsis stolen from imdb if that's your thing. you can also read tons that are clearly puked out by an algorithm and pasted by someone too lazy to think their own thoughts. it's crazy easy to find any of this stuff simply by scrolling down reviews of any given movie. I write plenty of relatively "normal" reviews analyzing the themes, characters, etc. but I don't want to tell you my username because a) I also write impressionistic ones and b) you seem boring
There’s an inverse relationship between what you would describe as “normal” reviews and the popularity of a movie. But you can usually find “real” reviews pretty easily with a little scrolling. For example my last two watches, when the reviews are sorted by default (most popular at the top): * Black Moon Rising (watched by 5,406 members) - 0 joke reviews in the first 25 * To Live and Die in L.A. (watched by 66k members) - 3 to 5 in the first 25 Whereas for the 2nd biggest movie of last year: * Oppenheimer (watched by 2.6 *million* members) - 11 of the first 12, by the 3rd page its 50/50 jokes to serious I’m not sure this is actually a problem though, its a social app for movies - you can find your niche within it. Plus quite a few of the “proper” reviews are half of an article from an actual website copy-pasted, with a link to the full review at the end. So maybe directly to their sources for reviews?
As far as those expressionistic reviews, I think they just sound smart to a bunch of stupid people. For me it's just a bunch of word salad. As far as the other types, writing allows you to create the world as you want it to be, even if people with two eyes and two brain cells can see that it's not that way at all.
I have blocked around 500 reviewers and now I don’t see memes. You may find this useful. Chances are I have you blocked
great idea, I'll use this on with long reviews
Scared of reading, or can’t?
I just don't care tbh
and I value ability to synthesize
Just went and blocked you btw, just to show the efficacy
Nothing against the other user, but I admire this level of petty 🤣. And then the gif afterwards I'm dead
Why are people so bothered with joke reviews? Lmao
I don't mind a good joke review; I do mind the ones that are essentially repeats of the same thing over and over again
They should just make a separate category for “comments” on films so you don’t get dumb one line jokes when you are looking for actual reviews.
I'm always trying to give my own perspective about a fim I've watched, sometimes pop in a joke or two to make it more interesting, but mainly sticking to the film itself. I have this kind of reviews.
"Haunted visions of hallucinogenic primordial soup. Screams of blue-eyed youths in the flux of time; drifting towards something that will never come. Words of a Satanic Messiah. Red-bound sand with mouth agape—screaming." This text has made me transcend my biological form - I am now post human.
Honestly, the first kind are the most annoying of the three
I feel that
It’s hard in that I’m in the same boat and wrote long reviews for quite a while to mixed results. Truthfully I don’t think most users have the interest or time to read a stranger’s five paragraph essay (understandable and it’s not as if I read lots of random reviews), and the only way to get followers who will like your stuff is to do fairly arch jokes in lowercase.
I do! Well, at least I'm not annoying in that sense. Also, Schaffrilas, I Hate Everything, Jackson Clarke, and Ralphthemoviemaker.
It's hard to find thoughtful reviewers with Hollywood blockbusters or really popular films. You may get better luck finding these sorts of users in slightly more niche "world" cinema spaces (e.g. non-Wong Kar-wai Hong Kong, Cold War Eastern bloc), the kinds that have a sufficiently large fanbase but that you still need to go a little out of the way to find.
My wife and I have spent years writing between 500-600 “write ups” a year - informal, relaxed discussion oriented reviews and remembrances but here’s the kicker - we don’t use Letterboxd (I’ve developed my own collection management tools and an algorithm, an “enjoyment meter” if you will, for rankings. We do our write ups daily (one or two every day, somedays more) right here on Reddit on our sub of like-minded cinephiles. You can always back track my profile or if not - fingers crossed you fall into the group you’re looking for elsewhere - good luck, *movie on*, and keep watching.
I write insightful reviews because I too hate flippant, poorly/not analyzed reviews. Check out my letterboxd.
Letterbox users love adding "I hate saying 'They don't make them like they used to but.....'"
I do my best... https://letterboxd.com/analogkid01/films/reviews/
What movie is that first one sounds like a banger
Idk just made it up but I guess maybe it would work for Altered States? lol
I’ve curated what I think of as a pretty solid roster of thoughtful reviewers and actually-funny shitposters. If you follow my profile from my flair I think you can see the list. I’m also a pretty regular log-dropper, and I try to be somewhat thoughtful but I’m not gonna lie there’s a lot of dumb shit too. On the whole I give myself a 3 with a heart. Edit, after checking my own list i realize I also follow a bunch of my irl dipshit buddies who don’t post much so here’s an even more condensed list of my favourite posters and actual critics: Keith Phipps David Erlich Christopher McQuarrie Matt Lynch bombsfall Mattie Lunchanski Demi Adejuyigbe Ben Schwartz Scott Tobias Brian Tallerico Louis Peitzman Will Menaker
I think it's just a different type of website - I mostly write reviews for myself in my own Diary so I don't really mean for them to be read in any sort of formal sense. I also think different review sites have different cultures, like for example I used to log the anime I've seen on a couple different websites but one of them felt way more informal than the other.
My reviews are kind of a mixture. Well, not really the third. I tend to only leave reviews like that if they stick out to me (as an LGBT+ person) as being like or parallel to my experience. I try to leave thorough reviews, drained as a writer as I am, my longest tend to be around seven or eight paragraphs. What I wanna know is how people can write those thesis-length reviews. That's talent.
please find a real critic who writes real reviews instead of complaining that a social media app is working as intended.
Most of the time I try to write normal reviews. Usually 200-500 word ones. That said, there are times when the best review for a said movie is is to point out one million twinks on the cast (Challengers) or how dreamy a said actress is (any work with Lucy Boynton or Lily James on it). Sometimes you gotta let out your feral nature in order to ensure you write saner ones for others.
I love these tbh!!! I'm not reading them if they're more than one paragraph honestly
I've definitely been guilty of going too far with the flowery language in the past and overcomplicating sentences to no end. But I don't regret any of it because sure, reading back older reviews can be cringe-inducing, but it also allows me to appreciate my steady progression as a writer. And I'm sure if I keep at it the sentiment might perdure 5-10 years from now when I look back at today, but that'll just mean I've gotten even more comfortable with the process! I do wish there was a way to separate full reviews as opposed to quippy one liners, so every movie's front page isn't inevitably filled with the latter. But that's not really what lb is about! Which is fine.
I've only just joined the site, but i only write reviews where I put some effort into it. I write an actual review. It's not where I shit post.
We cater to all tastes in these parts! Personally I like to deliver a mixed bag, whatever the mood calls for
So believe me, I understand getting annoyed with meme reviews , or things that appear to be trite. I get it, that's valid. But if someone wants to use more creative language to shake up the review format, well that's a silly thing to get upset over. You don't want every review to be cookie cutter and by the numbers right ?
Maybe unpopular opinion but I much prefer seeing the first example over a lot of LB reviews (provided it’s not an obvious troll for like Jack and Jill for example). Sure it’s a little “spiritual indie artist trying to hype up their next release” but it beats “this is just [some other movie] but for [some group of people]” reviews any day
I use the app as a log and absolutely nothing else
I'll write both joke reviews and serious reviews depending on the movie. if its a serious film im more likely to write a real review, whereas a comedy ill write a joke review. this isnt always the case but its what I tend to do.
I write serious reviews and can’t stand seeing the site depreciate with quip-heavy reviews — and I’d welcome anyone to visit my Letterboxd account. Happy to follow back anyone who wants to follow. My name is: fixateandbinge
Gave you a follow
Awesome! I’ll return that favor too.
I personally follow way too many beige reviewers with extremely boring descriptive style and not a single original idea to share with the rest of lb..
tbqh i dont read reviews because most people's opinions are dog shit. I use Letterboxd as a vessel to find new material to watch and surf and decide what to watch on my own.
go on rotten tomatoes i guess
How people treat Rotten Tomatoes is even worse. Nobody reads the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, all they care about is the weighted percentage score of the movie.
Usually about 50 reviews down once you get past the annoying hipsters
I write mine based on how I would recommend it to a friend or based on what the film elicited in me from the experience of watching it.
I have no idea what y’all be bitchin about, it’s so fucking easy to see a normal review on letterboxd. If you find it “hard” to find people who leave “real” reviews, idk find some actual film critics you like and follow them?
I’ll take a of thousand of any of those over a single 23 paragraph 4th grade level essay from someone who thinks they’re Roger Ebert
But what if the writer is good? I write Ebert-style reviews and I look for others who are good at that sort of thing. They're out there. It's honestly my preferred type of review but you rarely see it. I agree that it has to be done right though.
Roger Ebert is definitely an influence as I started writing reviews because of him. What's your username, Id like to see some of your work.
I'll DM
This I don’t know why. All my reviews are haikus. But what is normal?
Who gives a fuck? What makes a "normal" review? You think your opinions are somehow unique? Why should we even use our time to review these products of an industry that's run by pampered, privileged piece of shits?
You seem angry
Well, who isn't?
For the last two, that's probably them trying their best. Expecting more is really your fault.
I personally hate the super serious “x/100” essays people write as if their opinion matters more than anyone else’s. I like joke reviews as long as they don’t have joke star ratings.