I need to lock in my Letterboxd rating system

Or: What I think about when I'm thinking about movies.

I’m late to the game when it comes to the social film website Letterboxd. It’s been available to the public since 2013, and friends have been telling me to join for a while, but I just this year created an account.

I love it.

As you can tell by most of the things I write here, I love to over-analyze, keep track of, and document my thoughts. Letterboxd not only lets me track, rate, and review the films I watch but also find out what my friends (and whoever else I follow, and random strangers) think about those same films. It also lets me see what they’re watching and discover new things that I might want to watch based on what they like (or dislike, depending on the person and how I feel about their taste.)

I love anything that gets people talking about art. Unlike other social media sites, timeliness doesn’t matter as much. You can see what movies are currently popular and trending, but if I’m way behind on seeing a movie, I can find out what my friends posted about it when they watched it years ago when I log that movie today. I can also post multiple reviews on the same film if I rewatch it over time to document my changing feelings on art as I (hopefully) grow and evolve as a person. It’s great.

I also really enjoy how its simple, 5-star rating system (plus an option for a heart) leads to many different personal interpretations of how a user rates a movie. I’m on record as saying that the “perfect” way to rate a film is with a double rating, one for “quality” and one for “personal enjoyment.” That, in theory, works on a platform where people care about the distinct differences in a very specific (and dorky) way like me, but the Letterboxd system is better for a social app. It’s simplified and beautiful.

This system also allows each user to rate films however they see fit. Some users may see their five stars as a way to represent their feelings about the quality of the filmmaking while others use them as a way to tell their followers how much they liked a movie.

That’s why I want to reign in and (try to) describe how I rate a movie. Where I can be as long-winded as I want. I want to go into detail about the things I look for in a movie, and what would earn a movie a perfect 5 in each of the categories. Also, because I love a rubric.

Before I start, as if it needs to be said: I’m not a movie critic. I’m not a “cinephile”. I don’t have a rich robust history and knowledge of film. But I do enjoy analyzing movies as a guy who considers himself a writer and watches movies with intent. I’m not (always) just looking to turn off and have a nice time. I’m thinking about technique and storytelling and grabbing onto things I like and don’t like and am very aware of how all the aspects of a movie make me feel. So my ratings in each of these “categories” are based on basically a combination of my “part quality, part enjoyment” system that I described earlier.

A lot of this (as I realize later in this piece…I’ve come back here to write this after writing what you’ll read below) comes down to how I feel while watching the film. Where when and how much does my brain light up and take notice of things, both good and bad? I also seem to really value intent — as in, do the choices being made in the storytelling seem like they are made with purpose and reason or do they just feel like they are there?

If you don’t feel like reading this whole thing, that’s the quick version. I’m looking for intent in the process, and I’m looking for how the execution of that makes me feel. Could I just stop here? Maybe. But like I already said, I’ve come back here to write this, so the stuff below has already been written. I’m not going to delete it now.

The Look

Film is a visual medium. So I’m going to start by letting you know what I look for when I’m looking at a movie. This category would include not only things like the shots and on-screen composition, but also the sets, props, costumes, lighting, colors, effects, and choices as to what we see on screen.

This is one of the areas where I definitely feel out of my league going into major details or depth in terms of analyzing a movie with a critical eye. I don’t know much at all about filmmaking from a technical standpoint, so I don’t try to talk in too much detail about hyper-specific details of film or cameras or lenses or techniques. I feel weird even typing this now because I probably expose what I don’t know when talking about knowing what I don’t know. But I say all that to say that I’m not going to get too judgy from the technical perspective.

What I do look for is something that is interesting to my eye. From a big picture perspective do the shots on screen capture the images in a way that intrigues me, does it add to the way the story is told? Does it reveal information to me, or alter my perspective on how I look at something? Does it affect the way I feel? The more I watch films with intent the more I notice how the choices to show images on screen in the way that they are shown add to the story.

I’m also looking for cohesiveness in the color palate and overall style of the look, intent in set choice and set dressing, and meaning in those choices. Basically, I’m looking for thought, and intent, and purpose, in a way that feels unique and well-done and interesting. It wouldn’t just “look cool” but have a reason why it looks the way it does. Something can look cool and be empty. Something can look ugly for a reason.

A perfect Five in The Look of a movie would make me sit up and notice it. It would engage me as a viewer to actively watch the screen and look for details. It would be beautiful. It would capture the world from and make me look at it from a specific point of view. It would manipulate how I feel about a character or situation based on how it forces me to see it. It would be cohesive, and purposeful, and something that I could stop and stare at as if it were a painting in a gallery. Images would reveal information, and be just as important to following along to what I’m being told as the plot and dialogue. It would lose points, in my rating system, for being boring, or incohesive, or contradictory (in a way that was not on purpose) or if it took you out of the world of the movie (like a bad special effect).

An Example of a 5/5: The Color of Money
God damn, Scorsese is in his bag with this one. There are definitely bigger, more epic-looking movies that earn a 5/5 for me (The Hateful Eight, There Will Be Blood, etc.) but I wanted to make a more interesting choice here to explain what I’m looking for. I love how the camera swings and zooms and lingers on Paul Newman and Tom Cruise and in and around the dingy pool halls and seedy motels. It makes these guys look cool and sad and like the biggest winners and losers in the world at the same time. At times, Cruise looks like the coolest guy in the world, and other times he’s the most annoying little shit. That’s not only in the script and the acting, but in the visual storytelling done here as well.

The Storytelling

Here, I’m looking for plot, and structure, and how the two interact. If there are choices being made in how the story is told, how does that effect or change my understanding or perspective of the story. Does the structure make sense or is it just used as an empty device? I’m noticing and looking for the editing, and the pacing, and the flow of the film, and how all of those things effect me as I watch it unfold.

Writing obviously plays a big part in this area of analysis. I’m looking for how the details of the story unfold, how they’re revealed to the viewer. I’m looking for character arcs and how different characters are used to represent different points of view, and how they interact with each other. Do they make believable choices based on the information we’ve learned about them or are they just acting in a way that is convenient to get to the next plot point? Where do the characters start and end their journey and how are their flaws challenged by the events that unfold so they change and grow by the end of the film? Do the characters in the movie feel real or do they feel like stereotypes or the dreaded character-based-on-other-movie-characters-instead-of-real-people?

A perfect five would make interesting choices, and not just feel like it follows a “paint by numbers” screenwriting format. Sure, all storytelling follows some kind of format for the structure but I’m looking to be surprised in some ways. It shouldn’t feel like I know exactly what’s coming next because we’re on Page 65 and by Page 65 thing X has to happen so we can move into section Y based on some manual of a screenplay. Sometimes, movies feel like that when I watch them. That’s fine. I get it. But even the best-case scenario of a movie that feels like that would score like a 3.5/5 in this area from me. A film can also be overwritten too, it can try too hard or be a little too cute, or go too far in trying to subvert the viewers’ expectations. It’s a delicate balance. A lot of it comes down to how I feel when I’m watching something¹

All these questions are for me to remember when I’m writing something as much as they are for me to analyze something when I’m watching it, in case you couldn’t tell.

An Example of a 5/5: Anora
I just watched this movie (and wrote about this movie) and it’s fresh in my mind, so why not use it as my example here? I love how this movie takes its time in the build-up and then explodes in the home invasion sequence, and then once again takes its time coming down. The whirlwind structure works for telling a story of a whirlwind romance. The film is basically in three distinct segments that build you up, take you on a ride, and break your heart watching it all come down. It’s funny, and the characters are consistent and real, and it follows its own logic and pays off everything it sets up.

The Art

Here, I’m looking to think. I’m looking for ideas. I’m looking to feel something. I’m looking to be challenged or to find a new way to look at the world or a new thing to consider or a new way to consider something that’s always been there. I’m also looking for the way those ideas and thoughts are presented. Are they revealed by the story in a natural way that creeps inside my brain and makes me think about them on my own (good!) or are they force-fed to me in obvious blatant ways (not as good!)

I don’t have to like what the film makes me think about. And I don’t have to agree with its point of view (how I rate this comes later.) I just want to think about something, and feel something.

A perfect five here would present ideas and thought in a natural way through the storytelling, characters, visuals, and tone (you know, all the things that go into the film) that force me to think about something. The themes should be intertwined with the decisions that go into the filmmaking. For it to rank as a five it should have some depth to it, be a unique take or perspective. It would rank lower for being obvious, ham-fisted, and force-fed, if the film “tells” instead of “shows,” doesn’t know what it is trying to say, or doesn’t seem to have anything to say at all.

I’m not a total snob. I can love a dumbass movie, it just wouldn’t score high here.

An Example of a 5/5: Alien

This category took the most amount of thought to make a choice to represent what I think a 5/5 would be when it comes to a movie being “artistic.” I think Alien nails it though. It’s a movie with ideas and conveys them in a digestible way, it looks gorgeous and unique and is genre-defining and leaves you wanting more but is completely contained on its own. When I think of a spaceship I think of the designs from this movie. The Xenomorph is iconic and terrifying. There are so many different messages and meanings and interpretations that could be analyzed and talked about or completely ignored just to enjoy a kick-ass movie. There’s a reason why every sequel is a unique and different take and subgenre that does new things in the “playground” this film builds for whatever new filmmaker steps in to explore.

The World

The acting is a big part of this section of analysis for me. The choices being made by the actors in the movie and how they fit in with the tone and feel of the film. Campy, over-the-top acting can rank as a five in one film and as a one in another, all based on the overall feel the movie is going for, ya know?

This is basically a category for cohesiveness. I’m looking for something that follows its own rules and logic. Those rules and logic can be crazy and stupid but as long as they are consistent that is good.

I guess this is kind of the “cinema sins” section of my film analysis. But unlike that, I’m not going to ding films for points because a decision doesn’t make sense “to me.” Just because I wouldn’t use the same logic as a character doesn’t mean the choice is wrong or stupid — maybe the character is stupid and wrong so the action and logic makes sense (boy, aren’t I smart!)

For a film to score a five here, the consistency of the in-film world has to also meet with intent and be an interesting choice to tell the story. You can go to Crazy Town just to go to Crazy Town, or you can go to Crazy Town because it allows you to say something, know what I mean?

An Example of a 5/5: The Substance
I loved The Substance. And while it’s true that the messages of the film are pretty basic (I’d give it like a 3/5 score for “The Art”), the way the film creates a world, relays the rules of the world and heightens within that world is so fun and well-done. The acting, while big and over-the-top at times, fits right in with the choices being made to tell the story. The decisions being made by the characters might be stupid (or, at least, self-destructive) but they totally work within the logic of the world of the film.

The Vibes

This is kind of a catch-all, cop-out category to allow me to make adjustments based on my gut feeling about a film. Basically, if a film has everything, but something about it just feels bad in my belly, I can knock it down a few pegs with this category. This is where “liking what it has to say” might come into play, or docking it a few points because what I think what it has to say sucks would come into play. I’ve never actually watched the movie, but my go-to example of this based on what I know about the film would probably be The Birth of a Nation. Everything I’ve ever heard about that movie is that it’s a technical masterpiece where the KKK is the hero. And, like, a triumphant “the KKK is actually good” type of hero, not “the hero” in the way that they are the protagonist but you are not supposed to be on their side. I think you’re supposed to be on their side when you watch that movie.² So, yeah, you get like a 0/5 for vibes. Another film I actually did watch that I docked because of the vibes was Easy Rider. If you want to know why you can read my review (and follow me) on Letterboxd.

An Example of a 5/5: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Look, I didn’t say the vibes had to be good to get a 5/5. This is another film I recently saw for the first time and blew my mind. It is a masterclass in bad vibes, setting them up from the start, slowly building them, and then blowing them up in your face. It also successfully avoids being anti-rural-folk propaganda by having the main characters also be country bumpkins. This movie creates a feeling and makes you sit in it way past the end of things.

Are you still here?

Wow, that’s a lot of stuff. Thanks for making it all the way down here. Like I said, this is as much a reference for myself as it is an explainer for you. A record for when I’m thinking about movies and writing about them here. Which I plan to do more of. So, subscribe if you like that kind of thing.

1. The more I write the more I realize this is the case for every category. It’s a lot of feel. A lot of vibes. A lot of things that can probably be described better when talking about a specific film. Which is why I might start doing in-depth Movie Rubric reviews here on this site. Wow, a plug for future potential articles within this article. Look at me, content strategizing.

2. Please forgive me if I’m wrong. Like I said, I have never actually watched the movie.