The Problem with Letterboxd Ratings (Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse)

In this video I give my thoughts about the Letterboxd rating system and its relation to Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse. Do you think Letterboxd is broken? What did you rate Across the Spider-Verse?

[@cuttingroomceiling]

Update: As of today, Letterboxd officially added Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse to their top 250 list at the number one slot! Do you agree with this? If you want to check out more of my videos, start here: kzbin.info/aero/PLXQy-5ZFJGkYrptPMVm8_8zKQaRjAWnze

[@nicholasjoseph8297]

I saw Across the Spiderverse twice its in my top 100 cause it's revolutionary in comic book storytelling, and animation. I gave the film 5 stars. Second best of the year under Oppenheimer.

[@TheOtherSession]

The other thing that people who complain about this forget about is the sampling bias on top of the recency bias. The type of people who are going to see a franchise movie opening week (or honestly in theaters in general) are likely the type of person that will love that movie. The average rating always goes down with time as the general audience drowns out the die hard fans.

[@Infinite_Repeat]

People are just too serious I don’t believe in the unicorn 5 star rating. I know I’m not a critic and I don’t care if someone judges my letter boxd. If I really loved a movie guess what 5 stars baby.

[@EntrEsprit]

what is a unicorn 5 star rating?

[@Infinite_Repeat]

@@EntrEsprit pretty much never giving out a 5 star to a movie unless it’s like one of the greats like godfather level movie.

[@EntrEsprit]

@@Infinite_Repeat ah ok, i don't hold my 5 star to such a standard too i guess, i have around 25 after 300 movies watched

[@WaveSamu]

believe it or not, but I actually rate movies with 5 stars pretty rarely but it's really not because I want the 5 star rating to be something special but because I actually don't come across movies very often that I'd consider to be perfect or almost perfect (wich to me is the essence of a maximum rating)

[@DonnovanThomas929]

@@Infinite_RepeatThat’s one of my insecurities about Letterboxd lol. I give most movies I see a 3.5-5 star rating but I don’t want to be over generous and just give every movie a 3.5 or 4 star rating. Like I want to be more critical

[@jaymchap]

“I’ll give you a hint, one of them is dead.” very good video

[@cademacleanYT]

12:23 around here you literally are speaking some of the hardest truths ever in film. Can’t people just enjoy the classics, newbies, and underrated masterpieces at the same time?

[@manocuypers163]

Belgium finally accomplished something and this guy dares to give all the credit to the French

[@DieEneNoah]

fr man

[@lilith42069]

Y'all are way too obsessed with rating as a sign of a film deserving a spot in a monolithic objective canon. Don't get me wrong, some of the attitudes involved in automatically dismissing classics because they're "Film Bro" recs and going with what's newer and trendier does seem superficial at times. However, just as equally on the other hand, discussing The Godfather and other similiarly universally praised films such as Citizen Kane and Casablanca a million times over because "it's obviously a masterpiece" gets boring. Plus I don't believe in objective quality because it just reduces art down to a mechanical set-in-stone science instead of subjective creative choices depending on taste, life experiences, and overall sensabilities. And as for myself, I have over a thousand favorite movies (no exaggeration been a movie fan since 14 when I watched Yojimbo for the first time and loved it) and discovered a lot of great gems that, imo, deserve way more attention than they do already because they don't have the existing universal notoriety that films like The Godfather have. And that notoriety is still strong today with Literally Me edits abound of all these kino classics. So I mean idk, what do y'all really have to complain about?

[@asper-]

it’s bold of you to assume that most people on letterboxd are straight

[@justindurham9253]

Or even male. I see just as many women on the app

[@gggallin8279]

Bold of him to assume that ratings and reviews on Letterboxd hold any value whatsoever. Literally all i see on this app are either people trying to be funny and making memes about the movie or people simping over the actors in the movie without making any reference to the movie at all (and then every once in a while there is an actual review of the movie)

[@VGMage]

great video, no one likes to think about context when it comes to film appreciation / criticism.

[@raszze]

Also ATSV ngl is one of the best animated films ever made. Not even a massive superhero fan but the movie is great.

[@elpeluca7780]

As a big spiderman fan I fucking hated it. It's like oh everyone can be spiderman but you have to go through an insanely specific meta events to actually be spiderman. What?

[@turbotoke8882]

this is so true, but because marvel is so so bad, and has been since like 2015 ish, people just put every superhero film in the same basket, even though Across The Spider-verse is levels above pretty much all other superhero films. And god the animation is so good and different, i really love it

[@kidkangaroo5213]

​@@elpeluca7780imagine being filtered this hard

[@Tyler12905]

Damn so many good points here. You were pretty much on the nose with everything

[@Mickey-1994]

People take these sites too seriously and we all rate movies in different ways. One example is I think The Breakfast Club is a 5 out of 5 and I would give The Godfather 4 out of 5. I know The Godfather is a better movie than The Breakfast Club but The Godfather just isn't one of my favorites.

[@elpeluca7780]

"I know the godfather is a better movie than the breakfast club". No offence, but that's a thoroughly empty sentence. It means literally nothing.

[@Mickey-1994]

@@elpeluca7780 No need to get upset little buddy.

[@josalas5145]

Love your videos man! Keep it up!

[@justinlowrey7922]

But, I am both of those demographics. My 5 star isn't a unicorn, but it is reserved. I think I'm pretty generous with my 4s though.

[@thereyofwater]

Film Bros being upset over ASTV being #1 on Letteboxd is the best. 😂

[@leskijin4988]

Yeah. XD

[@bentott]

Thanks for the great video. Some smart insights

[@closeben]

I’m honestly really surprised that so many people think this is better than the first movie. I give the first one 5 stars but the new one only 4. It really suffers at the end from literally not having an ending. The 5 star ratings here seem to be all hype, and I can tell you now that if the third movie sucked, a lot of people’s opinions on the second movie would change - which doesn’t make any sense to me. I believe every movie needs to be judged independently as it’s own entity.

[@nileshollowthorn]

I actually watched the first again and I still prefer the new one way more, and I’ve seen it multiple times now. I prefer the story, stakes, comedy, and especially the family dynamics more, as well as the focus on Gwen. There are a lot more varied visuals too for some stellar eye candy. It being a part 1 isn’t enough to take away from the entire experience, honestly.

[@ianschmitt4991]

To be continued is an ending though, you might not like it but thems the facts. Also the ending was a twist they set up earlier but didn't hand to the audience on a silver platter

[@closeben]

@@ianschmitt4991 Imo if there is no resolution to the main character’s main conflict… there’s no ending. It’s completely unsatisfying and it leaves me unenthused for the sequel. Now I feel like I’m gonna see it out of obligation rather than actually being excited by the previous movie.

[@ianschmitt4991]

@@closeben ok that's fine but the main characters conflict was resolved in the 3rd act, by Miles admitting to his mom that he's Spiderman. Unfortunately he admitted that to his mom from a different universe but the whole point of the movie seemed to be "Lying to the people you love is wrong" and more than Miles figured that out in the 3rd act

[@closeben]

@@ianschmitt4991 I’m definitely glad that happened, but the bigger conflict for me is him wanting to save his Dad and the whole thing with Spot. Imo they only needed an extra 40mins to close out that story, however they wanted to introduce a bunch of extra twists like Earth 42 and Prowler… I think they’re interesting twists but they weren’t structured in the best way. Imo they should have taken a page from Back to the Future Part 2 which has a similar kind of ending. But in that movie, they complete the main quest and defeat the villain, full satisfaction to the conflict. And *then* there’s a major twist where Doc gets sent back in time. This makes for a much more compelling cliffhanger imo.

[@hotrodred0317]

What’s your Letterboxd?

[@marcinmcula99]

Using websites such as letterboxd as objective measurement of a film's quality is inconceivably stupid

[@August-dq1cj]

I don’t think Letterboxd has enough diversity in who uses the apps

[@obara7366]

What a great video. Ngl, I came to this video sour, my finger of the trigger for a dislike, but I was pleasantly surprised. I thought this would be a thinly veiled diss at ATSV, but I ended up learning a lot! Great video! I'm subbing.

[@andydavis9780]

Now i really wanna know what's ur letterboxd acc

[@prerna_padma]

Just discovered your channel, you have very interesting KZbin titles! Eager to watch em!

[@jadh9790]

By the end of the day, movies are subjective, you like a movie based of your experience with cinema. Time and space are also important. For example, a japanese guy from the 50's will probably be more sensibilize by the first godzilla film than myself because of the context of post war and nuclear fear.

[@lex3889]

when did you start caring abt the rating system??

[@CodPatrol]

When people considered it SOOOO much better than IMDb audience when it literally isn’t

[@TheGlowingManYT]

@@CodPatrolI mean my experience reading reviews for most films on IMDB seems to be by idiots or people review bombing or who don’t even enjoy film much in general

[@trentkhr]

This is why on my Letterboxd I have started to not rate movies until I’ve seen them at least 2-3 times 😅

[@Dboy-ts3jv]

You can always go back and adjust your rating

[@GrandeCaixa]

Had this problem with Dune 2. Is Dune 2 really what it became in Letterboxd? I don't think so.

[@AsterLea]

My last 3 movies watched: Dickson Greeting (1981), The Kiss (1986), Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

[@prerna_padma]

2:02 rewatchabilty right !!! This is important

[@filip1261]

Never understood why rewatchability would matter at all

[@AmazingJoe96]

​@@filip1261Because we like rewatching things we like...

[@keizercas6051]

I personally did not care for the godfather

[@neferpizzastudios2733]

Personally, I’m not a film snob or a franchise nerd. I mainly watch movies (that I have algorithmically determined to be worthwhile) between 1970 and now. But I’m defiantly more of a film snob because I hate franchises.

[@qtticus]

this is me, but I love andrei tarkovsky movies so i would consider myself a snob

[@AmazingJoe96]

Why not before 70?

[@pashadwantara]

In The Mood for Love is a very melancholic movie. You should check it out.

[@mm24f]

Its a six out of five stars movie

[@elpeluca7780]

​@@mm24fit's a 0.5/5 star movie lmao

[@LasCosasDeBrunin]

@ elpeluca7780 That is the worst film take I've seen in months. You may not like the story, but how can you deny how beautiful it is, how well-crafted the soundtrack is, the editing, and nearly every single technical aspect.

[@johnnzboy]

Excellent video!

[@raszze]

I give stuff a 5/5 if I love everything about it. Not really strict about it.

[@ryanhopkins5239]

There are documentaries on letterboxd

[@hazymorning1823]

i like your thoughts

[@Wiggins773]

great video but the audio is super quiet my guy

[@sirtorchington]

I'm gonna go on a limb and say that we shouldn't be watching movies to make sure our LB curve is 3 star heavy 😅 I just started using LB and if I feel like a movie is a 4.6+, I log it as a 5. The ranking should be personal

[@n0isyturtle]

According to Rotten Tomatoes, Wild Robot is one of the 5 best films ever made. If that is not a glaring sign ratings are utter horseshit, idk what to tell you.

[@Glockmog2007]

5 star ratings should be extremely rare, because that is the highest rating you can possibly give. If you rate everything 5 stars, how are we supposed to know which of those you liked better than which others? The entire point of a rating system in the first place is to solve this problem. If you give out 5 stars like candy on halloween then your ratings are pretty much useless. And a new movie should never be 5 stars because you haven't even rewatched it or given it time to sink in. Many movies are great the first time but really fall off on subsequent viewings. For the most part, professional critics understand this. But when you ask casuals to rate things they just think oh well I liked it so I'll give it 5 stars. When you average all those casual reviews together you get situations like this. The only people who go back and watch the older films are cinophiles who understand the importance of not overrating things, and the casuals just watch the new stuff and give everything they like a 5 star. This is why most platforms that allow any random person to leave a rating only let the user give a thumbs up or down, because thats how most casuals rate things anyway. Perhaps the platform could do a better job of explaining what each star is supposed to mean, alot of people probably think 3 stars is a bad movie rather than an average or slightly above average one. The whole reason we use a 5 star system instead of a 10 point system in the first place is because most people think that 7 is average on a 10 point scale because 70% is average in grade school. So there could be something similar going on with the 5 star system now. Regardless, they should probably require a movie to be at least 5 years old before putting it on the top 250 list so that the score has time to settle.

[@ianschmitt4991]

I dont understand the controversy with across the spiderverse getting such a high rating. Visually it's on par with Barry Lyndon and in a year saturated with horrific dogshit superhero films it stands out as leader of the pack

[@maximumoccupancy]

So because a new movie meets the criteria of "not being horrific dogshit," it belongs among the greatest movies of all time?

[@raidersofsteak2227]

It may not have been dog but looking at the actual story which to some is more important or less important than the visuals was not too great

[@keizercas6051]

I think it's kind sad how seriously people are taking the app sometimes, I and I think most people use it for themself and don't take it too seriously, I just gave the Hitcher 2006 remake a 5-star review because it's fucking crazy and I love it, objectively it's not and that's fine I just like it, so it's kinda weird to see people genuinely get mad over my 5-star review even though it's not a serious review, it's for me and my friends, and that's for most people, most people probably don't look at the average rating and give it a review based on how well it will fit the average review but some do, and I think that's kinda weird, and kinda sad when they actually get mad about it

[@elizabethkulaga]

whats 4 +4? 8 ✨

[@turbotoke8882]

i rated across the spider-verse a 5/5, now i have about 500 movies rated, and only about 15-20 movies i rated 5. I dont get these people trying to be so pretentious with the way that they're rating movies, like in their mind if its not 30 years old film it can never be a modern classic, or be worthy of a 5 star review. And frankly that top 250 list doesnt really matter, i think its cool to see what the overall consensus is about what movies are the best, but it is at the end of the day just opinions. Some people take it to such a weird level. And the god father... not all that, like its good, but not a 5 edit: to clarify the reason i have so few five star ratings, is just because personally for it to be a five star to me, it needs to be one of my favourites, like kung fu panda 2, is it a perfect movie? no, not at all actually, but it does mean a great deal to me, and i have a bond with the movie.

[@drivingduck2234]

arc? thats called a histogram...

[@AmazingJoe96]

No it's not. If anything its a bar graph

[@jadh9790]

@@AmazingJoe96 No it is an histogram, bar graphs have space between bars

[@app1escruff]

I don’t even know anyone who actually likes the Godfather, other than my dad probably, and I’m surrounded by artsy film nerds. I personally couldn’t get through the first 40 minutes without tapping out. I don’t think it’s aged as well as people act like it has. As for ATSV, I hadn’t really seen any Marvel/adjacent movies since the Raimi Spidermans bc it’s not my thing, but I thought the Spiderverse movies were gorgeous.

[@WitherVideos]

I kinda hated that movie and it’s very bizarre to me that almost everyone liked it

[@andresl.9404]

does anyone know how to get recommendations from the global south? The lists usually do not really take them that much into account

[@CodPatrol]

I don’t care if you like The Dark Knight, it physically is not a top 30 film of all time. I love the fact that list is being exposed for what it actually is, Barbie also has a 4.1. Once again, not saying I hate the film but 4.1 is nearing perfect level. It’s just a casual list, it’s not remotely legit. The amount of amazing films below 4.1 that are absolutely better than Barbie is crazy

[@cothinker680]

You could say that for every film you make no point

[@elpeluca7780]

No list is legit. Including lists made by basement dwelling film snobs who think that cinema is objective.

[@LoganFugelseth-zm4ud]

Across the Spider Verse was an amazing movie but it’s not even close to the top 250 movies of all time

[@PicklesRTasty]

It's not a bug, its a feature. Sorry the movies you think are the best ever aren't what people ACTUALLY enjoy the best.

[@gavmonn5901]

I think the problem with your take, is that it's hard to say what value a film has, if you don't understand the references to the classics.

[@chrisf5828]

Spiderverse is a better movie than Godfather so the thumbnail did not disturb me.

[@Artiri]

Being a straight, white, man from the west isn't a disqualifying feature on anything, their experience is not less than the rest of society. This video is great without that bs.

[@standrew131]

this guy doesn’t even know what he’s talking sbout

[@August-dq1cj]

Yeah I mean I think Letterboxd has actually less straight white men from the west than this guy says there is and you are so right just because someone is all that doesn’t make there film opinions any less diverse than a trans gay women. For example my dad is a straight white male his favorite movie is the royal tananbombs. I’m a straight white man from the west and my favorites are inglorious basterds, there will be blood, apocalypse now, Donnie Darko, and eraserhead. My are a bit more typical but that’s ok

[@ilancho]

en mi letterboxd más de la mitad de pelis que ví para mí son de 5 estrellas, para qué voy a ver una peli que no me va a gustar? si son pelis nuevas ahí si depende

[@LasCosasDeBrunin]

Completamente de acuerdo, no vivimos en un tiempo que tienes 2 estrenos al mes, guste o no, ahora puedes ver absolutamente lo que quieras, no hay razón para ver malas películas (excepto que quieras).

[@CodPatrol]

People actually considered it gospel at one point 🤣 it’s got come and see and harakiri in the top 10 so it must be good! No film bros here!

[@omeshsingh8091]

Across the spider-verse is not great. Into the Spider-Verse on the other hand is fucking great.

[@Lokeshkumar-wh6vd]

but Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse > The Godfather Part II

[@CodPatrol]

It’s got a couple of favourites thrown in with these well known ones that pretty much everyone likes. End of Evangelion the obscure anime film from a 38 episode anime paired with Schindler’s List because why not! Like, there’s nothing acclaimed about Evangelion, it’s your film bros favourite pastime after a 5 hour gaming session. Some of the best films on that website have below 3.8 ratings yet these casual anime films have 4.5 like how…

[@42Tangent]

End of evangelion isn’t obscure though, it’s also really good…

[@CodPatrol]

@@42Tangent It is, just because online kids love it doesn’t mean average people on the street would know about it.

[@42Tangent]

@@CodPatrol “online kids” for one I don’t think you know how large the internet is now days, also it’s a 90s film, more than just kids know about it. Sure it might not be as popular as something like The Godfather, but remember it’s a Japanese movie not American, neon genesis is INSANELY well known in Japan, the rebuilds are some of the top grossing movies in Japan of all time.

[@calvintabor5734]

Based, Godfather overrated