Better Loxd

I tease Jason about Flixster, but Letterboxd really does remind me of Flixster c. 2008, the year that I think Jason and I both joined Flixster.

I got tired of Flixster because I'd have to add older titles to the db if I wanted to log them. It wasn't instant either. I had to wait for some monkey to approve them. At that time at least, it was a user-generated db exactly like Letterboxd is now. Also, I was sick of the years being wrong. Again, exactly like Letterboxd now. I know it's not a big deal to many, but it really irks me. Flixster and Letterboxd kick IMDb's butt on the social side, but they're both lacking on the info-side.

So, Letterboxd is essentially the same thing as Flixster. It just as a nicer interface and looks cooler. It also doesn't have all of the commercial baggage that Flixster has developed. At least not yet.

Also, for a long time, there was no RSS capability via Flixster. I see that that has changed now. I guess it's not a big deal if you're following reviews from within the established ecosystem, but getting updates outside of visiting a site is always a perk for me.

I started Flixster at about the same time I started blogging. If Brandon and I hadn't started this thing, then I probably would have just kept on logging films on Flixster like Jason has. I did log films and star ratings on Flixster for a while, maybe through 2009. Brandon wasn't interested then. I guess he's ready for it now that a certified cool site like Letterboxd exists for the real cinephiles.

Oh yeah. I think that Flixster also originally had a character cap on posts. I'm not sure if they still do. I know this because I had to tighten up my Burn After Reading review to fit the character count limitations.

This wasn't quite a rant.

Not quite sure what this was.

Maybe a hat tip to Jason.

Because Brandon falling so hard for Letterboxd and stars in his eyes and all that must look amusing to faithful Flixster user Jason Poole. Because that's all Letterboxd is, Flixster dressed up in skinny pants and horn-rimmed glasses.

I'm just poking fun as usual.

I'm also enjoying Letterboxd. I like it a lot and I'm glad that Brandon found it in time for the new year. I'm really hoping, like Brandon is, that we can draw in more friends to use Letterboxd who would never go so far geek to start bloggety-blogging along with us.

The real reason that I stopped using Flixster is that it wasn't the social experience it was promised to be. None of my friends (besides Jason) were actively using the site. Letterboxd is already better from the very start for that very simple reason.

I'll never use Flixster again (suck it, Jason. 2013 is the time to migrate to Letterboxd). I'll definitely continue to use IMDb for listing movies seen during the year. As seen in my previous stats post, it really is the easiest way (outside of a personal spreadsheet or database) to see at a glance what you've watched in the previous year, with the ability to sort out by year and even by genre.

It'll be interesting to see if Jason does migrate completely to Letterboxd. I know that a large part of what he liked about Flixster was its integration with Facebook and being able to get comments on his reviews on FB from FB users who would never spend time on a site devoted entirely to film. Jason, are you currently posting to both sites?

I'm especially glad that Letterboxd might be the vehicle through which Film Club gets to see regular Arthur reviews. I sure hope so.

In case anyone needs links:

My Flixster profile: http://www.flixster.com/user/trawlerman
My Letterboxd profile: http://letterboxd.com/trawlerman/

See you on Letterboxd.