Film Listography: A Life in Movie Lists

A few months ago I stumbled upon the book Listography: Your Life in Lists by Lisa Nola in Urban Outfitters and after flicking through the compilation of lists to fill out I decided that I would one day buy it. Fast forward to a recent trip to Manchester's Trafford Centre, where me and my friends Leigh-Anne and Rosita found a more specialised edition of that Listography book, one focusing on films. Needless to say I didn't walk away from Waterstones planning to one day buy that book. No, I walked out with a plastic bag swinging at my side.

Film Listography: A Life in Movie Lists is a collection of 71 film-related lists to fill out with an additional 11 blank lists for you to customise yourself. The topics range from the usual Favourite Films, Directors and Actors to the much more specific 'film characters that remind you of someone you know', 'unforgettable death scenes' and 'quotes you'll never forget'. Each List contains 20 lines, but I plan on using my neatest, smallest handwriting to allow room at least double that as I continue to broaden my film catalogue.

As an ongoing series on this blog I plan on filling out these lists publicly on here. For every list that I begin I will create post on here explaining why certain films were chosen and why others weren't. I have decided, as I am nowhere near having watched enough films to finitely complete each list, that I will for now limit each list to ten entries. This will allow each one to grow as I continue to watch films daily. The lists will also be updated on the Lists Page of my Letterboxd account.

I plan on uploading my first List later today, and encourage anyone reading this to seek out Film Listography, or any of Lisa Nola's other books as they really are a great purchase.

Hello, Letterboxd

I've been struggling over whether or not to write this post for a little while now. Part of me wants the world to hear about my latest discovery so it can become a truly spectacular film community. The other part is fearful of the inevitable effects an influx of the dreaded Internet youth will bring out. I'm directly referring to the fateful day when Twilights average rating of two stars shoots up to and average rating of five stars. Chilling, isn't it?

Nonetheless, here I go. Letterboxd.

Letterboxd is possibly one of the most exciting and enjoyable websites I've stumbled upon in recent times. At its core, the website is a film database which allows users keep track of ever film they have ever seen. What makes Letterboxd even more enjoyable though is the numerous functions it has on offer. You can not only log a film that you have seen, you can rate it, like it, review it and input the date that you watched it in order to build up a film diary.

As much as I love the concept of having a single spot where I can keep track of ever film I've watched, the community aspects of the site truly elevate it. Being able to view every film a friend has watched means that you are instantly able to get a verdict on a film you've wanted to see from someone you trust, as well as the competitive aspect of seeing who among your friend group has watched the most films.

The site offers of plenty of other features, such as the ability to build a Watchlist (long gone are the days of forgetting what the film you wanted to see was called, now you can add it to your Watchlist instantly). Users can also compile lists of favourite films, least favourites or of any other topic they can come up with. The homepage is also constantly updating with currently popular films, friends recent veiwings and an assortment of recent reviews, so you will be exposed to an array of new titles almost every time you check the site.

I genuinely love this website, and cannot be happier to have stumbled upon it through dumb-luck on Twitter. As a film student this site obviously carries immediate pros for myself, but I know it is a website any film lover can gain something from. The site is currently in its beta stage and by the looks of their Twitter account the team are thankfully working on a phone app.

I would recommend this website to absolutely anyone with a passion for film, there is just so much to gain from it, especially the incredible moment when you remember an obscure film you watched five years ago that you can add to your films.

You can check out my Letterboxd profile here.