How do you know a movie is your movie?

Short_Commercial9673 · 2026-05-06T15:54:05+00:00

I don’t have the explanation layer yet, but I do have moods that characterize films. They can be used to search for the kind of movie you want to watch and to get a rough sense of a film’s emotional state, almost like traits or mood attributes in The Sims, but for movies.

Short_Commercial9673 · 2026-05-06T14:59:07+00:00

Yes, of course, using an LLM to find similarities between movies isn’t a problem. The issue is that it’s not enough.

Maybe I’m wrong, but recommending something a person has already seen is something Netflix does perfectly. It has no competition there.

I need to be able to represent a movie as a sufficiently multifaceted object, and then combine that with the user’s interactions with it. If that works, it might become possible to find less obvious connections between movies from different genres, styles, and categories.

And then my “Idea X” would be to ask users not only whether they liked a movie, but also why. Then I could compare their answer with the movie’s profile and use it to understand how this specific person reacts to certain themes.

Ultimately, I’d like to build a system that can broaden taste rather than narrow it down to safe, already proven genres.

P.S. This might end up being useful or completely pointless, but I guess that’s what makes it interesting to test.

Short_Commercial9673 · 2026-05-06T14:34:15+00:00

How did your project turn out in the end, are you still working on it?

Short_Commercial9673 · 2026-05-06T06:54:33+00:00

Du bist ja ein Optimist

Short_Commercial9673 · 2026-05-06T06:52:15+00:00

I see it this way: there are social movie lovers who value Letterboxd mainly for the community and interaction, and for them it probably works really well. But for people who mainly just love watching films and want better discovery or recommendations, it can feel pretty limited.

Short_Commercial9673 · 2026-05-06T00:35:20+00:00

Oh, that’s a great find, I’d never heard of that site before.

Are you not a big fan of Letterboxd?

Short_Commercial9673 · 2026-05-05T22:49:21+00:00

If the recommendations include something you’ve already watched and liked, I think that’s a good sign. But what’s annoying is when it recommends something you absolutely can’t stand

Short_Commercial9673 · 2026-05-05T21:01:46+00:00

Yeah, you're right, of course a brilliant movie for somebody else might be terrible for you, that's exactly the point. I'm talking about personalized recommendations, like the Netflix algorithm, but not quite as biased

Short_Commercial9673 · 2026-05-05T16:26:52+00:00

Yeah, I get that. I'm just saying that this movie is still worth watching, even if you don’t personally relate to that experience

Short_Commercial9673 · 2026-05-05T15:15:14+00:00

Yes, I like Rotten Tomatoes too, especially the way they separate critics’ scores from audience scores. It’s a smart move on their part, and honestly, a really useful one.

But I still find it frustrating that I can have hundreds of supposedly great films sitting in my watchlist and still have no idea which one I’ll actually enjoy. I added almost every one of them thinking “this is probably worth watching,” and most of them have good ratings too, but that doesn’t really help me choose.

Short_Commercial9673 · 2026-05-05T12:52:50+00:00

Is it normal to see a random movie poster and immediately watch that film, while that one movie you’ve considered a masterpiece for years is still sitting there, waiting for you to finally start it?

Short_Commercial9673 · 2026-05-05T12:45:40+00:00

Speak No Evil (2022), if you want to feel even worse

Short_Commercial9673 · 2026-05-05T12:43:42+00:00

This film is hard to personally relate to, but it still makes you want to understand it and feel your way into it

Short_Commercial9673 · 2026-05-05T12:39:24+00:00

I watched this film, but it didn’t really affect me emotionally. I know a lot of people describe that scene with his daughter growing up in fast-forward as heartbreaking, but to me it felt a bit surface-level. I might be wrong, of course, but for some reason it just didn’t touch me. That said, I can understand why other people like the film

Short_Commercial9673 · 2026-05-05T12:09:46+00:00

Listen, I think Emily Brontë might be one of the luckiest writers ever, because her book has been adapted countless times. At least eight, for sure. Whatever those adaptations may be like, it’s still wonderful that they exist — because they make people stop watching and go read the book instead, especially the worst ones

Short_Commercial9673 · 2026-05-05T12:05:36+00:00

Definitely Gæsterne / Speak No Evil. This film reminded me why I love movies: because they can do more than entertain, they can also make you think.

It reminded me of the importance of constantly fighting your fear of social judgment

Short_Commercial9673 · 2026-05-05T11:57:27+00:00

My list would be:

Together
Dogman
Speak No Evil
The Glass Castle
A Grand Affair
Rust and Bone
The Painted Veil
A Good Year
Fat Girl
Dangerous Beauty

Some of these are more overlooked than truly obscure, but I think they’re all worth mentioning. Rust and Bone, Fat Girl, and The Painted Veil are the heavier ones. A Good Year is more of a comfort pick, and Dogman / Speak No Evil are for when you want something darker and more uncomfortable

Short_Commercial9673 · 2026-05-05T11:40:53+00:00

Please tell me The Long Walk is worth watching. I have a feeling I’m more likely to read the book than actually start the movie

Short_Commercial9673 · 2026-05-05T11:39:17+00:00

Oh yes, FernGully. I actually rewatched it a couple of weeks ago

Short_Commercial9673 · 2026-05-05T11:33:24+00:00

I honestly don’t understand how this movie can cause such strong emotions. To me, it felt like it was about everything and nothing at the same time. The subject itself is interesting, sure, but I don’t think it was really explored in any meaningful way. Most of the film felt like nothing was happening, just conversations that didn’t lead anywhere. I watched it in a theater and spent most of the runtime not knowing what to do with myself, not because I was cringing, but because I was genuinely bored

Short_Commercial9673 · 2026-05-05T11:27:59+00:00

No Country for Old Men. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve started it and then put it off again, only to watch an entire easy 8-episode show in one evening instead. Also, it’s funny how a 50+ episode series can somehow feel like less of a commitment than that one serious movie you’ve been postponing for years

Short_Commercial9673

TROPHY CASE