The Letterboxd Oscars (1927-2023) SLYT 32 Min
June 20, 2024 5:45 AM Subscribe
The Letterboxd Oscars (1927-2023) LYT 32 Min
Academy and Letterboxd were in mutual agreement for the following years / films:
1930 - All Quiet on the Western Front
1934 - It Happened One Night
1943 - Casablanca
1972 - The Godfather
1974 - The Godfather Part II
1993 - Schindler's List
2003 - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2006 - The Departed
2019 - Parasite
2022 - Everything Everywhere All at Once
As the list covers 96 years - here is a text list of the first and last five years. If anyone else wants to generate (and comment with) a full text list - have at it ! For everyone else the video is 32 minutes long and includes clips from all the Letterbox picks.
First Five winners
1927
LB: Metropolis Dir: Fritz Lang
Won: Wings: William A. Wellman
1929
LB: Pandora's Box Dir G. W. Pabst
Won: The Broadway melody Dir: Harry Beaumont
1930
LB: All Quiet on the Western Front Dir: Lewis Milestone
Won: All Quiet on the Western Front Dir: Lewis Milestone
1931
LB: City Lights Dir: Charlie Chaplin
Won: Cimarron Dir: Westley Ruggles
1932
LB: Trouble In Paradise Dir: Ernst Lubitsche
Won: Grand Hotel Dir: Edmund Goulding
Last five years winners
2019
LB: Parasite Dir: Bong Joon-ho
Won: Parasite Dir: Bong Joon-ho
2020
LB: The Father Dir : Florian Zeller
Won: Nomadland Dir: Chloé Zhao
2021
LB: Marcel the Shell With Shoes On Dir: Dean Fleischer Camp
Won: CODA Dir: Siân Heder
2022
LB: Everything, Everywhere, All At Once: Dir: Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan
Won: Everything, Everywhere, All At Once: Dir: Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan
2023
LB: Spider man: Across The Spider-Verse Dir: Joaquim Dos Santos & Kemp Powers & Justin K. Thompson
Won: Oppenheimer Dir: Christopher Nolan
"Taking the Highest Average score from each year (with over 1k reviews) let's see how different the Academy Awards canon would look like - if Letterboxd chose the Oscars winners for best film. This list excludes Documentaries, Shorts , Concert films and Limited Series."
Academy and Letterboxd were in mutual agreement for the following years / films:
1930 - All Quiet on the Western Front
1934 - It Happened One Night
1943 - Casablanca
1972 - The Godfather
1974 - The Godfather Part II
1993 - Schindler's List
2003 - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2006 - The Departed
2019 - Parasite
2022 - Everything Everywhere All at Once
As the list covers 96 years - here is a text list of the first and last five years. If anyone else wants to generate (and comment with) a full text list - have at it ! For everyone else the video is 32 minutes long and includes clips from all the Letterbox picks.
First Five winners
1927
LB: Metropolis Dir: Fritz Lang
Won: Wings: William A. Wellman
1929
LB: Pandora's Box Dir G. W. Pabst
Won: The Broadway melody Dir: Harry Beaumont
1930
LB: All Quiet on the Western Front Dir: Lewis Milestone
Won: All Quiet on the Western Front Dir: Lewis Milestone
1931
LB: City Lights Dir: Charlie Chaplin
Won: Cimarron Dir: Westley Ruggles
1932
LB: Trouble In Paradise Dir: Ernst Lubitsche
Won: Grand Hotel Dir: Edmund Goulding
Last five years winners
2019
LB: Parasite Dir: Bong Joon-ho
Won: Parasite Dir: Bong Joon-ho
2020
LB: The Father Dir : Florian Zeller
Won: Nomadland Dir: Chloé Zhao
2021
LB: Marcel the Shell With Shoes On Dir: Dean Fleischer Camp
Won: CODA Dir: Siân Heder
2022
LB: Everything, Everywhere, All At Once: Dir: Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan
Won: Everything, Everywhere, All At Once: Dir: Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan
2023
LB: Spider man: Across The Spider-Verse Dir: Joaquim Dos Santos & Kemp Powers & Justin K. Thompson
Won: Oppenheimer Dir: Christopher Nolan
Fascinating. I have particular prejudices in movies. I agree with all of the Kurosawa choices. I'm not that into French New Wave. Once Upon a Time in the West is the best Leone movie and has the best score.
Sometimes the two competitors were both incredibly good: Best Years of Our Lives versus It's a Wonderful Life. Both have a redemption quality to them needed at the end of WWII.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:24 AM on June 20
Sometimes the two competitors were both incredibly good: Best Years of Our Lives versus It's a Wonderful Life. Both have a redemption quality to them needed at the end of WWII.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:24 AM on June 20
Interesting the years where a pair of Hollywood films are hitting similar themes or settings-- most egregiously Do the Right Thing/Driving Miss Daily, though also Sunset Blvd/All About Eve, Paper Moon/The Sting; or cultivating the same emotions and scale, like the tall tales of Shawshank/Forrest Gump, or corny dissection of masculinity in Fight Club/American Beauty.
posted by bendybendy at 6:37 AM on June 20 [1 favorite]
posted by bendybendy at 6:37 AM on June 20 [1 favorite]
They should interpolate the People's Choice Award winners to illustrate the distinction between the Letterboxd userbase and the general movie-watching public, maybe.
posted by lefty lucky cat at 8:05 AM on June 20 [1 favorite]
posted by lefty lucky cat at 8:05 AM on June 20 [1 favorite]
> LB: Spider man: Across The Spider-Verse Dir: Joaquim Dos Santos & Kemp Powers & Justin K. Thompson
> Won: Oppenheimer Dir: Christopher Nolan
Sorry this is wacky. I know people love that Spider-Verse movie but it's no best picture
posted by dis_integration at 8:33 AM on June 20 [1 favorite]
> Won: Oppenheimer Dir: Christopher Nolan
Sorry this is wacky. I know people love that Spider-Verse movie but it's no best picture
posted by dis_integration at 8:33 AM on June 20 [1 favorite]
Both Letterboxd and the Academy were wrong in 1994.
posted by Johnny Assay at 8:52 AM on June 20 [2 favorites]
posted by Johnny Assay at 8:52 AM on June 20 [2 favorites]
1933
LB: The Testament of Dr. Mabuse Dir: Fritz Lang
Won: Cavalcade Dir: Frank Lloyd
1935
LB: The Bride of Frankenstein Dir: James Whale
Won: Mutiny on the Bounty Dir: Frank Lloyd
1936
LB: Modern Times Dir: Charlie Chaplin
Won: The Great Ziegfeld Dir: Robert Z. Leonard
1937
LB: Make Way for Tomorrow Dir: Leo McCarey
Won: The Life of Emile Zola Dir: William Dieterle
1938
LB: Bringing Up Baby Dir: Howard Hawks
Won: You Can't Take It With You Dir: Frank Capra
1939
LB: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Dir: Frank Capra
Won: Gone with the Wind Dir: Victor Fleming
1940
LB: The Great Dictator Dir: Charlie Chaplin
Won: Rebecca Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
1941
LB: Citizen Kane Dir: Orson Welles
Won: How Green Was My Valley Dir: John Ford
1942
LB: To Be or Not to Be Dir: Ernst Lubitsch
Won: Mrs. Miniver Dir: William Wyler
posted by box at 9:07 AM on June 20 [2 favorites]
LB: The Testament of Dr. Mabuse Dir: Fritz Lang
Won: Cavalcade Dir: Frank Lloyd
1935
LB: The Bride of Frankenstein Dir: James Whale
Won: Mutiny on the Bounty Dir: Frank Lloyd
1936
LB: Modern Times Dir: Charlie Chaplin
Won: The Great Ziegfeld Dir: Robert Z. Leonard
1937
LB: Make Way for Tomorrow Dir: Leo McCarey
Won: The Life of Emile Zola Dir: William Dieterle
1938
LB: Bringing Up Baby Dir: Howard Hawks
Won: You Can't Take It With You Dir: Frank Capra
1939
LB: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Dir: Frank Capra
Won: Gone with the Wind Dir: Victor Fleming
1940
LB: The Great Dictator Dir: Charlie Chaplin
Won: Rebecca Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
1941
LB: Citizen Kane Dir: Orson Welles
Won: How Green Was My Valley Dir: John Ford
1942
LB: To Be or Not to Be Dir: Ernst Lubitsch
Won: Mrs. Miniver Dir: William Wyler
posted by box at 9:07 AM on June 20 [2 favorites]
They should interpolate the People's Choice Award winners to illustrate the distinction between the Letterboxd userbase and the general movie-watching public, maybe.
I'd also argue that watching a movie that is not contemporary with you is a different experience than one where you are immersed in the zeitgeist and vice versa. As biffa points out, the user base of Letterboxd really like their auteurs.
posted by Ashwagandha at 9:23 AM on June 20 [6 favorites]
I'd also argue that watching a movie that is not contemporary with you is a different experience than one where you are immersed in the zeitgeist and vice versa. As biffa points out, the user base of Letterboxd really like their auteurs.
posted by Ashwagandha at 9:23 AM on June 20 [6 favorites]
I feel like there might be some recency/likability bias going on in some of the later years. 2016 seems especially off. Your Name is a pretty good film, but not better than The Witch, Arrival or Hunt for the Wilderpeople.
posted by neuracnu at 9:25 AM on June 20
posted by neuracnu at 9:25 AM on June 20
Sorry this is wacky. I know people love that Spider-Verse movie but it's no best picture
So this list is based on the highest average rating of films for that specific year by Letterboxd users. As a point of comparison, here is a list based on actual voting by Letterboxd members on that specific group of 2024 Oscars. From that list:
posted by Ashwagandha at 9:34 AM on June 20
So this list is based on the highest average rating of films for that specific year by Letterboxd users. As a point of comparison, here is a list based on actual voting by Letterboxd members on that specific group of 2024 Oscars. From that list:
Oppenheimer - 413 - 26.32% vs Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse - 139 - 8.86%So it is worth keeping in mind that the highest Letterboxd rating is not necessarily the equivalent of whatever "Oscar worthy" criteria the Academy uses. It is indicative of people's changing tastes I think.
posted by Ashwagandha at 9:34 AM on June 20
Just going through the winners from the '30s, it seems like the Oscar voters like epics and visual spectacles a lot more than the LB folks do, and I wonder if that's related to seeing these movies on a big screen.
posted by box at 9:34 AM on June 20 [2 favorites]
posted by box at 9:34 AM on June 20 [2 favorites]
Oh My.
A ~grave~ injustice occurred in 1990.
Yes indeed.
In 1990 I was a film student at NYU and let me tell you, the day after Dances with Wolves beat out Goodfellas generated enough anger in those hallways to power all of New York for a week.
posted by jeremias at 10:01 AM on June 20 [5 favorites]
A ~grave~ injustice occurred in 1990.
Yes indeed.
In 1990 I was a film student at NYU and let me tell you, the day after Dances with Wolves beat out Goodfellas generated enough anger in those hallways to power all of New York for a week.
posted by jeremias at 10:01 AM on June 20 [5 favorites]
Both Letterboxd and the Academy were also wrong in 2014.
The Academy Awards have long been a dumpster fire, unless you're actually interested in the down-ticket winners, where they probably still do reflect actual expertise. Best Picture/Director/Actor/Actress have basically just been a crapshoot, at least as long as I've been alive, no better than random and certainly not necessarily reflective of the "best" of anything. I haven't watched or paid attention in decades.
I'm not a Letterboxd user so I can't speak to what they do.
posted by Pedantzilla at 10:03 AM on June 20
The Academy Awards have long been a dumpster fire, unless you're actually interested in the down-ticket winners, where they probably still do reflect actual expertise. Best Picture/Director/Actor/Actress have basically just been a crapshoot, at least as long as I've been alive, no better than random and certainly not necessarily reflective of the "best" of anything. I haven't watched or paid attention in decades.
I'm not a Letterboxd user so I can't speak to what they do.
posted by Pedantzilla at 10:03 AM on June 20
I'm intrigued by the number of foreign language films that Letterboxd is (rightfully so) slotting in the "best of" spot, when the very anglocentric Oscars would have shunted them off to a lesser category and not even considered them for Best Picture.
posted by AzraelBrown at 12:06 PM on June 20
posted by AzraelBrown at 12:06 PM on June 20
1944
LB: Double Indemnity Dir: Billy Wilder
Won: Going My Way Dir: Leo McCarey
1945
LB: Brief Encounter Dir: David Lean
Won: The Lost Weekend Dir: Billy Wilder
1946
LB: It's a Wonderful Life Dir: Frank Capra
Won: The Best Years of Our Lives Dir: William Wyler
1947
LB: Out of the Past Dir: Jacques Tourneur
Won: Gentleman's Agreement Dir: Elia Kazan
1948
LB: The Red Shoes Dir: Emeric Pressburger, Michael Powell
Won: Hamlet Dir: Lawrence Olivier
1949
LB: Late Spring Dir: Yasujiro Ozu
Won: All the King's Men Dir: Robert Rosen
1950
LB: Sunset Boulevard Dir: Billy Wilder
Won: All About Eve Dir: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
posted by box at 12:16 PM on June 20 [1 favorite]
LB: Double Indemnity Dir: Billy Wilder
Won: Going My Way Dir: Leo McCarey
1945
LB: Brief Encounter Dir: David Lean
Won: The Lost Weekend Dir: Billy Wilder
1946
LB: It's a Wonderful Life Dir: Frank Capra
Won: The Best Years of Our Lives Dir: William Wyler
1947
LB: Out of the Past Dir: Jacques Tourneur
Won: Gentleman's Agreement Dir: Elia Kazan
1948
LB: The Red Shoes Dir: Emeric Pressburger, Michael Powell
Won: Hamlet Dir: Lawrence Olivier
1949
LB: Late Spring Dir: Yasujiro Ozu
Won: All the King's Men Dir: Robert Rosen
1950
LB: Sunset Boulevard Dir: Billy Wilder
Won: All About Eve Dir: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
posted by box at 12:16 PM on June 20 [1 favorite]
1946
LB: It's a Wonderful Life Dir: Frank Capra
Won: The Best Years of Our Lives Dir: William Wyler
Both wrong. AMoLaD.
posted by biffa at 1:55 PM on June 28
LB: It's a Wonderful Life Dir: Frank Capra
Won: The Best Years of Our Lives Dir: William Wyler
Both wrong. AMoLaD.
posted by biffa at 1:55 PM on June 28
« Older Recent Advances in MetaFilter Research | The ACT government is encouraging farmers to use... Newer »
A ~grave~ injustice occurred in 1990.
posted by Faintdreams at 5:46 AM on June 20 [1 favorite]