Criterion Channel and Letterboxd

I started using Criterion Channel and Letterboxd together this semester, and the combination has changed how I watch movies in a way I didn't anticipate. Criterion gives you access to a library that feels like a film school syllabus, organized by director and movement and theme instead of Netflix's algorithmic recommendations. Letterboxd is where you log what you watch and read what other people thought. Reviews range from one-sentence jokes to 2,000-word essays that teach you more about cinematography than most classes I've taken. The two services cost a combined $16 per month, less than a single movie ticket at the theater near campus. Since September I've watched 47 films and logged all of them. Sounds obsessive, but it's actually just Tuesday and Thursday nights when I don't have early classes the next day. My roommate started watching with me after I put on a Kurosawa film and he couldn't stop asking questions about the blocking. The community aspect keeps me coming back. Seeing that 3 friends also watched the same Agnes Varda documentary in the same week, all with different takes, creates a conversation that doesn't happen with mainstream streaming. Both platforms treat film as something worth paying attention to rather than background noise.