Being a film fan is easy. Keeping track of your passion for cinema and all of the great stuff you’ve been meaning to watch can be a bit more difficult. Similarly, with all of the variety of films out there, not just in the cinema but on countless streaming services, each with ever-increasing lists of new releases and recommendations, I thought it might be useful to share some of my personal recommendations for keeping up-to-date, tracking down and watching films.
1. JustWatch.com
JustWatch is my go-to source for finding out if a certain film or TV show is available on a streaming platform. The easy search function allows you to search by title, quickly providing you with info on where your next watch can be found. It tracks film/tv releases across all the usual suspects, including Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+, but also includes a number of streaming services that you might not have heard about. If the film you’re looking for is not freely available somewhere, JustWatch will also list its availability on pay-to-own/pay-to-rent services, alongside the best price it can find.
2. Film Distributor’s Association
Nowadays, it can be difficult to keep track of when and where new films are being released. The Film Distributors’ Association (or FDA) website does the hard work for you – listing all upcoming new UK releases by date as well as info on the company/distributor and exhibition details, such as whether a certain film is getting a wide or limited release, or what streaming platform it is being released upon.
3. Youtube
Maybe it’s obvious, but Youtube has all sorts of dedicated channels and playlists for film fans. From trailers and reviews, there’s also a plethora of channels dedicated to behind-the-scenes features, documentaries, and even full films themselves. With many films losing copyright status, many classic titles are readily available to view on Youtube. The site also acts as a repository for the output of archives, restoration projects and film societies to host rare or obscure titles that may not get a home media release. There a short films, documentaries, arthouse titles and much more to discover.
Recommended Channels
- The Smoking Hat – a channel dedicated to classic film noir titles.
- Silent Film House – a channel dedicated to silent and early cinema.
- Retrospective – a channel dedicated to Hollywood classics.
- The Hollywood Collection – Film-related documentaries
4. Letterboxd
Forget recording the films you watch in a pen & paper diary – Letterboxd is the social film-tracking website that should be the first port of call for any cinephile wanting to keep a record of what they’ve been watching. Record your views, reviews, thoughts and more; create custom lists to be shared with friends and family and keep track of what you want to watch using the ‘watch-list’ feature. The service gives you a variety of ways to search for recommendations and browse films, as well as keeping you up to date with what your followers and those you follow have been watching. At the end of the year, Letterboxd provides a brilliantly detailed breakdown of your viewing, giving you insight into your most-watched genres, stars, national cinemas and more, as well as suggestions for what you missed out on and what has been popular amongst the Letterboxd community.
If you want a flavour of what Letterboxd is all about – here’s my profile!
Notes from the Multiplex 