Letterboxd Call Sheet (April 2015)

Welcome to the first edition of our new-look monthly newsletter. It’s a regular update on what’s going on in front of and behind the Letterboxd scenes. Equal parts film world news, Letterboxd tech talk, and a curated look at our lists and reviews.

Cheers,
The Letterboxd crew

FilmFestBuzz at SXSW

We had our newest Letterboxd crew member Gemma on the ground at South By SouthWest this year reporting back on the buzz. Russell Brand was a no-show for his own documentary (in amongst the enlightened comedy bits, we learn that he used to phone up Oasis frontman Noel Gallagher for marriage advice); Judd Apatow’s new film Trainwreck might be his best yet, because Amy Schumer; audience prize-winner Krisha is next-level polarising; It Follows is looking to be a break-out horror hit (our crew members Matthew and Ryan gave it two thumbs up when it screened at our local film festival last year).

The Letterboxd community’s reviews of the rest of the fest can be found via our FilmFestBuzz list, created with the help of our pals at GoWatchIt. Also, Letterboxd member WroughWriters has ranked his 2015 SXSW selections.

Best part of the fest? Getting to watch most of the screenings in the Alamo Drafthouse cinema chain (we love those guys). The queso! The popcorn! The beer! They get this stuff really right. We caught up with Alamo head honcho Tim League at the SXSW panel of Creative Game Changers, where he reckoned “2015 is going to be the biggest year yet in cinemas”. Also the biggest year yet in streaming. Basically, the biggest year yet in film watching.

As always, check out festivals, upcoming and done and dusted, on FilmFestBuzz.com.

PS: who’s going to be at Tribeca Film Festival? Let us know on Twitter; we’ll arrange a Tweet-up.

The Insider

Behind the scenes at HQ

All the SXSW love we got for Letterboxd from both filmmakers and fans was encouraging and has us working harder than ever on the forthcoming Letterboxd app… because we know you want it, and we want to get it really right for you. We can tell you that we’ll be launching on iOS first, and below we’ve included a little peek at a couple of screens (no promises these won’t change before we ship though). We’ll share more as the launch gets closer.

Opening Credits

In cinemas over the past month

Get Hard with Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart is out. Watch better prison films.

Delve back into Disney’s theatrical release history on the occasion of the latest big-screen telling of Cinderella (which is getting surprisingly favourable reviews for Branagh’s irony-free treatment).

Liam Neeson is back, with a gun, in Run All Night. Never mind the quality of his films, here’s a ranking of his performances.

I’ll Be Back

Sequels, remakes and reboots

Alex Winter dropped another Bill & Ted 3 update at SXSW, saying “We’re really close, we’re just about there”. Which could mean anything. While you wait, enjoy this recent Letterboxd challenge: Keanu Reeves or Bust! (from the same crew who are wrapping up a March Madness 80s Sci-Fi Challenge).

Shannen Doherty is confirmed for the Mallrats sequel, according to a recent Kevin Smith tweet. That’s five original cast members on board, but no Jason Lee or Ben Affleck as yet. The film itself is sitting in a queue behind about three other yet-to-be-made Smith films. Could Kevin Smith be the filmmaker with the most Letterboxd lists based on his output? He’s right up there.

Star Wars

One star vs five stars, fight!

Insurgent

“Spends three minutes explaining why Shailene Woodley’s hair is now short.” —Evan Daniels

“Just spectacular. … kept me on the edge of my seat throughout, feeling every emotion under the sun.” —annamckenzie

Old School

Recent reviews of the classics

John Ford’s 7 Women gets ★★★★★ from Jared Gores: “Pitting Christians against atheists... missionaries against bandits… women against women, women against men…”

With Thomas Vinterberg’s remake of the Thomas Hardy classic Far from the Madding Crowd (starring Carey Mulligan as Bathsheba Everdene) just around the corner, check out this one-line review of the 1967 version from The Daily Telegraph’s chief film critic Robbie Collin. Contains trousers.

This is the End

The final season of Mad Men is upon us. Here are the 10 films creator Matthew Weiner required his cast and crew to watch before the series began, and here’s a list of films seen on the series (although many more are referenced in dialogue).

What is it with the enduring appeal of Forrest Gump? A casual survey of HQ netted six thumbs up and three thumbs down. But most of the yes voters admitted they would probably reconsider if they were to rewatch it today.

Every now and again a list comes along that just slays us. This is not a list, exactly, more a special thank you to all of the community. And because the world is a beautiful place, we’ll leave you with a list that celebrates design, from one of the editors of Art of the Title.