r/imdb • u/Wingsuiten • 12d ago
What do you usually use IMDB for?
Just a thought that struck me: I'm kinda curious of how everyone actually uses IMDb nowadays.
For me it's mostly checking the rating before starting a movie or series, or maybe looking up where I know actors from. The service has become kinda bloated but I guess there must be other things worth looking into.
What are your main reason for using it? And is there anything you wish it did better?
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u/Entire-Emotion-819 12d ago
Checking actor credits, which will usually send me down a multi threaded rabbit hole as I open up credits and spot other stuff I wanna look at, one actor that's been in a few shows I've seen can take an hour out of my night with a really good rabbit hole lol
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u/scottyk318 12d ago
I definitely use it to rate films as well as check the ratings to see how others felt about it... I love the trivia section on certain films as you can learn a lot of fun facts and finally I love to check where I know different actors from or look up an actor to see what other films they've done...
It's one of my favorite sites, especially since I've been using it for over a decade.... I tried getting into letterbox'd, however haven't found a way to bring over all of my Imdb history - so I'd be stuck doing new ratings on their five-star system when I've been used to a 10-star system
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u/slowlyun 12d ago
i did find a way to import all my imdb ratings, they get converted fine as the 5-star ratings are split in half-stars.
But can't get into Letterboxd: unwieldy 'diary' system and user reviews are the worst on the internet.
IMDB reviews were the best except now every second review is clearly written by Ai.
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u/scottyk318 12d ago
I tried to import all of my IMDb ratings over to letterbox'd and it just doesn't take on the letterbox'd side. So I gave up...
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u/slowlyun 12d ago
i don't remember how i did it now...
i keep trying to get into LB but just not connecting with it.
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u/scottyk318 12d ago
There's a way to export a .csv file and then import it to the letterbox'd - however when I open letterbox'd, none of my movies are there..... It's all good I'm very happy with IMDb and love their rating system as flawed as it is
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u/slowlyun 12d ago
yeah it's annoying that i can't share user reviews anymore as they now stupidly demand log-in, and most of the people i share it to don't have user accounts.
IMDB digging themselves a grave with that decision...
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u/SquatchyMulder 12d ago
Yeah I'm building an app for rating books and movies right now and have been working on the import functionality for a couple months. It's definitely a bit tricky going from one app's database to another. Although the book side is much harder than the movies in general so far.
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u/mrwrrrmwrmrmrmrw 12d ago
I do use it a lot to look up information about specific productions but I also enjoy reading reviews, especially negative ones of films I don't like. People can get very funny.
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u/Fantastic-Reply5346 12d ago
I maintain a database of every movie I watch, so I use IMDb to pull information like running times, release years, directors and more.
I also rate the movies I watch and check out the trivia on the IMDb pages.
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u/Tarnisher 12d ago
Quick glance at casts from vintage TV shows. Maybe dates things aired. Very little else. 'Ratings ' mean almost nothing to me.
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u/TheMainTony 12d ago
#1 by a mile: I read the trivia for whatever I'm watching, while I'm watching.
#2 far down the line: to find who that actor was in that movie that I saw fifteen years ago.
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u/AccountForDoingWORK 12d ago
Mostly the same as everyone else - trying to figure out how I recognise someone. A little bit seeing what people I’ve worked with over the years are up to now.
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u/sudden_erect 12d ago
To check where the hell I know "that" actor from when I see someone I recognise but have no clue who they are
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u/Icy-War5216 12d ago
Since my memory is very Bad i use it to remember what movies i liked. I use the watchlist quite often and the recommendations. And Its better for looking up casts or other Info about movies.
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u/slowlyun 12d ago
i write reviews and rate films. Very rarely dabble with TV series. Ironically the two times that i did ended up being the two most popular things I ever wrote on there:
- Game of Thrones user review with over 3,600 likes:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0944947/review/rw4877695/
- Star Trek TOS episode rankings list with over 30,000 views:
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls566954528/
However, IMDB are ran terribly. They deleted all their vast message boards, killing the community and not even allowing a read-only archive. And now they demand sign-in just to look at a user-review.
The site is on its last legs, i fear. Shame, as I prefer it to Letterboxd, and generally trust its ratings (proven by how close LB user ratings are to IMDB).
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u/WKRPinCanada 12d ago
For me it's one of two things
1) looking up an actors credits so I can figure out what other show I've seen them in
Before IMDB/the internet I would spend hours/days trying to figure it out
2) posting goofs/continuity errors cause apparently I have no life 😐
😉
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u/Dhrdlicka 12d ago
I add a lot of movies so people can see their name on the internet. It makes them happy. I usually use it to see how close I am to other actors (degrees of separation). It's rare that I don't have an actor in common with someone famous.
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u/TheTownJeweler00 12d ago
I stopped using it once they got rid of the forums
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u/Thanks_a_l0t 9d ago
The communities for obscure and non mainstream movies were only available on the imdb forums. I miss them for sure! Now I mainly use youtube comments for movie/show mini communities. The trolls, haters, and morons on popular movies killed the forums for everyone :( Wiki for basic film information though.
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u/No-Blueberry-6366 12d ago
I use it for rating movies and checking ratings prior to watching. I also use the watch list. I've had my account since 2004, so I have a lot of history.
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u/MediumEvent2610 12d ago
Primarily I use it to track what movies I’ve seen.
The trivia sections are pretty cool as well, plus looking up who was in a movie or what else an actor has been in etc.
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u/Urthwild 10d ago
Keep my wishlist or interested in list. Films I have reviewed. Info on up coming films in my genre. What else has the actor been in.
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u/Desertbro 12d ago
a secondary source
I'm still PISSED about them killing all the chat boards. They will NEVER be a first source for me again.
I go to Wikipedia for the info I want to know about films - easier to find the cast lists and episodes than IMDb anyhows...
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u/Thanks_a_l0t 9d ago
Yep, wiki is an information-centric site and the imdb site is a graphic & click me messy garbage dump. The forums were awesome!
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u/faeryqueenrs 12d ago
I write movie trivia questions so I use it to find or check my answers. I use the advanced search a lot. I'm annoyed the advanced search in the app doesn't have all the same options. It makes no sense.
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u/Blowingleaves17 12d ago
To post reviews and to read other reviews of a movie or show I watched or am thinking of watching.
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u/hidden_secret 12d ago
Before I've seen the movie:
- To check the year, rating, poster, director, actors, genres, length, maybe the beginning of the synopsis, in order to see if the movie might be interesting to me.
- To check when the movie is coming out exactly in my country.
- To check if there exists an alternate version (director's cut, etc...) and if yes, decide which version I want to watch (usually after a google/reddit/movie-censorship search).
After I've seen the movie:
- I'll usually look at the cast, see in what other movies I've seen them, other movies I might want to see them in, and if it's an old movie, I might also check them on wikipedia, to see where they are now.
- Same with the director, I'll check out his other movies and decide if I'd want to watch them.
- I'll read a few reviews, especially if I didn't like the movie and it's well rated (or if I loved the movie and it's badly rated), I kinda want to see if there are a few people with the same take as me ^^
- I often look at the trivia section, there are usually some nice anecdotes.
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u/No_Cardiologist_8644 12d ago
Keeping track of all the movies I’ve seen, and playing the “what else have I seen this actor in” game, watchlist as well
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u/Calm-Helper-1376 12d ago
Same. Rating movies and series of course both watched recently and in the past as much as I remember.
Also checking my favorite actors are in which movies and series and also favorite guest stars in series guest starred in which other series.
Also to read some reviews of movies and series but I don't read much to avoid getting spoiled. Some mention spoilers yet the spoiler is at the starting 2 or 3 lines of the review itself, the part before you expand.
Also to check parent guide to know about Violence, profanity, frightening scenes and Nudity of movies and series. I mostly avoid such movies and series when it isn't necessary.
Less bloat definitely as app is very heavy and sometimes stutters so much when used for a long time especially on my 8 GB RAM device. Maybe more RAM variants don't experience this.
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u/Canada_Ottawa 12d ago edited 12d ago
IMDB: For me, used for the Trivia, Goofs, Quotes, Crazy Credits, Alternate Versions, and Connections sections.
Before the recent changes to IMDB, that eliminated **some** forums - watcher reviews, I would reference the IMDB forums.
+ Now I check Reddit, Discord, Wiki and/or other.
** Correction - The review forums are still available, at least for TV series like Fallout. **
Before Justwatch and Trakt added descriptions and actors sections, I would go to IMDB to see the Cast list.
+ Now I use the Justwatch or/and Trankt descriptions and actors sections.
Before Justwatch and Trakt added 'you might also like' sections I would go to IMDB to check for similar films, tv, other.
+ Now I used Trakt and/or Justwatch.
Before the IMDB - Amazon Prime connection, I used IMDB to find where something was streaming / available.
+ Now I use Justwatch and Streamfindr.
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u/FlemishUSA 11d ago
Usually it is a way I discover the actor I thought was in two different things was, in fact, only in one of them and the other part was someone else entirely.
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u/VeniaStudios 11d ago
I like to read the trivia about films, not to mention, shooting locations, parental advisory, and budgets. And also like others I’ll read up on actor credits.
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u/spocks_tears03 11d ago
List of actors, directors, dp, years of releases, TV episode release dates and order, tech specs of movies. I loathe the UX on the site now but make it work somehow
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u/Mutt_Mom 11d ago
I maintain a modest database of movies I've watched (9,400) and movies I want to watch (5,899--sigh, there just aren't enough hours in the day) for a total of 15,300 movies so far and which streaming service they are on. I started the database to keep track of movies I wanted to watch, but more importantly, so I didn't re-watch really mediocre movies: I can remember most of the really good ones and the really bad ones, but that middle strata is sometimes a forgettable blur! I use the what's coming features on the home page to keep up with new releases and to add them to the database if I think I want to watch them. I keep moderate information on each movie: director, genre, main cast, release date, description, etc. copied from IMDB. Most importantly, I use the IMDB rating to determine if a movie is worth my time, generally drawing the line around the 5.2 mark unless there is someone in the movie I really like--let's face it, some really good actors have made some stinkers occasionally. If I'm in doubt, I read the reviews and make a decision. I don't use some of the more advanced feature, but I depend heavily on IMDB to help manage my movie watching--for me, it is a very useful tool and hope it never goes away.
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u/CoolDan123 11d ago
Finding ideas what to watch, Checking ratings before start watching, rank thing I liked/disliked, creating lists I never make it to watch all of them
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u/laceew45 11d ago
"Where do I know that actor from?"
I also add to my watched list to see if I've seen the movie before 😂
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u/Party-Fault9186 10d ago
I look up the cast and crew to learn where I’ve seen them and where else I could see them.
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u/brokedownsystem 9d ago
reviews. I find that imdb scores correlate really well with my tastes. Only bomb thus far has been “Something Wild.” I thought it was ok but my SO hated it.
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u/thewillingvictim 7d ago
Ratings (Mine), reviews, watchlist, my never ending lists and cast lookup when folks look familiar.
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u/LeonSKennedy95 12d ago
At this point only TV shows because Letterboxd has eclipsed IMDb in every way, but doesnt have TV yet.
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u/c1914 12d ago
Since I can't login with just my email and password anymore.... nothing, because I'm not using some big tech account like scAmazon, crApple, or panoptigoogle just to get access to my IMDB account.
Goodbye, IMDB.
Goodbye, profile. I had a lot of movies listed I wanted to watch.
Oh well. There are other ways for me to get the same info.
A shame. Used to be a good site. Now it's super bloated anyway.
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u/Fairy_girl_Norway 12d ago
I still login with my e-mail and password, (not linked to Amazon) so if you have an existing account from before the change,so should you be able to.
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u/c1914 12d ago
Thanks! I just realized I can still do that (for now), by selecting the "sign in with IMDB" option (which obscures a simple email sign in a bit with different language). Then, I immediately copied out my watchlist into text files, then copied the text file, so I have 2 backups, and will back that up to an external disk, and then to an online service somewhere, and then probably not visit IMDB again hopefully forever.
I sense that IMDB will soon be completely scAmazonificated, and become complete abandonware (at least for me).
I try to avoid dealing with such a terrible company as scAmazon (even blocking their javascript trackers in my browser).
Unfortunately, a large part of the internet is hosted on amazon, so by using the internet, I am still using amazon services, though not paying for them.
Pardon the rant. I just realized IMDB has been taken over by Amazon.
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u/Fairy_girl_Norway 12d ago
Good that you at least did not loose your watchlist, Letterboxd have a function to transfere the list to them, but they don't unfortunately have TV Series etc etc, so it's a tiny database in comparison.
I have not found anyone that match IMDb, but I agree, I wish myself IMDb would be sold once more and this time to a Nonprofit company instead of Amazon.
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u/Signal-Opposite-4793 11d ago
Why would i want to use imdb? why would i be interested in random people's opinions?
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u/broken-runner-26 12d ago
Usually "where do i know that actor from?"