A half-year of movies, a snapshot of me

Recently, Owen wrote a piece in our At Home in Houston County magazine, promoting the time-honored tradition of watching movies in theaters.

While I’m a huge proponent of making memories and experiencing movies on the big screen, for me, it’s not always practical, especially when my comfy couch and inexpensive options for snacks are at home.

So, as a homebody movie buff, I was curious what kinds of movies I am attracted to watching and if it revealed anything about my personality.

Enter Letterboxd. This is an app where, among many other features, you can track which movies you watch, rate them, and leave reviews.

I downloaded the app in May of last year and immediately started tracking.

Without further ado, the stats.

From May 2025 to December 2025, I watched 41 movies, which was way more than I thought I would have. A lot of the time, I watch one with dinner, or as background noise when I’m working on something else. (And they thoroughly distract me from both)

I’m into comfort movies, for sure, especially from around the 2000s. The 00s comprised 14 films, while I watched 9 from the 2020’s, 8 of them from 2025. The oldest movie I watched, from 1940, was Fantasia. 

And I found my comfort in comedies, my top genre with 16 watches. No other genre came close.

There was a brief period where I only had access to Disney+ and Paramount+, so no surprise they were the top studios. Disney and Pixar studios had 10 movies total, while Paramount came in second with 6 movies.

Although I followed studios more closely (not by choice,) the lead actors were very diverse. They only had four repeats: 

• Jamie Lee Curtis, because I watched the original Halloween and 2018 release in late October.
• Lindsay Lohan, because I watched Freaky Friday and Mean Girls.
• Sam Rockwell, because my niece and I watched The Bad Guys 1 and 2.
• And Sandra Bullock, for The Proposal and The Blind Side.

Ratings were split between family-friendly and not. G and PG movies made 20 in total, while I watched 13 PG-13 and 8 R rated movies.

No surprise most of my films were streamed: 39 of them. I saw one in theaters and one on a DVD. (What a throwback)

Although a large majority were comforting rewatches, I stepped outside the comfort zone and watched 15 movies for the first time.

Letterboxd averaged about 3 stars for most of them. The lowest rated was Madea’s Destination Wedding at 2.2 stars, and the highest was Ratatouille and Forrest Gump, both rated 4.2.

My ratings were far more generous: I rated 3 stars for 5 movies, 4 stars for 27 movies, and 5 stars for 9 movies. And I liked most of the movies I had seen, except for Heads of State and Harry and the Hendersons.

But what does this all mean? Is there a pattern? I like to think so.

My watching habits are the most telling. Movies became part of my routine, not necessarily a form of escapism, but like a warm hug or a creativity booster.

Fourteen movies from the 2000s wasn’t just nostalgia, it was a snapshot of my formative years. These movies to me balance humor and sincerity, which kind of mirrors how I go through life and process stress, especially since so many of the movies I watched were comedies.

What really stood out to me though were the movies I ranked the highest. Both Ratatouille and Forrest Gump are stories about those who are overlooked, but find their purpose and passions without being overly flashy. I relate to both Remy and Forrest Gump and how they persevered through their struggles to find meaning.

Overall, the stats suggest I’m comfort-driven and emotionally intuitive, who uses film as a steadying presence rather than an event. My taste reflects someone who seeks sincerity, finds joy in humanity, and curates their inner world with care and kindness.

Not bad insights for being a couch potato.