Martin Scorsese releases a list of 59 must-watch movies — plus his own

Movie lovers, rejoice: Acclaimed director Martin Scorsese is on Letterboxd as of Oct. 26.

Developed as a way for film lovers to post movie reviews, Letterboxd has evolved into a social media subculture of its own, characterized by its users’ quirky ratings and list curations.

The 80-year-old director quickly amassed over 200,000 followers. The day he joined, Scorsese released a list of 59 movies that viewers may consider watching alongside some of his own movies, including "Gangs of New York" and "The Wolf of Wall Street."

“I love the idea of putting different films together into one program. I grew up seeing double features, programs in repertory houses, evenings of avant-garde films in storefront theatres,” Scorsese wrote in the introduction to his “Companion Films” list. “You always learn something, see something in a new light, because every movie is in conversation with every other movie. The greater the difference between the pictures, the better.”

Scorsese has yet to write reviews, but he did release another curated list — this time, his top 10 favorite widescreen films. A Letterboxd user commented, "Obligatory homework."

Letterboxd may, at first, appear to be an unlikely platform for Scorsese who revealed during an Oct. 18 interview with the Associated Press for his latest movie, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” that he only just started warming up to using email.

“I’ve only begun this year to read emails,” he said.

“Because emails, they scare me. It says ‘CC’ and there are a thousand names. Who are these people?” Scorsese lamented, seemingly perplexed by the number of eyes needed on a single email thread.

Despite his rocky relationship with emails, fans are rejoicing in his recent visibility on social media sites, Letterboxd in particular.

Scorsese announced his joining the app with a post on Instagram, the picture showing the director’s legs crossed holding his device of choice — an iPad. The caption simply reads: “find me on @letterboxd.”

News of the director's signup went viral on the X platform. “martin scorsese is so real for making a letterboxd account,” said an X user.

Another account noted this was great news for film buffs. “Martin Scorsese joining Letterboxd is a free education in cinema. Please follow him and learn from what he’s teaching,” the user wrote.

Others gave the director's 22-year-old daughter Francesca Scorsese credit for the movie. She has included her dad in recent viral TikTok videos.

“Francesca drunk with power,” one X user quipped.

“francesca scorsese could break the internet by just liking the right reviews on letterboxd on her dad’s account that he clearly will not use on his own,” another user joked.

TODAY.com has reached out to Francesca Scorsese for comment.

Scorsese made headlines for his recent takes on the state of cinema, including why he thinks Marvel movies aren't cinema in the first place. Now, fans await reviews, and more takes.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com