Movie and TV guides

Everything on this site that is not about the app itself lives here: franchise watch orders, ranked lists, comparisons with the other tracking apps, and practical guides for the evening's actual problem, which is deciding. All of it is written and kept current by the developer of I Like Movies, and the comparison pages say so before making any claim.

Franchise watch orders

Every film and series in a franchise, in the order to watch them, updated as new titles arrive.

• Marvel Cinematic Universe watch order

  The full MCU watch order: every film and Disney+ series in release order, plus the films in story (chronological) order. Updated as new titles arrive.

• Star Wars watch order

  The full Star Wars watch order: every film and series in release order, plus the complete in-universe timeline order from The Acolyte to The Rise of Skywalker.

• Middle-earth watch order

  The Lord of the Rings watch order: both trilogies, The War of the Rohirrim and The Rings of Power, in release order and in Middle-earth timeline order.

• Dune watch order

  The Dune watch order: Denis Villeneuve's films, the Dune: Prophecy series, the earlier adaptations, and where each one fits. Updated as Dune: Part Three arrives.

• Wizarding World watch order

  The full Harry Potter watch order: all eight Harry Potter films plus the three Fantastic Beasts prequels, in release order and in story (chronological) order.

• Fast & Furious watch order

  All 11 Fast & Furious films in order: release order, the chronological timeline that moves Tokyo Drift to ninth, and where the Hobbs & Shaw spinoff fits.

• Alien watch order

  Every Alien film and series in order: the four original films, the Prometheus prequels, Alien: Romulus and the Alien: Earth series, in release and timeline order.

• Dragon Ball watch order

  The full Dragon Ball watch order: Dragon Ball, Z, Super, Daima and GT in order, the four canon films, and where the classic movies fit as side stories.

• Naruto watch order

  The full Naruto watch order: the original series, Shippuden and Boruto in order, all eleven films with where each one fits, and which two movies are canon.

• Neon Genesis Evangelion watch order

  The Evangelion watch order explained: the 1995 series, The End of Evangelion, and the four Rebuild films, with the two valid routes through them.

Ranked lists and picks

Opinionated lists, each one stating plainly whose opinion it is.

• The best horror films to watch this Hooptober, ranked

  Twenty-one horror films to marathon this Hooptober, ranked by TMDB user score from Alien at 8.2 down to Lake Mungo at 6.1, each with one plain sentence on what it is.

• Every Studio Ghibli film, ranked by viewer score

  All 24 Studio Ghibli films ranked by TMDB user score, from Spirited Away at 8.5 to Earwig and the Witch, each with one honest sentence on what it is.

• Every Christopher Nolan film, ranked by viewer score

  All 13 Christopher Nolan films ranked by TMDB user score, from The Dark Knight and Interstellar at 8.5 through The Odyssey to Insomnia, with one honest sentence each.

• Great films under 100 minutes, ranked

  Nineteen genuinely great films under 100 minutes, ranked by TMDB user score, from 12 Angry Men to Paddington, with the runtime printed next to every one.

Weekly themes

Every Friday the app's Discover tab gets a themed collection of 21 hand-picked films. The latest weeks are below; the archive holds them all.

• Mafia cinema: 21 essential films

  Week of August 28, 2026

• 21 essential films by female directors

  Week of August 21, 2026

• True crime, eighties style: 21 films

  Week of August 14, 2026

• Japanese cinema: 21 films from the masters

  Week of August 7, 2026

• Weekly themes archive

  Every past collection, 19 weeks and counting, newest first.

Best-app roundups

The apps worth knowing for a given job, ranked and compared. Written by the makers of one of them, so each page says so, includes a real comparison table, and credits every other app for what it does best.

• Best apps to decide what to watch together in 2026 (we compared 5)

  The best apps for two people to agree on a film or show without losing the evening, compared honestly by feature, with a comparison table and where each one fits.

• Best AI movie recommendation apps in 2026 (we compared 5)

  The best AI apps that recommend movies and TV from your own taste, compared honestly by how they learn, whether they know what you have already seen, and where each fits.

• Best Letterboxd alternatives for Android in 2026 (we compared 5)

  The best Letterboxd alternatives for Android, compared honestly: TV alongside film, private notes, imports, and where Letterboxd itself is still the better choice.

• Best movie tracker apps for Android in 2026 (we compared 5)

  The best apps to track the movies and TV you watch on Android, compared honestly on one library, episode tracking, automatic scrobbling, imports and price.

• Best free movie and TV apps with no ads in 2026 (we compared 5)

  The best genuinely free movie and TV apps with no ads, compared honestly: what is free, what is behind a paywall, and which show no advertising at all.

• Best apps to track anime episodes in 2026 (we compared 5)

  The best apps to track anime episodes and completion, compared honestly. The anime specialists lead, and where a films-and-TV app fits if you watch anime alongside everything else.

• Best apps for a shared household watchlist in 2026 (we compared 4)

  The best apps for a household or couple to share one watchlist and watched history, compared honestly with the shared-list workarounds the other trackers offer.

• Best apps to help you decide what to watch in 2026 (we compared 5)

  The best apps for when you cannot decide what to watch, alone or with someone, compared honestly: smart shortlists, swipe matching, streaming filters and shared lists.

App comparisons

Written by one side, so each page opens by saying so, names where the other app is the better choice, and scores nothing.

• vs Letterboxd

  I Like Movies as a Letterboxd alternative for Android: TV episode tracking, private notes vs public reviews, households, imports, and where Letterboxd is still better.

• vs Trakt

  I Like Movies as a Trakt alternative for Android: automatic scrobbling vs a phone-first app, ecosystems, households, AI recommendations, and where Trakt is still better.

• vs Simkl

  I Like Movies as a Simkl alternative for Android: anime tracking, auto-tracking extensions, households, AI recommendations, and where Simkl is still better.

• vs IMDb

  I Like Movies as an IMDb alternative for tracking on Android: a reference database vs a tracking app, ratings, watchlists, the .csv import path, and where IMDb is still better.

• vs Serializd

  I Like Movies as a Serializd alternative for Android: public TV reviews vs a private films-and-TV library, communities, households, and where Serializd is still better.

• vs Maimovie

  I Like Movies as a Maimovie alternative for Android: an AI finder vs a library you keep, episode tracking, households, imports, and where Maimovie is still better.

• vs Moviebase

  I Like Movies as a Moviebase alternative for Android: a shared household library, recommendations from your own ratings, no ads, and where Moviebase is still better.

• vs JustWatch

  JustWatch alternative that remembers what you watched: films and TV in one private library, per episode, shared with your household, free with no ads.

• vs Matinee

  Matinee alternative on Android: films and TV in one private library, a household that shares one watchlist, recommendations built from your own taste, no ads.

Practical guides

• Life after TV Time

  TV Time closed in July 2026. Where the tracking habit goes next, including the apps that fit better than this one.

• How to decide what to watch together

  Ways for two people to pick a film without losing the evening. Most of them need no app at all.