How to rate films from a movie database in 2026

Rate films from a movie database with clear steps for TMDB rating collectors, plus a look at Watcharr and other tools for the job.

By VLClean · 2026-11-04

VLClean is published by the makers of Askarr and Watcharr, which are compared here alongside other tools.

Keep one list of films and one sheet with your rating and the date for each title, reading the movie database page before you rate. If you want the list's covers, each opening TMDB's plot, genres, rating, backdrop and trailer, Watcharr shows them in a row. ^[1]

Option	What it does	Cost details
Watcharr	Reads a public IMDb list and shows each title's cover, which opens TMDB's plot, genres, rating, backdrop and trailer. ^[1]	The hosted version needs nothing to install and no account. ^[1]
Other tools	Not described here, because no source facts about other tools were provided.	not published

What you need before you start

You need a list of the films you want to rate, kept in one place, such as an IMDb list. Watcharr can read any public IMDb watchlist or list from the desktop site, the phone site or IMDb's other-language pages. ^[1] Set each list to public before you use it with any tool.

Decide where your ratings will go. A spreadsheet with one row per film, a column for the rating shown on the movie database and a column for your own rating, plus a column for the date, records each rating with the date it was given. Pick one place and keep it the same from the first film to the last.

Have the movie database page for each film open before you rate it, so you can match the title and release year. Matching these two details first keeps remakes and sequels from getting mixed up in your sheet.

Step by step

The steps below work with any spreadsheet or notebook, so you can use whatever you already have.

Gather the films into one list, such as a public IMDb list, so you work through them in a set order.
Open each film's page in the movie database and confirm the title and release year.
Read the rating shown on that page and note it in your sheet beside the title.
Write your own rating in a second column, using the same scale for every film so the numbers can be compared later.
Add the date you rated the film, so you know when each rating was given and can revisit it when your taste changes.
Review the sheet once a week, fix any titles you matched wrongly, and sort it by the rating you care about most.
Keep the sheet and the list in step, adding new films as they appear on the list and removing the ones you no longer track.

Work in small batches, such as one genre or one decade at a time. Smaller batches make mismatched titles easier to spot before they spread through the whole sheet.

Tools that can do it

Watcharr is made by the team that publishes this site, and it is one option for this job. You paste one public IMDb list and get one link for Radarr with the movies and one for Sonarr with the shows. ^[1] The page shows the list's covers in a row, each opening TMDB's plot, genres, rating, backdrop and trailer. ^[1] Use it when you want those TMDB details for every title on a list in one place.

You paste, copy and browse from any screen in the web app, and the one-click sticker shows on bigger screens. ^[1] Its code is available to read under the PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0 licence. ^[1] Commercial use is not licensed, and no commercial licence is for sale. ^[1]

No other tools are named here, because no source facts about other tools were provided. Before you choose one, check whether it shows the movie database details you need for each title and how it keeps your ratings and dates.

Common mistakes to avoid

Rating from memory instead of from the page is a common slip. Open the film's page each time, so the rating you record matches what the database shows on that day.

Mixing up titles that share a name causes more errors than most people expect. Confirm the release year before you record anything, since remakes and sequels often share a title.

Recording a rating without a date makes the sheet harder to use later. Without the date, you cannot tell which ratings are recent when the database updates or when your own opinion changes.

Pasting a list that is not public is a quick way to lose time. Set the list to public and check that the link opens in a private window before you paste it into Watcharr.

Frequently asked questions

How can TMDB rating collectors rate films from a movie database?

Start with one list of films and one spreadsheet. Open the movie database page for each title, confirm the title and release year, then write down the rating shown and your own rating beside it. Add the date for each entry so you can see later when it was recorded. Work through the list in small batches, and review the sheet once a week to fix any mismatched titles.

Does Watcharr show TMDB ratings for films?

Watcharr reads a public IMDb list and shows the list's covers in a row. Each cover opens TMDB's plot, genres, rating, backdrop and trailer. ^[1] Your own rating still comes from your judgement, so keep recording it in your sheet alongside what the tool shows.

Is Watcharr free to use?

The hosted version needs nothing to install and no account. ^[1] Its code is available to read under the PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0 licence. ^[1] Commercial use is not licensed, and no commercial licence is for sale. ^[1] Read the licence text itself before you use the code in any setting, since its terms decide what is allowed.

Can Watcharr read a public IMDb list from a phone?

Yes, Watcharr accepts any public IMDb watchlist or list from the desktop site, the phone site or IMDb's other-language pages. ^[1] You paste, copy and browse from any screen in the web app, and the one-click sticker shows on bigger screens. ^[1]

How often does Watcharr refresh a list for rating?

If you sign in, Watcharr re-reads your list about every 15 minutes and warns you when a list fails three reads in a row. ^[1] If a read fails, the links keep serving the last list that loaded correctly. ^[1] After a warning, check the list, since the last good copy may be older than the list you see on IMDb.

Its code is available to read under the PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0 licence; older versions remain under MIT. ^[1]

Try Watcharr

Sources

Watcharr's own description of itself (the product of this site's publisher)