A small movie ranking tool based on direct duels: choose which of two movies you prefer, and the program builds your personal ranking using an ELO-style rating system. The article to this project is avaible online on heise+ and in c't 16/2026 S. 156.
The project includes both a Python program and a browser version.
You can use the web version here:
Run the local Python version with:
python3 main.pyThe Python version uses main.py for the interface and films.py for the movie data.
Movie-Ranker builds a personal movie ranking through one-on-one comparisons. In each round, the app selects two movies from the active ranking, meaning only movies that have not been skipped remain part of the selection process. The algorithm first makes sure that every active movie appears at least once, so all films can be sorted into the ranking early. After that, it uses a weighted selection: lower-rated movies appear less often, while highly rated movies appear more frequently, especially if they have not been compared many times yet. Previously compared pairs are avoided whenever possible, which keeps the ranking process efficient and helps the ELO-based score become more meaningful without requiring every possible movie matchup.
The Ranking are looking like that, if you try to export them:
MEIN PERSÖNLICHES FILM-RANKING
124 Vergleiche · 80 aktive Filme
1. Der Pate (1972) – Francis Ford Coppola [ELO 1648]
2. Parasite (2019) – Bong Joon-ho [ELO 1629]
3. Die sieben Samurai (1954) – Akira Kurosawa [ELO 1615]
4. Whiplash (2014) – Damien Chazelle [ELO 1602]
5. In the Mood for Love (2000) – Wong Kar-wai [ELO 1588]
[...]
Copyright ©️ 2026 Wilhelm Drehling, Heise Medien GmbH & Co. KG
This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If not, see https://www.gnu.org/licenses/.