How is the year of a film assigned on Criticker?

[djross]

I noticed that the year for To the Wonder on Criticker has changed from 2012 to 2013, and I was wondering why that was, and if there is actually a consistent principle that is followed to assign years to films. The film is still listed as 2012 on IMDb, so obviously that's not the principle being applied. The film is also listed as 2012 in Wikipedia, and had its premiere at the 2012 Venice Film Festival. Despite these facts, somebody thought the year should be changed to 2013. So, if the film was completed in 2012, premiered in 2012, and is listed on IMDb and Wikipedia as 2012, I can only guess that the change to 2013 was made on the basis that the American commercial release was not until 2013.

Is the U.S. commercial release date then the basis of determining the year of a movie on Criticker? If so, I strongly doubt that this principle is consistently applied on this website. And if it was applied, it could only lead to problems, firstly for non-American films that may not have an American release until quite some time after their original release, and secondly for films that never receive a commercial release (which is probably a majority of movies). The result will be (or is) that different principles are applied for different types of films. The result will also be (or is) that the year of a film is constantly subject to change on Criticker, which may cause other kinds of problems for some Criticker users.

My own view is that assigning year on the basis of the American commercial release date is not the best method. My vote would be for simply assigning the date on the basis of when the film was first screened or broadcast, regardless of whether this was a festival or commercially, and regardless of location. A film that audiences watched in 2012 is not a 2013 film. The only other consistent approach possible is to follow IMDb, which would not be my preferred option, but which is still preferable to the approach that seems to be (inconsistently) followed here at the moment.

[PeaceAnarchy]

I would prefer everything follow imdb, even when imdb is wrong because then there's at least some consistency.

That said, my impression is that the process is something like:
Year is imdb year unless: imdb year is based on a festival release AND there is a subsequent general release AND the first such general release (not necessarily US but most likely) is in a subsequent year AND someone submits a change request on the film.

[TrixRabbi]

I know that in the case of Spring Breakers it was listed as 2012 despite getting a 2013 wide release (it only premiered at Venice in 2012). So after I ranked it I submitted an update and suggested that the year be changed. Within a day it was switched.

[jeff_v]

I, too, would prefer it to be synched with the IMDb year.

[andagh]

I, too, would prefer it to be synched with the IMDb year.

Ditto

[mpowell]

Yes, our process is that we just use whatever year the film was initially submitted with. That's usually the year IMDB has listed.

If there's contention, we decide in favor of the year of its theatrical release (in the USA).