MoviePass and Other Cinema Subscription Services

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tenia
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Re: MoviePass

#426 Post by tenia » Mon Aug 06, 2018 12:24 pm

What fascinates me most is that tickets in the US can be as freaking expensive as $18 apiece in the first place. No wonder even something like MoviePass awful rollout gives a huge incentive (even if extremely short-termist) to frequent movie-goers.
(note : in France, the average ticket price is around $9, most of them are sold even below this price, around $7).

At my local theater, the tickets are 4.5€, which is about $5.2, all year long for 2D screenings (3D are 5.5€). All you need to do is a 2-years subscription card, which is free if you're living in the town or the near ones.

However, an interesting point is that... most multiplexes offer a MoviePass-type system : you pay 20€ per month and it's unlimited movie screening. All you need to ensure is that you can pay for it (as you'd do for a bank loan - though I believe this process has been lightened over the years, because it's only 20€ / month, not a 20k€ loan) and that's it. I actually don't understand why it's a third company like MoviePass who launched one. Hasn't AMC a similar illimited card ? It'd seem logical since there probably is a market for people trying not to pay $15+ a ticket.

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Drucker
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Re: MoviePass

#427 Post by Drucker » Mon Aug 06, 2018 12:31 pm

Yep, this service was great. But if there's one thing I can't stand it's uncertainty. I'm the kind of guy that shows up an hour early to Film Forum to ensure my friends and I can all get seats together. Moviepass was great when I could see movies that I otherwise would skip. I don't even mind having moviepass and paying extra for tickets if there's a risk it'll sell out for more popular screenings.

But the product has become such a joke that there is abosolutely no way to plan around it. If it's not working at screenings which are half or less than half sold out, then I really cannot justify this. And I'd rather pay extra and only see movies I'm eager to watch than plan my moviegoing around Moviepass.

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Brian C
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Re: MoviePass

#428 Post by Brian C » Mon Aug 06, 2018 12:35 pm

Exactly, tenia. That’s why, when distributors reacted to MoviePass by complaining that it would devalue movie tickets in customers’ eyes, my reaction was, “good, about damn time.”

Ironic that AMC has been most aggressive in competing with MoviePass, when they were the loudest complainers.

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mfunk9786
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Re: MoviePass

#429 Post by mfunk9786 » Mon Aug 06, 2018 12:36 pm

Would not be surprised in the least if when MoviePass is dead for good, AMC immediately gets rid of their competing service.

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Brian C
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MoviePass

#430 Post by Brian C » Mon Aug 06, 2018 1:07 pm

Possible! But man, would that be a massive and high-profile customer service kick in the crotch for an established company like AMC.

More likely is that they gradually make it more expensive and more restrictive. Probably the best hope is that the numbers membership-wise get to be right in that sweet spot where they’re too big to piss people off, but not big enough to make the company feel like it’s a huge loss.

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tenia
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Re: MoviePass

#431 Post by tenia » Mon Aug 06, 2018 2:18 pm

From my outside eye, I'd say US ticket price NEEDS to be devaluated. I know price elasticity has its limits but a family of 4 paying almost $80 to go to a movie seems insane to me.

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Ribs
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Re: MoviePass

#432 Post by Ribs » Mon Aug 06, 2018 2:25 pm

mfunk9786 wrote:
Mon Aug 06, 2018 12:36 pm
Would not be surprised in the least if when MoviePass is dead for good, AMC immediately gets rid of their competing service.
Have you been to an AMC in the past six weeks? They are upselling LIKE CRAZY - ticket takers, concession stands, pre-roll ads and posters all telling everyone to subscribe ASAP. This is a big point in theaters’ favor that third-party services won’t ever be able to compete with; it’s really easy for them to directly target exactly the customers they want, which are moviegoers casual enough not to be aware of the service, who will subscribe and not use it, making quite a bit of money.

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Big Ben
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Re: MoviePass

#433 Post by Big Ben » Mon Aug 06, 2018 2:44 pm

tenia wrote:
Mon Aug 06, 2018 2:18 pm
From my outside eye, I'd say US ticket price NEEDS to be devaluated. I know price elasticity has its limits but a family of 4 paying almost $80 to go to a movie seems insane to me.
Eh that's not even the robbery. It costs about seven bucks to see a movie at my home theater but the price mark up for food is where they get you as popcorn has a price markup of over one thousand percent. A family of four on matinee day here will never pay more than thirty dollars for a movie. But with snacks? Eighty dollars for sure.

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Brian C
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MoviePass

#434 Post by Brian C » Mon Aug 06, 2018 2:49 pm

I will say - not to sound like an AMC ad or anything - but their app has a lot of useful functionality. Not only can I do reserved seating, but I can make reservations for other days and even weeks in advance - 3 per week. So depending on what advance showtimes are published, I can plan out my moviegoing and reserve tickets for the whole month right now. That’s pretty handy and lightyears beyond MoviePass’s functionality.

It looks like I can order food and stuff too but that’s not really my thing.

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mfunk9786
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Re: MoviePass

#435 Post by mfunk9786 » Mon Aug 06, 2018 2:53 pm

Ribs wrote:
Mon Aug 06, 2018 2:25 pm
Have you been to an AMC in the past six weeks?
As much as I like screens with rounded corners and the lights on for the duration of movies, I have not

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tenia
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Re: MoviePass

#436 Post by tenia » Mon Aug 06, 2018 2:55 pm

Big Ben wrote:
Mon Aug 06, 2018 2:44 pm
Eh that's not even the robbery. It costs about seven bucks to see a movie at my home theater but the price mark up for food is where they get you as popcorn has a price markup of over one thousand percent. A family of four on matinee day here will never pay more than thirty dollars for a movie. But with snacks? Eighty dollars for sure.
Prices for food are, I believe, generally vastly marked-up. It certainly is the case in France and in the UK. But I thought after posting about matinee prices and things like that and supposed there was probably a way for theaters not to be that obviously expensive.

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DarkImbecile
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Re: MoviePass

#437 Post by DarkImbecile » Mon Aug 06, 2018 3:44 pm

Big Ben wrote:
Mon Aug 06, 2018 2:44 pm
tenia wrote:
Mon Aug 06, 2018 2:18 pm
From my outside eye, I'd say US ticket price NEEDS to be devaluated. I know price elasticity has its limits but a family of 4 paying almost $80 to go to a movie seems insane to me.
Eh that's not even the robbery. It costs about seven bucks to see a movie at my home theater but the price mark up for food is where they get you as popcorn has a price markup of over one thousand percent. A family of four on matinee day here will never pay more than thirty dollars for a movie. But with snacks? Eighty dollars for sure.
That's the thing: concessions has always been the core of the exhibitors' profit model, which is why the insane inflation in ticket price in the last 20 years makes no sense to me, especially given the decline in distribution costs on the studio side with the transition to digital. If the idea is to move as many people with disposable income as possible past your concession stand, what sense does doubling the ticket price make?

I was able to successfully use my MoviePass for the first time in two weeks this morning, by the way...
Image

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Brian C
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MoviePass

#438 Post by Brian C » Mon Aug 06, 2018 4:44 pm

DarkImbecile wrote:That's the thing: concessions has always been the core of the exhibitors' profit model, which is why the insane inflation in ticket price in the last 20 years makes no sense to me, especially given the decline in distribution costs on the studio side with the transition to digital. If the idea is to move as many people with disposable income as possible past your concession stand, what sense does doubling the ticket price make?
Because studios also have a say and obviously do want more money.

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Professor Wagstaff
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Re: MoviePass

#439 Post by Professor Wagstaff » Wed Aug 08, 2018 12:06 am

Out of curiosity has anyone decided to keep MoviePass under the new plan and join Sinemia to supplement it? I often go enough in the month that three showings from each service would be nice.

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mfunk9786
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Re: MoviePass

#440 Post by mfunk9786 » Thu Aug 09, 2018 1:25 am


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DarkImbecile
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Re: MoviePass

#441 Post by DarkImbecile » Thu Aug 09, 2018 8:35 am

The star-power doesn’t end there:
Brian A. Miller will direct a script from Kelvin Mao and Jeff Jingle. Also starring is Meadow Williams

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Brian C
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Re: MoviePass

#442 Post by Brian C » Thu Aug 09, 2018 9:24 am

I tried using my MoviePass last night, since I still have a few dies before my month ends and I’m done for good. Shows were available all day long. I checked from the subway - 1 stop away - show was still available. I get upstairs to the theater, about 50 minutes before showtime, and ... wait for it! ... all shows had been removed from the app.

I chatted with one of their online people about it, and asked for a refund of my last month’s subscription fee. Was told that the best suggestion they had for me was to be patient since it’s temporary and updates are coming, etc.

My parents had a similar experience yesterday down in Florida - show was available up until they got to the theater to check in. Hard to avoid the conclusion that MoviePass is basically a fraudulent outfit these days - they’re almost completely unable to provide the service they advertise, except when it comes to the theatres they have a stake in driving people to (I.e., the eticketing locations).

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mfunk9786
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Re: MoviePass

#443 Post by mfunk9786 » Thu Aug 09, 2018 10:57 am

It looks like, based on Thursday night showtimes, that despite being a semi-wide release in its first weekend, BlaKkKlansman is eligible for MoviePass. If your showtimes appear at all, of course.

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hearthesilence
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Re: MoviePass

#444 Post by hearthesilence » Fri Aug 10, 2018 2:10 pm

Such bullshit, it's only 2pm and unless you want to see Mission Impossible or Christopher Robin or Slender Man, NO other films can be checked into anywhere in NYC today, unless you check into one of the three theaters offering e-ticketing.

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Drucker
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Re: MoviePass

#445 Post by Drucker » Fri Aug 10, 2018 4:02 pm

Same thing in Jersey. I canceled last night and was hoping to catch Kkklansman today, but no luck. Only those films available here, too.

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hearthesilence
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Re: MoviePass

#446 Post by hearthesilence » Fri Aug 10, 2018 4:22 pm

Image
Image

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domino harvey
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Re: MoviePass

#447 Post by domino harvey » Fri Aug 10, 2018 4:38 pm

Why are you guys complaining, you get to see Slender Man, wasn't that why you signed up in the first place?

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mfunk9786
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Re: MoviePass

#448 Post by mfunk9786 » Sat Aug 11, 2018 12:13 am

hearthesilence wrote:
Fri Aug 10, 2018 2:10 pm
Such bullshit, it's only 2pm and unless you want to see Mission Impossible or Christopher Robin or Slender Man, NO other films can be checked into anywhere in NYC today, unless you check into one of the three theaters offering e-ticketing.
I checked in to Christopher Robin and bought a ticket to BlacKkKlansman. Fuck this service at this point. They broke all their promises, so time to start breaking mine. All power to all the people.

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DarkImbecile
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Re: MoviePass

#449 Post by DarkImbecile » Sat Aug 11, 2018 5:33 pm

I went to see BlacKkKlansman again last night with a friend, and I considered doing this but my only option was Slenderman, to which I couldn’t even bring myself to give someone else’s money

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mfunk9786
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Re: MoviePass

#450 Post by mfunk9786 » Sat Aug 11, 2018 9:45 pm

I "checked in" to Christopher Robin, but I bought the ticket to BlacKkKlansman. Total $ to Disney: $0

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