MoviePass and Other Cinema Subscription Services

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Big Ben
Joined: Mon Feb 08, 2016 12:54 pm
Location: Great Falls, Montana

Re: MoviePass

#401 Post by Big Ben » Wed Aug 01, 2018 5:06 pm


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senseabove
Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2015 3:07 am

Re: MoviePass

#402 Post by senseabove » Wed Aug 01, 2018 6:36 pm

In the just-shy–of six months I've been a subscriber, I've used it four times at a megaplex, five times at a Landmark, and 22 times at one of two local indies that are almost exclusively repertory/arthouse current releases. I have pretty firm plans to get two more rep screenings between now and my next monthly billing on the 10th, so that averages to about $1.80 a movie, and there are a few movies at the Landmark I'd like to get to, so the average may go even lower. Of all those screenings past and forthcoming, only two would probably have been disallowed under the new rules. In other words, if it goes under, I've had a good run... but yeah, I'm the type that's bleeding them dry.

As along as they continue let me use it at those two rep houses, I'd happily pay a good deal more than $14.95. I gave a glance at Sinemia over the weekend during the troubles, and neither of the indie theaters that account for the 22 of 31 movies I've been to are eligible, so they wouldn't be worth it to me.

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Brian C
I hate to be That Pedantic Guy but...
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:58 am
Location: Chicago, IL

Re: MoviePass

#403 Post by Brian C » Wed Aug 01, 2018 6:52 pm

I’m strongly considering the AMC plan. I’m fortunate that the AMC River East plays a lot of indie releases in addition to the blockbusters, so they play about 60-70% of what I’d want to go see. I’d easily get my money’s worth out of it.

But there’s no question I’ll miss the flexibility of going just about anywhere. I’d happily pay $30/mo for a functional unrestricted MoviePass, but I’m getting awfully tired of their flakiness and not knowing minute-by-minute what will even be available to see. It’s simply not much of a deal now - it’s the functional equivalent of a Landmark subscription service for me at the moment. And I don’t actually like the Landmark here in town all that much!

I have a week and a half to see if MoviePass can pull a rabbit out of a hat, before I get rebilled.

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mfunk9786
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Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA

Re: MoviePass

#404 Post by mfunk9786 » Sat Aug 04, 2018 6:39 pm

Service is down again after a victory lap this week exclaiming that the MoviePass was back and full steam ahead.

EDIT: Seems there were similar reports last night around the same time. Some on social media are even theorizing that they're deliberately taking the service offline between 6 and 9 PM on Friday and Saturday nights now.

MongooseCmr
Joined: Sat Dec 15, 2012 11:50 pm

Re: MoviePass

#405 Post by MongooseCmr » Sat Aug 04, 2018 7:27 pm

Well they weren’t even listing showings before 4pm today, so I guess the plan is to only work between 4 and 6.

McCrutchy
Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2008 4:57 am
Location: East Coast, USA

Re: MoviePass

#406 Post by McCrutchy » Sat Aug 04, 2018 8:29 pm

I still don't know how HMNY managed to pay back that emergency loan last week, and I'm sure jaws hit the floor at Hudson Bay when they made good on it a day early and avoided any penalties.

That said, it's tempting to think that the repayment of the loan has also spurred more service outages. Perhaps they're simply actively seeking another lender for another short-term loan, and then the whole process of the last two weeks will repeat itself?

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hearthesilence
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
Location: NYC

Re: MoviePass

#407 Post by hearthesilence » Sat Aug 04, 2018 9:46 pm

This afternoon close to 6 everything looked fine, but I figured this would happen because when I checked again around 7:30, just before heading out, everything was gone. This seems to be useless unless you catch a weekend matinee or a weeknight screening.

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Oedipax
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 8:48 am
Location: Atlanta

Re: MoviePass

#408 Post by Oedipax » Sat Aug 04, 2018 9:56 pm

It's been working without issues at my local Landmark.

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mfunk9786
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Re: MoviePass

#409 Post by mfunk9786 » Sat Aug 04, 2018 10:37 pm

Landmark theaters don't require use of the MasterCard, hence it makes no difference how much money is in MoviePass' account(s). They have a payment arrangement directly with Landmark, like they do any other e-ticketing theaters within the app. So even in the final moments of the final day that MoviePass exists, Landmark will still be functioning just fine.

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jwd5275
Joined: Tue Jun 08, 2010 12:26 pm
Location: SF, CA

Re: MoviePass

#410 Post by jwd5275 » Mon Aug 06, 2018 10:40 am


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DarkImbecile
Ask me about my visible cat breasts
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 6:24 pm
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Re: MoviePass

#411 Post by DarkImbecile » Mon Aug 06, 2018 10:43 am

Seems unclear from that article whether this will immediately impact annual subscriptions, but even if it does, getting another few months out of this would be appreciated.

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mfunk9786
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Re: MoviePass

#412 Post by mfunk9786 » Mon Aug 06, 2018 10:53 am

My annual is still showing that it'll renew at $89.95 on November 30th. If that happens and they don't double the cost, and the service actually starts to stabilize, it's still a bargain for 3 movies a month. But that's a ton of variables. This is getting very pathetic to watch, with the new limitations announced almost every day.

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jwd5275
Joined: Tue Jun 08, 2010 12:26 pm
Location: SF, CA

Re: MoviePass

#413 Post by jwd5275 » Mon Aug 06, 2018 10:58 am

DarkImbecile wrote:
Mon Aug 06, 2018 10:43 am
Seems unclear from that article whether this will immediately impact annual subscriptions, but even if it does, getting another few months out of this would be appreciated.
The press release linked at the beginning of the article says that it changes upon renewal.

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mfunk9786
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Re: MoviePass

#414 Post by mfunk9786 » Mon Aug 06, 2018 11:02 am

Considering how many of these changes have come with a caveat that they're not for current annual subscribers, it's pretty clear that they're doing everything they can to try and avoid some kind of class action lawsuit or credit card disputes en masse

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tenia
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Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am

Re: MoviePass

#415 Post by tenia » Mon Aug 06, 2018 11:22 am

mfunk9786 wrote:
Mon Aug 06, 2018 10:53 am
My annual is still showing that it'll renew at $89.95 on November 30th. If that happens and they don't double the cost, and the service actually starts to stabilize, it's still a bargain for 3 movies a month. But that's a ton of variables. This is getting very pathetic to watch, with the new limitations announced almost every day.
This looks as a whole as if nobody drew any business case style calculations BEFORE launching MoviePass and has now pretty much to re-assess every cost vs benefit element on a weekly basis, only to find nothing they did would have ever been viable even on a short term period.
This almost looks like a study case for bad products roll-outs.

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Brian C
I hate to be That Pedantic Guy but...
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:58 am
Location: Chicago, IL

Re: MoviePass

#416 Post by Brian C » Mon Aug 06, 2018 11:29 am

Canceled my monthly sub. Was fun while it lasted, and I got a great deal out of it. But seriously, fuck these clowns at this point.

I signed up for the AMC plan last night and one huge advantage is that I can choose reserved seats from home. I doubt it’ll stay $20/mo forever but works for now.

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mfunk9786
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Re: MoviePass

#417 Post by mfunk9786 » Mon Aug 06, 2018 11:30 am

It's worse, because these changes are literally necessary not to fold day-by-day. I think the idea was always to be a loss leader and then hone in on a sustainable model once the company had millions of subscribers under their belt who are accustomed to using a service that was initially somewhat difficult to describe to people.

But they just never made it there without major money problems setting in, and now these changes are reactionary instead of carefully considered. I still think the idea of launching the service with some discounted promotional rate initially was the right move, but the whole idea of promising that it would continue at that price and exact model was the key mistake, because they broke that trust almost immediately.

I wish I had enough AMCs around me, but they're all 10 screens and play the same sort of stuff - if there was a 16-24 screen one that had mid-major arthouse movies and IMAX etc, it would be a no-brainer. But those are all Regal/UA in my neck of the woods.

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tenia
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Re: MoviePass

#418 Post by tenia » Mon Aug 06, 2018 11:42 am

Considering how this is handled, I'm not even sure they carefully calculated if these limitations will actually bring them where they need to be money-wise, or if these are just wild ideas shouted in the air that seems OK because, hey, they're limitations so they're fine but nobody wonders if they're too strict or still not strict enough.

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mfunk9786
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Re: MoviePass

#419 Post by mfunk9786 » Mon Aug 06, 2018 11:43 am

This is all while limitations are happening without any acknowledgement of them - just checked to see if I'll be able to see a movie at 7 tonight and there are no showtimes listed for my local theater after 3 PM.

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Brian C
I hate to be That Pedantic Guy but...
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:58 am
Location: Chicago, IL

Re: MoviePass

#420 Post by Brian C » Mon Aug 06, 2018 11:46 am

mfunk9786 wrote:I wish I had enough AMCs around me, but they're all 10 screens and play the same sort of stuff - if there was a 16-24 screen one that had mid-major arthouse movies and IMAX etc, it would be a no-brainer. But those are all Regal/UA in my neck of the woods.
Yes, I’m fortunate in that respect with AMC, because the River East is exactly the kind of place you’re describing. They play most of what Landmark plays, and since that’s the only place I can reliably go to now with MoviePass anyway, I don’t feel like I’m even missing out.

Also they have the Navy Pier IMAX, which I’ve never been to but really ought to sometime now. Probably should have done that for M:I6 last night, oh well. Instead I did the Dolby Cinema presentation, which was ... underwhelming.

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Brian C
I hate to be That Pedantic Guy but...
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:58 am
Location: Chicago, IL

MoviePass

#421 Post by Brian C » Mon Aug 06, 2018 11:46 am

mfunk9786 wrote:This is all while limitations are happening without any acknowledgement of them - just checked to see if I'll be able to see a movie at 7 tonight and there are no showtimes listed for my local theater after 3 PM.
This is the dealbreaker for me. Just straight up flakiness. They’ve always had that element to them but it’s gotten too infuriating to deal with.

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domino harvey
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Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: MoviePass

#422 Post by domino harvey » Mon Aug 06, 2018 11:47 am

This is like when a drug pusher gets you hooked and then keeps offering you more product at specific times and with a strict limit on how much you get and also maybe not even the drug you got hooked on here try some Angel Dust

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Brian C
I hate to be That Pedantic Guy but...
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:58 am
Location: Chicago, IL

Re: MoviePass

#423 Post by Brian C » Mon Aug 06, 2018 11:52 am

I CAN QUIT ANYTIME I WANT TO

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mfunk9786
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Re: MoviePass

#424 Post by mfunk9786 » Mon Aug 06, 2018 11:55 am

It was great, though. The thing that always baffled me about Ribs' presence in this thread is a refusal to acknowledge that even a few months' worth of this service working at full steam was a blast for consumers who like going to the movies. I'll remember it fondly from every conceivable angle and I'm bummed it's going away. I'm sure that's even more of a loss for those like Brian who are in Chicago, or for users in New York City - to have a bunch of movie theaters to choose from including regular repertory screenings at your fingertips instead of at $15+ a ticket and then have that go away must be terrible - at least movie tickets in Philadelphia are still $10-12.

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Brian C
I hate to be That Pedantic Guy but...
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:58 am
Location: Chicago, IL

Re: MoviePass

#425 Post by Brian C » Mon Aug 06, 2018 12:05 pm

Hey, that Dolby Cinema ticket last night had an $18 face value. Almost paid for the month in one shot. I’ll be fine!


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