MoviePass and Other Cinema Subscription Services

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Luke M
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2007 9:21 pm

Re: MoviePass

#301 Post by Luke M » Thu Jun 14, 2018 10:00 pm

Theater owners biggest concern is if MoviePass shuts down people will have to go back to the old business model of buying tickets only for movies they really want to see? It’s amazing theaters aren’t plastering ads for MoviePass all over their doors.

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mfunk9786
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Re: MoviePass

#302 Post by mfunk9786 » Fri Jun 15, 2018 12:15 pm

I mean, yeah! If you're a small independent theater and people are taking the plunge on seeing film(s) they might not otherwise because they know they won't have to pay additional money out of pocket, I would have to guess that a theater like that stands to benefit the most from that sort of thing. People are going to see giant tentpole movies anyway, but a repertory screening or indie might get skipped for some consumers without MoviePass in the picture. It's an unfortunate reality, but a reality all the same. I'm going to see the Mr. Rogers doc this week at the nonprofit theater near me - would I be doing that if not for MoviePass? Maaaybe, but I'd probably be waiting for it to show up on Netflix. That's $25 in the theater's pocket that they wouldn't be getting if I weren't a MoviePass subscriber.

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Ribs
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:14 pm

Re: MoviePass

#303 Post by Ribs » Wed Jun 20, 2018 8:28 am

AMC is launching its own subscription service, allowing 3 movies a week in any format for $20 a month, personally the first of these services since the price drop last year that doesn’t leave me feeling like it was designed to cripple the industry

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DarkImbecile
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Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 6:24 pm
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Re: MoviePass

#304 Post by DarkImbecile » Wed Jun 20, 2018 9:48 am

More evidence for my pet theory:Image

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mfunk9786
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Re: MoviePass

#305 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Jun 20, 2018 10:56 am

Can't wait to leave my $89 per year service to pay AMC $20 a month for less flexibility

BigMack3000
Joined: Sat Jun 27, 2009 5:27 pm

Re: MoviePass

#306 Post by BigMack3000 » Wed Jun 20, 2018 11:05 am

Is it less flexibility? If this is a program you can add and drop as desired, I could see myself using it during the summer months and relying on moviepass for the rest. Imax is $23 by me.

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mfunk9786
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Re: MoviePass

#307 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Jun 20, 2018 11:08 am

I guess if IMAX is important to you (I probably see maybe one movie per year in the format if that?) or 3D is important to you (actively avoid it) or RPX (total gimmick)... but if you just want to see 2D movies it's absolutely less flexible than MoviePass is, which lets you see a movie per day at any theater instead of 3 movies per week at AMC theaters only. For less than half the price.

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Ribs
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:14 pm

Re: MoviePass

#308 Post by Ribs » Wed Jun 20, 2018 11:20 am

This offer is being held by a stakeholder that actually has any interest in sustaining the film industry, which is the only plus I need

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mfunk9786
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Re: MoviePass

#309 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Jun 20, 2018 11:27 am

Nothing says sustaining the film industry like having to go to an AMC to see movies. Sorry, indies!

This is like Gillette selling their razors as a subscription even though they're just as expensive as they always were in a limp effort to combat Dollar Shave Club, etc

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Kirkinson
Joined: Wed Dec 15, 2004 5:34 am
Location: Portland, OR

Re: MoviePass

#310 Post by Kirkinson » Wed Jun 20, 2018 11:51 am

Yeah, I go to independent theaters unless I have no other option for something I want to see, so a subscription service limited to a single chain is basically meaningless to me. To be fair, though, this one is extra meaningless since AMC doesn't have any theaters in Portland (looks like the nearest one is in Corvallis).

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

Re: MoviePass

#311 Post by hearthesilence » Wed Jun 20, 2018 12:04 pm

When I was living in the suburbs, the most convenient choices were AMC theaters in the nearest malls, so an AMC pass would be great in that context.

But I spend far, FAR more time at indies than I do at any AMC now. I've been to an AMC twice so far this year to see Isle of Dogs and First Reformed, and I've seen eight films at Lincoln Center this month alone (which isn't even over). Another strike against AMC - the stupid machines weren't working when I went to see First Reformed, and for a very long time, they only had one ridiculously slow cashier, so even though I got there pretty early, I didn't get into the theater until almost 20 minutes after the start time. Turns out, I didn't miss anything because they had TWO more trailers before the actual movie began. So I got lucky...but on the other hand, do you want to sit through 30 minutes of trailers every time you see a movie at AMC?

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Ribs
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:14 pm

Re: MoviePass

#312 Post by Ribs » Wed Jun 20, 2018 1:46 pm

I understand it's totally a me thing, but I will never understand people who complain that there are too many movie trailers, ever. It's like complaining the Oscars are too long: make them six hours long and I'm still there! I'd *love* there to be ten trailers every time I go to the movies. How great - all these people finding out what's coming soon!

I also am generally of the opinion that multiplexes are actually good, and hate the common film person opinion they somehow denigrate the form. In particular, I've found most AMCs in my area made sure the projection was up to snuff when they renovated, and almost every screen looks noticeably better and properly good since then.

Anyway, I think AMC's program makes a lot of sense, considering that the vast preponderance of people are looking to see at most two movies a month, and it offers that capability at a price that should be pretty easily transferable to some kind of overall profitability. I question the timing of this, considering MoviePass has in general not had a great month regarding its potential future (it'd make more sense, IMO, to wait a little longer, but I don't think this is designed to steal MoviePass subscribers so much as entice common people with a program they can sign up for at a physical location that can be upsold by cashiers).

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

Re: MoviePass

#313 Post by hearthesilence » Wed Jun 20, 2018 2:04 pm

Ribs wrote:
Wed Jun 20, 2018 1:46 pm
...all these people finding out how much lousy shit you'll never see is coming soon!
Fixed.

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Emak-Bakia
Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2011 11:48 am

Re: MoviePass

#314 Post by Emak-Bakia » Wed Jun 20, 2018 3:42 pm

The deal-breaker with MoviePass for me was always that you had to have a smartphone (flip phone user here.) Sounds like this AMC program does not require an app, so I'm all for it. Independent theaters here in Pittsburgh have really taken a lashing this year (a sorry state of affairs to which I won't go into here), to the point that the local AMC (conveniently within walking distance of my house) is now my most-frequented theater. I'll probably sign up for this program day one.

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

Re: MoviePass

#315 Post by domino harvey » Wed Jun 20, 2018 3:45 pm

Emak-Bakia wrote:
Wed Jun 20, 2018 3:42 pm
(flip phone user here.)
Emak-Bakia is Daniel Day Lewis confirmed

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mfunk9786
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Re: MoviePass

#316 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Jun 20, 2018 3:47 pm

Ribs wrote:
Wed Jun 20, 2018 1:46 pm
I also am generally of the opinion that multiplexes are actually good, and hate the common film person opinion they somehow denigrate the form. In particular, I've found most AMCs in my area made sure the projection was up to snuff when they renovated, and almost every screen looks noticeably better and properly good since then.
This doesn't respond to the primary issue I think most people [here] have with multiplexes, which is that they have a complete blind spot to a lot of smaller prestige cinema unless it's in the Oscar race. I could drive about an hour to find the nearest AMC to me that's playing First Reformed, or go 5 minutes from my house to an arthouse and see it. An hour and a half for Won't You Be My Neighbor?. And this disparity is sure to be worse in the fall. Even arthouse films people want to see are hard to find in multiplexes much of the time, outside of big cities like NYC that have AMC/Regals that try to cater to that sort of audience because they're in a major market.

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Kirkinson
Joined: Wed Dec 15, 2004 5:34 am
Location: Portland, OR

Re: MoviePass

#317 Post by Kirkinson » Thu Jun 21, 2018 1:44 am

mfunk9786 wrote:
Wed Jun 20, 2018 3:47 pm
Even arthouse films people want to see are hard to find in multiplexes much of the time, outside of big cities like NYC that have AMC/Regals that try to cater to that sort of audience because they're in a major market.
And even the multiplexes that do cater to that market come with problems. Here in Portland the one Regal theater that shows more "specialty" films successfully got Sony to pull Call Me By Your Name from a nearby independent theater that has discount matinee pricing (they said Sony outright told them it was being pulled to appease Regal). I've heard Regal-related horror stories from other people involved with indie theaters in town, too. I'll still go if they're the only option I have for something I really want to see — and unfortunately they are fairly often, as you might imagine from the story I just shared — but I try not to make it a habit.

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

Re: MoviePass

#318 Post by Big Ben » Thu Jun 21, 2018 2:30 am

AMC really saved my local theater from it's previous owner Carmike. I won't go into detail but I'm quite looking forward to being able to see a tremendous amount of trash with this.

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Emak-Bakia
Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2011 11:48 am

Re: MoviePass

#319 Post by Emak-Bakia » Thu Jun 21, 2018 10:49 am

domino harvey wrote:
Wed Jun 20, 2018 3:45 pm
Emak-Bakia wrote:
Wed Jun 20, 2018 3:42 pm
(flip phone user here.)
Emak-Bakia is Daniel Day Lewis confirmed
Naw, but Danny D and I are in the same flip phone frat.

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Dead or Deader
Joined: Sun May 08, 2016 12:47 am

Re: MoviePass

#320 Post by Dead or Deader » Thu Jun 21, 2018 11:02 am

mfunk9786 wrote:
Wed Jun 20, 2018 3:47 pm
Ribs wrote:
Wed Jun 20, 2018 1:46 pm
I also am generally of the opinion that multiplexes are actually good, and hate the common film person opinion they somehow denigrate the form. In particular, I've found most AMCs in my area made sure the projection was up to snuff when they renovated, and almost every screen looks noticeably better and properly good since then.
This doesn't respond to the primary issue I think most people [here] have with multiplexes, which is that they have a complete blind spot to a lot of smaller prestige cinema unless it's in the Oscar race. I could drive about an hour to find the nearest AMC to me that's playing First Reformed, or go 5 minutes from my house to an arthouse and see it. An hour and a half for Won't You Be My Neighbor?. And this disparity is sure to be worse in the fall. Even arthouse films people want to see are hard to find in multiplexes much of the time, outside of big cities like NYC that have AMC/Regals that try to cater to that sort of audience because they're in a major market.
I live in a small town which has a multiplex that is terribly-run and is much of a product of the time it was renovated, which was complied back in the early nineties. There are about seven screens in the theater total, throughout the year the films being screened are the studio faire of men in capes and other generic material. Very rare to find a film that's from the margins to make a showing at the theater, even prestigious film either have trouble getting showed or the owners will make the worst showtimes possible for convince. Call Me by Your Name and Phantom Thread, both last year's Best Picture nominees, weren't screened at all, meaning the nearest theater for Thread was 20 minutes. CMBYN, that would have take me about hour to the nearest city playing the film during it's release. Searching through the region local showtimes I would have to drive a good hour to see First Reformed at the nearest theater in territory range.

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

Re: MoviePass

#321 Post by tenia » Thu Jun 21, 2018 11:20 am

In a way, you guys could consider yourselves lucky to have 7 screens in your town. My French hometown theater has only 1 screen and only 2 movies per week, 4 to 5 screenings each over the week and that's it. There is another 1-screen theater in the next town, 1 movie per week with 4-5 screenings again, and that's it. Anything else is at least at 30 minutes by car away, and most of the movies will be dubbed in French anyway (though this is getting better).
Currently in Belgium at Bastogne, we only have a 2-screen theater which shows absolutely no arthouse movies at all, the closest theater that does is at 70 minutes by car. This week, I can choose between dubbed versions of Solo, Jurassic World 2, Ocean's 8 and Deadpool 2, plus a Belgian comedy. And that's it for the whole week. Oh, wai, they also show The Incredibles 2 (dubbed again), but only this week end.

Now, I'm just being playful. I've spent some months in the US, near Riverside CA, and the one thing I remember is trying to see some arthouse movies and realising I would have needed to drive 2 hours away to get to one showing the movie I wanted to see (at the time, it was Rob Zombie's Lords of Salem). I had no trouble seeing Hellboy 2 or The Dark Knight on IMAX, but any smaller movie...

But in any case though, I remembered being pleased by the number of screens nearby, which at least meant having some flexibility and choice regarding the movies being shown and the showtimes (which is what I meant by my first paragraph, all jokes aside).

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Ribs
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:14 pm

Re: MoviePass

#322 Post by Ribs » Thu Jun 21, 2018 11:33 am

I have a fundamental disagreement with the idea that people "in between" metro areas should get to see movies playing theatrically that are of very niche interest. Access to culture is a major reason people move to more populated areas! Yes, not everyone has the resources or capabilities to do that, but that doesn't suddenly make the people entitled to get to see more niche movies just because they're interested. Maybe I don't have enough of an idealist streak in me, but I genuinely don't feel theaters should be expected to play even major "art house" releases if they are genuinely making the judgment call there won't be any money in it.

(Also, Won't You Be My Neighbor is expanding very wide, albeit a little slowly - it will probably end up being one of the highest grossing documentaries of the decade, if they execute it right, so I don't know if it was the best example)

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Ribs
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:14 pm

Re: MoviePass

#323 Post by Ribs » Thu Jun 21, 2018 12:01 pm

MoviePass is adding surge pricing, meaning that starting in July it will cost between $2 to $6 per ticket for films deemed "popular"

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

Re: MoviePass

#324 Post by tenia » Thu Jun 21, 2018 12:14 pm

Ribs wrote:
Thu Jun 21, 2018 11:33 am
I have a fundamental disagreement with the idea that people "in between" metro areas should get to see movies playing theatrically that are of very niche interest. Access to culture is a major reason people move to more populated areas! Yes, not everyone has the resources or capabilities to do that, but that doesn't suddenly make the people entitled to get to see more niche movies just because they're interested. Maybe I don't have enough of an idealist streak in me, but I genuinely don't feel theaters should be expected to play even major "art house" releases if they are genuinely making the judgment call there won't be any money in it.
In any case, there are tons of movies being released every week so no theater will ever be able to get most of them easily available to you anyway, but there are many shades between getting access to only 5% of the releases and, say, 40%.
Ribs wrote:
Thu Jun 21, 2018 11:33 am
Access to culture is a major reason people move to more populated areas!
Is it though ? I'd thought jobs possibilities, work commuting and education would be much higher than culture. In Europe, you probably would add access to malls / grocery shops on top of that.
Ribs wrote:
Thu Jun 21, 2018 12:01 pm
MoviePass is adding surge pricing, meaning that starting in July it will cost between $2 to $6 per ticket for films deemed "popular"
"The bring-a-friend option won’t make it cheaper for your friend to see the movie, but it will allow you to select seats next to each other if assigned seating is available in a theater."
This is such an alien-looking feature to me. :shock: Can't you just early book online both seats if assigned seating is available and directly get seats next to each other ?

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mfunk9786
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Re: MoviePass

#325 Post by mfunk9786 » Thu Jun 21, 2018 12:22 pm

Ribs wrote:
Thu Jun 21, 2018 11:33 am
I have a fundamental disagreement with the idea that people "in between" metro areas should get to see movies playing theatrically that are of very niche interest. Access to culture is a major reason people move to more populated areas! Yes, not everyone has the resources or capabilities to do that, but that doesn't suddenly make the people entitled to get to see more niche movies just because they're interested. Maybe I don't have enough of an idealist streak in me, but I genuinely don't feel theaters should be expected to play even major "art house" releases if they are genuinely making the judgment call there won't be any money in it.

(Also, Won't You Be My Neighbor is expanding very wide, albeit a little slowly - it will probably end up being one of the highest grossing documentaries of the decade, if they execute it right, so I don't know if it was the best example)
I won't even engage with the first part of this because it is so very dismissive of people who don't have the means or the circumstances to live outside of where they're currently living. But as for your final point, I was just trying to come up with current examples of films I would want to head to the theater to see, not trying to get my examples to fit the argument as tightly as possible.
Ribs wrote:
Thu Jun 21, 2018 12:01 pm
MoviePass is adding surge pricing, meaning that starting in July it will cost between $2 to $6 per ticket for films deemed "popular"
It's likely that the films I see with MoviePass won't apply to this policy anyway, but my hot take is that this will never wind up happening. MoviePass has been dipping their toe in horrendous ideas to limit the service as this past year has gone along and they always back away from ones that get the loudest complaints. They got away with the limitation of one viewing of each film (which, despite the occasional inconvenience, is a smart limitation that hasn't majorly impacted my filmgoing life), but they won't end up getting away with this one.

Still wondering why they won't just double the monthly price and be done with it. Most people would still pay for it, and that was surely their idea from square one anyway, once people got used to using the service. The whole appeal of it is no cost to the buyer at the time of ticket purchase though, so this idea seems particularly misguided. The IMAX/3D stuff seems like a good way to roll this sort of 'surge' pricing out without alienating people who don't want to pay any kind of a copay/deductible at the time of ticket purchase.

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