MoviePass and Other Cinema Subscription Services

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domino harvey
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Re: MoviePass

#26 Post by domino harvey » Tue Aug 15, 2017 8:31 pm

Look at these guys with all their friends

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Ribs
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Re: MoviePass

#27 Post by Ribs » Tue Aug 15, 2017 9:34 pm


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swo17
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Re: MoviePass

#28 Post by swo17 » Tue Aug 15, 2017 9:42 pm

Wait, their base price before was only $14.95?

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pzadvance
Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2011 7:24 pm
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Re: MoviePass

#29 Post by pzadvance » Tue Aug 15, 2017 11:42 pm

I think they might have had tiered pricing just before this reduction? Like, the base price allowed you to see a handful of 2D films each month or something like that--I don't think it was still unlimited at that level.

I had MoviePass a couple years ago in LA for $35/month and it was well worth it for me. You definitely have to put some extra planning behind where and when you go to the movies, and end up going to certain theaters over others of course (no Arclight or Landmark, for example), but for someone who usually goes to theaters solo anyway, it was an incredible deal. Especially in LA where revival cinemas like the Egyptian, Aero, and New Beverly are included. $10/month is just too good to pass up, even if it goes belly-up by year's end.

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domino harvey
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Re: MoviePass

#30 Post by domino harvey » Wed Aug 16, 2017 4:49 pm

A Redditor made a dedicated site for searching by zip code-- unexpectedly, for Baltimore, the Charles Theatre, the local art house joint, is included, but not Landmark as previously surmised

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mfunk9786
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Re: MoviePass

#31 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Aug 16, 2017 5:24 pm

I have a tremendously bad feeling about this, but after finding out that the suburban arthouse a mile from my house is included in this (which is a huge surprise) - I'm going to take the plunge and see what the hell comes of it.

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

Re: MoviePass

#32 Post by Ribs » Wed Aug 16, 2017 5:26 pm

They're just inflating their subscriber #s ahead of going public, but it'll probably make the bottom fall out and a bunch of theaters big and small will figure a way around it.

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mfunk9786
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Re: MoviePass

#33 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Aug 16, 2017 5:35 pm

It turns out that the app DOES let you (once it's working again, I suppose) choose assigned seating at theaters that offer it and sell tickets online. That's a relief. And yes, I am not expecting this to be a wise decision, but maybe it'll be pretty good for a month or two.

EDIT: Seems seat selection is for a very limited number of theaters. Bummer.

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Roger Ryan
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Re: MoviePass

#34 Post by Roger Ryan » Thu Aug 17, 2017 8:08 am

domino harvey wrote:A Redditor made a dedicated site for searching by zip code...
Apparently, MoviePass has already pulled the data that allowed the zip code function to work.

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mfunk9786
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Re: MoviePass

#35 Post by mfunk9786 » Thu Aug 17, 2017 10:40 am

Both LQ and I signed up yesterday - I got a "thanks for joining" type e-mail, but she hasn't yet, despite her membership area of the app showing that she's in the $9.99 tier. No idea how long it's going to take for the debit card to actually arrive but considering the state of the service, I am hardly optimistic. If they were sending out X amount of cards on a weekly basis and are now going to need to send out XXXXXX amount of cards this coming week, there's just no way there won't be substantial delays.

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domino harvey
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Re: MoviePass

#36 Post by domino harvey » Thu Aug 17, 2017 11:47 am

Roger Ryan wrote:
domino harvey wrote:A Redditor made a dedicated site for searching by zip code...
Apparently, MoviePass has already pulled the data that allowed the zip code function to work.
And another Redditor said nuts to that, made a fully-cached version -- though honestly, that MoviePass would remove the zip code search function makes them look like Scam City USA

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swo17
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Re: MoviePass

#37 Post by swo17 » Thu Aug 17, 2017 11:54 am

I don't know why I keep looking into this deal, I go to the movie theater like once a year.

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domino harvey
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Re: MoviePass

#38 Post by domino harvey » Thu Aug 17, 2017 12:02 pm

If Landmark had been included, I would def sign up and go to the movies more often, but yeah, I hear that

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mfunk9786
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Re: MoviePass

#39 Post by mfunk9786 » Thu Aug 17, 2017 12:52 pm

I'm encouraged by the fact that every time someone who's a former or current member weights in on these Reddit threads, they come to the defense of the service. A couple examples of pretty reasonable explanations for what's going on with their site:
From what I can tell: they used to have a map on their own site, but the huge influx of people have caused servers to crash and the website to crash. So they removed the map but kept it hidden or something? Then the guy last night that built the first one of these sites used their info, but didn't cache the info, so it refreshed every search and crashed both his own site AND moviepass's site again. So they removed the map fully.
Now you can only get the full list through their app if you have membership and have the card in your possession. Because otherwise they literally can't keep up with the demand. Without the card, you can only see their "e-ticket" or partnership theaters.
Moviepass has been a thing since 2011. As a former member, I can tell you the theater list has always been somewhat easily accessible. Everyone is freaking out, but their website is crashed. That's it. No conspiracy.
Fair enough. Will try to be patient with this.

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cdnchris
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Re: MoviePass

#40 Post by cdnchris » Thu Aug 17, 2017 2:04 pm

From a developer perspective that's more than likely what has happened and they're not being shady. Constant hits calculating zip code distances on a server not set up properly would kill their database. And the guy who built the wrapper site should have cached each result to serve future queries because without that it's still putting the same load on the server.

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dx23
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 8:52 pm
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Re: MoviePass

#41 Post by dx23 » Thu Aug 17, 2017 2:21 pm

I signed up yesterday through their wonky app. I put several zip codes and only the Charlotte, NC one came back with a single result. The messages that keep popping are that once I get my Moviepass card I will be able to see more theaters available.

As for AMC pulling out soon because of the deal, wouldn't that be counterproductive to their business? I mean, with this Moviepass deal, more people will be going to the theaters and buying from their concession stands, where from my understanding, is where they make the most profits.

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mfunk9786
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Re: MoviePass

#42 Post by mfunk9786 » Thu Aug 17, 2017 2:25 pm

Also, AMC gets the full ticket price, it's MoviePass who takes the loss. I get the worries that there's a devaluation going on, but as long as the debit card charges keep clearing, I'm not sure AMC can protest too much. It's clear that by guaranteeing the price for one year, MoviePass is just seeking to get a large member base and then raise the price to something more profitable. Which is risky and batshit but that doesn't directly affect AMC's ticket sales, if anything it will increase them in the short-term. Plus, as you mentioned, concessions.

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

Re: MoviePass

#43 Post by Ribs » Thu Aug 17, 2017 2:31 pm

The Deadline piece explained their concern was definitely that it sets a standard that $10/month is feasible long-term, and that many customers will be so upset that they'll lose out on the deal once it goes away that they'll just stop going to the movies.

I think they probably should have went for a bit more than $10/month, to be honest, because it absolutely screams of the kind of reckless disruption tech companies love that could just totally wreck the industry. I believe before this change their lowest tier was $15 for 2 tickets a month, or something, which was obviously way too little, but I feel like if they at least made it the cost of two tickets it'd have made things less cagey, because it's essentially just being priced now that if you're going to see a movie there's no reason not to sign up.

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solaris72
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Location: Baltimore, MD

Re: MoviePass

#44 Post by solaris72 » Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:56 pm

AFI theater in Silver Spring is included (at least for now and according to the cached map), so was an easy choice to sign up.
mfunk9786 wrote:Also, AMC gets the full ticket price, it's MoviePass who takes the loss. I get the worries that there's a devaluation going on, but as long as the debit card charges keep clearing, I'm not sure AMC can protest too much. It's clear that by guaranteeing the price for one year, MoviePass is just seeking to get a large member base and then raise the price to something more profitable. Which is risky and batshit but that doesn't directly affect AMC's ticket sales, if anything it will increase them in the short-term. Plus, as you mentioned, concessions.
My guess is that (given they were recently purchased by a data aggregating company) their business model is to gain a large enough subscriber base that will permit them to negotiate lower ticket prices from theaters- point out how much added traffic they're bringing, and how much extra the theaters are making at the concessions stands. Which of course doesn't mean that sub prices won't go up again in a year, but I suspect that's not the sole factor in play. (Of course given that studios dictate aspects of ticket prices, this theory might not be tenable.)

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dx23
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Re: MoviePass

#45 Post by dx23 » Mon Aug 21, 2017 3:46 pm

Movie pass has added the theater locator at the bottom of their site.

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mfunk9786
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Re: MoviePass

#46 Post by mfunk9786 » Mon Aug 21, 2017 4:58 pm

Has anyone here who signed up after the $9.99 announcement received notification that their debit card shipped?

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Fiery Angel
Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2009 1:59 pm

Re: MoviePass

#47 Post by Fiery Angel » Mon Aug 21, 2017 5:26 pm

When I signed up in the past, they never notified you: it just showed up after a week or so.

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mfunk9786
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Re: MoviePass

#48 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Aug 23, 2017 10:13 am


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jindianajonz
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Re: MoviePass

#49 Post by jindianajonz » Wed Aug 23, 2017 11:35 am

Has it been announced how long the $10 price will be available?

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domino harvey
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Re: MoviePass

#50 Post by domino harvey » Wed Aug 23, 2017 11:38 am

I know they said the initial offer is limited, but they guarantee it will stay at that rate for at least twelve months

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