AMC A-List & other theater subscriptions (2 Viewers)

[Robert Crawford]

I know we've beaten enough dead horses on the subject to open a glue factory, but I still feel that as long as you have good distance between patrons and people are respectful - especially in regard to masks - that the risk is minimal.

As I've said in the past, movie theaters are big rooms, so even if germs get into the air, they won't circulate like they would at a restaurant or other small space.

And the rooms aren't very full, so that decreases the risk. As I've noted, I've avoided screenings with more than 12 or so people, so I've had good distancing from others.

I was way more nervous about my flights to/from Phoenix the other week than I was/am at AMC!

I also recognize that if I fell into a "high risk" category due to age and/or pre-existing health concern, I'd probably feel differently!

I hope you stay safe!

 

[Colin Jacobson]

That's gross no doubt but has there been a case of Covid where it's been transmitted by touch? As far as I know (and I'm not a virologist), it's all been inhalation.

That's another dead horse I've beaten!

I'm happy AMC's going through "Hygiene Theater" because theaters tend to be less than glimmering clean under normal circumstances, so it's nice to go to a clean place.

However, I don't pretend that this makes me safer.

Honestly, I think the only way I catch COVID from contaminated surfaces is if some sick dude literally sneezes on the Coke Freestyle menu, I touch it seconds later and then rub my hands on my eyes and nose!

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I hope you stay safe!

As I mentioned in another thread, I had the room to myself for "Broken Hearts Gallery", so no risk at that one!

There's a "poll question": would people who currently don't attend movies go if they knew they'd have the room to themselves?

(Yes, I know that even if the room is empty when you reserve, that doesn't mean it'll stay that way, but just play along with the premise! )

 

[Malcolm R]

Well, I worry about both. The germs can live on surfaces for hours and I don’t trust the cleaning policies. Took these at my AMC back in 2018:

View attachment 79935 View attachment 79936
And that is pretty typical at my AMC.

WTF is with all the popcorn in the bathroom? I've never seen that in any theater.

 

[TravisR]

I know we've beaten enough dead horses on the subject to open a glue factory, but I still feel that as long as you have good distance between patrons and people are respectful - especially in regard to masks - that the risk is minimal.


I was way more nervous about my flights to/from Phoenix the other week than I was/am at AMC!

Oh, F-that. You'd have to kill me to get me on an airplane right now.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

WTF is with all the popcorn in the bathroom? I've never seen that in any theater.

Probably someone had trouble holding the popcorn and doing his business at the urinal. It's tough to juggle concessions, and no one wants to set them on the urinal itself!

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Oh, F-that. You'd have to kill me to get me on an airplane right now.

Family emergency so literally unavoidable. Believe me, as cavalier as I may sound about COVID, I was not excited to take that trip, especially because the plane was nearly full both ways.

On one leg, the flight attendant told us that if we felt uncomfortable where we were - meaning too close to neighbors - we'd be reseated, and I couldn't figure out where - the wing???

 

[TravisR]

On one leg, the flight attendant told us that if we felt uncomfortable where we were - meaning too close to neighbors - we'd be reseated, and I couldn't figure out where - the wing???

 

[Colin Jacobson]

View attachment 79992

How'd you find a picture of me? I forgot to shave that day...

 

[Tino]

There's a "poll question": would people who currently don't attend movies go if they knew they'd have the room to themselves?

I wouldn’t. I just don’t trust the ventilation.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I saw an ad for AMC offering a private screening in their theaters for $100 at off peak times and more during busier time.

I think that’s a step in the right direction but still wildly overpriced in the current environment.

They have a mix of films playing to empty auditoriums and films playing to crowds less than ten, with a great deal of their content being priced at $5. They’re already getting less than $100 per screening at off peak times.

My opinion is that private rental fee should come way down. Charge $50 during times of the day and days of the week when it’s periods where the normal number of tickets being sold is 0. Even for people who want to go out, a lot of people are facing economic insecurity that makes luxury purchases difficult to justify. It’s not that $100 is unreasonable in a normal environment. It’s that the customer base is strapped to begin with and the theaters are losing money anyway, so why not offer a number that actually takes those things into account?

 

[Jake Lipson]

t’s not that $100 is unreasonable in a normal environment. It’s that the customer base is strapped to begin with and the theaters are losing money anyway, so why not offer a number that actually takes those things into account?

I agree with what you're saying. But they don't want things to change.

Insisting on maintaining the the 90-day window during the pandemic has almost certainly cost them revenue. If they had said to Disney, "Give us Soul in November and then you can do what you want to with it by Christmas," I bet it would still be on the theatrical calendar. Yes, a bunch of people would have waited until Christmas to see it at home, but not everyone would have. The chains would have gotten something out of it. Instead, Disney is doing what they want with it by Christmas anyway and the theaters are getting no business from it.

I think it's the same with the theater rentals. They don't want to change their prices now, because if they do that they don't think they will be able to revert back to the current standards later. Even though they might not be around later. I think this is a ridiculous way of doing business. But If I ran AMC, they wouldn't have remodeled my local theater to make the disability access worse than it was before. So they obviously don't care what I think.

Oh, and they're in danger of running out of cash by the end of the year or early next year if audiences don't come back.

AMC Theatres Could Run Out of Cash by the End of 2020, Early 2021

AMC Theatres warns that coronavirus may cause it to face a cash crunch.

variety.com

I think it's only a matter of time until they decide, like Regal, that being closed is less bad than being open right now.

 

[TravisR]

AMC Theatres Could Run Out of Cash by the End of 2020, Early 2021

AMC Theatres warns that coronavirus may cause it to face a cash crunch.

variety.com

I think it's only a matter of time until they decide, like Regal, that being closed is less bad than being open right now.

My guess is that AMC will be open until a week or two after The Croods sequel in the hopes that having it pretty much exclusively will bring in ticket buyers. By late November or early December, Wonder Woman will have either moved or they'll be set on the Christmas day release and in the very likely event of WW moving, AMC will probably close down due to a lack of anything left to play.

 

[Jake Lipson]

My guess is that AMC will be open until a week or two after The Croods sequel in the hopes that having it pretty much exclusively will bring in ticket buyers.

I can see why they might hope that would be the case. But I don't think The Croods is a big enough property to do that. The first one was reasonably successful seven and a half years ago when it came out, but I get the sense that a lot of people have forgotten about it. We'll see.

 

[Wayne_j]

AMC doesn't have enough content coming to them to be worth staying open for.

 

[JackieT]

Croods is a movie a majority of families would easily wait to watch at home. It's not even close to being a tent pole movie.

 

[TravisR]

I can see why they might hope that would be the case. But I don't think The Croods is a big enough property to do that.

Yeah, no chance that The Croods will do much but I can see them hanging on like the pathetic gambler who thinks they're gonna hit on the next hand. If they've been open for the last month with basically nothing, why not one more month with the same small offerings?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I agree with what you're saying. But they don't want things to change.

Everyone is pretty much caught between a rock and a hard place this year and I’m normally so cynical that I don’t know why this surprises me, but I’m stunned on a frequent basis at how so many companies and individuals aren’t interested in even having a conversation about how to get through this moment in time. Too many are willing to let the perfect be the enemy of the good and prefer to accept 100% of nothing rather than a smaller percentage of something.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

AMC will now offer Stubs/A-List members $5 in rewards for every 3 movies seen - and the ones under your A-List plan count.

I was gonna see "Kajillionaire" today but just decided I didn't feel like it.

I didn't bother to cancel my ticket because... who cares? It's Thursday, so it's not like I was gonna need that pre-paid ticket this week.

I wonder if this will end up counting as one of my 3 movies toward the $5 rewards! I suspect not since the ticket never got scanned, but it's in my "archives" on the app, so... maybe?

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Today's A-List title: "The Honest Thief" Dolby Cinema.

2 other people in theater at 5PM showing.

The movie? C+. It's yet another "Liam Neeson plays aging badass who goes on a mission of revenge" movie, with virtually nothing new to bring to the table.

Still, it's a breezy - if predictable - 100 minutes, and not the worst Neeson entry in this particular genre...