AMC A-List & other theater subscriptions (5 Viewers)

[Jason_V]

I am working under the assumption they will be...

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I saw Blockers yesterday with MP. My wife and I had a rare afternoon where we were both off and had nothing else on the schedule, so we decided to check it out. The idea was more to go out and see a movie rather than seeing that movie specifically.

I found it to be wildly uneven. The stuff that made me laugh really made me laugh hard, but there were a lot of moments where I just sat there thinking "I know this is supposed to be funny but it's not doing it for me." So the price was definitely right. I liked the cast and I thought the script was pretty decent, it's just that the direction was off - the director didn't seem able to sustain any comedic momentum from scene to scene.

Probably worth checking out on MP, or eventual Netflix/cable, but probably not worth a full ticket price.

 

[TravisR]

I saw Blockers yesterday with MP. My wife and I had a rare afternoon where we were both off and had nothing else on the schedule, so we decided to check it out. The idea was more to go out and see a movie rather than seeing that movie specifically.

I found it to be wildly uneven. The stuff that made me laugh really made me laugh hard, but there were a lot of moments where I just sat there thinking "I know this is supposed to be funny but it's not doing it for me." So the price was definitely right. I liked the cast and I thought the script was pretty decent, it's just that the direction was off - the director didn't seem able to sustain any comedic momentum from scene to scene.

Probably worth checking out on MP, or eventual Netflix/cable, but probably not worth a full ticket price.

I had to deal with the sobering reality that I related far more to the parents in Blockers than I did the kids. Ike Barenholtz pretty consistently made me laugh.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Oh absolutely, same here!

 

[Wayne_j]

Today was Beirut.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I saw Rampage today. Wish I could've seen it in 3D for free, but I think I made the right call in seeing it with MP. It started off with some good energy but ran out of steam before the end. I think it could have been tremendously improved by removing about ten minutes and more openly embracing that it's a silly premise.

 

[Wayne_j]

I plan seeing Rampage in 3D Wednesday using Sinemia.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I saw Blockers yesterday with MP. My wife and I had a rare afternoon where we were both off and had nothing else on the schedule, so we decided to check it out. The idea was more to go out and see a movie rather than seeing that movie specifically.

I found it to be wildly uneven. The stuff that made me laugh really made me laugh hard, but there were a lot of moments where I just sat there thinking "I know this is supposed to be funny but it's not doing it for me." So the price was definitely right. I liked the cast and I thought the script was pretty decent, it's just that the direction was off - the director didn't seem able to sustain any comedic momentum from scene to scene.

Probably worth checking out on MP, or eventual Netflix/cable, but probably not worth a full ticket price.

I thought it was more consistent than you did. It sags a bit as it goes sentimental at the end, but I don't recall any real lulls in the comedy...

 

[TonyD]

I like pd Rampage much more then San Andreas. It was a fun movie.
Better than San but not as good as Jumanji

 

[Sam Posten]

http://variety.com/2018/film/features/moviepass-movie-business-studios-amc-1202754312/

Nothing else for me to MP tonight when I go see Avengers =/

 

[Malcolm R]

MoviePass acknowledges that for its business model to work, it needs to attract customers in Midwestern and Southern states where ticket prices are cheaper. The bulk of its users are in major cities such as New York and Los Angeles where the cost of a single movie is greater than a monthly membership. At the same time, the company wants to drive down usage. To be profitable, it wants the bulk of its subscribers to see an average of just over a movie a month.

For one movie a month, most people aren't going to bother with MP. It's only worthwhile for those who see several movies a month.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

For one movie a month, most people aren't going to bother with MP. It's only worthwhile for those who see several movies a month.

I live in one of those areas with high ticket prices - a standard 2D ticket where I am is about $16.50, give or take a few cents depending on the theater and day of the week. So all I need to do is see two movies every three months to do better than breaking even, which is a low bar to clear.

But it's more than just the low price, it's also the freedom of being able to see a movie on a whim without having the financial consequence of sinking nearly twenty bucks into a movie that turns out to be unenjoyable. If they start limiting how many I can see, then MoviePass goes from being a fun way to see things I wouldn't see to something where I need to think carefully about what I go to -- which is the exact circumstance that led to the need for MP in the first place!

 

[benbess]

Perhaps there might have been a way to make MoviePass work, but I think the management team has botched it. A year ago wasn't the unlimited plan c. $50 a month? Cutting that to $10 was certainly headline-grabbing, but ultimately a recipe for burning up millions of dollars every month.

Here's a two-tier pricing strategy that might have been closer to reality....

In lower-priced markets (c. 80% of the country) 14.95 a month for up to a 1 movie a week. If you actually saw a movie a week where I live (Louisville), where the average ticket price is c. $9, you'd still save more than $20 a month.

But in markets like NYC, LA, Seattle, etc. a price point of c. $18.95 a month for up to 1 movie a week makes more sense. Even with this higher rate someone in an expensive market would save well over $40 a month, double what I'd be saving.

All of this would limit losses to a more manageable level, potentially making it possible for advertising and other revenues to make up the difference.

But as it is now, people like us who are seeing 2-3 movies a week with MP, week after week, and month after month, are costing MP a lot of money. They seem to have admitted in their new pricing scheme that the $10 a month idea for a movie a day wasn't sustainable.

My guess is that their main idea was to create buzz around a brand that seemed to have incredible growth, and then see if they could tempt someone with deep pockets into buying MoviePass and its parent company. The merger I think was their main plan, which would mean that the initial stock holders would be bought out and become millionaires, and only after that would the hard part of actually making this a business that would make sense and in the long run make some kind of profit be attempted.

As far as we know, however, no one is interested in buying a company that is putting millions of dollars into what is almost a furnace each month.

I really like the service, but I think they are doomed. I think the writing is on the wall. And someday soon—maybe in several months, and maybe tomorrow—all our cards will suddenly stop working from one day to the next. A grim announcement at the same time will go out that the dream didn't work and is now over, etc....

 

[benbess]

My mp movie yesterday was the documentary Itzhak, about the acclaimed violinist Itzhak Perlman. It was a funny, touching, and inspiring movie. I'd give it a "B+".

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Ben, those are some truly fantastic points.

I think a potential problem with the movie market and what MP was trying to do is that for a lot of people, movie tickets are overpriced and we lost that ability to see a movie on a whim. I think for a lot of people, going to the movies used to be a fun but routine activity that you could do without a lot of thought. It was just the idea of "going to the movies" that was the point more than a specific film. But as home viewing options got better and cheaper, and as going out became more expensive, we all re-calibrated what going to the movies was for - for many people now, going to the movies is something to do only for the biggest films designed to be seen on the biggest screens, preferably adapted from familiar material so there's some guarantee that your money isn't wasted on a dud. Everything else can wait for home.

For Moviepass to really work for the customer, it needs to bring back the freedom of seeing a movie without it being a major expense. Moviepass is successful at that. But the Moviepass program in and of itself needs to be of a reasonable price and have a lot of flexibility. Once it becomes limited, it's the same problem that it was trying to cure. I know if Moviepass said to me, "You only get one movie a week, or only a couple a month" - technically, yes, it would save me money. But I'd have to think hard about whether those movies were worth using my limited MP redemptions on. And I'd question whether it was worth committing myself to having to see a movie a month to make it work.

With the current program, at the $10 price point, if I go a month without seeing a film, it doesn't kill my bank account. It allows me to treat going to the movies as a whim. It lets me go see something like Rampage which I otherwise wouldn't want to pay for or waste a coupon redemption on, but was nonetheless a fun afternoon activity. But if I only got one coupon a week, I might think, "I don't know if I want to use this on Rampage today, because I might want to see something else tomorrow that could be better." And then I can see myself facing the same calculation the next day, and ultimately not using it at all.

I think the big problem with Moviepass was that they started out this current business model by antagonizing the theater chains and the studios. They boasted about how they were going to collect so much data, and get customers so used to paying only $10, that the studios would have no choice but to negotiate with them or risk losing their business altogether. That sounds awfully like blackmail to me. So right from the start, Moviepass put the studios on the defense and forced them to say that they wouldn't play ball. I think it was over right then and there. After such a showing from both sides, there was just no way that they'd ever be able to sit at the same table after that. At this point, AMC and Regal wouldn't talk to Moviepass under any circumstances. It's game over at that point.

I think Sinemia has a chance of catching on. I don't have their service but I see their ads on social media all the time. I think when Moviepass eventually folds, Sinemia will be front and center in a lot of the coverage as an alternate option. You get less than what MP gets you, but you do apparently have the option of reserving your ticket in advance, not just same day, and you can have accounts that allow you to get more than one ticket at a time, making it more ideal for couples, friends and families to use. And it allows you one premium/IMAX/3D/etc type presentation per month. On the low end, you can spend $8.99 a month and get one regular 2D movie and one IMAX 3D movie. Where I live, that translates into a $43 value. My biggest stumbling block with MP is the lack of premium formats and lack of advance purchases, which Sinemia apparently fixes. It could be worth the reduced benefit just for the ability to pre-order tickets to advance screenings of popular films at a discount, especially during summer blockbuster season. If Sinemia becomes known as the card you can use to preorder Marvel and Star Wars tickets, that'll be great for their business. And with the reduced benefit offering, it seems like their expenses will be lower to begin with, and that theater chains might be more willing to play ball.

 

[benbess]

Josh: Good points!

Today's MP movie was Leisure Seeker, starring Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland. It was a really good movie imho. I think many of the reviewers are wrong about this one (the RT score is only c. 34%). But perhaps it's because my parents are elderly and facing some of these issues that it worked for me. My rating: "A-".

 

[Wayne_j]

Tonight I MP'd Avengers: Infinity War.

 

[benbess]

Tonight I MP'd Avengers: Infinity War.

How was it? I might try to see it today.

 

[Sam Posten]

@benbess you can't disrupt markets with products that simply beat the price curve.

This is interestingish:
https://www.reddit.com/r/moviepass/...lan_megathread_old_plans_are_not_changing_at/

 

[Wayne_j]

How was it? I might try to see it today.

Good if you are up to date with the MCU, if you are not you will probably be completely lost.