So I wrote two books on MoviePass.
One at the height of its power and glory, Cinemadness: Live Your Best MoviePass Life
And one on its descent into mediocrity and dysfunction, Cinemadness: The Rise and Fall of MoviePass
There's no way I'm ever going to be able to keep those books updated, as the information changes every day. So I'm just going to blog now and then to keep you updated on MoviePass' nonsense and any interesting cinemad stuff afoot.
Neat stuff to know, in semi-random order:
Sinemia, the most serious MoviePass competitor, made big waves by offering an unlimited plan recently. $30/month for a movie per day.
Sounds legit, right? Sounds at least more SUSTAINABLE than MoviePass, right?
Well, it's fine for Sinemia, but it's not an amazing deal.
I've been iffy about these guys from the start. Their per-ticket prices are okay compared to just buying a ticket at the box office at full price, sure. But they charge convenience fees for any advance tickets you buy, on top of new "processing fees" on every ticket, whether you buy it in advance OR on the spot. The convenience fees are about $2, and the processing fees are $1 or $2.
They added the per-ticket processing fees in the last couple weeks, as a bait-and-switch to nail the suckers that bought into their $30/month unlimited plan. Oh, and they require you pay for a full year in advance, so these suckers paid Sinemia $360 cash money for what they thought would be unlimited movies, not realizing they're ALSO gonna be paying an extra $3 or $4 on EVERY TICKET they buy through Sinemia. That's like MoviePass' disastrous "Peak Pricing" times infinity.
(Disclaimer: You can just pay month-to-month if you want, but that requires a $20 "initiation fee.")
So if you go to the movies every day in a month, that's not actually costing you $30. It's more like $150 with all the fees included. Unless Sinemia cuts it out with these ridiculous fees, I cannot recommend them and I strongly advise you not to give them your money. $30/month for unlimited movies is a pretty great deal. With all the fees on top of it, it's a stinker.
MoviePass is still $10/month for three movies. That's $3.33 per movie, no additional fees. Heck, the per-ticket price with MoviePass is cheaper than the per-ticket FEES Sinemia charges you on top of your monthly subscription fee!
MoviePass' subscriber count is going way down, SURPRISE SURPRISE! I mean, you throttle your service, yank your users' chains, pretend you're not surrounded by competitors luring customers away, and act like it's all good, and people don't respond positively. Imagine that.
MoviePass is producing some movie with Bruce Willis. They posted a video from the set, along with a pic with a MoviePass card in the hands of The Bruce (well, Bruce Campbell is The Bruce, so Bruce Willis can be A Bruce). It made the already rage-filled Instagram comments section go completely thermonuclear, with infinite variations on, "You ruin your service while producing movies and schmoozing with Hollywood stars!?" The video and pic were deleted from their Instagram account within days. Wonder why.
MoviePass took an equity stake in a couple films. And this is kinda neat: they just sent an email to users saying that when either of these films come out, you can see them with MoviePass without either one counting against your 3-per-month limit.
MoviePass is doing shady stuff with their stock. All day, every day.
I LOVE not having ticket verification with MoviePass anymore. Saves so much time and annoyance. Though I hear rumors from friends that it's still being required of them. That's ridic.
Also ridic: MoviePass is STILL limiting the selection on which movies you can check in on each day. With the number of movies people can see per month capped at three, there is no sensible reason to keep angering people with this awful feature. It would make sense if movies were still unlimited and ticket verification was in place. You could actually save a few bucks by limiting options. But now? This limitation can't be saving MoviePass any money and it seems to just be infuriating its customers.
This is old news, but happened too recently to make my most recent book. Carl Schramm, an important MoviePass executive, resigned in disgust. Wouldn't you, if you were a MoviePass executive?
This tool thinks he's hardcore for watching a scant 21 movies in a year with MoviePass. EXCUSE ME?!? You know what's cool? 21 movies isn't cool! 100 movies in eight months is cool! (I don't actually know the writer of the article, maybe they're not a tool, but what a pathetic boast. A measly 21 movies!?)
MoviePass bought Moviefone and hired a Rotten Tomatoes guy to run it. I don't really care, but some do, as this might mean something as time goes on.
This story stole the title of my second book, though technically that article was published a couple days before my book came out. Still. Booooo.
The box office is taking a hit with customers no longer burning MoviePass' cash to see mediocre movies every day in the theater.
Alamo Drafthouse is beta-testing their subscription plan in Yonkers, NY and it seems everyone's on the NDA train as information is scarce. Rumors of a $15-$20 monthly price point, with specialty screenings excluded and no food/drink benefits. Boo.
Regal jacked up their rewards points needed for a free movie. Used to be 15,000 points via the app and 17,000 points at the box office. Now it's 18,000 points on the app and 20,000 points at the box office.
And there are social media rumblings that Regal is working on their own subscription service. We have a big local Regal theater and they get most of my business so I might actually be tempted by that.
And overall, I'm content with MoviePass' current three-monthly plan. I'm missing out on a lot of crap, but that's okay. It's crap. The only movie I missed that I definitely would have seen with unlimited MoviePass was Operation Finale. I don't regret anything else I missed.
On with the show.
-B.P. Kasik/Phony McFakename
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