Special Review: My Thoughts On MoviePass
Special Review:
My Thoughts On MoviePass
A month and a half later I finally received my MoviePass card (they said it took so long because there was a large volume of new members), and I immediately went to the movies to see "The Mountain Between Us." To my pleasant surprise, the MoviePass card worked, and I was able to enjoy a film without technically paying for it.
That was on October 11, 2017, so my recent renewal was up on August 11, 2018 - that means it's been ten months since I've had the program, and I've paid a total of $99.50 for the program. During those ten months, I saw 93 movies in theaters, which would've cost me $846.40...so I ended up saving $746.90 with MoviePass.
Throughout this time, I kept wondering how the heck a company like this would make money - after all, they fronted the ticket price in full each time I - or anyone with the program - attended a movie. While they said only a small percentage of its customers went to more than three movies a month, I was one of the few that took full advantage of the program, and I was having the time of my life.
A few months ago, some red flags began waving to indicate MoviePass was going through some hard times. All of a sudden, I had to take a picture of my ticket stub to validate that I was indeed going to the movie I was using the MoviePass for. I didn't mind, because I wasn't cheating the company - I was using it for its intended purpose. However, one theater in my hometown had an issue with their tickets, and the MoviePass app wasn't letting me recognize the ticket stub. I sent numerous messages through their app, Facebook, and Twitter, and got no reply. I even called MoviePass and finally got to talk to a person, who just insisted that I reinstall the app (I did that several time beforehand without it working). While I was worried the company would think I was cheating them, they were understanding in the fact that the app wasn't recognizing the ticket images, and would validate them after I sent a Facebook message each time it happened. Still, it was an inconvenience - a mild one, but that was only the tip of the iceberg.
Then came word that you couldn't see the same movie more than once. For some reason, I always thought that was the rule, so that didn't affect me at all because I never used the program to see a movie twice. Still, hearing this made me worried about the future of the program.
Then the proverbial Titanic finally sank in July, when the app totally crashed. They said it was just a simple error, but the truth was the fact that the company literally ran out of money. The CEO of MoviePass - Mitch Lowe, who also worked with Netflix and Redbox - announced that big changes were going to take place with the company, and to be frank it's been a total mess.
They introduced Peak Pricing, where you would have to pay an additional fee to see a movie during "peak hours" - which turned out to be all day Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. No matter how old the movie was, they were considered "peak" and therefore you'd have to pay more to see it.
Then they revealed that they wouldn't allow first-run films to be used on Moviepass, so films like "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" and "The Meg" weren't available on the program. I found that to be very annoying, because I wanted to see those films, but decided I'd stick with the program still.
Then they announced they would up the price from $9.95 to $14.95 a month, which I thought was still a good deal to see a movie a day for free. However, that quickly disappeared in favor if changing the program yet again - they would keep the $9.95 a month price, but limit customers to just three movies a month. However, they would do away with Peak Pricing and having to take a picture of your ticket stub, so I figured it was the best idea - after all, generally a ticket goes for about $10, so seeing three movies for $9.95 was still a great deal.
THEN they changed it again, only allowing six different films a day to be seen in theaters, and they change day to day, and might not be available if there's a high demand. So one day you could see "Blackkklansman," but the next day that would disappear in favor of "Slender Man." This is the current plan, and while I'm still irritated that I can't see whatever movie I want, I'm still keeping the program for now because it's still cheaper. Plus, they said this was just a temporary thing, and when the new program is fully implemented by September 15, then you can see any movie you want - as long as it's just three a month.
Time will tell if this will actually happen, but for now I'm still a MoviePass member. There's other programs out there - AMC offers a deal, but there's no AMC theaters where I live. Cinemark offers an $8.99 a month plan, but it doesn't seem to be very profitable for me. I recently also joined Sinema during their summer deal of $14.99 a month to see three movies in theaters a month, so currently I can see six movies a month and pay $25.00 a month - but it seems that MoviePass is still the better option out of all of them, but if they keep changing their own rules and regulations, I wouldn't be surprised to see it DOA by the new year.
So what are my overall thoughts on Moviepass? It was a great idea, but the execution was poor to say the least. I have no idea how they thought they'd be financially stable by offering $9.95 a month while they pay full price for a movie ticket each time, but somehow, someway, they thought it would work out. They've been floundering in the water for awhile, and it seems that they're trying to find a life preserver to hold onto, but keep coming up short.
I understand why people want to cancel their accounts due to the overall shakiness of the program, but as long as they offer $9.95 a month to see three movies, I'll keep my membership.
Still, it won't be as amazing as what the last ten months were, and all I can say is: "it was fun while it lasted."
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