# Looking for opinions and information on Movie Pass **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 17, 2017, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-opinions-and-information-on-movie-pass/793886 "2017-08-17T18:24:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-opinions-and-information-on-movie-pass/793886/262 "2018-08-06T17:01:23Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Those goddamn selfish bastards! _They’re_ the problem, using the service they paid for! That 15% number doesn’t seem unreasonable to me. How does it compare to other industries which offer one price for unlimited use (buffet, gyms, season pass, etc). I would guess it would be normal in all those kinds of places where 15% of the people take all they can, 15% take almost nothing, and the rest partake a more average amount. Should it be considered unusual at all that 15% of the MP members use it that much? ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-opinions-and-information-on-movie-pass/793886/263 "2018-08-06T17:02:57Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > From the article: > > Those goddamn selfish bastards! _They’re_ the problem, using the service they paid for! And they are still even promoting the “See a new movie \*\*every \*\*day” plan on their website!! ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-opinions-and-information-on-movie-pass/793886/264 "2018-08-06T19:58:21Z")
> [@Panther\_Modern](#): > > MoviePass is now limiting people to only [three movies a month](https://www.wsj.com/articles/moviepass-slashes-offering-to-three-films-a-month-1533560401). That always should have been their policy. How did they think they would make money off the tiny minority of users who pay $10/month for a moviepass card and then watch $200/month in movies? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-opinions-and-information-on-movie-pass/793886/265 "2018-08-06T20:47:23Z")
As per [this article in the Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/08/06/moviepass-slashes-number-movies-user-can-see-by-percent/?utm_term=.a2152a685fbc)about MoviePass, and the three-films-a-month limit: > [@](#): > > Two law firms announced on Monday that they have begun seeking defendants for class action litigation against MoviePass parent company Helios and Matheson Analytics, claiming that the company overinflated MoviePass’s profitability when presenting information to investors, who then lost money. Quoting [one of the lawsuit filings](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180803005541/en/EQUITY-ALERT-Rosen-Law-Firm-Announces-Filing): > [@](#): > > According to the lawsuit, defendants during the Class Period made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Helios and Matheson was touting MoviePass’ valuation and path to profitability; (2) MoviePass’ business model was not sustainable; (3) consequently, Helios and Matheson would run out of cash; (4) defendants’ actions were only reducing shareholder value; and (5) as a result, defendants’ statements about Helios and Matheson’s business, operations, and prospects were false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-opinions-and-information-on-movie-pass/793886/266 "2018-08-06T22:24:43Z")
So did anyone else have the issue this weekend where the available number of tickets was consumed early in the day and you weren’t able to see any movies, irregardless of how many you’ve previously seen? It was all over social media but I haven’t seen a press story on it yet. Best guess is that it’s related to this story in a very extreme way. [MoviePass Limits Showtimes on the App](https://www.businessinsider.com/moviepass-limits-showtimes-on-the-app-2018-7) I had planned to go out Sunday Night to see a movie (Ant Man & Wasp) and was looking for showtimes around 6:30 PM. Literally every theater that wasn’t a “e-ticketing” theater said “no available showtimes” for the entire night. Unclear if this was some kind of service outage or if there was some kind of draconian throttling in place. Perhaps they simply ran out of money to fund ticket purchases for the whole weekend, not sure. No idea…but I was real close to cancelling on the spot. Decided to wait out the rest of my billing cycle and see if things settle down. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-opinions-and-information-on-movie-pass/793886/267 "2018-08-07T00:40:44Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Perhaps they simply ran out of money to fund ticket purchases for the whole weekend, not sure. Bingo. That is exactly it. The “disappearing showtimes” thing started the weekend of July 27th when all their recent money problems started. It’s been happening every day since. The MoviePass subreddit has been keeping detailed daily information: [https://old.reddit.com/r/MoviePassClub/comments/94y2hn/moviepass\_current\_status\_updates\_weekday\_thread/](https://old.reddit.com/r/MoviePassClub/comments/94y2hn/moviepass_current_status_updates_weekday_thread/) I expect the same behavior to continue for at least the rest of August. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-opinions-and-information-on-movie-pass/793886/268 "2018-08-07T03:44:51Z")
I just tried to get tickets for today, Monday night, and found that few movie times were available. You could pick either a pre-7PM or post-10PM slot with the occasional post-9PM slot for certain movies if it happened to also be the last showing of the night. So basically, if you can’t see a low demand movie in prime time on a MONDAY NIGHT this service is totally pointless. Also noticed that both Christopher Robin and Mission Impossible were entirely blacked out. I might be able to live with weekend prime time blackouts or first week blackouts, but this seems to be something totally different. Almost like they are actively trying to block customers from using the service at all until the new polices and prices kick in next billing cycle. Shady shit. ---
**Author:** ![Panther\_Modern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac8455/32.png) [@Panther\_Modern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panther_Modern)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-opinions-and-information-on-movie-pass/793886/269 "2018-08-07T04:40:17Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > So basically, if you can’t see a low demand movie in prime time on a MONDAY NIGHT this service is totally pointless. Sounds like it’s time to cancel. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-opinions-and-information-on-movie-pass/793886/270 "2018-08-07T05:05:36Z")
> [@Panther\_Modern](#): > > MoviePass is now limiting people to only [three movies a month](https://www.wsj.com/articles/moviepass-slashes-offering-to-three-films-a-month-1533560401). > [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > And they are still even promoting the “See a new movie \*\*every \*\*day” plan on their website!! I think the three-a-month rule doesn’t start until August 15, so try to get them in now. This rule won’t put us out, because I think three a month is about the max we see now anyway. Just no time. And if it means we can see the _Mission: Impossible_-type films via MP again, that’s fine. > [@Panther\_Modern](#): > > Sounds like it’s time to cancel. Why? As long as you can use the card even once a month, you’ve broken even. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-opinions-and-information-on-movie-pass/793886/271 "2018-08-07T05:47:45Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Why? As long as you can use the card even once a month, you’ve broken even. Not a customer, but I wouldn’t want to do business with a company that operates the way they have, with the corporate skeletons they have. Plus, all the hassle with the what/when/where you can see anything hardly seems worth it unless you’re seeing a lot of movies in a month, which I’d never want to do, particularly with all the rigamarole. And if you look at the eventual business plan that would be required for them to maintain their price points, they basically have to start playing hardball and squeezing the theaters, at some point. In the end, they’re an extraneous, rent-seeking middleman using the stock market and venture capital to try to corner a distressed market. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-opinions-and-information-on-movie-pass/793886/272 "2018-08-07T12:09:30Z")
I’m not quite sure what the point of all this reinvention is. They have no money. Having a more sustainable plan like 3 movies a month would’ve been a good plan 6 months ago, but they can’t afford their day to day expenses, so I don’t know what the point of all this is. I guess they’re just desperate to get new investor money with their “sustainable” new business plan. But I can’t imagine it’s coming. Even if someone starts buying their stock again, it’s almost worthless - it seems like it would be difficult to fund them that way unless they sold billions of shares at a few pennies. I wish I had a good AMC theater nearby because A-list is a way better service than the newly reinvented moviepass - for $5 more a month, you can see 12 movies a month instead of 3, you can use their online booking process to reserve seats/showtimes, and you can see premium (3d/imax) showings. If Regal or Galaxy Theaters comes up with something similar I may end up signing up for it. And it sounds like while moviepass is giving up peak pricing going forward, they’re still going to block popular new movies and possibly have a random subset of showtimes available. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-opinions-and-information-on-movie-pass/793886/273 "2018-08-07T12:23:12Z")
Reading up on it, it appears they intend to keep the $10 price (at least nowhere mentions $15) - but I remember them announcing they were transitioning to $15 a month sometime during August. So I guess the new 3 movies a month plan means it stays at $10? That would still be a deal worth doing it they actually offered a full list of showtimes. I’m not confident we won’t continue to get a random list of showtimes that disappear throughout the day, which wouldn’t be worth messing with. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-opinions-and-information-on-movie-pass/793886/274 "2018-08-07T16:27:30Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Reading up on it, it appears they intend to keep the $10 price (at least nowhere mentions $15) - but I remember them announcing they were transitioning to $15 a month sometime during August. So I guess the new 3 movies a month plan means it stays at $10? That would still be a deal worth doing it they actually offered a full list of showtimes. I’m not confident we won’t continue to get a random list of showtimes that disappear throughout the day, which wouldn’t be worth messing with. The $15 price increase was scrapped. The service will now become either $9.95 for 3 films or nothing. At least until they decide to change it again. The way they worded the information about the 3-per month cap, I am certain they will still be blocking certain films and showtimes. I’ll see how it goes for the month of September, if it continues how it’s been for the past week, I’m switching to A-list. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2018, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-opinions-and-information-on-movie-pass/793886/275 "2018-08-08T02:13:51Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I think the three-a-month rule doesn’t start until August 15, so try to get them in now. This rule won’t put us out, because I think three a month is about the max we see now anyway. Just no time. And if it means we can see the _Mission: Impossible_-type films via MP again, that’s fine. > [@](#): > > Why? As long as you can use the card even once a month, you’ve broken even. The 3-a-month rule is fine so long as they aren’t stacking other restrictions on top of it, especially what seem like arbitrary ones that are impossible to predict, which is what the state of things are now. As it stands, they are making it impossible to see any movies unless you literally have no other obligations and no preferences on what you see. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2018, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-opinions-and-information-on-movie-pass/793886/276 "2018-08-13T02:08:16Z")
We did use MoviePass to watch _Mission: Impossible – Fallout_ yesterday afternoon. They finally unblocked that one. If you don’t have to be one of the first to see a film, then it’s still good. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-opinions-and-information-on-movie-pass/793886/277 "2018-08-15T04:47:57Z")
Got an e-mail from MoviePass that echoed what I’d read in an article. It’s now three films a month, but subsequent tickets will be subsidized at $2-5 each. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-opinions-and-information-on-movie-pass/793886/278 "2018-08-15T05:09:26Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Got an e-mail from MoviePass that echoed what I’d read in an article. It’s now three films a month, but subsequent tickets will be subsidized at $2-5 each. This doesn’t kick in until your subscription renews. People still on the old subscription are getting strung along and fucked over, Moviepass is hoping they give up on using it before the subscription converts. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-opinions-and-information-on-movie-pass/793886/279 "2018-08-15T05:33:46Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > This doesn’t kick in until your subscription renews. People still on the old subscription are getting strung along and fucked over, Moviepass is hoping they give up on using it before the subscription converts. The e-mail also said my subscription had renewed. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-opinions-and-information-on-movie-pass/793886/280 "2018-08-15T07:42:16Z")
Hmm… Okay, being kind and assuming their behavior is not malicious, I could see where their workflow fucked up. If they treat cancellation as a pending thing to be executed on the next billing date (so people could uncancel if they wanted), and then flashed the new TOS to people on the app and asked them to accept it, I can understand why migrating people to the new TOS and possibly new billing system could uncancel them. Of course they could reverse this process once they figured it out, so it’s quite possibly malicious. But I hit accept on the new TOS when it popped up, and then cancelled like 5 days later. So I definitely shouldn’t have been part of this. I couldn’t have been part of that incorrect workflow, since my account was already switched over at the time I cancelled. But I just noticed the e-mail, 2 days after I cancelled, “We received your confirmation for your new MoviePass plan. Some exciting updates are coming on the first day of your next billing cycle, 2018-09-07.” They didn’t bill me for August, but I guess they’re planning to bill me for September? I’m not sure how that even makes sense. If I switched over to the new plan, why would it take a month to charge me? Not a big deal, I guess, that gives me plenty of time to recancel, but fishy. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-opinions-and-information-on-movie-pass/793886/281 "2018-08-15T14:37:23Z")
Their website now states that the new 3-per-month plan will let you choose “from \*\*up to 6 \*\*films each day,” meaning they will only be supporting 1-6 films each day. You will not be able to choose what you want to see. So the way it is working now is how it \*will \*be working even on the new plan. Today the only movies you can choose from are either wide release “The Meg” and “Crazy Rich Asians,” limited release “The Miseducation of Cameron Post” or \*\*very \*\*limited released (only on \*\*one \*\*screen in NYC) “Madeline’s Madeline” and “Skate Kitchen.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-opinions-and-information-on-movie-pass/793886.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-opinions-and-information-on-movie-pass/793886.md?page=15)