Have you ever sat down to watch the Academy Awards and said “I haven’t seen any of this year’s nominees”? With a new movie club, you’ll no longer have an excuse. MoviePass, a relatively new subscription service, works with your smartphone and a special prepaid card. For a small fee, you can watch a movie every single day of the year. There are no blackout dates and the MoviePass works at 95% of theaters in America.
MoviePass is easy to use too. After receiving your card and activating it, download the MoviePass app to your smart phone. The app uses your location to show you lists of movies and participating theaters nearby you, providing choices of times and films. (Check the MoviePass home page to find participating theaters near you.) After deciding what show you want to see, head to the theater. Once you’re within 100 yards, click the “Check-In At Theater” button and you’ll get confirmation that a ticket is ready for you. Then just head to a ticket kiosk or the ticket booth, and use your card to pick up your ticket — then go find your seat.
The MoviePass card essentially acts as a debit card, loading the price of the movie to your card, each time you check in. Don’t get any funny ideas though, the MoviePass card can only be used at theaters and only for tickets.
While it’s a simple system, there are a few limitations: you can only see one film a day, it doesn’t work for 3D or IMAX screenings, and you can only see a specific movie once under the MoviePass program. Then, of course, there’s the cost. There’s a $25 initiation fee and you have to pay to get the card shipped to you. Then there’s a $30 monthly charge and a 12-month commitment, but after the first year you can continue on a monthly basis. The price seems a little steep, but if you live in an area where movies are $10 (or more) a pop, seeing just a few movies a month will pay for the card.
It’s a growing service and one that looks to add features (like 3D movies) in the future. What’s more, the simplicity of the program lends itself to a lot of potential. It would be nice to be able to order tickets online, but I imagine the proximity requirement cuts down on tickets reserved but not used. Still, with MoviePass in your wallet, you may be the expert-in-the-room the next time they hand out Oscars.
Disclosure: GeekDad received a trial use of this product.
An interesting idea, but you would have to watch 39 movies that first year to make it worth it. There is simply no way we would watch that many and I don’t think there are that many people that would. They are banking on the fact that they will get enough people to sign up that won’t see that many movies. I really don’t see this service making it without a much lower entry point, say $15 a month and you can see a max of 3 movies a month, or something like that.
I’ve had it since October and it’s great.