The Rise and Fall of MoviePass

If my math is correct, I have seen 70 movies in theaters since getting my MoviePass card around a year ago! lol  I've seen 56 in 2018, and I will be sure to use the 6 more opportunities I have before the calendar year ends... this means I paid a one-time grand total of $90 to see 62 movies in 2018, (and $20 for the 14 movies I saw in the two months I used the card in 2017).  

My average cost per theater movie = $1.45.  (In 2018 and overall with MoviePass.)

The price of one movie in theaters now is $8 to $12, and that's if you don't go for IMAX or 3D.  Absurd.  So this has been lovely, but it is 0% surprising to me that the company is struggling to stay afloat as they make up that difference for all their customers.  For a while, MoviePass allowed you to see one movie per day, and you could see the same movie as many times as you wanted -- (hence, seeing The Greatest Showman 7 times)!  Then you could only see each movie one time (unless, of course, you cheat the system and buy a ticket for something you have no desire to see, then go again).  Then it became a 3-movies-per-month limit.  And now, only 1 or 2 of the currently playing movies are even available each week on the app. Sad day.

I'll be surprised if the company is still around after the new year.  I'm guessing they're holding out so that they won't have to refund money to people like me who paid for a full year up front.  But it's likely going under sometime soon.  This emoji logo made me laugh. lol

I've always loved going to the theater, but lately, movie nights at home are also pretty great!!  An unexpected side effect of this whole thing is that it has lowered the value of theater movies for me.  Like, I am no longer willing to pay full price to see anything that I'm not crazy-excited about, and even then I would pick a matinee or discount Tuesday.  Four out of my 76 movies would make that list of being worth full price to me (Greatest Showman, Jumanji, Avengers: Infinity War, and Bohemian Rhapsody).  I'd be fine with waiting till they come to Netflix or Hulu on over 90% of them.  So it's entirely possible that I'll go from seeing more in-theater movies than ever to seeing less than ever next year.  And I'm totally fine with that! =)

(This was taken when Chet's closing guy rented the theater for Pitch Perfect 3, a movie I saw without having to use MoviePass, which brings my total to a perfect 77!)

So there's my random MoviePass update. lol  

The full list as of now = Geostorm, Thor: Ragnorok (x2), Let There Be Light, Wonder, Daddy's Home 2, Bad Moms' Christmas, Just Getting Started, The Mountain Between Us, Star Wars Episode VIII, The Greatest Showman (x7), Jumanji: Into the Jungle (x3), Downsizing, Commuter (x2), The Post, Molly's Game (x2), I, Tonya, 12 Strong, Paddington 2, Maze Runner: Death Cure, 15:17 to Paris, Black Panther, Game Night, A Wrinkle in Time, I Can Only Imagine, The Miracle Season, Ready Player One, I Feel Pretty, Avengers: Infinity War (x2), Overboard, Life of the Party, Book Club (x2), Solo, Adrift, Ocean's 8 (x2), Tag, Incredibles 2, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Won't You Be My Neighbor?, Ant-Man and Wasp, Skyscraper, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!, Hotel Transylvania 3, The Darkest Minds, Crazy Rich Asians (x2), The Spy Who Dumped Me, Peppermint, Unbroken: Path to Redemption, Night School, A Star is Born, Indivisible, The Hate U Give, Bohemian Rhapsody (x2).