Umm ... MoviePass Is Back?
Let's look at the insane venture.
Back in the summer of 2018—pre-pandemic and before the cinematic abomination that was Dear Evan Hansen—things were pretty good pop culture-wise.
I was playing Donald Glover’s “This Is America” into oblivion and using MoviePass to see everything and anything released theatrically. Both were critical, except the former didn’t combust after a few months.
MoviePass, for those not in the know, was the dumbest (and greatest) creation of all time. It was, essentially, a card that you would pay $10 a month for that would allow you to see up to one movie a day. It was a godsend for a grad school student like me trying not to blow all of his money at the cinema, and it arrived at a perfect time as movies like Thoroughbreds, Hereditary, Annihilation, Suspiria, The Favourite and many, many more bursted out into theaters.
As you can quickly gather, $10 a month for near-unlimited movies is a pretty inane idea. The initial goal was to make money through advertising and collecting user data, but the flaw in the plan was that the group putting it together didn’t realize how people would rightfully abuse the card.
The main flaw with the movie card was that they didn’t realize people would want to see movies.
The team went immediately over $40 million in debt and then started changing the game plan, making certain movies special, creating more price-y times, limiting viewings and trying to do everything to keep from going under. Well, eventually there was a data breach and things went sideways and in 2019, MoviePass died. Or so we thought.
At its peak, it was perfect for the consumer. The only thing better than a cheap movie is knowing that some people in suits were losing money so you could eat some Buncha Crunch and watch The Death of Stalin.
And now, MoviePass is kind of back. I think. The Beta was released this week with a limited user base and $10-$30 subscriptions. How it works and what you can actually see with it (the main things one would need to know) are still unknown, so that’s fun.
MoviePass brought us AMC Stubs, so it’s truly one of the best things that have happened in my life. It’s saved me money, thus I’ll always love it.
Will it return in full force? Probably not. It’s a down time for theaters, even with Top Gun: Maverick making more money than it knows what to do with, as plenty of movies have been going directly to streaming furthering the destruction of the theatrical model.
I wish nothing but the best for MoviePass. Will I get it? Probably not, but also maybe. I’m a sucker for a good deal if it ever returns in full force.
Quick Rant: After a long day of walking around, buying things and eating food in Portland, Maine, my family and I lounged around. I’m not sure who but someone was flipping through the channels and we ended up watching the 2019 live-action Aladdin, which is—how do I put this nicely?—terrible.
Who’s clamoring for this? Who wants these knock-off CW versions of old Disney stories? I know they’re making money, so they’re not going anywhere, but what a waste of time.
For this one, in particular, all of the magic of the original has disappeared with a snap of the finger. I like Guy Ritchie (sometimes) but this feels like a massive paycheck job with zero imagination and/or creativity. Will Smith’s genie is a Robin Williams retread and the acting, on the whole, feels like it’s from one of those Netflix movies you’ve never heard of which they for some reason continuously churn out.
So far we’ve had Alice in Wonderland, Maleficient, Cinderella, The Jungle Book, Pete’s Dragon, Beauty and the Beast, Christopher Robin (okay, I liked this one), Mary Poppins Returns, Dumbo, Aladdin, The Lion King, Lady and the Tramp, Mulan and Cruella. We also have Pinocchio, The Little Mermaid, Snow White, Lilo & Stitch, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Bambi, Robin Hood and Hercules on the way.
Yes, I had to type out all of that; and yes, it sucked.
We’re in a really bleak time for movies and these lame IP cash-grabs are as good an example as anything about what we’re living through and what the powers that be think we want.
Aladdin, in particular, has nothing to like. It was a high-school theater production with a ridiculous budget that hates its audience. It’s so bad. Don’t watch it.
Your time is worth more.