I Think I'll Pass - Tragic Comedy at Funeratic

I Think I'll Pass

A new business called MoviePass (I can't think that without hearing Milla Jovovich's voice) is soon to allow filmgoers to see unlimited movies in theaters for $50/month. This sounds targeted towards hardcore movie fans, also known as young people with disposable income. The limited pass, $30 for up to four titles in month, is likely a better deal for most people if they can make it to the theater once a week; it's essentially buy-three-get-one-free. Would you sign up for this service? Would you have been more likely to sign up for this service before Netflix came along?

–Scott Hardie • June 28 2011, 6:56pm EST

For what it's worth, the idea of seeing several movies each month reminds me that I've been considering launching a "book club" or "movie club" discussion format on the site for a while, based on Erik's good idea once upon a time. I vacillate between thinking that our recent participation level is so low that it would be a fruitless endeavor, and thinking that I need to try more things like it in an effort to boost participation even if some of them don't work out. If you have interest in such a thing, please let me know.

–Scott Hardie • June 28 2011, 7:06pm EST

I see matinee shows, primarily, or I use my old student ID, so I only pay $6.50 for a show, anyway. So, paying $30 for 4 movies is actually not worth the money in my case.

–Erik Bates • June 29 2011, 11:40am EST

I'd do it if i lived closer to theaters.

–Jon Berry • June 29 2011, 4:59pm EST

If I was to do a movie club, here or otherwise, it would probably be Netflix-based. It's just too expensive to go to movies any more. We like to go to the nearby mall, walk around for exercise, window-shop for fun, have a cheap dinner out in the food court... but then we get to the theater, where a show costs $19.50 before any 3D or IMAX surcharges. There's a second-run theater across town that we much prefer, $4 for two tickets, but their selection and showtimes are even less appealing. Bah.

There are a lot of problems facing the movie exhibition business, but the biggest might be that the perceived value has not kept pace with the sharp increase in prices over the last couple of decades. Studios thought they could offset declining revenue by raising ticket prices, but those runaway increases are driving even more people away from the theater, and accelerating the rate of technological innovation that lets people watch movies much less expensively on their own time. Exhibitors are caught in the middle, making very little money but trusting in the studios' claims that their investment in ever-more-desperate advances in technology (IMAX! 3D! Smell-o-vision!) will save the business. The position that exhibitors are in right now reminds me of farmers, who had a very successful business model that worked for many generations, but who faced challenges in a shifting economy and were convinced that they needed ridiculously expensive machinery (and pesticides) that they managed fine without before, but which forced them to seek greater and greater income just to pay off. Meanwhile, Amish farmers reap a fortune with minimal investment in machinery and chemicals, just by sticking to common-sense methods that have worked for ages. I doubt the government is going to rescue the film business with subsidies, but who knows.

–Scott Hardie • June 29 2011, 5:18pm EST

When we see previews for new movies, rarely do we say, "I can't wait for that one to come out!"

More often, we say, "That looks amazing. I can't wait for it to come out on DVD."

Oh, and don't even get me started on the bullshit deals that the brick & mortar stores have struck in an attempt to save their business by trying to make customers bend to their way of business rather than trying to actually provide the service the customers want in the first place.

When I hear "Get it a full 28 days before Netflix and Redbox" I don't say to myself, "Well, shit, I guess I'll have to go to Blockbuster." I just say, "Awesome. Just 28 more days until I can get it for $1!"

Sorry, I fear I may have hijacked this thread...

–Erik Bates • June 30 2011, 2:56pm EST

I might be a throwback, but I prefer going to movies for a bunch of reasons.

First, I like the experience. It makes for a great random date night. Second, I think it's the only possible way I can watch a movie with someone and have near-total attention on the film. In my experience, no one really is as involved in a movie at home - too much other stuff is going on (self-inflicted and not). Plus, if you have a movie that someone else wants to see more than you, you'll be more tuned out in their choices and vice-versa. Third, I can't stand the whole pausing/breaking up a movie. I like the immersion.

I'll watch movies at home, but if it's something I REALLY want to see, I'd prefer the theater every day of the week.

–Samir Mehta • June 30 2011, 7:05pm EST

I like all of those things too. Our home "theater" sucks. I like sitting up close to the big screen and being immersed and losing myself in the picture. I want to see The Tree of Life and get *really* lost.

There are plenty of nitpicky complaints about going out to the movies, and having to see it at the theater's showtime is a big one for us, but really it's just about cost. There are lots of good movies out in the winter, but the rest of the year, there just aren't many titles worth twenty bucks. In a summer full of robots punching each other, Kevin James taking a gorilla to a chain restaurant, and generic third-tier superheroes getting their own "franchises," a mediocre little drama like Larry Crowne looks practically Oscar-worthy.

–Scott Hardie • June 30 2011, 10:52pm EST

We have a rather decent set up at home. I don't think you've ever seen it Scott -though your more than welcomed to anytime your up here (Kelly too of course) Generally we watch more at home than at theaters. While prices aren't as bad out here (roughly $45 for our family to go to a regular movie, $13/ticket if it is Imax or 3D I think) it is still costly to go see every movie under the sun. We tend to reserve it for movies like Harry Potter and some of the Comic Book super hero stuff that has been coming out in recent years like XMen first class.

–Lori Lancaster • July 1 2011, 1:25pm EST

So much for MoviePass. For now, anyway.

Lori, if I had that setup, I'd be a lot more happy to watch movies at home. :-)

–Scott Hardie • July 1 2011, 6:04pm EST

That sucks.

hehehe. :D Rock Band and Little Big Planet are pretty fun on there too XD

–Lori Lancaster • July 2 2011, 12:26am EST

Well, I was thinking about a Netflix-based movie club here, but maybe not after today's news. I don't blame Netflix; their hands are tied by movie studios who refuse to license content at a reasonable rate. But I get why people would react badly to the price hike. Three out of four people I discussed it with plan to cancel their subscriptions.

–Scott Hardie • July 12 2011, 6:18pm EST

I'm definitely canceling it. As a student re-entering the workforce, my time to watch movies was already going to decline. I can't honestly see anyone justifying the costs of Netflix now unless they have nearly infinite free time.

My gut says that this is going to kill Netflix. I think the content providers knew this and that's why they squeezed them to this point. And so all the weird proprietary networks (that those of you with X-Box, Wii, and Roku already see) will probably become the dominant force.

Ironically, I think that this will probably make video stores viable again in the near future. When the studios demand $5 and $10 per rental, anyone who wants older films will probably refuse to pay which should open the door back up. If that DOESN'T happen, I wonder if demand for movies will just decline because they will price themselves too high for perceived value.

–Samir Mehta • July 12 2011, 6:24pm EST

There are lots and lots of people angry about this, the more I read. And some apologists like me who blame the studios, even though Netflix didn't mention that reason at all in their announcement. At first I didn't get Netflix's claims that "there is still a very large continuing demand for DVDs" and "DVDs by mail is a long-term business for us," since that runs contrary to pretty much everything Reed Hastings has said about the company's future for at least half a decade now. But it does make sense for them to retreat back into the DVD business, if studios are indeed refusing to license their content for streaming unless Netflix pays exorbitant fees. So, customers willing to pay the higher rate can keep their streaming business afloat with the few studios who will play ball, while many other people stick with DVD-only. Those who will go with both DVDs and streaming are icing on the cake. The plan does make some sense, but the shitstorm of controversy about how it was disclosed to the public is going to hurt them badly. They may enjoy something like 65% market share now, with the next largest streaming provider having something like 5%, but RIM enjoyed that kind of dominance just a few years ago and nobody wants Blackberries now.

–Scott Hardie • July 12 2011, 8:29pm EST

A few points:
1. They are expected to lose about 30% of customers, according to some quick analysis. If true, this means they'll need to convert almost half of the remainder to double-subscription to stay even on revenue.
2. If they really meant to court the DVD market, I'm astonished that they didn't consider trying to upsell on the 2-DVDs or more at once option. I don't know their cost structures, but I would have strongly considered staying on if they discounted that option. I'm not believing that they are committed to DVD as a model.

–Samir Mehta • July 13 2011, 1:08am EST

I'm skeptical too. If this really is their plan and they did anticipate this level of backlash, then it seems like a lousy plan. They haven't faced this kind of criticism before, so I wonder if there will be a retraction or other change in the next week or two.

–Scott Hardie • July 13 2011, 7:50am EST

For those of us without fast enough internet to stream movies in the first place, the price is actually decreasing.

–Denise Sawicki • July 13 2011, 9:34am EST

Well, looks like I'll be saying goodbye to the DVD option, and possibly my Neflix subscriptions altogether.

–Erik Bates • July 13 2011, 2:25pm EST

We were streaming a lot and also using the dvd option. This will probably mean saying goodbye completely to the dvds and relying on the library again. We also have a hulu subscription.

–Lori Lancaster • July 13 2011, 3:05pm EST

We're on the fence. Kelly used streaming almost exclusively and didn't touch her discs, so we reduced to one-disc-at-a-time for those titles that I wanted to see that just weren't available in streaming yet, or wouldn't be for a long time. The problem is, it's getting to the point where *I* don't really touch the discs either. It took me three sittings last week to get through Harry Potter and the Endless Finale: Part 1 -- thank you Warner Bros. for forcing me to sit through the same parade of unskippable trailers every time I fired up the disc -- and that was after weeks of nagging myself mentally to watch it or return it. A lot of movies are like that. TV over the Internet has so reduced my attention span for passive entertainment, and other demands on my time have so limited how long I have to give anyway, that the once-incredible price of $8/mo for unlimited movies now seems kind of like a waste of eight bucks. This state of affairs makes me sad. Louis CK is right that everything is amazing right now, and nobody's happy.

For what it's worth, here's a defense of the change in Netflix's pricing that puts it in perspective. I'm skeptical that the division into two price categories was done to prove to content providers how many customers prefer to stream -- simple usage analytics of the existing program would have told that story quickly and accurately -- but mostly it's a smart argument. Like any entertainment, the outrage over Netflix's new prices comes down to perceived value, and our wallets being so pinched these days makes it that much harder to perceive any value.

–Scott Hardie • July 14 2011, 7:41pm EST

Anybody who would care very likely knows this already, but funimation.com has all their anime streaming for free all summer. Could be an option for people pissed about price hikes I guess. We just discovered this and spent the weekend watching Claymore. I am not sure how much of their stuff was free normally, but certainly not this much.

I guess I have to take back what I said about us not having fast enough internet for streaming video. We only have 512 k but can *sometimes* watch a full show without any forced pauses... looks entirely good enough for us in full screen mode on our TV, too.

Then again, you probably have to take what I say about technology-related issues with a grain of salt, since I fondly remember spending like an hour loading Tunnels of Doom from a tape recorder onto our old TI 99/4A computer and I would probably do it again if I still had the system :P

–Denise Sawicki • July 17 2011, 8:44pm EST

So the deadline is approaching to make the decision to stay or leave Netflix.

We've decided to leave.

We did the math, and we have so much regular TV that we watch, and we pay for premium channels because, let's face it, there's some damn good shows on HBO and Showtime, so paying $16/month, while not crazy, still doesn't work for us.

We can go to Redbox for $1 a pop, watch one movie a week, and be out $4 +tax per month. Already, that cuts our Netflix DVD rental fee in half, and you still have that lame-ass 28-day wait period, so the only thing I'm losing is the time I wait for the movie to get to me, which, surprise! is a bonus. We'd have to rent 9 Redbox movies per month to make Netflix a good investment again, and that's just not going to happen.

As for streaming, yeah, I'll miss it a little, but when the TV seasons hit full swing, I've found our Netflix usage goes WAY down, so there's no need to keep it. We may re-up again next summer when there's nothing good to watch on TV. I'll use that time to catch up on old TV shows again (the only real use for streaming, in my opinion).

In addition, since our cable rate just jumped by $10/month, losing Netflix is essentially going to be a wash as far as finances go, where if we had kept it, we would have been spending the $10 for cable AND the extra $8 for Netflix every month.

–Erik Bates • August 19 2011, 2:44pm EST

That makes a lot of sense. Isn't Redbox $1/day? Do you pass by the machine on your route the day after rental or do you have to make a separate trip? There's a Redbox unit in the grocery that we visit every Friday night, but I wouldn't want to drive all the way back every Saturday.

–Scott Hardie • August 20 2011, 8:59am EST

Yeah, it's $1/day. There's several locations very near us, so it's not an inconvenience, really. One of us is usually in the area near a machine the next day.

–Erik Bates • August 20 2011, 11:58am EST

Ugh. Here we go again.

For years, Netflix was the company with the golden touch, who inspired millions of customers like me to evangelize on their behalf by putting customer satisfaction first. Their price change of a few months ago was their first really big PR disaster, in which they alienated about a million customers into leaving, and did it all through uncharacteristically poor customer communication. So today, while the wounds of a few months ago are still raw, judging from all the comments here and elsewhere I've seen by people dropping the service over the last few weeks -- NOW is the time that they choose to announce a split in the company, so that you have to pay two companies for two services? And by the way, all of your queue and rating data will not transfer to the new site? And they decide to announce this aggravating news in the midst of apologizing for the LAST aggravating news, saying they learned from their mistake when they manifestly have not learned anything? What the fuck is the matter with these people?

"Baby, I messed up. I know you got mad when you saw me with that other woman. I'm sorry I hurt you, and I love you. By the way, I'm moving in with her."

Yeah yeah, I get why they're doing it. And it is a pretty smart business decision. After all, most companies avoid making changes that will piss off their customers, and consequently they slowly become obsolete. Netflix isn't afraid to make the painful changes necessary to survive, and I can applaud that.

I just don't understand their sense of timing. NOW they do it? Either they had a September split in mind ~~four~~ two months ago, and they introduced the divided pricing then to prepare people for the split, which was a disastrous idea that caused much more pain than there would have been if they'd just split the company then -- or the September split has come together in the last ~~four~~ two months, and they cluelessly decided not to wait another 6-12 months for the bad PR and hurt feelings to blow over. Either way, they're idiots.

I have no idea yet what Kelly and I will do. If our data would port from Netflix to Qwikster, I would be more tempted to use both: I love their very prescient recommendations engine, which is based on the 4,428 ratings that I've recorded over the last ten years, but there's no way in hell I'm going to re-rate all of those titles on a new site. I love being able to rent almost anything on disc much more than I actually get around to watching anything on disc; what little viewing I do any more is almost exclusively tv shows due to lack of time, and I stream every one of them. I've got a lot of thinking to do before this change happens. Unlike Netflix, I want to get it right.

–Scott Hardie • September 19 2011, 7:35am EST

I think MG Siegler said it best:

"But maybe that is smart. Choose the worst name possible. Promote ridicule. And ensure a qwiker death of a business they want to die."

–Erik Bates • September 19 2011, 1:11pm EST

My friends,

I'm sorry to hear that some of you are unhappy about the new format of Celebrity Goo Game. It's my fault for not announcing it better.

Therefore, I'm going to spin off that game into a separate website called Gooster. Here at Funeratic, I'm going to focus on Gothic Earth and movie reviews, which I think are the future of the site. This change will double my free time for working on Funeratic and Gooster.

Of course, you'll have to maintain two separate accounts, and login to each site separately. And all of your previous accomplishments will not carry over, so you'll have to start guessing all over again if you want to get your Gooster lifetime score back up to what it was.

But don't worry! I'm done tweaking Gooster's format. I've heard loud and clear how much you don't like the way it is now, so I promise to stop changing it any more.

Respectfully yours,

Scott

–Scott Hardie • September 19 2011, 1:39pm EST

That's funny!

–Justin Woods • September 19 2011, 1:44pm EST

Two analyses of Netflix's decision by the Atlantic: one eloquently asks "WTF are they thinking?" and the other considers them doomed.

One blogger offers what Netflix should have said. Spot-on.

Of course, there may have been an ulterior motive.

–Scott Hardie • September 20 2011, 10:32pm EST

I like The Oatmeal's take on it.

–Erik Bates • September 21 2011, 10:31am EST

After almost a decade, I've finally canceled my disc subscription to Netflix. I'm keeping streaming, because I use it and like it. But as much as I enjoy the selection available on disc, and the convenience of queuing movies for later rental on disc that aren't available now (something I really wish they would add for streaming), it's just not worth another $9 a month for something that I don't use much anymore. I need to trim my living expenses, and this one is long overdue. But those red envelopes brought me a lot of happiness over the years, and I'm still sad to see them stop coming. I have just enough time left on the account to rent one last movie, and I'm pretty sure I picked a good one

–Scott Hardie • January 12 2012, 9:01pm EST

We put our subscription on hold for a while to see if we really would miss it.

Turns out that no, no we don't. We rent the occasional new release on Redbox, but other than that, we don't really feel like we're missing anything.

–Erik Bates • January 13 2012, 9:23am EST

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