Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

[Parmandur]

Oh most definitely, which also astonishes me as someone who only saw the very forgettable first movie, but my understanding is that the franchise has reinvented itself several times by now.

The mini-trilogy of F&F 5-7 (aka, the ones with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) actually rises to the level of being unironically good, and only 2 Fast 2 Furious is genuinely bad (kind of a hilarious bad, though). The first movie was kind of OK, but is weirdly elevated by being the cornerstone of several good movies in retrospect.

 

[Parmandur]

My local Regal multiplex is $15.50 for a matinee now. That is a bad enough price that I considered going to see something in the theater for the first time in years last fall but saw the prices and decided it wasn't worth it, and didn't go to a movie until this spring. Part of the issue is that they closed their oldest, cheapest theaters in the area, so now my local theaters are their locations that were always more expensive, and there's inflation on top of that, so basically the base price is nearly twice what I would pay pre-pandemic.

But the same chain is only $20-some a month for unlimited movies, and I subscribed for a three month stint a couple months ago so right now I'm going to the cinema every week, and price is irrelevant.

I went to an independent theater in town right before I got the pass with prices in the $10-12 range and it had a healthy crowd. The Regal multiplexes I've gone to with my pass seem mostly empty, so I can't help but think that that particular chain is committing suicide through a bizarre and misguided pricing model of trying to really squeeze their occasional visitors and force people onto subscription plans. On the other hand maybe the subscription plans are working perfectly and there are just droves of people who are subscribed and not actually using their passes, which is the best outcome for the company.

Honestly, I haven't been to a theatre since 2019, and neither D&D, nor Guardians of the Galaxy, nor Mario, nor even Indiana Jones got me out...so I'm not sure anything can. I have a 4K TV and more streaming material than I know what to do with for the whole family.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

I don't know anyone with a cinema subscription, or who doesn't think they are a rip-off that puts them off going to the cinema at all.

Well, your exhaustive survey of everyone you know's current subscriptions aside, I don't think it's clear how many people have these subscriptions. Cinemark reported a million subscribers last year, but it is $10 a month, which is a lot easier to get your money's worth on than the $20-some a month of Regal and AMC, for which I couldn't find numbers. Whether they are "a rip-off" really would seem to depend on the individual plan and the movie-going habits of the individual subscriber. The theaters are hoping they will be a rip off (if not through people staying home while paying for it than through comically overpriced concession sales and upcharges for various things), but it seems like the right consumer can easily come out well ahead on any of the plans.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I don't think it's clear how many people have these subscriptions.

I think if they worked anything like the movie chains hoped we would have a lot more people going to see "second tier" movies like HAT and DoD.

Wrong tactic. If they wanted the custom back they should have gone for a cheep and easy model.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

Wrong tactic. If they wanted the custom back they should have gone for a cheep and easy model.

Well my own experience of the multiplex being mostly empty whenever I visit, despite a potentially consumer favorable subscription model, and the indy theater with reasonable every day ticket prices and no such plan having a healthy crowd the one time I went there recently (for the D&D movie, so for a more successful movie probably even better), would seem to indicate that that is a correct evaluation in terms of making money on ticket sales.

But I suppose it's really about what pricing model sells the most tubs of extremely expensive popcorn.

 

[Wolfram stout]

Saw Indiana Jones DoD and loved it. I am one of those in the camp that didn't like Last Crusade (too much dumb humor for humor sake), so in the minority there. But I thought DOD was exactly the send-off movie the franchise needed.

 

[Mistwell]

Honestly, I haven't been to a theatre since 2019, and neither D&D, nor Guardians of the Galaxy, nor Mario, nor even Indiana Jones got me out...so I'm not sure anything can. I have a 4K TV and more streaming material than I know what to do with for the whole family.

Top Gun was the movie that, for the most part, got people back to the theaters. It's just not the same movie on a home TV.

 

[Parmandur]

Top Gun was the movie that, for the most part, got people back to the theaters. It's just not the same movie on a home TV.

Eh. I've been to big movies, and I've seen movies in 4K niw. Not worth the price differential.

 

[Mistwell]

Well, your exhaustive survey of everyone you know's current subscriptions aside, I don't think it's clear how many people have these subscriptions. Cinemark reported a million subscribers last year, but it is $10 a month, which is a lot easier to get your money's worth on than the $20-some a month of Regal and AMC, for which I couldn't find numbers. Whether they are "a rip-off" really would seem to depend on the individual plan and the movie-going habits of the individual subscriber. The theaters are hoping they will be a rip off (if not through people staying home while paying for it than through comically overpriced concession sales and upcharges for various things), but it seems like the right consumer can easily come out well ahead on any of the plans.

We see a lot of movies and still couldn't quite justify the AMC A-List program. We pay for the AMC Stubs Premiere for $15 and that's definitely worth for us. We get that back in literally three movies a year, with the savings for online purchases and popcorn and drink upgrades included, the points you accumulate, and shorter line for concessions.

The Cinemark $10/Mo is worth it if that's your primary theater. It gets you one ticket a month, and that rolls-over to following months if you don't use it. That alone is break-even or slightly a profit, depending on where you live. Then 20% off concessions, no online fees, discount tickets for non-members who you buy tickets for, points that provide other discounts, that's a pretty solid program. I'd join that if that were my primary theater, but we only have one Cinemark we go to, and about 6 AMCs we go to, so AMC is our choice.

 

[Zaukrie]

The mini-trilogy of F&F 5-7 (aka, the ones with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) actually rises to the level of being unironically good, and only 2 Fast 2 Furious is genuinely bad (kind of a hilarious bad, though). The first movie was kind of OK, but is weirdly elevated by being the cornerstone of several good movies in retrospect.

I've only seen the first three, I think. I've always wanted to watch them all, as an experiment