While there will be no backsides warming theater seats at screenings of The Interview in the United States (at least, not on the movie’s planned Dec. 25 release date), there is still money to be made on the bro-com starring Seth Rogen and James Franco sent on a mission to kill the leader of North Korea. At least, people are still trying to make money off the flick. [More]
movies
Of Course People Are Already Trying To Sell ‘The Interview’ Movie Posters For Hundreds On eBay
By 12.18.14
AMC Theatres To Test Monthly Subscription Packages To Lure Moviegoers
By 12.16.14
We first told you about MoviePass — a subscription service that gives you access to a movie a day for a set monthly rate — more than three years ago. And while the service has managed to evolve and stick around, it hasn’t been able to convince the major theater chains to partner with it. But now MoviePass and AMC, the country’s second-largest theater operator, have announced a plan to test the service to see if people are willing to pay $35-45/month for regular trips to the cinema. [More]
Man Maced By Woman In Movie Theater After He Asks Her To Turn Phone Off
By 11.11.14
So you’re at the movies and the person in front of you has her phone on and is tapping away merrily. It’s the previews, so who really cares? And now the movie has just started, still annoying, but okay. Five minutes in, however, is kind of pushing it. That’s when witnesses at an American Film Institute screening of Mr. Turner say one man in the audience politely asked a woman to put her phone away. She allegedly responded by spraying Mace in his face. [More]
Walmart Launches Digital Video Service So Customers Who Still Buy Blu-rays, DVDs Will Redeem Digital Copies
By 10.15.14
Walmart appears to be going Hollywood. No, the company isn’t going to be the focus of a movie. Instead the mega-retailer and its digital entertainment service, VUDU, have launched a new service putting digital copies of movies at customers’ fingertips – or rather on their smartphones and tablets. [More]
Tetris Is Being Made Into A Live-Action Movie For Some Reason
By 9.30.14
Perhaps in a quest to ensure that a new generation of people will go to sleep every night with shapes floating behind their eyelids, someone is making a full-length live-action movie of the popular 1980s video game, Tetris. Aaaaaaaand cue that song that never fails to get in your head. [More]
9% Of Americans Are Bad People, Think It’s OK To Use Phone At Movies
By 9.23.14
If you’re reading this in your office or on the train, take a second to look around you. About 1-in-10 of the people you see are horrible human beings who think it’s okay to use their phones during a movie. And if you’re reading this at the movie theater, there’s a good chance you’re one of these people. [More]
Spoiler Alert: New Netflix Site Reveals Endings Of TV Shows & Movies
By 9.22.14
Want to know who killed Laura Palmer without having to be bothered with the Log Lady or the secret romance of Big Ed and Norma? Or maybe you’re a few seasons into Lost and just can’t wait to get to what has to be a satisfying, logical conclusion that doesn’t at all backtrack on everything the show’s creator promised he wouldn’t do? Then Netflix has something to spoil your afternoon. [More]
Diabetic Teen Kicked Out Of Drive-In Movie Due To Contraband Food
By 8.18.14
If you, a family member, or a friend has diabetes, you know that it’s a good idea to carry some quickly-absorbed sugar in case of a dangerous precipitous blood sugar drop. A teen in New Jersey claims that he was doing just that, not trying to smuggle snacks into a drive-in theater for family movie night. The theater owner happens to be a pediatrician, and he isn’t buying this excuse. [More]
Director Richard Linklater’s Tip To Deal With People Texting In Movies: A Straw To The Brain
By 7.21.14
First of all, let’s be clear: Violence is never the answer, and you should not hurt your fellow human beings. But if you don’t want director Richard Linklater to stab you in the brain with a straw, don’t text during the movies. Because he seems pretty serious. [More]
From The Bad Idea Files: Movie Theater Adding Surcharge For Middle Seats
By 5.22.14
Imagine you go to the theater to catch a movie you’ve been waiting to see. You get there early and snag a seat in the middle of the theater; no having to tilt your head back because you’re too close, or having to watch the whole movie at a strange angle because you’re set off to one side. But just as the previews are about to start, some latecomer with an usher in tow tells you to get up and find another seat because he paid a $3 surcharge and you didn’t. [More]
Is This Theater Chair Design The End To The Battle Over The Armrest?
By 5.8.14
I don’t know about you, but when I go to a crowded movie, I prefer to sit on the aisle; not to allow me easy access to concessions or the men’s room or to expedite my exit during the credits, but because it guarantees that I have at least one armrest that I won’t need to worry about hogging (or be quietly angry at the person sitting next to me for hogging). But could the War of the Bumping Elbows be ended by changing the design of theater seats? [More]
The ’90s Are Dead: AOL Killing Off Its Iconic Moviefone Voice
By 2.24.14
We know, we know — the word “iconic” is overused. But we’re talking about the voice that greeted callers looking to hear movie times back in the 1990s, when such a service seemed ridiculously convenient (and I didn’t have any other boys to talk to on the phone). The Internet has killed off the Moviefone voice, as AOL says it’s planning to disconnect the line. [More]
Stuck With Offensive Movies No More: Ultraviolet Will Let Consumers Delete Content
By 2.18.14
Last March, a reader contacted us about a free movie automatically added to his Flixster account that he didn’t even want to look at. He didn’t ask for the movie or download it on purpose, and he wanted it to go away. For some baffling reason, this was not possible. [More]
Theater Owners Ask Movie Studios To Keep Trailers To Just Two Minutes
By 1.28.14
It used to be that movie trailers were no more than 30 seconds or a minute in length. In recent years, many sneak previews for upcoming movies have stretched to two-and-a-half minutes. That’s fine if it’s just for one, highly anticipated movie, but when a theater runs several long trailers in a row, it pushes a film’s start time (and moviegoers’ patience) to the limit. [More]
Old Man Marley’s House From ‘Home Alone’ Can Be Yours For $3.1 Million
By 1.24.14
A day after the happy news that Cameron’s house from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off had finally sold after five years on the market comes word that another Chicago-area piece of film history is on sale. This time, it’s the house where scary/friendly Old Man Marley lived in the 1990 classic Home Alone. [More]
First Hobbit Movie Was The Most Pirated Film Of 2013
By 12.31.13
While one might assume that the most popular movies are automatically the films that pirates would flock to download for free, the latest list of most-pirated flicks has some surprising results. [More]
Today In How Not To Tweet: Using Mandela’s Death To Plug A Movie
By 12.5.13
South African freedom fighter and that country’s first black president Nelson Mandela passed away today at the age of 95. What better way to pay tribute to the man than by shilling for the newly released movie about his life? [More]
4 Things You Don’t Really Need To Pay For
By 11.15.13
We all have things that we refuse to pay for when there are free or super cheap alternatives. But while everyone knows that you can get canning jars and scratched furniture on Freecycle, did you know that there are ways to expand your knowledge, see brand-new movies, watch premium streaming video, and listen to audiobooks, all for free? And legally. The “legally” part is key. [More]
