Money Saving Tip at the Movies!

Everyone loves to save a buck at the movies. It is really expensive to see a movie nowadays. I’ve tried to pass tips before about how to save a bit when you go to the movies, for example buying discount tickets through AAA or your workplace, bringing in your own food, seeing a matinee or earlier show. But what about the big movie that you really want to see. Just came up on a tip that you guys might like to know about:

Buy one movie ticket using your Discover Card and get the second free! Visit Fandango now for your free movie ticket.

That’s right people, if you have a Discover Card, you can buy one get one Free for movie tickets. That’s not too bad a deal.. you’re looking at $5.00 a ticket average! True.. you could visit me and I’d let you in for free, but this is pretty close, right? Plus I can’t be everywhere at once. There are gonna be more offers that I’m going to get wind of later this month, so stay tuned for those. I’m sure that they’ll be great!

Anyway, onto a disgruntled customer story. Well, it was more of an annoying thing that happened. I had just started my shift and got called over to the concession stand. Now keep in mind this was after a decent rush, and we hadn’t had a chance to do anything yet. The staff member points towards me and an older woman looks at me. “He the manager?”. My staff member nodded.

What does she say? “This place is filthy. How can you even be open?”

Excuse me? Popcorn on the floor? We didn’t drop it. But yes, we’ll clean it. Give us maybe a minute? I informed her that while we do try to keep up, it can be tough because we’re trying to help guests first, and will clean up as soon as we can. Thought that might make her happy. Nope. She tells me that “obviously you’re not trying hard enough.”

I had no idea what to say at that point. So I walked away. And had someone sweep up. She acted as if we weren’t gonna do it anyway. People drop popcorn, it’s a common occurrence. This lady also made it a point to peer OVER the stand and mention that we had too much popcorn on the floor there too. Well, we can avoid that if we don’t fill popcorns all the way up to the top. But then we’re ripping people off too much! (Image courtesy of JWOD Catalog)

Just an example of how difficult it can be to please people….

That’s all for now.. should be busy tonight! Check out that ticket deal if you can, I think it’s a great promotion!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Box Office Report: October

Time to recap things for the month! First, how much is this blog worth now?

Not bad huh? A pretty big increase over what the worth was last time. I’ve finally got the technorati ranking up to almost what is was before (30). Let me know if you’d like me to add you to my technorati favorites, we can exchange the favors! As you know, I’m trying to build up my network of blogs, so feel free to visit the ones on the right and add them too… it’s much appreciated!

Now for the monthly famous blog. When I decide that you’re famous, I give you some stumble love, add you to my NewsFire feed reader, and also add you in to the famous blogs section of the forum over at To Infiniti and Beyond! This month, I think it’s someone who really deserves it. It’s been a while coming for him, but I’m proud to announce that October’s famous blog is…..

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Does Where You Live Affect What You See?

First off, GO RED SOX. My boys made it to the World Series again. I’m pretty spoiled, as its been two times in four years, but that doesn’t make me any less happy. I’ll be sure to pick up a hat and a tshirt if they win the Series. You can do it boys.

Now onto the real subject of this post. The title is pretty self explanatory. Having more access to the numbers than the general reader, I can say that it does. I’ve had quite a few experiences where being located in or near Boston has affected what the general public is around here, in terms of movies. Most recently, this happened with Gone Baby Gone. This movie was pretty highly anticipated around here, and you can tell from the movie poster that it is based in Boston.

How much of an affect did this have? Well, my theatre was in the top 10 for grosses when it came to this particular film. Not that my theatre is usually terrible or anything, but we usually don’t break the top 10 in the country for any movie. This has happened once before, and guess what movie it was? That’s right, Fever Pitch. Great movie, by the way. Who would’ve thunk that a movie about the Red Sox would do the best in the Boston market? That’s really strange, isn’t it?

Have you ever found yourself watching a movie because it happened around where you live? I think it really does affect things. Now that I think about it, Mystic River did pretty well around the Boston area. Let me know!

Not too much happened to me this weekend, except for my boys making a near miracle comeback in the ALCS. Saw IV comes out this week. I’m excited.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Customer Service Call

Working at the movie theatre, I have had many experiences dealing with customer service. It is basically all the industry is about! (Ok, movies too, but sometimes those play second string even) Knowing this, I often keep my eyes open as to how people at other locations where customer service is important are treated, such as restaurants and sports events. Knowing how difficult customers can be sometimes, it was pretty interesting for me to observe a customer at a restaurant.

We’ll call our difficult customer “X”. My girlfriend and I had arrived at the restaurant about 10 minutes before. It was soaking wet outside, so I can understand that no one coming in would be the happiest people around, I certainly wasn’t. However, our hostess was friendly and we were seated promptly. After drying off a bit, I sat at our table waiting for my girlfriend to get back so that we could start our meal. During this time, X and his friend had come in and been seated. X decided to move his own seat, insisting that he should sit there because it was “brighter”.

The table was open, but the server for that table had just left and so there was no one to serve the table. X asked if that was ok, and at first the hostess said No. A mistake on her part, but she quickly made up for it. X threatened to leave, and was allowed to sit at his desired table. The hostess made sure that their server knew they would be at a different table. I knew from this point that X would be difficult, so I observed him while we ate. Our service was pretty good, though the food took a little longer than I would’ve liked.

X, on the other hand, waited about 5 minutes for his server, who had accidentally went to our table first. (We had a different server) When he got there, he asked politely “Has anyone been around to help you yet?” Basically, he was checking to make sure he had the right table. X responded, “No one has done anything for us yet here” in one of the most sarcastic tones I’ve ever heard. Sheesh.. I felt bad for the server already.

X orders his drink which was “Jack Daniels with Soda“. I know what I would’ve thought if he said that. Jack and Coke. The server smartly checked though, asking if he wanted Coke or Soda water. “I said SODA!” he responded. So the server then confirmed that it was “soda water” and not coke, and went to go get their drinks and food (ordered at the same time). As soon as he had walked away, X commented on the incompetence of the service there, and quite loudly. Wow. I’m sure his friend was embarrassed.

When the drinks came back, the server asked if they needed anything else until their food got there. X said “I said no ice in my drink, but of course your too busy so it doesn’t matter.” Again in that sarcastic tone. I had been paying attention, and he did not say that. The server asked if he wanted the ice strained out, or a new drink, and X said “No No you’re too busy for that.” After checking again, the server left. Again, X commented on his incompetence. This time his friend said “They’re trying their best.” To which X responded “No they’re not, this is the worst restaurant and I’m never coming back here again.”

Ok ok.. sheesh. This continued for the rest of his meal. Now I know that the tone wasn’t set right at the beginning, but they did try to make up for it, and his server was trying. I just can’t believe some people think acting this way in public really makes things better. I’m sure the hostess and server wish he had left instead of staying. The server does not get paid enough to do that (especially since their pay is tip based, and X probably would not tip well).

That being said, I am appalled at the kind of behavior. I’ve gotten angry before, but I’ve never insulted a server, especially in such a loud and public way. Have you had any observations on this? Or perhaps experienced bad customer service yourself? Let me know, and I’ll compile the best ones and post em. If you don’t feel comfortable leaving it in a comment, let me know and you can e-mail me!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Difference Between a Movie Trailer and an Ad

This is my response to a recent article that has been Dugg. The basic premise of the article is that movie theatres should be responsible for paying back the consumer (moviegoer) for time that is spent watching ads that show before movies. However, being a theatre manager, there are many false claims made in this article, and I want to shed some light on what the truth of it is. My forum may not be as large as the one that his article reaches, but I hope that someone will notice this. This is also not my normal tone, but he really irked me on this one.

I’d like to make two key points right away:

• The ads plays before the movie, typically on digital projectors.
• Trailers start at the published show time, and are considered part of the movie. When you pay for a movie, you get trailers also. (You also get credits!)

Yes the advertising business does provide movie theatres with a lot of money. Half a billion dollars, according to that article. I am inclined to believe this, but he also mentions another point. According to IMDB, most movie goers don’t mind the ads. While I do believe that some people are against the ads, there are also many who either like the ads, choose to ignore the ads, or watch them because they are there. Next, and I quote:

But you don’t have to have a degree in advertising to know that the bulk of that $456 million in ad money doesn’t come from those “pre-show” commercials. Oh no no no no… most of that money comes from the ads I LOATHE. The commercials (not trailers… I like those) that they start playing at the time they advertised the MOVIE was supposed to start.

I’ve said this before, but it’s worth repeating.

- When you take my money for popcorn, at least I’m getting a tasty treat

- When you take my cash at the box office, I’m getting to come in to watch the movie

- When you take my time for commercials on TV, I’m getting a “free” TV show out of it

But what are we getting for our time with commercials in movie theaters? When the ad says “Movie starts at 7pm” and I’m in my seat (that I paid admission for) at 7pm, it’s time for you to start giving me what I paid you for… the movie. If you want to show me commercials, fine… give me the movie for free then.

This is just not true. At the theatre I work at, the ads are run on a digital projector. This beeps when the movie is scheduled to start, and the projectionist then hits the start button, on the FILM. Included in the film are several things. First, a note to find the nearest emergency exit in case of an emergency. Next a snipe that says “Coming Attractions”. Then, depending on the movie, 10-15 minutes of trailers. (It even shows on movietickets.com! Feature Presentations Start 10-15 Minutes Following Published Showtimes. That’s for trailers!!!) Next, another snipe for “Feature Presentation”. Then… guess what.. THE FEATURE PRESENTATION. There are no extra ads there, at least for the company I work for. The writer of that article just assumes that this is common practice. Well I work for a large theatre chain and its definitely NOT common practice for us to do that.

I don’t mind theaters making money off me when I get a product, service or entertainment in return… but commercials playing at 7pm when you told me the movie would be starting is doing nothing but STEALING my time. You are taking from me without giving anything in return. HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT FROM ONLINE MOVIE PIRACY!?!?

He makes a very strong point about this. First of all, theatres do not steal your time. YOU choose to go to the movies. And, as I’ve stated before, our ads run before the scheduled start time. This is just an asinine point.

Finally, his calculation on how much theatres owe him for watching ads.

I see approximately 8 films in theater each month. At about 15 minutes of commercials per film (remember, these are ads that begin to play at the movie advertised start time), I end up spending about 2 hours per month watching ads in theaters uncompensated. That’s 24 hours, or a full day of uncompensated ad watching in a year.

MONEY

I’m not a doctor or lawyer, so let’s say my time is worth a measly $20/hour. Since I spent about 24 hours watching uncompensated ads in theaters last year, I figure the movie industry owes me about $480 out of that Half Billion they made last year off my time. Seems fair.

The principle for piracy and time theft is the same. Taking an asset (a movie, or your time) without providing the due compensation for taking that asset. So where do we start the class action lawsuit?

If you tell me the movie starts at 7pm, then when I PAY YOU to get into the movies, there is an implied contract that you give me what I paid for… a movie at 7pm. When you instead put up 15-20 minutes of commercials at 7pm you are stealing my time, and also stealing MY SHARE OF THAT $456 MILLION you made off my time.

So the next time you’re pirating a movie (which is neither something I do nor endorse), let that ease your conscience, because although you’re stealing the $10 you would have paid in admission… they probably owe you about $150 for stolen ad time anyway.

So, I guess the next time you see a movie, you should ask for that $140 as a check, since that’s how much you’re owed for watching ads. You are not paid for watching ads on TV, reading ads on the internet, or anything else like that. True, you are not paying for TV (Basic) but even cable has ads, and so does the internet. He is basically making a point tat you should get paid for anything that wastes your time. After having read his article, I felt like I have wasted my time, and would like some of my money back.

Again, I can’t speak for all theatres, but I know that his points are just invalid when it comes to who I work for. Next time, do the research before you scream about something you don’t really know about. Make sure it applies to all situations before you say it does.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

The Movies are not the same as real life..

I told the girl I’d write about this today, so here it is! I’ve never had a problem with scary movies. I can handle pretty much the worst you can bring. Let’s just say it was a lot different for me when we went to Spooky World last night. I’ll flat out say it: I was scared $***less last night. I don’t handle the whole people jumping out at me too well… and jumped out of my socks more than once.

What makes it so different? I think it’s how close these “monsters” get to you. At the movies, I can handle a lot because you know its not real. Now if they had a movie theatre where they had a guy dress up and run into the theatre, that would be different. Yesterday, these things were breathing down my neck. I would not survive in a horror movie. lol.

So to top it all off, I was the one holding on for dear life last night, while the girl laughed at me. Quite the opposite from when we’re at the movies. Hey, it’s not my fault they were all popping out on the side where I was walking!!! I guess I can’t say that was all they did to freak me out, cuz a flesh eating zombie DID pin me up against the wall while I was waiting for the girl at the restrooms.

It was an enlightening experience for me, makes me think I life in a fantasy world too much haha. I never thought I would have been as scared as I was yesterday. I’m too attuned to what movie scary is (blood, gore, music giving away what’s going to happen), that I wasn’t ready for what was going to happen at Spooky World. I’ll say it for real now: I was a huge wimp last night. lol.

That’s all for now. Have you had any experiences at haunted houses and graveyards that were like the movies? What movies have really freaked you out?

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Changes being made

I was dumb and tried to change my theme, but didn’t save my widgets. Trying to make everything work again, please bear with me.

EDIT: Alright.. I got most of it back and I tried to get it looking as good as I could. Most of the ads are in one spot now so hopefully that will … make some people happy. It was a pretty nice wordpress like theme that I was going to try. Maybe another time when I have a chance to back up EVERYTHING. On to write my post for the day and work on this thing some more.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Just Bought This :-)

Amazon.com Widgets

Now I know some of you are going to think this is probably spam, but I actually just bought this and I’m really happy about it. What’s best about it is that in addition to these items, I’m also getting 5 HD-DVDs free! Hmm.. how best to not make this sound like spam… lol. Well, I’m not really sure how to do that, but I thought I’d throw this one on here because I think it’s a good deal. I’m not going to get into that whole format wars thing, because personally I don’t know what’s going to happen. This is just a solid deal, if you’re looking to upgrade to HD and you have an Xbox 360. If you’re interested, check it out, if not, no biggie! I’ll let you guys know how it is when it comes in on Tuesday! Sorry if I’ve annoyed anyone with this!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Film School Rejects!

Hi Everyone! I’ve just been included as a writer over at Film School Rejects! Don’t worry, I won’t be neglecting this blog at all, but this is an exciting opportunity for me. A chance to get my writing out there, and hopefully bring some more popularity to this blog.

For anyone who doesn’t know, Film School Rejects is a site that provides movie reviews and movie news, and is quite an authority on the subjects! There are many contributing writers providing many opinions on any movie you could possibly want. Check them out for movie reviews, if I haven’t provided one here first! Just kidding, feel free to visit both of us!

They always say one of the best ways to market yourself is to write on someone else’s site. Well I’m grabbing that bull by the horns now!

Anyway, I hope you guys are as excited about this as I am, I can’t wait to get my work out there! I just had to post about it before I went to bed. More tomorrow everyone!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

How to Popularize your Blog

I know there’s a huge waiting line for people waiting to be famous on this site, but if you can’t wait to get your blog out there, there’s another way to do it! Blogrush launched today, with an easy to install widget! Check it out here! When you’ve installed it, you’ll get a widget like the one I have on the right. Your blog could be appearing on hundreds of other blogs every day!

Of course, you could always get on the list to be made famous here. It’s had huge impacts. Just ask whatagem, Mrs. Mandypoo, and Skittle. They’ll vouch for me. One day they’ll make a movie about all the blogs I make famous. Make sure you get in line before its too late!

In anticipation of this week’s movie openings, I thought I’d run a little poll:

More later on tonight! Bye for now!

Disclaimer: Becoming Famous, while awesome, does not guarantee any results. I’ve always wanted to have a disclaimer. I wonder if anyone will read this. I am working on ideas to get these people tons of hits though, so just bear with me! As always, if you want to become famous, just drop me a comment!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

« Previous Page — Next Page »