Tell me a story

Ah, here we are again. One month has ended, and another has begun. Time marches ever onward. August, we welcome you with open arms. You signify the near-end of 90 degree weather, the imminence of autumn with its wonderful holidays, as well as the end of another month spent with MoviePass. I bet you didn’t know that last part, did you August? Why would you? You are a month. You have existed long before I was even a possibility, and you will go on long after I am a memory. I do not fathom you are interested in how much money I saved in July using MoviePass, but I shall tell you anyway because for the next 27 days we must coexist, so we might as well get to know each other a little, and I already know plenty about you.

I know that you used to be called Sextilis because you were the sixth month in the year, but after January and February were born (around 700 BC) you became the eighth month, and you were eventually renamed August to honor the founder and first emperor of the Roman Empire, Augustus. I also know that you always end on the same day of the week as November. You are quite fascinating, August. Now would you like to learn a little about me?

I went to the theaters seven times in July: I saw Pacific Rim, Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain, The Hunt, World War Z, The Way Way Back, Fruitvale Station, and The Conjuring. MoviePass paid for the last four of those. Pacific Rim and The Hunt (reviewed here) were advance screenings, and I bought the ticket to Kevin Hart through Fandango.com because Kevin Hart was scheduled to open the movie in person. I did not want to get sold out of that.

via Instagram

Kevin Hart at the opening of Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain at Regal Cinemas Gallery Place Stadium 14 in Washington, D.C.

That’s not the only theater-related excitement to happen to be in July either.  I only happened fell in love with a new movie theater. It’s called the Angelika Film Center and it’s in Fairfax, VA. It’s a gorgeous theater with glass walls, reserved seating, flat screen monitors outside each showroom, and a cafe with actual food instead of the standard theater junk food. There’s even a chandelier! In a movie theater! The place is super clean and stylishly designed. And thanks to MoviePass the $13 ticket price isn’t even a concern. The Angelika could easily become my default theater if it weren’t a half hour drive away, but at least that means I’ll always think of it as a treat to go there.

Me outside of the Angelika Film Center in Fairfax, VA

Okay, August, I feel your patience wearing. So let’s get down to business. How much did I save with MoviePass in July? Here’s a breakdown:

(Click the above to see trailers)

 
I paid MoviePass $30 to see $51 worth of movies, meaning I saved $21.00. Much better than last month’s saving $7, right August? Well if you like those numbers, I have even better news. You may or may not be aware that in June I saw Monster’s University, but I wasn’t able to use MoviePass because I didn’t have any reception on my phone, meaning I couldn’t log onto the app. Well I spoke to customer support people at MoviePass about it, and they reimbursed me for the movie! I hadn’t even intended on calling them about it, but when I went to see World War Z I wasn’t able to use the app again—for some reason it wasn’t recognizing that WWZ was actually playing at the theater—so I contacted the company and explained the situation to them, and they told me to send them a picture of the ticket stub so that I could be credited. I figured I’d mention the situation surrounding Monster’s U as well, and they told me to send a picture of that stub too. Then they credited me for both movies.

I can’t tell you, August, how happy that made me. I had been resigned to accept what happened with Monster’s U because it wasn’t really their fault I didn’t have reception, but had they refused to credit me for WWZ I would have been extremely upset. I would have even considered cancelling the service, but luckily there was no need to. They rectified the problem easily and were very nice about it all. Gotta love that kind of customer service. They advised me that going forward I could always call them if I have problems with the app, in which case they would manually add the funds to the MoviePass Discover card. Good to know.

What’s also good is the fact that the $9 Monster’s U credit brings my total savings for the month to $30.  (Technically I should add it to the June’s savings, but to keep things simple I’ll just include it with July’s.) I’m feeling very happy about this. Thanks MoviePass. And thank you, August, for listening. I feel like we really bonded here. See ya, buddy, and stay cool. Seriously, please stay cool. Like 75 degrees and cooler. Please.

July 2013 MoviePass Savings:

Total MoviePass Savings: