I did the Cinemark club thing because our local theater only does assigned seating now, which means if you don't want to get stuck in neck-craneville you need to purchase your tickets at least a few days ahead of time. So skipping the online fees made it worth it, especially since unused "free" tickets rollover.

Yeah, I don't do MoviePass because, among other reasons, I don't want to support Alamo Drafthouse, but signing up for AMC Stubs Premiere was the best $15 I ever spent. I have no love for AMC at all but they are the closest theater to me, and they also recently bought the next closest, my beloved Kabuki, so I've resigned myself to them.

What's the deal with Alamo? I only know them via Birth Movies Death, a site I love beyond all reason.

The short version? Huge sexual assault enablers.

As long as Tim League is still at the helm I will give them as little of my money as possible.

but signing up for AMC Stubs Premiere was the best $15 I ever spent.

Huh. My go-to multiplex is also AMC. I've been ignoring plugs for Stubs for years but maybe I should look into it given that I see 2-3 movies there a month. I don't do popcorn but rewards with points toward ticket price? Okay!

I was listening to the "Best of 2017" episode of Fighting in the War Room last night (Katey had put TDH in her top ten) and both Katey and Patches talked about how much they loved that scene.

I have also listened to that episode and was like "you are fuckin' kidding me." Usually I'm at a similar wavelength with the folks on that podcast so this one left me kinda agog.

PCHH is not my favorite. They are what I call a back scratcher podcast. Lots of book podcasts are like that. I just don't I find them very discerning. I was glad when I finally discovered Slate's Culture Gabfest for that sort of thing.

I am quite fond of the PCHH gang in general (I feel like I've been listening to them for like 10 years -- it's probably not that long, but def. longer than 5, I think) and I love them for TV and general cultural discussions. But when it comes to film, I find myself having divergent opinions from theirs more and more. Ended up picking up some other film-specific podcasts as the result. Fighting in the War Room is great fun, and I also enjoy Filmspotting quite a bit. But my fave film-related podcast right now is probably The Next Picture Show, where they pair a new release with an old film that's related thematically or stylistically. All 4 members of that podcast team are engaging and knowledgeable and also down-to-earth - they are a pleasure to listen to. And they just happen to be doing a Rebecca/Phantom Thread discussion right now. :)

Slate Cultural Gabfest is OK and Dana Stevens is one of my favourite film critics. But Stephen Metcalf gets on my last nerve with his long-winded intellectual posturing more often than not. Like, I'd hit "jump 30 sec" button on my podcast app several times and he would still be going on and on and on....

Yeah, what they didn't like is basically the same thing I feel bad about myself for not liking -- the characters as people!

Yeah, the characters in that movie are deeply flawed and even monstrous, I would say, and difficult to root for. I freakin' LOVED Alma though, even though she is clearly MESSED IN THE HEAD. I do think the movie is not easy to pin down as either misogynistic or feminist, which seems to be one of the arguments. It's a weird beast with its own internal compass.

My current theater of choice is Silverspot, which I don't think has more than a couple of locations. When it first moved in my group and I were all, "They want how much for fancy seats and whatnot?" But they won us over with reserved seating and $1 Prosecco Tuesdays.

Reserved seating is possibly even greater than pay-at-the-pump gas pumps. Although I do miss the fun of getting to the theatre early to stand in line for opening night of a movie (invariably a superhero movie), because it's all nerds like me, and the conversation is great.

The last movie I stood in line for on opening night was Civil War, and all the nerds were having an amiable debate about whether they were Team Cap or Team Tony. And then a group of about 5 nerdy black dudes were all, excuse me, but I think you mean Team T'Challa. And we all agreed they were right.

Huh. My go-to multiplex is also AMC. I've been ignoring plugs for Stubs for years but maybe I should look into it given that I see 2-3 movies there a month. I don't do popcorn but rewards with points toward ticket price? Okay!

I ignored it too. It was when they bought the Kabuki that I finally did it. I don't buy food at movies at all, but the reward points add up quickly, and the no online fee thing alone pretty much pays for itself after a few months. At my local theater my Premier card also gets me $5 tickets on Tuesdays (which is why I saw TDH yesterday).

Fighting in the War Room is great fun, and I also enjoy Filmspotting quite a bit. But my fave film-related podcast right now is probably The Next Picture Show, where they pair a new release with an old film that's related thematically or stylistically.

I love The Next Picture Show! It took me awhile to realize the Dissolve podcast had reformed so I missed a lot of the earlier episodes. I don't know Filmspotting. I'll have to check that out.

I also like Top 5 Film, which is two amateurs that are just enthusiastic about the medium, but they are pretty erratic in their scheduling. Movie Geeks United can be good but they are super rambly and have entire segments that I have zero interest in. I also keep a whole back catalog of Flixwise episodes for when I happen to watch a Sight & Sound movie--they are slowly going through the 250 list film by film. (Note: Yes, I realize I may have a film podcast problem.)

Does Alamo own Moviepass?

Here the movie pass card will work at the movie tavern, the movie grill, amc, and rave which are the 4 theaters closest to me.

I'm not too worried about the assigned seat issue since I rarely go see big movies the day they open and if so, I'll "reserve" a ticket and select seat on my credit card, then do a cancel when I get to the theater and order the same seat on moviepass right then.

I'll "reserve" a ticket and select seat on my credit card, then do a cancel when I get to the theater and order the same seat on moviepass right then.

Hey, you are crafty! I didn't even think about that.