The End Of My Sinemia Experiment

There is a saying that if something seems to good to be true it is probably because it is. That turned out to be exactly the case with Sinemia. This month, as the title suggests, marks the end of my Sinemia experiment.

I had a lot of issues attempting to use the service in March. I was only able to use one of my three movies. I went to go see The Aftermath which I thought had some good acting in it. 

The app was pretty much not usable for most of March and their customer support is almost nonexistent (or supremely unhelpful when they did reply). After many messages, and a lot of aggravation on my end, I finally found out the reason for all of the troubles. Sinemia filed for bankruptcy in the United States and ceased operations there immediately.

They are supposedly still operating in Canada but their Twitter support has been silent since the announcement and the app is not working. I suspect this is because they have no money to allow their customers to purchase tickets and without support there is nowhere to go to for assistance.

I am hoping that Cineplex will eventually offer a subscription based service that is more sustainable. I loved going to the movies as much as I did and do think it is the future of movies (just not in this model which seems unsustainable).

I am going to still continue going to any of the movies I really want to see. I am going to just be a little more selective as I'll be pay full price again. 

Sinemia was great when it actually worked and the idea of making movies more accessible to all is a nice one but it ultimately sounds like this model of subscription service is not a good one. I am going to be interested in seeing what happens as things move forward with both the future of these subscription services and Sinemia itself

My Sinemia Experiment: Month Seven

February is known for being a bad month for movies. There tends to not be a lot released and what is released tends to be not very good. Luckily, I managed to see three really good movies this month out of the ones that were released. The three movies I saw in February with my Sinemia account were Isn't It Romantic, Lords of Chaos, and How To Train Your Dragon 3. 

I thought Isn't It Romantic was super fun and just a sweet movie to watch around Valentine's Day. It was hilarious and used the tropes I love in rom-coms while pointing out how ridiculous they actually are. Lords Of Chaos is an interesting movie that I am still working out my feelings towards (expect a review on the blog soon-ish). I binged watched the first two How To Train Your Dragons so I could go see the third with my sister and thought they were well done. Toothless is adorable!

My savings for this month was $29.34 after taking the convenience fees into consideration. This brings my grand total savings up to $163.98 (last month's total was $137.64).  Unless something drastic happens between now and August I am pretty certain I'll be extending my membership for another year. I've had ups and downs with this company but ultimately love how much I am going to the movies and the discount it offers me. 

Now that we're officially done with this Oscar season (where I can confidently say that the wrong movie won Best Picture) I am starting to look forward to the upcoming movies that could potentially be in Oscar contention. I am excited for Little Gold Men (one of my favourite podcasts) to start speculating and letting me know what movies should be on my radar. It looks like another year filled with great movies so I am excited.

Now that I am over halfway through this year long experiment I have been looking back to the beginning and it is almost bewildering to me that I could have ever been as uncomfortable going to the movies on my own as I was when I started using Sinemia. If nothing else, this program has allowed me to grow more comfortable spending time by myself which is pretty amazing. 

The down side to this is that hardly anyone has seen as many movies as I have and I don't have anyone to talk to about them. My friend, Kelly, who does go just as often as I do tends to see different movies than I do. Between the two of us we have them all covered, but it doesn't help with either of us having someone to talk to about them.

Since I am planning my 2019 movie schedule, let me know what movies you are excited to see this year. What movies are already on your must watch list? What ones are you excited to hear more about? Let me know in the comments.

My Sinemia Experiment: Month Six

I cannot believe I am already half way through this little experiment of mine. Month six of my "Year Of Sinemia' was all about getting to see those movies nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars that I hadn't already seen. This will be the first year that I have seen all of the nominees before the ceremony and that is entirely because of signing up for Sinemia.

January is usually not a great month for movies. There doesn't tend to be a lot of them released and the ones that are never really seem to grab my attention. I am lucky that it can sometimes take forever for Ottawa to get some of the smaller movies so I was able to see a lot of movies that had limited releases in December and finally made their way to a theater near me in January. 

The three movies I saw in January with my Sinemia account were Vice, If Beale Street Could Talk, and Green Book (which I will technically be watching the day this post goes up).

I loved If Beale Street Could Talk. It's such a beautifully made film and incredibly well acted. It was by far my favourite of the three that I saw this month (and I say this without seeing Green Book). I am only seeing Green Book to complete my watch of all the Oscar nominees. It, and Roma, are the only two I have not seen yet and I intend to watch Roma very soon.

My savings for this month was $17.86 after taking the convenience fees into consideration. This brings my grand total savings up to $137.64 (last month's total was $119.78). I can easily see me saving over $200 by the end of the year. It makes signing up again seem like a good idea. I'll reassess closer to the end of my membership.

My experience with the app this month has been really positive. I had no issues again this month. I am almost afraid to hope that their bugs have mostly been sorted out. It's been perfect for two months in a row now so I am, obviously, waiting for it to get bad again. The worst part of this experiment for the month of January was going out in the freezing cold to see a movie. It's been a really bad month weather wise with the cold and huge amounts of snow so it hasn't made going out appealing. 

As previously mentioned the movies for February are not looking much better than the ones releasing in January so I may have to get creative in order to not lose any of my three movies. Sinemia may have actually helped me with my dilemma. Sinemia has recently announced a roll over option which I might test out. Apparently one of your movies can roll over into the next month. March has a lot of amazing ones coming out so I might try to save one to use on one of those instead of just going to something for the sake of going to something. 

What movies are you excited about this year? Anything I should keep on my radar? What movie do you think will win Best Picture at the Oscars? Let me know in the comments!

My Sinemia Experiment: Month Five

Month five of my "Year Of Sinemia' experiment was interesting when added to the general holiday craziness that always ensues. I was able to use all of my passes for the month though and saw some great movies. 

This month's wrap up will be shorter than previous ones. December was seriously a blur thanks to how buzy I was and the movies were just a nice escape from that for me. It was nice to use my passes as a way to unwind from the stress so I discovered that extra bonus this month!

The three movies I saw in December with my Sinemia account were A Star Is Born (again), The Favourite, and Spider-man: Into The Spider-verse

I had already seen A Star Is Born (obviously) but I wanted to go see it in IMAX when they did the re-release and added the special 'making of' featurette (yup, I am THAT person). I also saw The Favourite which I loved so much. It's a darkly funny movie that featured some great performances. I also loved Spiderman: Into The Spiderverse. It is my personal pick for the Animated Feature Oscar. It's not just a great Spiderman movie, but a great superhero one as well.

My savings for this month was $25.10 after taking the convenience fees into consideration. This brings my grand total savings up to $119.78 (last month's total was $94.68). I am saving quite a bit but I have basically acknowledged that my concession spending really negates any savings I am getting on the ticket price. 

The good thing about this month of Sinemia? Basically no tech issues. I booked all of the tickets without incident and I was able to check in with zero issues. I am (perhaps naively) hoping this means they've begun to sort out their app. It's been a pretty good experience on my end compared to some of the others I have heard about so I am thankful for that at least.

As we close in on a half a year I am starting to consider if I'll sign up again for another year. It's still too early for me to decide, but I know I have enjoyed going to the movies. It think it would be hard to go back to not going as often.

I've already used two of my Jan tickets this early in the year. I have been catching up on some likely Oscar contenders that have finally made their way into Ottawa. I am excited to share more about them in my next round up!

February looms with even less choices of movies than Jan. I need some serious recommendations for movies I should go see next month. Let me know what you're excited for in February in the comments.

A Glass Of Wine At The Movies - Boy Erased

Boy Erased

Rating: 14A (Canada) / R (USA)

Director: Joel Edgerton

Language: English

Length:  114 minutes

Cast: Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe

Viewing Method: Regular Screening

Release Date: November 2, 2018 (limited)

Synopsis: Jared Eamons, the son of a small-town Baptist pastor, must overcome the fallout after being outed as gay to his parents. His father and mother struggle to reconcile their love for their son with their beliefs. Fearing a loss of family, friends and community, Jared is pressured into attending a conversion therapy program. While there, Jared comes into conflict with its leader and begins his journey to finding his own voice and accepting his true self.

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Lucas Hedges was, once again, an award season darling last year. He was, along with Timothee Chalamet, one of the 'it boys' to grace the awards trail. He offers up another solid performance in Boy Erased. A movie that you know is going to be a tough viewing experience before you even enter the theater. A story of a young man sent to conversion therapy should ignite some strong emotions. Those emotions are there, along with some great performances, but I was also surprised at the amount of hope it instills as well.

Hedges, as mentioned previously, shines as Jared. He ensures that every emotion Jared is feeling registers with the audience. The hurt, the anger, the moments of happiness, and the eventual healing are all display. It's a performance that adds to a resume that is already pretty impressive for his age.

Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe play Jared's parents. Two religious people who are struggling with the fact that their son is gay and what it means in relation to their faith. This movie could have made them monsters. It could have made them be nothing more than a punchline or a joke. Instead this movie takes a more subtle, thoughtful approach. Kidman's Nancy is a mother struggling with what her faith says and the love she has for her son. She, much sooner than Crowe's Marshall, offers the hope this movie needs. Her love for her son shines through even when you're angry at the choices she is making. It's a more nuanced approached to this type of character that I think works for the story being told. Crowe's character never questions things the way Nancy does. He is steadfast in his belief, even as it impacts his relationships with his wife and son. The complexity of the family dynamics was welcome and well developed.

Joe Alwyn has a memorable, and very brief, turn as Henry, a young man Jared befriends at his college. There is, in particular, one scene featuring his character that lingered with me long after I finished the movie. In a movie filled with hard scenes it stands out. It's a brutal, gut punch that I wasn't expecting in the slightest. It is unsettling and is something that exists outside of the conversion therapy center Jared attends, but adds to the theme and greater story being told.

The pain and far reaching consequences of conversion therapy, and the culture that embraces it, are a large part of the message of this movie. We see what it does to people to have it drilled into them that they are 'wrong' or 'unworthy'. We see the self loathing it can lead to and what that pain can drive someone to do. We see the fractures it creates not just in the people experiencing it but those around them. The marriage of Jared's parents is one example of a relationship drastically altered because of Jared's experience and their role in it.

This movie, at times, feels less like Jared's story and more like it is trying to tell everyone's story. It makes the emotional beats hit just a little less deeply than they should have. It means that the audience is not as invested in his story. I was plenty angry about the overall situation, but it makes the characters themselves seem secondary to the over arching plot of the movie. It, for me, ultimately made this a good movie instead of a great one.

I left Boy Erased filled with rage and that is obviously what this movie intended. I was angry for all of the Jared's out there. I was heartbroken for all of the people who have lived this experience. This movie adeptly showcases the damage these conversion therapy programs cause and showcases how none of the people put through it come out without scars. If only the people who most needed to see it were actually the ones watching it. 

My Sinemia Experiment: Month 4

Month four of my 'Year of Sinemia' experiment was mostly enjoyable. It was another great month at the movies but one filled with tech glitches. The payment details that Sinemia provides to purchase the ticket don't often work right away. It can often take multiple tries to get the ticket to confirm which is beyond frustrating (even if it does eventually work). Anyone thinking of signing up should be aware that this has been an issue that mainly seems to be impacting Cineplex theatres from what I can tell (which happens to be my theatre chain of choice). 

The three movies I saw in November with my Sinemia account were Boy Erased, Ralph Breaks The Internet, and Widows. 

The movie I liked the most out of the three was Boy Erased. It's a tough watch but worth it in my opinion (review coming soon on the blog). Ralph Breaks The Internet was a fun time and the Disney Princess stuff was by far my favourite part of the movie. Widows left me wanting more in a lot of ways. It was not as good as I hoped it would be even as I recognize how others could really love it.

My savings for this month was $19.34 after taking the convenience fees into consideration. This brings my grand total savings up to $94.68 (last month's total was $75.34). I saw Ralph Breaks The Internet in 3D.

Four months in and I feel like a pro at going to the movies by myself. The inner voice that told me everyone in the theatre was judging me for being by myself has pretty much disappeared. This experiment is showing me how to like my own company in a way that I didn't really expect when I started it. I may even say that I LIKE going to the movies by myself now. I get to pick when and where I see it. I can travel halfway across the city to the one theatre that is showing the movie that I want to see if I want. I don't have to think about anyone else's schedule. It's still great to go with friends and I miss talking to people about the movies after I see them but I don't hate going alone anywhere near what I did previously.

The other exciting thing in movie news is that I'll soon have more options of where I can go watch movies using Sinemia. ByTowne Cinema, a theatre that often showcases movies that are not available in other theatres including harder to find Oscar contenders, will soon have online ticket sales. It was cash only previously which meant it was not an option under Sinemia (as they provide a credit card number for you to book the ticket online). This change will happen in the early part of the new year and I am so excited. I am going to contact Sinemia to get them to add it as soon as it is available.

As I begin seeing my three December movies I can't help but think of all the amazing sounding movie offerings the new year will bring. This experiment has definitely ensured I have seen more movies than I ever have before and I think it is going to be hard to go back to not having it. We still have eight months so we'll see but, even with the hiccups I have had, this program has already proven it's worth (or at least a program like it).

I'll end this was a plea for suggestions. January is looking pretty empty in terms of movies I want to see. This does not include any of the Oscar movies that Ottawa inevitably gets later than everywhere else with some of them being limited release at first. I may struggle to find three that I want to see (possibly) so, dear blog readers, what movies are you excited for in January? Let me know in the comments.

My Sinemia Experiment: Month 2 (AKA Going To Movies Alone)

My second month of using Sinemia, sadly, did not go quite as smoothly as the first. The program itself is still great and I have had no issues using the app itself or any processing issues when attempting to purchase tickets. My main issue is some terms and conditions that changed without any real warning or advance notice when I signed up for the year. 

Sinemia implemented a 'convenience fee' with their latest app update. The fee is currently $1.99 per ticket when booking an advance online ticket. This fee is on top of your monthly fee and is billed to the credit card you have on file. I am not thrilled that this fee was not originally disclosed and that I haven't been able to get a clear answer regarding what this fee actually is for and who is charging it. I've decided that it still provides me with enough savings to just pay it for the year but it will be part of my decision when it comes time to make a decision on renewing. My $14.99 plan is now around $20.99 which still gets me a free ticket after purchasing two so I still see the benefit but it is quite the jump. It is an extra $72.00 a year that wasn't disclosed at initial sign up. Other than this (pretty major) hiccup I have no complaints about the program. 

The movies I used Sinemia to get tickets to in the month of September were White Boy Rick, A Simple Favor and A Star Is Born (which I will be seeing Wednesday). 

My savings for the most of September are 17.26 after taking the new fees into account. This brings my total savings amount so far up to $52.00 (34.74 last month). I did not go watch a movie in one of the premium formats (IMAX, DBox, etc)  this month so that brought my total savings down a bit as well. I am very curious to see what my year end total will be. I think that will factor heavily into my decision to renew or not. 

Sinemia has pushed me out of my comfort zone because it is making me go see movies by myself. I am someone who is not comfortable doing that. I've made myself do it and it is getting easier each time I go. I feel self conscious and like people are judging me for being by myself. I am learning to enjoy my own company more (something I seriously struggle with) and this has been helpful with that. In a strange way it is almost a form of therapy because it is getting me to address things I want to help and helping me work towards changing them.

My friend Kelly, over at Kellyvision, is a pro at going to movies by herself. It is, in fact, her favourite way to go see a movie. I wanted to offer up some reasons on why you should go by yourself for those out there who, like myself, are reluctant to.

Kelly's response when I asked her to talk a little about why she liked seeing movies along is very Kelly and also makes some really great points. 

I love seeing movies alone. Part of it is that I had no choice originally. When I first moved to Baltimore, I didn’t know anyone and I worked weird hours (nights and weekends). If I wanted to see a movie, it would be alone and probably on a Friday morning. 

I could sit wherever I wanted. No one would judge me on popcorn or soda sizes. And best of all? No negotiations on what to see. 

Twelve years later, I have local friends and a normal schedule. It’s a lot more rare to see movies alone. But—and don’t tell my friends this—I still prefer being alone. One of my friends is a talker and another falls asleep. Give me empty seats on either side of me and a popcorn the size of my face any day. 

I have discovered that my favourite time to go the movies is the middle of the afternoon on a Friday or Saturday if possible. I am also discovering that I enjoy having the freedom to just go when I want. I still feel uncomfortable a lot of the time but I am slowly getting more comfortable with it.

Are you part of any movie subscription plans like Sinemia, MoviePass, or etc? Let me know about your experience in the comments. Any suggestions for movies to go see in October? Let me know those in the comments as well.

My SInemia Experiment: Month One

I am now one month in to my year long experiment with Sinemia. I wanted some way to track my experience to help determine how beneficial it is at the end of the year. These monthly recaps will help do that and also serve as a good end of year recap reminder.

Having used the three tickets my plan allows for in the month of August I've already discovered that this has the bonus of getting me to go to the movies even more than I normally do. I will be going at least three times a month (if not more). It seems like it might also push me out of my comfort zone to see movies I normally would not see. The slower months for movies may present a challenge finding movies to go see. I've promised myself that I will go at least three times a month and that will eventually mean seeing movies not initially on my radar. 

My first three movies watched were BlacKkKlansman, Crazy Rich Asians, and Searching (which I will watch on Saturday). 

My overall experience has been incredibly positive. I found the app easy to use and the check in process easy to do. I had no technical issues and I was able to get tickets for my favourite theatres. I had heard some stories of app issues but have managed to avoid any of them so far. I am pretty impressed with how painless the entire process is.

If I had to decide whether to extend my subscription right now the answer would be a fairly easy yes. I have saved $34.74 so far after the first month and have had zero issues with any part of the service.

My September allotment because available on the 4th and there is not a whole lot coming to the theatres that month. I will be checking out A Simple Favor because I love both Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively. I am curious about White Boy Rick mainly because it has been mentioned as having some potential Oscar buzz. I might use ny last September ticket to get my advance tickets for A Star Is Born as that will be right around the last day to use the September tickets.

Any suggestions for movies to go see in September? Let me know in the comments.