When $1 movies are a price hike

I had always wondered what the local movie theaters were getting out of allowing us critics, albeit a tiny number of us in terms of percentage of total ticket "sales," to see movies for free. There had to be some sort of compensation, but that compensation isn't represented in the nominal fee we pay each year to renew our annual membership in the Australian Film Critics Association.

In the past few years, I've started to see they are wondering about it, too, the latest example coming last night. 

There are a few chains who used to allow us to use our card, who just don't anymore, and then there was what happened last night, which was more comical than it really was frustrating.

I used to go to the Village Cinemas at Crown Casino a lot more often when I lived a lot closer to the city. It was as convenient as any other theater, and I liked that they had later start times -- perhaps due to this affiliation with the casino. Whereas most other theaters aren't starting any movies after about 9:15, you'll sometimes see post 10 p.m. start times at Crown, which is useful for me especially on nights like Monday night. 

I had stayed in the city after work for an advanced screening of Fly Me to the Moon at 6:30, but its over-two-hour length (a discussion for another time) meant I couldn't catch the 8:45 showing of The Bikeriders at my usual city theater, the one that's downstairs from where I used to work. The 9:40 Bikeriders at Crown came in very handy, and also allowed me to renew my acquaintance with Crown, where I only go to a movie a couple times a year these days.

Unfortunately, something had changed in the time since I last went. Now instead of just filling out a few little details like my name and critics card number on the paper that prints from the ticket machine, I also had to pay exactly one dollar.

I stifled the inclination to chuckle.

One dollar is nothing. The Australian dollar is worth even less than the U.S. dollar, so that's more like 63 cents U.S. I would pay $1 AUD for literally almost anything without giving it a second thought.

But though I managed to stifle the inclination to chuckle, I couldn't stifle the inclination to protest.

The guy was a guy I had never seen before, which wouldn't be saying much except that there was this one guy who used to work there, maybe still does, who struck up a short conversation with me every time I went, so fascinated was he by my status as a critic. It wasn't always welcome but I did appreciate being thought of as a low-level rock star.

Anyway, I have no idea if this new guy was just pressing the wrong buttons or if this were a recent change in theater policy, but I didn't really have time to argue because I'd miscalculated the amount of time it would take to walk there and was already deep into the trailers. (Or so I thought. When I got to my seat, having also foregone a trip to the bathroom, there were at least another 12 minutes of trailers and ads.) 

I gave a token protest, but when he couldn't verify his procedure in a short enough time or wouldn't override it in order to waive my fee, I just paid it, not wanting to put the opening minutes of Jeff Nichols' movie in jeopardy.

Another reason I didn't press the issue? My general sense that this new $1 fee for critics was probably correct. Because there is no other button he could press that would allow another class of theatergoer to be paying only $1. The greatest other discount is something like a $16 ticket for seniors.

Like I said, I don't care about paying $1 to see a movie. It's still a discount of at least $22 on what everyone else is paying. (I actually don't know what they're charging in a place like Crown nowadays because I never pay it.) 

But the principle. Would that guy who used to fanboy me think I was such a rock star if I were shelling out money to review a film? Even a nominal pittance like $1?

If I have to do my bit to help keep the Australian theater chains afloat, especially if it is merely symbolic like this is, I will, and I suppose I'll do it gladly enough if you take it out to the macro level.

But on the micro level, on the level of that exact moment that I'm holding my phone up to the reader to make the payment, I'm inclined enough to grumble that I'll go and write a whole blog post about it here.

As for The Bikeriders, I'll be reviewing it soon, so if you want to check to the right (depending on when you read this) you may see my full thoughts linked. As a tease for now, it was one of my favorites so far this year, and I thought Jodie Comer's Chicago accent was adorable. (Also, one bit of false advertising in that poster -- Comer never once dresses like that in this movie. She's a square and generally proud of it.)