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Topic: Problems with Hollywood.com/Moviefone

Charles Everett
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1470
From: New Jersey
Registered: May 2001

posted 03-23-2002 12:01 PM

Do theaters often have the wrong movies and/or showtimes listed with Hollywood.com and Moviefone?

I cite the Princeton Garden Theatre in NJ. Hollywood.com has that theater's schedule this week as Italian for Beginners/Monster's Ball. Moviefone has the schedule as Italian for Beginners/Monsoon Wedding. I phoned the theater to get the straight story: Italian for Beginners/Monsoon Wedding.

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Mike Williams
Master Film Handler

Posts: 255
From: Knoxville, TN
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 03-23-2002 01:31 PM

I have some experience with moviefone and showtimes...

A few years ago, I was managing a sub-run on the opening weekend of Titanic. Moviefone advertised that we had two prints of Titanic. We were flooded with people coming to see Titanic. Many of them ended up going down the street to the 18 screen that had it... but a good portion didn't. Especially because the 18 screen was selling out its shows anyway.

Before that theater closed, it averaged 400 people on a Saturday. That day, it did more than 1300. It killed the staff. They were not used to customers.

I have to say though.. Once Moviefone integrated it's computer into the box office system, things got much better. That kind of problem went away because it updated the schedule fairly often. But Fandango has been much better. It has been much more reliable. The moviefone system relied on a dial up connection where Fandango has a connection into the companies intranet so it updates faster... plus there are no more annoying MFI codes for the managers to forget about entering when they do bookings.

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Ken Layton
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1452
From: Olympia, Wash. USA
Registered: Sep 1999

posted 03-23-2002 06:54 PM

I have problems with NowShowing.com getting our films right for the Skyline drive-in. Even when I specifically tell them which movie in the double feature is showing first, they always get it wrong.

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Scott Norwood
Film God

Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99

posted 03-23-2002 07:14 PM

Ken -- there's an easy way to fix that problem: just give them the titles in the incorrect order. If they really "always" get it wrong, then it should work out fine.

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Ken Layton
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1452
From: Olympia, Wash. USA
Registered: Sep 1999

posted 03-23-2002 07:23 PM

I did that one time and then they said we were open 7 days a week when we only operate Fri-Sat-Sun!

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Mike Spaeth
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1129
From: Marietta, GA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 03-24-2002 12:08 PM

Yahoo! always screws up my showtimes. For instance ... my entire run of Atlantis ... they showed the times as a second print of Jurassic Park 3. I wish they would just take off my listing ... so I could push all my customers to cinemark.com for their showtime info. Then the customer doesn't seem to understand that Yahoo! can be wrong. Plus, there's no way to contact them and let them know that they are wrong. I tried the feedback link on the site ... but no response.

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Jim Ziegler
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 753
From: West Hollywood, CA
Registered: Jul 99

posted 03-25-2002 04:22 AM

According to Moviephone, we played X-men for well over a year...

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Robert Golding
Film Handler

Posts: 65
From: Sutter, CA, USA
Registered: Jan 2001

posted 04-01-2002 03:31 AM

Like ken I've had my fair share of problems with both showtime.com and yahoo.com. It seems they are set up with the idea that a movie theatre is only suppose to run one feature per screen. I run two movies 99% of the time, but you guessed it, they only put one for my theatre. I've gone as far as always putting on my faxes, WE ARE RUNNING TWO MOVIES, SO PLEASE LIST THEM BOTH, and they don't. The only way I seem to get results is to call and tell them get it right or I will stop sending my attractions. Now we have to worry about online as well as the papers!

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John Walsh
Film God

Posts: 2490
From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way
Registered: Oct 1999

posted 04-01-2002 08:08 AM

We had a problem with newspaper showtimes; in the separate "movie-clock" area, they would print incorrect times. Because of that, we finally told them to not put our times there; we would do it ourselves in the regular ads.

They refused, saying it was important for readers to see all times in one place, and besides, "it's a free service." Turns out, they sell advertising next to the movie clock at a premium. They didn't want most of the movie clock to say; "See ads for showtimes" because readers might stop looking at the movie clock (and the ads next to it.) So they put in a line that says, "Incorrect times may be the result of last minute changes by the theater." What a crock!

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Scott Madsen
Film Handler

Posts: 58

Registered: Oct 1999

posted 04-02-2002 12:37 PM

Well it only took AMC three days to erase any mention of GCC on Yahoo, and put their name in front of all the theatres. So they must have pull to get things done

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Adam Fraser
Master Film Handler

Posts: 499
From: Houghton Lake, MI, USA
Registered: Dec 2001

posted 04-02-2002 03:43 PM

Robert,
Are you a first run theatre? We can't split our one-screen with more than one movie unless it is more than 4 weeks old and neither of the movies is doing very well.

------------------
Adam Fraser
www.pinestheatre.com

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Charles Everett
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1470
From: New Jersey
Registered: May 2001

posted 04-02-2002 05:14 PM

Getting this back on topic:

Reading Cinemas in Manville NJ was going to drop A Beautiful Mind last Friday (3/29). That's how it was listed on the show schedule sent to Hollywood.com. After A Beautiful Mind had its big wins on Oscar Night people came out to see it Monday and Tuesday. The theater makes a last-minute change and A Beautiful Mind is held over at least 1 more week (albeit in a double-up). Moviefone changes its listing accordingly. Does Hollywood.com change its listing? NO!

The Home News Tribune in East Brunswick NJ runs the wrong listing with this "NOTICE TO READERS": "Movie showtimes are based on information provided by theater owners." What a crock of Reading never deals with the Home News Tribune -- because the newspaper purchases its movie listings from Hollywood.com!

Don't even think about complaining to the newspaper -- the editors think they know it all and the film critic is a bluenose who hates mainstream movies.

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Charles Everett
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1470
From: New Jersey
Registered: May 2001

posted 09-18-2002 02:49 PM

Yes, it's happened again -- and yes, it involves the Reading Cinemas in Manville NJ.

For the coming week Hollywood.com says Reading is getting a 2nd print of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The only theater I know of playing 2 prints of Greek Wedding is the Village East in Manhattan. Moviefone correctly lists Reading as opening The Four Feathers.

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