5 ms·

I wondered what happened. It used to be my go to place for movies but it just kept degrading. Now I go to Fandango.

sonicxxg 7y ago
Did I just travel to an alternative dimension? Moviefone, Fandango? Never heard of any of these names. Are they supposed to be big brands?
- ethagnawl 7y ago
  Yes, I'd say so. These services, in addition to the local (print!) paper, were how you found out when and where movies were playing.
  - twunde 7y ago
    They were big brands if you went to the movie theater frequently in the 90s and early 2000s.
    - smcl 7y ago
      I think the confused person must live in Europe. I hadn't heard of any of these services and I've lived in UK and Czech Rep ... however over here we're all pretty used to the "ohhh this must be an American thing" feeling so I'm not sure why they're acting all surprised
  - projektfu 7y ago
    The local paper, especially if you had a free weekly "alternative" paper in your locality, was where you'd pretty much find anything. The great thing, looking back on it, was that it wasn't "customized for your taste" and you could learn a lot by looking at the listings. Unfortunately, the internet wasn't as good at giving information about stuff until about 1993 so you'd have to ask friends if they knew anything about that band with the cool name. The advertising was relevant and nonintrusive. Instead of the whole paper being covered in ads for the new Avengers movie like IMDB, there'd be ads for several of the new releases, some new record releases, bands coming into town, art shows, etc.
    - jlv2 7y ago
      > The great thing, looking back on it, was that it wasn't "customized for your taste" and you could learn a lot by looking at the listings. This is still a great thing.
- throwqwerty 7y ago
  do you not go to the movies in the US? Fandango is one of the only ways you can prepurchase tickets - their kiosks are at every theater I've been to over the last ~10 years.
  - bdcravens 7y ago
    I think many purchase online directly through the theater. I used Fandango until I started using AMC's app directly, since most of the theaters I'd want to go are AMCs.
  - _verandaguy 7y ago
    Canadian here, Fandango's one of those names that you hear and it rings a bell, but chances are you haven't really interacted with them and don't know much about them beyond them being in the ticket sale/resale space broadly.
    - setr 7y ago
      I've never bothered using them, but in the US everytime I see a movie a Fandago ad gets played, usually for some asian-focused theatrical event
- quickthrower2 7y ago
  You've traveled to Hacker News, where lots of interesting information from the past and present lies!
- LameRubberDucky 7y ago
  Well they were at one point. I'm a bit of a dinosaur, so I was alive before either of these existed. I'm left wondering what people do now. Have an app for each theater perhaps? Edit: I don't believe sonicxxg deserves any down-votes. After all, everyone doesn't know everything. Obligatory xkcd: https://xkcd.com/1053/ https://xkcd.com/1053/
  - arshbot 7y ago
    "movies near me" in Google, or look at rottentomatoes.com for good rated movies
    - LameRubberDucky 7y ago
      I was thinking Google might be it. I do this in Google Maps on my phone, but thought maybe even Google Maps was passe these days.
  - strbean 7y ago
    > I'm left wondering what people do now. Have an app for each theater perhaps? Google the name of a movie and use the info box that shows you show times near you. Or google "movies".
  - acheron 7y ago
    I only ever see movies at Alamo, so I just use their app.
- bdcravens 7y ago
  Moviefone I understand, Fandango less so. The iOS app for example has almost 2M ratings.
briandear 7y ago
Now I just ask Siri. Works great for me.

Did I just travel to an alternative dimension? Moviefone, Fandango? Never heard of any of these names. Are they supposed to be big brands?

ethagnawl 7y ago
Yes, I'd say so. These services, in addition to the local (print!) paper, were how you found out when and where movies were playing.
- twunde 7y ago
  They were big brands if you went to the movie theater frequently in the 90s and early 2000s.
  - smcl 7y ago
    I think the confused person must live in Europe. I hadn't heard of any of these services and I've lived in UK and Czech Rep ... however over here we're all pretty used to the "ohhh this must be an American thing" feeling so I'm not sure why they're acting all surprised
- projektfu 7y ago
  The local paper, especially if you had a free weekly "alternative" paper in your locality, was where you'd pretty much find anything. The great thing, looking back on it, was that it wasn't "customized for your taste" and you could learn a lot by looking at the listings. Unfortunately, the internet wasn't as good at giving information about stuff until about 1993 so you'd have to ask friends if they knew anything about that band with the cool name. The advertising was relevant and nonintrusive. Instead of the whole paper being covered in ads for the new Avengers movie like IMDB, there'd be ads for several of the new releases, some new record releases, bands coming into town, art shows, etc.
  - jlv2 7y ago
    > The great thing, looking back on it, was that it wasn't "customized for your taste" and you could learn a lot by looking at the listings. This is still a great thing.
throwqwerty 7y ago
do you not go to the movies in the US? Fandango is one of the only ways you can prepurchase tickets - their kiosks are at every theater I've been to over the last ~10 years.
- bdcravens 7y ago
  I think many purchase online directly through the theater. I used Fandango until I started using AMC's app directly, since most of the theaters I'd want to go are AMCs.
- _verandaguy 7y ago
  Canadian here, Fandango's one of those names that you hear and it rings a bell, but chances are you haven't really interacted with them and don't know much about them beyond them being in the ticket sale/resale space broadly.
  - setr 7y ago
    I've never bothered using them, but in the US everytime I see a movie a Fandago ad gets played, usually for some asian-focused theatrical event
quickthrower2 7y ago
You've traveled to Hacker News, where lots of interesting information from the past and present lies!
LameRubberDucky 7y ago
Well they were at one point. I'm a bit of a dinosaur, so I was alive before either of these existed. I'm left wondering what people do now. Have an app for each theater perhaps? Edit: I don't believe sonicxxg deserves any down-votes. After all, everyone doesn't know everything. Obligatory xkcd: https://xkcd.com/1053/ https://xkcd.com/1053/
- arshbot 7y ago
  "movies near me" in Google, or look at rottentomatoes.com for good rated movies
  - LameRubberDucky 7y ago
    I was thinking Google might be it. I do this in Google Maps on my phone, but thought maybe even Google Maps was passe these days.
- strbean 7y ago
  > I'm left wondering what people do now. Have an app for each theater perhaps? Google the name of a movie and use the info box that shows you show times near you. Or google "movies".
- acheron 7y ago
  I only ever see movies at Alamo, so I just use their app.
bdcravens 7y ago
Moviefone I understand, Fandango less so. The iOS app for example has almost 2M ratings.

briandear 7y ago

Now I just ask Siri. Works great for me.