I am finally getting around to binge-watching “The Americans,” the FX series that just ended after five seasons. I remember checking out the first episode when it aired and not being impressed enough to continue, but on second viewing I was hooked. I became even more so when Margo Martindale showed up as a regular — she makes everything she’s in better. There’s something odd in our modern era about watching a TV show that has us rooting for Russian spies, but I did it for mob guys in “The Sopranos” and drug dealers in “Breaking Bad,” so why not?
The AMC movie theater chain has just announced a program to rival Movie Pass. It will allow you to see up to three movies a week (or all in the same day) for $19.95/month. That’s more than double the price of Movie Pass ($9.95/month), which allows you to see as many movies as you like in a month — at any movie theater. The pricing difference aside, the real problem with both of these plans is that there just aren’t that many good movies being made, so you’re unlikely to max out either way. Even if you’re a heavy moviegoer, finding more than one title a week that’s worth your while is a stretch.
By the way, I never thought Movie Pass would be able to stick to its original price structure and business plan. Sure enough, the CEO has announced that, beginning next month, it will cost you an extra $2 to see the most popular movies. You can think of it as the equivalent of Uber’s “surge pricing.” I think of it as evidence that the Movie Pass house of cards is getting awfully wobbly.
And finally…
I wonder if, in her personal life away from her job as Chief White House Flack, any of her friends and acquaintances believe anything Sarah Sanders tells them? Surely all these months of lying and obfuscating from the press room podium have created some doubt about the non-political claims she makes in private conversations, right? “You say the Dentons are having a pool party on Saturday and we’re invited? Yeah, right, nice try, Sarah!”