Left wondering what happened to Harry Potter, a night at the theater sounded like a must. Star Reviews needed to find tickets, so we surfed onto the Moviefone website and were impressed by their online movie ticket service, among other unique features. At once, a video of the Bourne Ultimatum caught our eye…ok, so maybe Matt Damon gets the credit. But, snazzy features such as the latter gave us some incentive to crawl through the site for more. See what we found out below.
What’s New with Moviefone?
- Celebrity news and movie gossip
- New DVD releases
- Link to AOL Video where you can buy and download movies
Star Reviews Favorite Moviefone Feature
Reviews by Mr. Moviefone himself--You may remember him best as the voice that used to tell callers what movies were showing at their local theaters. Now he has a weekly segment of movie reviews you can watch for free on AOL’s movie service. The reviews are short, informative and to the point…just the way we like them.
Moviefone Features:
- Browse movie listings and showtimes for theaters all over the country
- Quick links to online movie ticket buying through MovieTickets.com
- Interviews, quizzes, trailers, reviews
- My Theaters-customize by zip code which theaters you receive listings for
- Moviefone Top Celebrities
- Film set virtual tours
- Cast interviews
Navigating the Moviefone website:
Our team was attracted to their user interface right off the bat. We like all things multimedia, so seeing some trailers available for the new Reese Witherspoon movie definitely captured our interest. There are also fun polls and debates available, such as ‘James Bourne vs. James Bond’ comparisons. The ‘What’s Hot’ on Moviefone let us scroll through featured highlights, which we loved and found incredibly interesting. Handy tabs were also available, like ‘Coming soon,’ ‘Photos,’ and ‘Inside Movies.’ There is a hard-to-miss search box where you can enter by movie name or zip code, which is pretty useful. There is a lot to see on this site and finding it all should be fun.
Theater & Ticket Availability:
Because Moviefone is partnered with MovieTickets.com, it provides online movie ticket purchasing services for around 80 chains in the United States. Tickets for movies can be purchased between one week and one month in advance depending on the film and the theater. You can also use Movie Tickets’ service to order tickets for midnight showings and other special screenings. When you surf through movie times on Moviefone, it’s clearly indicated if you can ‘Buy Now’ through Movie Tickets.
Getting your Movie Tickets on Moviefone:
Begin by using the search box at the top of the main page. You can either do a search by zip code, by typing in a movie’s name, or by using their pull-down menu to select a movie title. When your search results appear, you’ll automatically see movie listings for the current day but you can use the pull down menu to choose another day.
Movies will pop up for selected areas and some of the theaters will say “No Online Ticketing” meaning you’ll need to either go to the box office or to a competing web site to purchase movie tickets for that venue. However, if you see the “Get Tickets” button beside the theater, you simply click on that button and you’ll be redirected to a MovieTickets.com where you can place your order.
From there, you choose the number of movie tickets you want and sign up for an account if you don’t already have one with the service. You’ll select your method of payment and enter your credit or debit card information, then review your order and submit it for processing. When your order is complete, you’ll receive a confirmation email for MovieTickets.com with instructions about how to pick up your tickets.
Movie Ticket Pricing:
Most of Moviefone’s content is free, as is registering to receive newsletters with movie news, contests, and alerts. However, online movie ticket ordering through MovieTickets.com does cost extra. Tickets vary in price according to which theater you purchase from, but we noticed that the average convenience fee rate was around $1 per ticket, which isn’t outrageous.
Customer Support:
Moviefone’s online customer support is primarily a list of FAQ’s provided through Movietickets.com’s web site. Those questions are answered in a clear and concise manner that most users will find helpful. Moviefone also provides a customer service form for inquiries. We submitted a question, but 72 hours later had still not received a response.
No telephone support was readily available. The only form of customer support on the Moviefone site itself were a few FAQs, but the email address was for suggestions for their site. Similar to Movies.com, if you have online movie ticket questions, it’s best to refer to Movietickets.com.
Upside:
Provides interesting content for movie fans. Convenience charges are reasonable.
Downside:
Customer support is limited. Customers might be better off going through Movietickets.com directly instead of wasting time on the “middle man.”
Summary:
We really had a good time navigating AOL’s baby, Moviefone. Ok, so although we couldn’t buy our movie tickets directly from them, they sure entertained us along the way! If you’re a die-hard film fan of all genres, you’ll find something to take up your time here. Photos of Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean, ladies? Fellas, Moviefone doesn’t disappoint. You can check out some DVD’s like 300 and Hot Fuzz. We really liked the MyTheaters feature, where you can enter your zip code and get customized movie listings right at your local cinemas. Moviefone also offers virtual tours of film sets, which we loved. If you don’t mind spending about $1 per movie ticket when purchasing through partner Movietickets.com, then this site is for you. We recommend you go to their site also for customer support, as all Moviefone has is a few FAQ’s. Overall, we’d recommend this service to most any film fan.