movies

Was it just me, or was the only thing you watched over the past couple of weeks the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games? The few shows that I normally watch were reruns during this time, so I didn’t miss much. Now we can look forward to the Paralympic Games. But when the Games are over and life continues on, what the heck are you going to do with your spare time? One option is to go watch a movie. Now I understand that, to those who download movies, this may be a foreign concept. Just try and keep up with me okay? Ok honestly, how many times have you been out and spontaneously decide to catch a flick? That being said, if you’re not right in front of the theater, you grab your BlackBerry to try and look up what’s playing. The information you’re looking for isn’t always easily accessible.

When this happens, you should download the Movies by Flixster application. A widely used Facebook application, Movies by Flixster, will help you get connected to what’s playing in theatres, as well as what could be playing in your home theatre. Grab some popcorn and settle in. Hopefully you didn’t get extra butter, or else you’re going to mess up your BlackBerry.

About Movies by Flixster

Movies by Flixster is obviously brought to you by none other than Flixster itself. The mobile reach also extends to iPhone, Android and Palm Pre. Besides Facebook, you can also incorporate Flixster to MySpace, iGoogle and Bebo. Only Canadian, US and UK networks are supported at this time. A GPS enabled BlackBerry is not required, but it is recommended to benefit from the full features that Movies by Flixster offers. I’ll explain this later on. I currently have version 1.2.2.1 installed, which has a file size of 1150KB. The Movies by Flixster application is free.

The Movies app was extremely easy to navigate; much more intuitive than scrolling through movie listings with your browser. The top of the main menu house the 5 main functions of the application; the information they gather is displayed below. From left to right, the 5 functions are as follows:

Box Office

This is the section where you will find movie listing for the big screen. The movies are divided into categories; first it’s what is opening this week, then it’s what’s big at the box office aaaaaand then the rest. The application permits you to sort these movies by popularity, rating or by title. On this screen, each Movie entry will display the movie poster, title, who the movie stars, rating, and duration. The upcoming section will also include the release date. The Top Box Office section will show you the movie’s gross. For all of the movies, you will see a section that displays the Flixster logo, followed by the percentage. For upcoming releases, this indicates the percentage of Flixster users who want to see the movie. In the case of already released movies, this percentage reflects the users that gave the movie a favourable rating.

movies
the Box Office

By clicking on a movie entry, you are redirected to the Movie Details. This expands upon the basic information already covered including: critic ratings and reviews, Flixster user reviews, genre, synopsis, extended cast and name of the director. At the bottom, you will also find direct movie links to Rotten Tomatoes, IMDB and Flixster. Movie trailers can also be viewed on your BlackBerry. Now Flixster says that trailers can only be viewed by a Bold 9000 or Curve 8900 using Wi-Fi. I was able to view trailers without using Wi-Fi, so let us know how well they work for you.

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movie details

Theaters

Here is where you can benefit from a GPS enabled BlackBerry. Movies will attempt to find theaters based upon your location. The range of this search is approximately 50 kilometers. If you are having GPS issues, or don’t have a GPS enabled BlackBerry, you can head over to the settings menu and choose to search by postal code. The theaters can be viewed by name or by distance (3km, 5km, 10km, 20km and 20+km). The Theater list screen will display the name and address of the found theaters. Selecting a specific theater will reveal more in depth information, including the phone number, which you can call directly from the application.

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theater details
movies
what to watch...

To find a movie, you can choose a desired date from the Showtimes Date field. You can view up to a week in advance and then decide from the list of movies playing at that theater; their start times are also shown. For future reference, you can set Theaters as favourites, enabling for faster searches. In order to buy tickets using Movies, the chosen theater must be affiliated with MovieTickets.com. If they are, you will see a “buy” button in the same field as the showtimes. Buying tickets is so easy with this application. You can quickly select the number and type of tickets you need, as well as see the price of each ticket type. Please note that a credit card is needed in order to purchase tickets. Although you can fool the app into thinking your friends are your kids, the theatre staff will not be.

movies
I wonder if I could get away as a minor..

Upcoming Movies

If you can’t wait to see what movies will be coming out, this option is for you. Here, you scroll through movies separated by release date. Just like the movie entries found in the Box Office section, you can view detailed information about the movie.

DVD

From the big screen to the small screen, unless you have a crazy home theatre setup of course. Here, the movies are sorted by their DVD release date, much like the release date of upcoming movies. DVDs are divided by new and upcoming releases.

Search

What’s the name of the movie with Tom Hanks? You can use titles or names of actors and directors to search for movies. I like the fact that the search results are not limited to only recent movies.

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searching for movies

Conclusion

The only thing Movies by Flixster can’t do is tell you which seat has gum on it. Not only can you find and view details of movies, but you can also view trailers and purchase tickets. It’s great to have the convenience of searching and buying tickets so easily. So now when you decide to go see a movie, you’ll spend minimal time worrying about times and tickets. You can download the free Movies by Flixster application from BlackBerry App World. I only ask that you get to the theater on time; I hate it when people come in loud and late.

Pros

  • Search for theaters by postal code or GPS location
  • View detailed info and trailers for movies
  • Purchase tickets using the application

Cons

  • None

More Info

  • Learn More & Download Movies by Flixster for BlackBerry >>

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