Help for Movie Buffs Who Can’t Figure Out Alexa
Did you know Amazon has several Alexa skills for movies? Some programmer at Amazon must be a movie buff, because they figured out just what a movie junkie like me wants out of my Amazon Echo Dot. I tested a lot of Alexa skills for movies to find the ones that were the most helpful and the most entertaining. I’m here to share them with you.
Whether it’s date night or family movie night, Amazon’s Alexa skills for movies just made everything easier. Alexa can tell you movie times near you, who’s starring in what, and even purchase your movie tickets.
Movie Times
Before Alexa can give you movie times near your location, she has to know your location. Make sure you enter your address into your Alexa app on your device, like your phone or your tablet.
Then, when you’re in the mood to go to a movie, say, “Alexa, what movies are playing near me?” Alexa lists movie times at the closest movie theater. If you don’t hear anything that tickles your fancy, she will ask if you want her to list movie times at other theaters.
You can also get times for a specific movie by asking, “Alexa, what time is [movie title] playing?” Or, you can ask when that movie is playing “tomorrow” or “during the weekend,” if you don’t want to go, you know, today.
If you have a small window of time, you can ask, “Alexa, what movies are playing between [time] and [time]?
If you love any and all movies of a certain genre — like dramas or romantic comedies — you can ask, “Alexa, what [genre] movies are playing?”
For fun: Ask Alexa what her favorite movie is. When I asked, she said, “Edward Scissorhands is fantastic and bittersweet.” Aw!
Movie Tickets
If you ask Alexa the questions above, you’ll get movie times, but not movie tickets. If you want Alexa to buy movie tickets, you have to use Fandango. Not only will Alexa be able to charge movie tickets to your account, you’ll also earn points toward rewards.
First, sign up for a free Fandango VIP account. Then, enable Fandango in your Alexa app on your device. Open the Alexa app and tap the menu bars in the upper left. Then, tap “Skills” to bring up the skills menu. Type “movie” in the search box at the top of the screen, then scroll through the search results until you find Fandango.
Now you’re all set to ask Alexa to use Fandango to search for movies and buy tickets. Just say, “Alexa, open Fandango” to get started.
Once you’re comfortable with Fandango, you can say things like, “Alexa, ask Fandango to search for [specific movie].” Or, “Alexa, ask Fandango what movies are playing near me?” Or even, “Alexa, ask Fandango what movies are playing at [specific theater]?”
Getting overwhelmed? Don’t worry. Once Alexa starts rattling off movies and times, she’ll pause to ask if you want to continue looking or buy tickets. It’s like she takes your hand and guides you through the whole process.
Not sure if a movie is worth the price of admission? Say, “Alexa, what is the IMDb rating for [title]?” She’ll tell you how many stars out of 10 that movie is rated. For instance, Alexa told me that Wonder Woman has 7.9 out of 10 stars.
Movie Information
Amazon’s Alexa skills for movies also has lots of other helpful information.
For example, I pride myself on recognizing actors and actresses in movies, and remembering where I’ve seen them before. But I confess that sometimes even I’m stumped. Alexa to the rescue!
Alexa is synced with IMDb, the Internet Movie Database, because both of them are owned by Amazon. She has access to all kinds of details about movies, actors, actresses, awards and anything else IMDb tracks.
Just ask, “Alexa, who starred in the movie [title]?” Alexa will tell you who played the main characters in that film. No more racking your brain to place that face!
On the flip side, you can also ask, “Alexa, what is [actor’s] latest movie?” or even “Alexa, what movies has [actress] starred in?”
You can also find out when a big movie will be released, like “Alexa, when does Avengers: Infinity War premiere?”
Also, try asking Alexa about Academy Awards, like, “Alexa, who won the Oscar for Best Actress in 2004?” (Charlize Theron, for Monster.) She knows everything!
Movie Trivia
All work and no play makes Alexa a dull girl. When you can’t get out to see a movie, you can ask Alexa to play some movie trivia games with you. Here are a few examples.
Movie quotes. Alexa already knows a lot of famous movie quotes, without even enabling a skill. Try saying, “Alexa, I want the truth” or “Alexa, ‘My name is Inigo Montoya’” to see how she answers. (See more movie quote tricks at GeekWire.)
This Day in Star Wars History. Enable this skill in your Alexa app, and every time you ask for your Flash Briefing (a rundown of the day’s news and headlines) Alexa will tell you what happened that day in relation to Star Wars. For instance, on the day I wrote this blog post, a new episode of the animated Ewoks series premiered on ABC. (Hey, with 365 days in a year, they can’t all be winners.)
There is a plethora of other Alexa skills for movies about trivia, quotes, fun facts and “this day in history.” Just open your Alexa app, tap the menu bars in the upper left, then choose “Skills.” Type “movie” in the search box to see dozens of skills you can enable. Some are specific, like Deadpool trivia or Star Trek bridge sounds, while others are much more general.
If you’re looking for the top-rated skills, tap “Sort by” in the upper right of your search results, then “Avg. Customer Rating.” That way, you’ll enable apps that have already been tested by other movie buffs.
Amazon Fire TV
If you have either an Amazon Echo or Amazon Echo Dot and Fire TV (or the Fire TV stick), guess what? You can use Alexa to control your next movie marathon.
First, you need to connect your Fire TV to your Alexa-enabled device. Open the Alexa app on your device.
- Tap the menu bars in the upper left, then tap select “Music, Video, & Books.”
- Select Fire TV.
- Select “Link Your Alexa Device,” then follow the on-screen instructions to select which of your devices you’d like to link.
- Select “Link Devices” to confirm that you want to link your selected devices.
Now, Alexa can talk to your Fire TV. Bring on the popcorn!
You can ask Alexa to play specific movies, as well as search for movies. For a specific movie, simply say, “Alexa, play [title] on Fire TV.” Or, search for movies in a particular genre, or starring a particular actor.
Tip: A lot of the commands for finding a movie on Fire TV are exactly like the commands for finding a movie at a movie theater. Just make sure you end every command with “on Fire TV.”
You can also control the playback on your Fire TV, meaning you can rewind, fast forward, pause, etc. Just think of Alexa as your virtual remote control. For more commands, see the support page on Amazon.
Send to Your Phone
One of the handiest features of Amazon’s Alexa is that she can send information to your phone that pertains to whatever you’re asking her about.
Depending on what you ask Alexa to do, she will ask you if you want more information sent to your phone. If you say yes, you can bring up your Alexa app on your device to see the conversation you were having, along with more information. Sometimes Alexa will send you a link that takes you to a screen about the movie in question.
The bottom line is that Alexa is very forgiving. Just experiment and have fun! You can’t break her, and she’s always ready to help.
So am I! If you’re ever stumped, Tweet @realmediamedusa. I’ll do my best to solve your problem.
Nancy Basile is a freelance writer who geeks out on her blog at mediamedusa.com. Click here to get her Guide to 75 Binge-Worthy TV shows for free.
Originally published at mediamedusa.com on October 5, 2017.
