Best Movie Theaters in Paris for AUP students
Navigating movie theaters your first year in Paris can be a challenge, and you end up seeing the movie you’ve been waiting months for in French. Movies are usually made such a big spectacle in the states, whether that be wearing Barbie pink or suits for the Minions' movies. French theaters do not have this, but they do have movie events that non-French speakers can participate in, which are also not properly explained for those abroad. For example, when purchasing a movie ticket, you will see options such as VF (French version with no subtitles) or VOSTF (original version with French subtitles), and that's usually where the confusion stems from.
Events to do at the Cinema
Annually, theaters have five-euro movie day “fete de la cinema,” which is similar to AMC five-dollar Tuesday deals. This is information that is mainly displaced on our metros and outside poster stands but still does not convey the message transparently. For theaters like Pathe and UGC, before the trailers start, they always include this month's activities and reruns of old movie classics. One night you could be out watching Lord of the Rings in 4DX, or in October join their Scary Vendredi of horror movie classics.
UGC and Pathe are probably the most inclusive for non-French speakers and offer so many options to make your movie experience easy and accessible. Such as both theaters have self-checkout stands where you can even have it changed to English, and therefore the transactional side of it is less intimidating. Where they differ, though, UGC is a bigger theater and is great for big movie releases, as the screen and theater are massive enough to give it a stadium feel, almost. While Pathe has a more intimate feel, as it only has roughly 10 theaters, while UGC has as many as fifty-seven. But where they lack in theaters, they make up for in experiences, such as 4DX, ONYX and DOLBY, which is good to know for those interested in the cinematherapy of these films and want the same visual experience of American theaters. As films are getting more technical with visual and audio complexity, for example, 28 Years Later being filmed on iPhone, there are certain movie-watching adaptations like ONYX and DOLBY that can give that experience. Experiences such as this could be implemented into clubs and can create social outings within AUP.
AUP Going to the Cinema
Within the AUP hallways, you see club movie posters or receive emails on Outlook, but imagine if we expand that to cinemas and not just arthouse cinema. As it is important to see and learn France culture, I think that by the school catering to the western population is important, as we are the American school of Paris. So, intermingling western cinema traditions within the AUP community can broaden not only the club scope but the social scope. Movie theaters such as UGC and Pathe can not only bring fun to boring, rainy Parisian weekends but broaden our AUP community.
