How hard can it be to go to the movies in France? We found out it is not super difficult, but it did turn out to be a bit trickier than we expected. While in Paris this past Spring, we decided after a long travel day that we wanted to see a film. We found the film listings in Pariscope, but then we were a bit surprised to have some difficulty interpreting the movie listings across the multitude of cinemas in Paris. What is the difference between v.o. and v.f. films? What does sf Lun mean? How do I make sure I am seeing the new release of the movie and not an older version?
NOTE: We did this example using a Pariscope magazine, but it should work with any sort of cinema listing whether in print or online. The weekly magazine Pariscope stopped publication in October 2016, and was once the go-to guide for entertainment in Pairs. Pariscope still maintains a website but does not seems to report cinema listings any longer.
This is probably the most confusing part as there are a lot of abbreviations used in the cinema listings in France. But this is where you can choose whether you want to see the film dubbed in French or in its original language with French subtitles and whether you want to see it in 3D or not. If you are in a medium to larger town and want to see an international movie (not made in France), there will likely be at least one theater nearby showing it in v.o. and one showing it in v.f.
Our Experience: Since we were near the 6th arrondissement area of Paris, we checked to see which movie theaters were closest to us. It was helpful that the Pariscope organizes the theater listings by area. We then saw that a few different cinemas were playing this movie in the 6e Odéon area. We wanted to go around 9:00pm or 9:30pm and saw that the 33 UGC Odéon theater was playing Gatsby le Magnifique in v.o. at 9:30pm (a.k.a. 21:30). This met all of our requirements. Perfect!
We are an organisation called Lost in Frenchlation and our objectives are to bring the best of French cinema to the English-speaking people in Paris by showing French films with English subtitles, and to facilitate the international community meeting each other as well as native Parisians.
We are holding monthly screening of French films with English subtitles at independent cinemas in Paris, with a convivial cocktail hour before the movie for catching up with friends. We are writing to you because we believe that we are offering an experience that your English-speaking community have been denied for a frustratingly long time (we know from experience).
From the Digital Cinema Initiatives Web site: "Digital Cinema Initiatives, LLC (DCI) was created in March, 2002, and is a joint venture of Disney, Paramount, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal and Warner Bros. Studios. DCI's primary purpose is to establish and document voluntary specifications for an open architecture for digital cinema that ensures a uniform and high level of technical performance, reliability and quality control." During 2004, DCI and others applied considerable effort to image quality testing, examining image-creation methodology, encoding, and projection systems. The testing used Standardised Evaluation Material (StEM) created through a collaborative effort of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) and DCI.
Following the pattern of previous Stage2View productions, "Titanic the Musical" is planning to have both streaming and physical media releases following its cinema debut. Fans can look forward to enjoying this captivating musical both from the comfort of their homes and through physical copies, much like "42nd Street," "John & Jen," and "Ruthless!".
Soundtracks [19KB PDF] and Signet Paperback Books [25KB PDF]Rounding out the cinema component of the Todd Collection are soundtracks issued in association with the films and Signet paperback books that were marketed along with the films.
The Merry Widow (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) is the third and by far the best cinema version of Franz Lehar's famed operetta. The first was a two-reel monstrosity in which the late Alma Rubens and Wallace Reid performed in 1912. In 1925 Erich von Stroheim directed Mae Murray and John Gilbert in the second. Cinemaddicts who have seen all three are likely to find the current version, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, as far superior to the second as the second was to the first. Only the most captious critics could find any fault with a picture which... To continue reading: responsiveAd(className: "subscribe-link",ads: [type: "desktop",size: "142x70",cm: position: "subscribebtn", type: "text",type: "tablet",size: "142x70",cm: position: "subscribebtn", type: "text",// Mobile 300type: "mobile",size: "142x70",config: zone: "219200",site: "28275",size_x: "142", size_y: "70",type: "-1"]); or Log-In