Going to the Movies

Bill has decided that Friday night is movie night.  Last Friday we steeled our nerves and went to the cinema. Steeled our nerves? Yup...going to the cinema in Paris is huge.  Here in the city, there are 153 cinemas or movie houses that feature English (VO: version original) language films...there may or may not be pesky subtitles, but we're used to them now. Within eyesight of our apartment...if you are farsighted and have the ability to see around corners like me..., there are 8 cinemas!  I don't know what the total number of movie houses in the city is...but I guess it is around 200-300!

Forget the American experience of movies...megaplexes, popcorn...no, no.  Well let me dive in and tell you about our Friday night at the movies and I think you will get the picture...oh haha, a pun, sort of.

So going to the movies is a process.  Movies change on Wednesdays in Paris...but if you miss a flick at your local movie house, it will probably be showing at another somewhere in the city. You can search on line or visit the local  Presse and buy the weekly mag "Pariscope" for updates.   We looked on line for a VO movie (in English of course) and found Invictus, Clint Eastwood's movie about Mandela and the South African Rubgy team...great movie.  It was being shown at 9pm at Les Trois (3) Luxembourg just up the boulevard and around the corner...about a 5 minute walk.  We enjoyed an early dinner, took the dog for a walk and left the apartment at 8:30 to buy our tickets...this is a smaller theater so they do not have on-line ticket sales as do some of the larger theaters in the Odeon section of Paris.  At 8:35 we reach Le 3 and there before us are two glass doors.  On one door, it lists a couple of movies, the start times and a large arrow pointing to the ticket counter...on the other glass door, there is a paper listing a couple other movies, including Invictus, its start time and a large arrow pointing to the same ticket counter.  Now there is no one in line to buy tickets...glass door # 1 tells us that the featured movie in Salon 1 has already started...Invictus starts at 9...okay.  Door 2...our door is closed.  We go to open it and the nice man at the ticket counter jumps up and opens the door...tres genial, oui?...Non!  Although the young man is very nice, and speaks a little bit of English, he tells us that he cannot sell us tickets for the movie until 8:45.  Oh.  Okay we'll wait.  Bill and I go outside the theater...nope can't wait in the ticket area...and we look at the plethora of Japanese restaurants on the Rue  Monsieur Le Prince...a nice hotel over there...and ticket man comes out, worried that we will be bored for 9 minutes and suggests we go over to the Luxembourg Gardens to view the outdoor photo display (see Onlookers blog for more on that)...I say "Bonne idee!" and we take the two minute walk over to the fence and looked at some really cool photos of Nomads.  So 9 minutes minus 2 minutes over and back leaves us 5 minutes give or take to peruse.  It was a lovely night and we dawdle a bit...I like the pictures of the animals...and we go back to the theater at 8:50!  Two for Invictus s'il vous plait...15 Euros. Head up the stairs to Salon 2.  Okay...so where is the concession stand...you know popcorn or something?...we follow a couple of other movie goers up the stairs and through the door marked 2 and WC.  Voila...Paris cinema.  Before us is a room about one third the size of the black box theater at Groton-Dunstable High School...I have seen bigger screens on TVs in most 21st century living rooms in the US!  We select our seats in the middle of the room...we had about 60 from which to choose!  And we settle into some large, comfy and clean seats...no sticky residue in the floor... that's a nice change.  I notice to the left of the movie screen, a door with a big WC sign on it...this is the gender neutral bathroom for the whole theater...right next to the screen!  Men and women were going in and out getting more comfortable for the movie I guess.

The 3 Luxembourg is the oldest movie house in Paris, dating back to the early 1900's.  It used to have three salons...now it only has two. Although I didn't see salon 1, I am guessing that it is not much bigger than 2.  Best guess...this place seats 150 people at max capacity. I'll explain my theory as to how this place can stay in business later.  Joining us were about 20 other folks...kinda cool in a quirky way.  It is 9pm...and da ta, tah, da!!!...the movie doesn't start.   A few people hit the WC again...a young American man walks in and laughingly declares, "What the hell kinda movie theater is this? " I said, "It ain't the megaplex!"  He smiles...stows his coat and backpack in the row in front of us and made a bee-line for the bathroom.  A few more ticket holders straggle in...American guy comes back, pulls a baguette sandwich and a bottle of iced tea from his pack ...oh, mental note...bring own snacks next time...and the lights go down...9:12!  Invictus!  No Coming Attractions...no Dancing Coke Cups and Candy Bars to the tune of "Let's Go Out to the Movies, Let's Go Out To the Movies!...the movie starts!  You know when you watch a really old movie and there are lines and marks in the film....uh, huh..we saw lines and marks striating the film.  Fortunately for us, the story, Morgan Freeman and the supporting cast swept us away and we thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Our fellow viewers were quiet and polite...they stayed seated to the end of the credits...Sandwich man carefully cleaned up after himself...a few folks popped into the potty before heading out into the cool evening air.  We did it; our first movie in Paris!

So how can a little theater...among 152 other VO offering theaters survive?  Volume. Theaters start showing movies at 10 am!  They may be showcasing a director or an actor or a theme; loads of "art" and docmentary films too...and boom...you have movies running in 1, 2  or 3 salons every 2-2 1/2 hours. Matinees are pretty cheap...a couple of Euro before 4pm.  I have noticed at the little cinema across the street, they occasionally have movie packages...see 2 movies and have a meal for one low price and 4 or 5 hours in your day/night.  I have also observed that probably to keep noise down, clutter to a minimum and to assuage the many nictotine fiends in this fair city, most smaller movie houses have a two step ticket process.  Step one:  Line up in your designated queue up to thirty minutes before tickets go on sale and wait your turn to buy tickets.  Step two: buy tickets and go back outside and wait in the ticket holders line for your movie.  Doors open about 3 minutes before the listed start time...but as we have learned, nothing except the metro, is on time in Paris.

There are a few big theaters in the Odeon and Montparnasse neighborhoods ;five or six movies featured each day/night.  You can buy tickets on-line and avoid standing on line...ooh another pun.  I have been told you can head to the outer ring of Paris and there you will find what might be called an American style megaplex.  The movies opening in the States may be shown here within days or a few weeks.  For example...Iron Man 2 opens on April 28...about 2 weeks after release back home. So we can keep up:) 

Outside these theaters are huge food stands...the preferred snack among movie goers at least in Odeon is candy...gobs of it.  Barbe de Papa (cotton candy), Haribo (the European equivalant to JuJu Fruits), chocolates, macarons (not macaroons) and scads of pretty confections are packed up in little boxes...less noisy than bags is my guess. Popcorn is growing in "pop"ularity in France but is still a novelty and is actually savored with gourmet designs in mind.  We can get microwave popcorn at a few specialty shops and as our Monoprix is close to college kids, it is stocked there too...have not had the need to indulge though...hmm.  Although permitted, not many people eat while watching the movie...probably a good habit to adopt.  If you are so inclined to eat or drink, one visits a cafe, bar or brasserie AFTER the movie, thus extending the evening and helping the local ecomony...spread the wealth and all.

I am looking forward to seeing my favorites ...really old classic movies that are featured in many  of these movie houses.  Across the street, Its a Wonderful Life was the feature in February.  Now they are showing The Red Slippers ( Les Chaussons Rouges) and you should see the lines everyday for that film.  Amazing!  There is a Hitchcock movie marathon at another little theater across from us...The Birds,  North by Northwest, Vertigo and The Man Who Knew Too Much...true classics.  Up the street is another Hitchcock film...The 39 Steps. Audrey Hepburn movies at the Medici Reflet!  Really...how cool? 

In each arrondissement, there are "City Halls" and throughout the city there are of course museums, cultural institutes and schools where you can often see informational films and documentaries for free or a small donation! 

From Cannes to Rue Cujas...the French love movies!

Tomorrow  night we are going to see Johnny Depp (a resident of Paris and some little village somewhere in the French countryside) in Alice in Wonderland.  

"Let's go out to the movies, let's go out to the movies, let's go out tonight!"