Hello again! I should have probably written about Pariscope already, but since I've kind of avoided it but recently bought this week's edition, now would be a good time to start. It's a little booklet available at tabacs/newspaper stands that is the Parisian equivalent of Time Out for New York or London. Parisians swear by it, though I'm honestly kind of ambivalent toward it. In any case, it comes out on Wednesdays, which is the day that cinemas rollover their films and costs 0.40 euro at the stands.
The good:
Every film that is playing in Paris will be listed in this guide alphabetically (and the cinemas where they are playing will be bolded at the end of each mini-synopsis). The guide is particularly useful this way in that many good indie or foreign films can be otherwise easily missed in the visual bazaar that is Hollywood advertisement throughout the city. Unfortunately and suprisingly the Hollywood blockbuster invasion is as prevalent in Paris as in the States themselves. I was also suprised to see the quality of American films that are imported here. A film like The Hurt Locker may not play at all, or may only play at select smaller theaters, whereas huge posters of Megan Fox for Jessica's Body were virtually on every bus and metro station back in September. Even here, it comes down to budget and advertisement. If you walk around the city, you'll come accross all the big chain UGC cinemas that generally play a stifling surplus of crappy Hollywood films. It is very easy to spend months and months in Paris and not even see one new French film. You almost have to go out of your way to see one. Luckily, there are many small indie cinemas in the Latin quarter and a good mix of commercial and quality ones in Montparnasse. (The Cinephile "Paris est à nous" guide is excellent.)
Film is not the only cultural category exposed in Pariscope; it also features Theater, Music, Events for Kids, Arts, Restaurants etc. The Arts section is also very thorough, listing all the museums and exhibitions goings-on. If you buy this guide L'Officiel will be redundant.
The bad: Personally, I'm not a fan of the layout. The text is small and mushed together and a bit difficult to read. The amount of information can also be overwhelming; you can spend hours going through just the museums/expos section, and yet still not really know what you really want to see. By comparison, L'Officiel has a picture by each museum that at least gives you a quick snapshot of what the exhibition might be about (which is better than nothing). Pariscope is text-based, and at the same time very much Francophone. If you don't speak any French it might only induce confusion/anger.
Overall: If you speak French fluently or a little/intermediate French and will be in Paris for a weekend or a week, it will probably be worth the 0.40 euro to buy. It will probably also amongst the thriftiest purchases. If you don't speak any French/will only be here for a weekend and not get past the Big Name museums/couldn't care less for motion pictures, don't worry about it.
Hope this review of a guide was helpful.
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