All-you-can-watch movies

If you ever find yourself in France for a year, and you want some serious bang for your entertainment buck, I suggest you look no further than an unlimited movie subscription from your local cinema.

At the end of January, Jenna and I signed up for something called UGC Illimité 2. For a flat rate (€35.50/month, plus a one-time setup fee of €30), membership entitles a primary cardholder plus one guest to all-you-can-watch movies, without restrictions.

With two UGC locations within walking distance, and a lot of time on our hands, we tried hard to improve our French comprehension through cinema. Sure we saw some duds, but on the whole, I think going to the movies was reasonably educational. The French films were great for training our ears, and the English films (with French subtitles) were great for our reading and simultaneous translation skills.

We made sure to keep all of our ticket stubs, so at the end of the year, we could run the numbers and calculate the cost per film.

Tonight I did the tally: 180 tickets.

That’s €2.14 each.

Like I said, bang for buck. I wish Canadian theatres had unlimited movie subscriptions. I’d sign up in a heartbeat.