– S .. SPOILER ALERT ! –

 

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it’s better than ‘Matrix’ for it has Love, sweet Love, the kind that transcends depth AND dimension . and James Cameron has done it again . obsessed with the depth of the Ocean from ‘Abyss’ to ‘Titanic’ and he kept coming back from the future in the ‘Terminator’ series . to go BACK into the Future AND all ~ out into space IN virtual mode – this time around in an almost-virtual concept AND surrounding far, far away .

and in a small Penninsula in the Orient where hordes of its citizens have gripped the /technical/ side of Life : many, movie theatres are showing in plain, Digital 2D and then a few selective places in IMAX 3D . and here I will introduce ALL the theatres showing the latter WITH showtimes in the beginning few days, so come’on join-me and run outta excuses NOT to see, please :

on movie theatre locations geographically, I will go clock-wise from West to East, up from the Capital of Seoul up North ~ down to DaeGu / TaeGu . and don’t ask me WHY they ain’t showing in the /supposedly/ number TWO AND major Port City of South Korea : Busan / Pusan ! – because it’s a long ~ story .. the kind that has to do with a shining sea-faring city’s demise : a nation obsessed to forward, faster AND faster, yet a part of its genuine people opting for the comfort zone in the /old/ alley, eating dogs AND drinking cat liquor .

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[ IMAX CGV iLSan ] – No.#2 satellite city full of apartment rows 1 hour drive North-East of Metropolitan Seoul –
Seoul Subway Line 3 KyungBalSan Station Exit 1 : walk 2 small blocks then turn Right
and another 2 blocks is on your Left atop StarBuck Coffee on Western Dome Shopping Complex 3rd floor .

Thursday 17th December : 9 am, 12:30 pm, 4 pm, 7:30 pm, 11 pm.
Friday 18th December : 9 am, 12:30 pm, 4 pm, 7:30 pm, 11 pm.
Saturday 19th December : 8:50 am, 12:20 pm, 3:50 pm, 10:50 pm.
Sunday 20th December : 8:50 am, 12:20 pm, 3:50 pm, 10:50 pm.
Monday 21st December : 9 am, 12:30 pm, 4 pm, 7:30 pm, 11 pm.
Tuesday 22nd December : 9 am, 12:30 pm, 4 pm, 7:30 pm, 11 pm.

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[ IMAX CGV YongSan ]
– in the mammoth shopping mall ‘iPark Mall’ in the same complex as YongSan KTX bullet Train Station
and adacent to YongSan Electronics Market District in Eastern Seoul –
either Subway Line 1 whose YongSan Station IS the building itself, or
Subway Line 4 ShinYongSan Station Exit 4 : look up and it is the large shopping complex straight ahead 😉 iPark Mall 6th floor .

Thursday 17th December : 8:40 am, 12:20 pm, 3:50 pm, 7:20pm, 10:50pm.
Friday 18th December : 8:40 am, 12:20 pm, 3:50 pm, 7:20pm, 10:50pm.
Saturday 19th December : 9 am, 12:35pm, 4:10 pm 7:40 pm, 11:10 pm.
Sunday 20th December : 9 am, 12:35pm, 4:10 pm 7:40 pm, 11:10 pm.


[ IMAX CGV WangSimNi ]
– in another shopping complex in a hectic market area of old town Seoul,
housed in a Subway Building intersection of 3 subway lines 4 ~ 6th floors .
actually this is the LARGEST IMAX Theatre in all of Korea to date –

Thursday 17th December : 9:10 am, 12:45 pm, 5 pm, 8:30 pm, 12:05 am.
Friday 18th December : 9 am, 1:05 pm, 4:40 pm, 8:15 pm, 11:50 pm.
Saturday 19th December : 9:20 am, 1 pm, 4:35 pm, 8:10 pm, 11:45 pm.
Sunday 20th December : 9 am, 1:20 pm, 5 pm, 8:35 pm, 11:10 pm.
Monday 21st December : 9:10 am, 12:45 pm, 5 pm, 8:30 pm, 12:05 am.
Tuesday 22nd December : 9:10 am, 12:45 pm, 5 pm, 8:30 pm, 12:05 am.
Wednesday 23rd December : 9:10 am, 12:45 pm, 5 pm, 8:30 pm, 12:05 am.

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[ IMAX CGV  GwangJu / KwangJu Terminal ]
– once comparable to Nanjing, however raped by its own military
now Korea’s No.4 City to the South-West –
NongSung Subway Station Exit 5 : turn left and passing VolksWagen showroom, walk North 2 large blocks
and onto your Left immediately after ShinSeGae Department Store, in the GwangJu / KwangJu Bus Terminal Building
Youth Square 2 ~ 6th floors .

Thursday 17th December : 9:30 am, 1 pm, 4:30 pm, 8 pm, 11:30 pm.
Friday 18th December : 9:40 am, 1:10 pm, 4:40 pm, 8:10 pm, 11:40 pm.
Saturday 19th December : 8 am, 11:30 am, 3 pm, 6:30 pm, 10:10 pm, 1:40 am. (WoW THIS is CooL 0o0)
Sunday 20th December : 8 am, 11:30 am, 3 pm, 6:20 pm, 9:40 pm,  1 am. (Merry Christmas !!!)


[ IMAX DaeGu / TaeGu ]
– a bustling 3rd City of Korea in the South-East of the Penninsula –
Subway Line 1 JoongAngRo Station Exit 3, look back and it’s there on 5 ~ 9th floors .
across the road to the South is Kyobo MoonGo (bookstore) with foreign titles 😉

Thursday 17th December : 10 am, 1:35 pm, 5:10 pm, 8:45 pm, 12:20 am.
Friday 18th December – same as above –
Saturday 19th December – same as above –
Sunday 20th December – same as above –


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[ Seat LayOut of IMAX CGV Movie Theatres in South Korea ] dis- regard the seat ‘availability’ for it is way ~ further towards December 20th //
*note : more seats OR larger hall does NOT necessarily mean the screen is the largest
as I will diagram when I get the time ..
mean-while know that WangShibRi has the largest IMAX screen to-date in Korea .

IMAX CGV ilSan

IMAX CGV YongSan

IMAX CGV WangSimNi / WangSimNi

IMAX CGV GwangJu / KwangJu

IMAX CGV DaeGu / TaeGu

to give you an idea how movie seats fill up here’s an example on IMAX CGV WangShibRi way ~ above
for it has THE largest box office IMAX screen in all of Korea
(for showcases 63 Building in YoiDo, Seoul has the largest)
AND the most reservations filled up on the first weekend of December 19th (Saturday) :
– last checked 3 days ahead on Wednesday December 16th 5pm –

  1. 9:20 am – 32 seats left
  2. 1 pm – 15 seats left
  3. 4:35 pm – 6 seats left
  4. 8:10 pm – 4 seats left
  5. 11:45 pm – 49 seats left

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W MOVIE THEATRE TICKET PRICES IN SOUTH KOREA W
some late showings Fridays ~ Sundays may be W2/3,000 higher
and as I noted on ‘Star Treks’ : prime-time IMAX 3D costs more than DOUBLE normal version matinee -_-

student discounts are for under 18 years old AND take off /another/ W 1000 for elders over 65 !
BOTH need to show ID’s to prove age .

better to let your Korean friend pay and you can buy lunch/dinner later
for substantial discounts abound on telecommunication AND/OR credit cards !!!

– IMAX 3D : 1st showing matinee W13000, student W13000
2nd showing onwards W16000, student W13000
– Digital : 1st showing matinee W10,000/ student W10,000
2nd showing onwards W11,000/ student W10,000
– Normal : 1st showing matinee W 5000, student W 5000
2nd showing onwards W 7000, student W 6000

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movie theatre ticket purchase in South Korea today is mostly done on-line at either Naver, MaxMovie, CGV or MegaBox in the order of MY preference, mostly for convenience . you can do it by phone too but better to reserve on-line for you can reserve seats also immediately after payment .

IMAX CGV Theatres in South Korea link :
http://www.cgv.co.kr/theater/special/Default.aspx?theaterCode=13&onlyOne=07

for movie theatre locations, special seats AND price list, check out my ‘Star Trek’ IMAX Theatres in South Korea link :
http://koreatechblog.com/movie/star-trek-cgv-imax-theatres-seoul-yongsan-wangsimni-ilsan-tickets-couples-seat/

 

and you should know ALL are housed in THE most popular shopping malls for younger crowds so enjoy ~f
( note : my very own ‘Korea Tech BLog : Total Guide to MASSIVE SHOPPING MALL COMPLEXES in South Korea’ coming soon, in /another/ BLog 😉 )

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 for those who CAN’T sleep at nights in anticipation counting down to its release just in time for Christmas

I whole-heartedly recommend you re-play the classic strategy game ‘StarCraft
(whose second sequel is anticipated well into next year)

and watch the dark tell-tale story shown in the classic western movie ‘Soldier Blue’

then come opening day in Seoul
I’ll be at the first showing in YongSan above .
look for the dark-blonde up-front looking like a Japanese tourist 😉

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and ~ here is the SPOILER : ‘Matrix, StarShip Troopers / HALO and Lion King !’

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[ December 17th Supplement ]
have just returned from the amazing planet ‘Pandora’ . and although the experience was a bit gorky for I am NOT an eye-glass/goggle-kind of person, it was an /ethereal/ experience (especially with the floating hills of ‘Laputa’ fame) in a planet where living creatures, plants AND the earth are one, co-existing in harmony . even with all the technology touted to make this film, it is a story about “making things /right/ with nature, where-as we, on Earth have killed it” in the movie’s own words . more-over many scenes of water-fall mountains (and even the story not much afar from cowboys chasing out the American indians) were similar to the 1992 film ‘The Last of the Mohicans’. almost in the perspective of a third-person view adventure game it was wonderful flying around the vast nature AND seeing the earth AND plants /react/ to your touch OR even stepping . and its barbaric inhabitants so honorful AND brave, I find it emptying to come back to this cold, artificial Metropolis in the Real World . it is becoming the opposite as the main character set out too, that I cannot wait to go back, there-fore expect to go see another this time in 2D Digital 😉 tomorrow

– yes, Korea Tech BLog is /packed/ with helpful information,
very useful for your sojourn in Techno-Metropolis, December 2009 –

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so you cannot find an IMAX theatre in your city or town ?
from DaeGu / TaeGu and Busan / Pusan : you can take the KTX bullet train Eastern Line to Seoul Station then onto YongSan, a mere 2 subway stations South, OR from GwangJu / KwangJu the KTX Western Line stops smack AT YongSan !
and short of the REAL thing in IMAX 3D there are alternative Digital 3D without 3D glasses/goggles and Digital 2D version introduced on my link
Avatar 3D and 2D Alternative Viewing .

so /really/, which version to see, IF given ALL alternatives ?
from a long~time movie afionado I have a clear-cut answer and that is in ‘Digital 3D’ for time is still ripe for us going /totally/ 3D without the goggles that get in the way of viewing AND constantly remind you you are watching a .. movie ! (WoW)

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[ and on the /other/ Side of the Rainbow ] 3 days after WorldWide release of the movie 3 versions are available on the .Net for P2P (person-to-person) file sharers AND downloaders : in French or italian audio dubbed CAM versions, plus a Russian sub-titled TS version .

  1. CAM versions are more-over amateur recording directly from movie theatres thus fuzzy in video as well as barely audible audio,
  2. while TS (TeleSync) versions from manic ‘rip groups’ around the World are mastered from direct audio transfer from the screening room thus much clearer just short of surround digital sound with most video in wide-screen but still lacking sharp crispness .
  3. in the realm of not-so-legal copies ‘DVDRip’ is the closest to the /real/ thing with video AND audio quality originally intended for reviewers in the industry .

far from teens in third-world nations which don’t even have a movie theatre in their towns or villages who download movies as their sole source of entertainment, the most lowest of crooks who take advantage of this are dvd sellers who sell these copies in crowded open markets AND on-line pay-sites who require monthly subscriptions to download what they in turn get for free . this is the extension of start-up dot.coms who lure aspiring young talents to work for them for miniscule payment or even for free while they make the money and every so often flee, when enough revenue has stacked up -_- and I am sorry to say all of the 3 preceding examples still operate in the Korean Penninsula, even 3 decades after people who barely escaped the Korean War had to survive through goodies slid through black-markets mostly from U.S. Bases AND shipments from neighboring Japan into the port city of Busan / Pusan simply because there was NO other way or means .

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but in the end, we arrive at ONE dreadful question :
” what happened to the brain that is supposed to be part of the Avatar that the characters used ?”
or, was there barely enough technology to joggle up the Na’vi-like body ONLY ..

but it gets better, for ‘Avatar’ the game is now available in virtually ALL platforms so be brave and take the plunge ~

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 oh no, NOT until you learn to fight like a Na’vi !

 

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– TO BE CONTINUED –