Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables is doing the /right/ thing, even if in the end : You don’t succeed, no-matter whether You are borne poor or riche . and so the Korean Peninsula was, with nobility thus NOT everyone was borne poor, but swirled in modern war-fare, while some actually made money . still NO revolution but a coup with a series of dictators, after which the people with blood-sweat demonstration eventually won over, only to let another line of this-time : supposedly democratic rulers let their kin, grab any profiting projects they can . for there are much to have in the now-prosperous land . thus was called in Korea as Jean ValJean instead of its original title, for the ruling authorities’ concern over any hint of its citizens being miserable AND/OR ideas of upheaval . very ironic for the movie to come as the land’s original dictator’s own daughter is elected President .
so-much-so that on a movie like the new Les Miserables, with not much space-farring scenes, you can choose from halls with differing sound effects, even though this is NO master-musical . and while older, classic movie theatres that have witnessed the development of a nation, slowly go broke, new concepts of motion picture experience THAN simple movie-viewing, are being tested from the newer companies in the industry, like Lotte Cinema and CJ CGV . and their battle-ground this time around is neither the old downtown NOR the posh KangNam, South of the Han River, but the modest train station linking Western Seoul at YeongDeungPo AND the island of the earlier nouveau-riche business on Yoido .
[Q] What is the difference between Lotte Cinema and CJ CGV movie theatres ?
[A] the former company originated from Japanese chocolates and department stores, while the latter was essentially a food company . geographically, Lotte opened theatres atop their own department stores and onto relatively rural areas (but NOT really remote, for Korean live in mass-concentrated areas) while CJ takes up prime space on the most latest shopping complexes . CJ is more technically cutting-edge (although basic admission price are virtually the same) with much expensive options, as it goes far beyond simple sit-and-view, spreading into two extremes of Universal Studios AND Tour d’Argent .
[ Movie Admission Price for Sound Effects Hall ] on Les Miserables 2012 over New Years 2013
- 2D and Digital matinee, even 10:50am W5000
- 2D and Digital Adult W9000
- same as above for Lotte Cinema 7.1 Sound
- CGV SoundX ONLY at Yoido AND YeongDeungPo
matinee W6000 and later W10,000 - CGV SoundX Premium (leather arm-chair) ONLY at Yoido W15,000
- CGV SoundX Starium ONLY at 3 incredible locations for W10,000
– CGV inCheon : housing HomePlus super-mart, via inCheon Subway Line 1 Art Hall (or Lotte Department Store inCheon Branch) Station Exit 1 and on the next block
– CGV YeongDeungPo : in the newest shopping complex in all of Korea at Times Square, via Seoul Subway Line 1 (formerly national railroad) YeongDeungPo Station (linked with Lotte Department Store AND competing Lotte Cinema) Exit 3 and 6 and on the next block
– CGV Centum City is an artificial multi-complex developer’s dream come-true with department stores, latest high-rise apartments across Busan’s BEXCO exhibition complex : a sight worth the trip, counting its proximity to Korea’s foremost Summer Beach at Haeundae, via Busan Subway Line 2 Centum City Station and linked under Exits 6,8,10 and 12 - CGV SweetBox couples seat at rear sides of YeongDeungPo Starium
W30,000 for TWO-person sofa
– all above are Adult prices, same for Week-Days AND Week-Ends –
for more explaination on special seats : please refer to CGV iMAX brand on top menu
[Q] What is SoundX ?
[A] it is a further enhancement to relatively more common Surround-Sound (which is basically two-dimension) offered by CGV, positioning the core of sound in three-dimension : in a moving x-y-z axis . this comparative term is taken from their website, how-ever in reality : you won’t recognize much difference between Surround and SoundX .
[Q] What is Starium ?
[A] boasting as The World’s Largest Screen, from Guinness Book of Records, CGV advertises a 3S = Screen/Sound/System implimentation :
- massive SCREEN simulating Reality,
- 16-Channel SOUND system that equally renders onto all seats,
- dual-projector SYSTEM provides bright AND crisp images,
( January 9th Wednesday Update ) so what miserable marketing it is, to start showing in iMAX 2D from tomorrow at CGV WangSimNi and YongSan ..
for this movie nor musical is a disgrace to the grand iMAX, perhaps with the only high-point in the opening ship-towing scene and Anne Hathaway mourning after selling her long hair for money . out-side of this : it is unbearable to see normal dialect vainly sung, almost as gruesome as the Japanese TV drama ‘AirPort Controller’ just last Season starring aging idol Kyoko Fukada, whose pretty lips mumble what is utterly trying to be English .
still, there is something right about the French Revolution sung-out, beginning with the little boy on the street, because it is French ~ ba Oui : Vive La France ! may some day come, when even Koreans can sing such mastery with pride ..
( January 27th Sunday Update ) so an inferior movie has to cling onto theatre tickets until, turning over to DVD or BluRay .. and in the case of the most virtually-connected Peninsula on Planet Earth : they let the download sites masquerated as P2P Yeah, Right have their grace period . meaning : they keep a tight grip on any related uploads – in the manner of deleting immediately once the movie comes-up . they let this go in the wee~ hours of the night in the early days, but staying awake 24 hours now . and harmoniously all of the download site let it slip-by (not many have survived Post-Millennium, but do in an orchestrated timing) while a bulk even requiring /additional/ fee per download, on TOP of the rather cheap initial membership fee .
so Les Miserables 2012 in DVD quality is up this Week-end, but you won’t see it out-side of local portals, for they are a massive closed-circuit un-searchable through global engines .
( February 26th Update ) nominated for Best Picture on the 85th Academy Awards Ceremony, and rightfully awarded Best Sound Mixing : the major cast of the 2013 movie came on stage about half-way into the show and sang with might . Alas, a standing ovation as a musical IS a musical, best A~Live .
