It's the Most Wonderful (Movie) Time of the Year!

Hey everyone! As you may know, on top of Winter being the most wonderful holiday time of the year, it is also the best time of the year for movies! I have already seen a few movies throughout my 5 and a half months in Korea but I have a strong feeling my cinema outings will increase dramatically. Especially considering I saw a movie last week and this week. Whoa. It's like I'm in the States again--frequenting the movie theater several times a month!

ANYWAY. I'm sure you want me to stop with the sentimental narrative and just talk about my movie theater experience in South Korea and the actual movies I saw.

Last Saturday, I saw Interstellar with my coworker, Sue. We got some dinner first--delicious BBQ! The movie was fantastic as well. I can't remember the last time I saw a movie where I could say it truly kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. It is a looong movie but man, it kept my attention for the whole 3 hours. Visually, it was stunning. Even though I didn't have the opportunity to see it in IMAX, the effects and cinematography were still beautiful. Korea is going nuts over Interstellar. Which is funny because it doesn't seem to be a big deal in the States. I don't know why--I think it's fantastic and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys astronomical science fiction. Apparently even some astronauts approve of it! So you know it must be good!

Tonight I saw the Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1. Duh. Obviously I'm going to see the new Hunger Games movie the very first chance I get. Here is my spoiler-free impression of the movie: bland, plain, and nothing more than the bare minimum of what I expected it to be. I definitely didn't walk away with a boggled mind or saying "wow," like I did with Catching Fire. It's not that I thought it was boring--I was entertained for sure but it was lacking some serious "oomph."

So how is the Korean movie-going experience?
Well first of all, you can carry any food you want into the theater! In fact, there was a couple two seats away from me tonight that brought in a Pizza Hut pizza. Yeah. Amazing.

The concession stand is interesting. You can get a hot dog but it comes sans bun. They also have churros, nachos, and Korean walnut cakes. No Icees but they sell different fruit-ades at the theater I went to a couple times. I got a special set thing when I was with Sue. 2 "ades" and 1 popcorn with two flavors of your choice (cheese, caramel, or garlic) for about $12.00

I chose caramel and garlic. The caramel was divine. The garlic was okay. I would prefer regular butter flavor.

Pomegranate-ade! US theaters need to get this stuff. But keep the Icees too!

When you buy your movie ticket, you pick your seat. Which is awesome! I think US theaters should have assigned seating. It's annoying when you buy tickets for a movie in advance and still have to go to the theater early to ensure a good seat. What.

The downside of movie tickets here is that they do not make for good souvenirs. I like to keep my tickets but the only kind I've seen in Korea look like this:

It's just a receipt! Lame!

However, the theaters have these really cool flyers in the lobby for all the theaters that I like to snag as souvenirs.

I haven't seen all these movies but I thought the flyers would be nice to send home to friends

Mockingjay!

Interstellar!

Another difference I've noticed is the number of seats in theaters. You know those seats directly in front of the screen where no one sits because they genuinely want to but rather, they underestimated the popularity of the movie they are seeing so they got stuck there and walked away from the movie with a stiff neck? Korean theaters don't even have them! There's like this big space between the screen and first row of seats. It's strange!

Also, like every building in Korea, movie theaters are stacked vertically. Thank goodness for escalators!

Something I really miss about going to movie theaters in the States is movie trailers! In Korea, they show normal television commercials instead of movie trailers. It feels weird and unnatural. Movie trailers are like the appetizers for a cinematic feast!

Movies I have seen in Korea so far:

How to Train Your Dragon 2

Guardians of the Galaxy

The Maze Runner

Annabelle

Interstellar

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

I'm looking forward to seeing The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies and Into the Woods next month. I'll probably see Battle of the Five Armies opening day but it won't be the same without all my American friends who share my enthusiasm for it!

BBQ with Sue!

So cute!

 Music I listened to while writing this post: the John Denver/Muppets Christmas album. Go ahead and judge me for listening to Christmas music "too early." I regret nothing.