CGV Cinema @ IFC Mall, Seoul

The familiar facade of the IFC mall. My new hangout venue for me!!! Well, having a chance to do a daily activity in Youido turned out to be fun. I thought that it would be so dull to be in the office complex whole day long. But...I was wrong.

In between time, especially during lunch hour, I could just sneak into this mall easily. Well, no other reason but..just to warm myself up in the midst of this shivering cold snap.^^ 

( -10 C is not my thing...for I am after all an avid tropical person myself).

So, the other day..I got a chance to enjoy myself being an escapee from my daily routines. Bought myself a movie ticket...and..enjoyed the rest of the day.

The Tower: Korea's recent blockbuster flick in Winter. 

I deem it: Towering Inferno: Korean Style.

As for the ambiance of the theater....it would be an understatement if I just call it amazing. It's more than that.  The lounges, the bookstore, the cafe, the nuance, and the ambiance...oh, did I mention the waiting lounge....

Well, the cinema lane within this CGV theater is a must-visit venue for any movie lovers in town.

I know it looks like not many people there...well, it was around 6 pm when not many people were yet to be there. But, I could assure you that..it is usually fully packed with workers and employees and I am sure tourists as well....who mostly work and come at this central business district.

Korean Style Towering Inferno

Just watched the most anticipated Korea's blockbuster Winter movie: The Tower 타워.

Directed by Kim Ji-hoon, this movie stretched for about  relentlessly breath-taking two hours. Well, I've been waiting for this much talked about movie in this Winter season in Korea. Being a movie-freak myself, I would not let myself feel left-out of not being able to see it while it is a trending topic and talk of the society right here in Korea.

Ok, get on with the story. No, I won't tell about the synopsis. Instead, I would just ramble about what I felt after leaving the CGV IFC mall theater.
* Now I got a new hang-out for watching the movies: IFC mall CGV theather. Well, it is close from where I work.

This time CJ Entertaintment & Tower Pictures (^.^) made an all-out effort to present the current state of the art in Korean movie history. What I mean is that...the tower a.k.a. the SKY Tower--the tallest twin tower in Korea with its sprawling 108 floors--is none other than just a CGI in the movie.

So, it was a flawless effort nonetheless. Since I am in Seoul, seeing the movie with some pre-expectation that it would look unrealistic given the fact that I'd known beforehand about the Tower's non existence in reality....turned out to be insignificant in my experience of watching and enjoying this Christmas disaster movie.

It's a good thing to see how the actresses and actors portrayed themselves in such a way that they all look believable. The likes of Seong Kyeong-gu, Son Ye-jin, Kim Sang-gyeong, and the rookie fire fighter-Do Ji-han...were all fit into their roles.

Now...this is what I felt:
- After the ending scene, what left me speechless was the fact that I remembered September 11 tragedy on WTC in New York instead of what happened to the Sky Tower in the movie.
- I ( I am sure many other people, too) could not help but remember and associate the scenes as portrayed in the movie with what happened to that fateful day in NY.
- I also kind of frame the movie in this way: It's a Korean-style Towering Inferno.
- One thing that I do surely admire is how almost flawlessly realistic it is all the details portrayed in the movies...to the point that I believe the Tower Sky DOES indeed exist in Yoido-the central business district in Seoul.

Bravo to this movie. I think it's a cinematic achievement in Korean movie.