Mike Song’s new dance crew Anbu at the CGV Cinemas grand opening party, Los Angeles.
By Janice Jann
Photograph by Elizabeth Kim
When I was 8, my grandma took me to watch Raise the Red Lantern in a theater in Monterey Park, the other Chinatown in California. While watching, I noticed that the walls were peeling, the carpet was stained, and the whole place smelled of mothballs and cigarettes. I fell in love with the film but hated my environment. I left the comfort of my home and the warmth of my well-worn sofa for these crappy seats?
Flash forward 15 years to June 4, 2010. I step out of the elevators in the upscale Madang complex in Los Angeles Koreatown and thought to myself, “Toto, we’re not in Monterey Park anymore.” The three-cinema theater and the neighboring Bann restaurant, which both opened last month, welcomed Angelenos into their courtyard for a grand opening party that featured performances by taiko drummers, the pop-rock band Seriously, and the b-boy dance crew Anbu. As Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa greeted the crowd with a hearty “annyeonghaseyo,” my ears perk up as I catch a conversation between two film aficionados.“This (theater opening) is an exciting time,” one young man marvels to his companion.
“Sorry to interrupt, but how so?” I inquire.
The man, Brian Hu, remarks, “Well, I’m excited because it’s been really hard recently for recent local exhibitors to play films from Asia. Enter CGV. They are powerful. They are ritzy. They can put on a party.”
This thought stays with me as I survey the theater. Here, the multi-ethnic crew is taught to greet guests in both Korean and English. The lobby is decorated to resemble a cozy café. Some of the guests ordered hot coffee to warm up while others slurped on the designer-branded Fosselman ice cream. “Would you like some fresh popcorn?” a movie usher asks me. “We have regular and caramel.”
“Caramel?” I gasp. Caramel popcorn is only the best movie treat ever but I had only seen it served in Asia before today.
“Yep,” the curly haired young lady winks at me, “and it’s good.”
I check out the schedule for new films that will be popping up at CGV in the near future: Korean exports like The Servant and Into the Fire will be showing alongside Hollywood blockbusters. It’s a great way to draw in crowds that are itching to see Korea-bred flicks in Los Angeles. CGV’s grand opening party also reflected the heterogeneous audience that the theater will cater to. Sam Kim, a CGV representative, notes, “It’s a great reflection of the diversity of L.A.”
We didn’t stay for Blades of Blood, the first movie shown at the theater, but we did collapse into the extra-wide velvet seats for a couple of minutes before the film began. Now this is what would get me to leave the comforts of my own home and pay for a movie ticket: the ultimate experience.
