CGV Cinemas LA is located at 6th & Western in the new (and only partially rented) Madang mall and is supposedly very nice. It includes a cafe serving Fosselman’s ice cream (yum!). I understand that CGV Cinemas members get a discount at the cafe as well as slight discounts on movie tickets. I don’t know if you have to pay to become a member.

I do know I probably won’t be going to CGV anytime soon. I missed their opening week promotion, when they were offering free movies. Now their regular shows cost $12.50, or you can pay about $3 more for premium seating. I’m not sure if that means the regular folks will be stuck sitting on the sides while the premium folks sit in the middle, but I wouldn’t be surprised. Can you tell I don’t like the idea of premium seating? Sounds like another way to fleece the customer base. In any case, I’m really over paying more than $10 for a movie (which means I’m no longer patronizing most of the theaters in LA… but that’s okay because all the movies suck anyway). I’m not sure if CGV at Madang has matinee prices. I couldn’t check because you can’t buy online tickets for the before-6pm shows. So they may.

Valet parking is off Western. Non-valet is off Manhattan. You get three hours free with theater validation. I understand there’s at least one restaurant open at Madang, so there’s the option of doing dinner-and-a-movie without moving the car.

CGV Cinemas
621 South Western Avenue
(cross-street: 6th)
Los Angeles, CA 90005
(213) 388-9000

Here’s the result:

I wish I’d turned the pizza around before I took this picture, because this way you get an eyeful of the bulgogi half, which was really only okay. The bulgogi wasn’t as flavorful as I’d hoped. It didn’t taste like getting KBBQ on your pizza. The Potato Gold half, on the other hand, was pretty good, but you can’t see it as well. It had bacon, potatoes, mayonnaise, and other tasty stuff.

I admit it sounds a little weird. I’m a fan of bacon on my pizza, but I’d never had mayonnaise before. I don’t think I’ve ever had potatoes on my pizza before either, and to be honest, I can’t really recall what I thought of them. But it didn’t taste like your everyday American pizza.

Now we get to the best part. The crust stuffed with sweet potato mousse was amazing. That crust doesn’t come standard on the bulgogi pizza, so to get it we had to pay as much as if we were buying a whole Potato Gold. I was okay with that. I’d been dying to try the sweet potato crust ever since I heard about it. It lived up to the hype.

I’m told Mr. Pizza Factory has a paid lot, but I found street parking.

Mr Pizza Factory
3881 Wilshire Blvd
(about two blocks west of Western)
Los Angeles, CA 90010

Among the interesting folks on the festival’s advisory board are Park Chan Wook (Oldboy, among others) and Kang Je Gyu (Tae Guk Gi, Shiri). Actors Kim Jeong Eun (Lovers in Paris) and Jin Goo (Mother) are scheduled to attend the opening night film Le Grand Chef II: Kimchi War, in which they also star. No word on whether kimchee will be provided at the screening or whether it’s BYOK… Okay, yes, I’m joking about bringing kimchee, although I can recommend several Korean markets where you can pick some up (starting a kimchee war at the screening is not recommended).

On Friday, March 5, there’s a surprise screening, and the ActorFest on Saturday the 6th also sounds fun. Actually, most of the events sound pretty cool.

The festival runs from March 4-7, 2010. Its website, including the schedule and info on becoming a sponsor or volunteer or Facebook friend, can be found here. I might consider volunteering, except I don’t speak Korean, and I’m thinking that could be a problem.

There’s also a new feature where you can sign up for an email subscription. Considering my blogging schedule is erratic, this might be a good idea for anybody who wants to read my posts but doesn’t want to check back all the time.

Also, the search feature now seems to work. It hadn’t in the past, at least not when I tried it.

For those of you who’ve been wondering where I was, let’s just say it hasn’t been the best year I’ve ever had. At this point I do have some new posts planned, including one I promised to someone and am very, very late on, for which I sincerely apologize, and I’ll try to get that post up shortly.

As I’d feared, the emotional story didn’t seem to be there, although a lot of the quirky scenes were. But those scenes don’t work without the emotional content.

Granted, the original is a bit slow in the first half too, so maybe the remake becomes awesome in the second half… but I guess I’ll never know.

I’ve since tried omurice at a different restaurant, Kongjinae (located within walking distance of Spoon & Chopsticks, oddly enough, in the shopping center just east of the one where Paris Baguette is). I don’t have a photo, but Kongjinae smothered their omurice in a sweet sauce instead of ketchup. I have to say I much prefer the ketchup. The sweet sauce was okay for the first few bites and then became overpowering, so I found myself eating around it, trying to get just the parts with no sauce (not an easy thing to do). My advice: if you go to Kongjinae, get the katsu.

The place where I generally order it is also a very simple place. It’s almost like sitting in someone’s kitchen. The place is called Spoon & Chopsticks, and it’s located on 6th a block or so east of Chapman Plaza in the same strip mall as Ice Kiss and Ham Ji Park, a place Young recommended (which I tried ages ago but haven’t blogged about yet, just so you know, Young).

The food at Spoon & Chopsticks, like the ambiance, is very basic. Besides omurice they have various kinds of fried rice, noodles, some simple meats, kimbap, dumplings and probably a few things I’m forgetting. You don’t go here for a gourmet meal. You do go if you need a cheap and filling bite to eat. You can get their punch card and eventually earn a free meal. They also deliver.

Kimbap:

Dumplings and some panchan (the kimbap also made it into the picture again):

The staff is friendly (it helps to speak Korean). They’re not open on Sunday. Parking is street or the valet lot behind the strip mall. The panchan seem to vary from day to day, so if there’s one you particularly like (or dislike) don’t expect it to necessarily be offered next time.

Spoon & Chopsticks
(cross-streets: Kenmore/Catalina)
3417 W 6th St
Los Angeles, CA 90189

If you’re not going to the festival, you might want to avoid K-town this weekend. I’m told driving will be a nightmare due to festival-related street closures.

Due to the fact that it’s at USC and I’m not familiar with the campus or comfortable there, I probably will not go. But it sounds like a fun event. Both films should be watchable. Duelist sounds more plot-driven, M more character-driven. Plot synopses are available at the link in the previous paragraph.

Besides, there’s a reception. Who can object to free food?

The event is cosponsored by these organizations:the School of Cinematic Arts, East Asian Studies Center, Center for International Studies, East Asian Languages & Culture, East Asian Library, Korean Cultural Center of Los Angeles, Korean Film Council, University of Notre Dame.