When The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was released in cinemas in 2001, I was 12 years old, had only read The Hobbit, and was more into Harry Potter, so LotR was not really on my radar. Then, two years later, a few months prior to Return of the King being released, my school friends got me there. I read the books then watched Fellowship and The Two Towers (and fell in love with Legolas/Orlando Bloom along the way).

Ever since, I had hoped for a chance to catch Fellowship and Two Towers on the big screen, as Return of the King was such a cinematic event for me in 2003. Now, twenty-two years later, I’ve gotten my wish. Megabox, a cinema chain here in South Korea, is showing Fellowship every day in November, The Two Towers in December and Return in January at the COEX Gangnam branch (I’m guessing in anticipation of Fellowship‘s 25th anniversary next year).

I’ve just watched Fellowship (albeit with Korean subtitles, and sadly not extended) at the cinema in a DOLBY screen, and it was SO wonderful, exactly how I’ve always wanted to watch it. It was big, it was loud, and, perhaps most importantly, it was immersive. A perfect cinematic experience and, for some reason, it made me more emotional in certain scenes. This is why cinemas matter!

There’s also something to be said for Korean cinemas too (at least all the ones I’ve been to), and that’s that they are SO comfortable (see right) and the choice of food available is quite interesting – from the most delicious caramel popcorn to onion or cheese flavour (why not both!) and take your choice of other food, from shrimp to fried squid or fried chicken to ramyeon (ramen) if you fancy it. You can book on the app (helpful if you can at least read Korean, or if you have the time to use a translation app) and pick up your ticket at a kiosk, as well as order your food at a kiosk and collect it. Honestly, an introvert’s dream!

I also recently finished listening to The Hobbit on Audible (read by Andy Serkis – so good), and started Fellowship (also read by Andy Serkis), so I’m enjoying getting a dramatic reading of the series. I am also now very much looking forward to catching Two Towers and Return of the King in the next couple of months!