Netflix and chill aside, it’s always a very different experience when you watch a movie at the cinema, as compared to watching a movie at home. Sure, you’ll have the freedom to pause as and when you like, be in the most comfortable clothes you’ll never be seen in outside and without makeup. You’ll probably wrap yourself up like a burrito and be in a position that’s very sleep-inducing. But when you’re at a cinema, you get to watch a film that you may or may not like on a big-ass screen and an amazing sound system that you probably don’t have at home, unless of course you can afford to fork out five-digits worth of cash; but even at that, it can’t beat the cinemas. And especially so if you’re talking about Golden Village, who’s recently upgraded their sound system to the new Auro 11.1 by Barco.
This system brings a new cinema experience as it employs a speaker layout based on three axes – width, depth and height – on three vertical layers to surround cinema-goers with true-to-life 3D sound. Instead of hearing sounds “all around you”, you’ll also hear sounds coming from a height as speakers are added above the current set and on the ceiling. You can geek out in this video, which explains it all, or head to Golden Village Suntec City to experience it for yourself. However, the system is still pretty new in Singapore (only available in Hall 2) so it’s limited to certain films at the moment (make sure you check before purchasing tickets).
But that shouldn’t stop you from heading to the theatres to catch a movie on its opening day (seriously though, when was the last time you did that?). Besides, you’ll have bragging rights from being one of the first to watch it, if that’s any consolation to you. And do you really want to wait so long until it’s available online?
DEADPOOL
Release Date: 11 February 2016
Director: Tim Miller
Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, T.J. Miller
Rating: M18
With so much hype surrounding this film, we’re a bit skeptical of how it’ll turn out (we’ve watched our fair share of disappointing films). Deadpool’s not your average hero that everyone (including your grandma) might like, but that’s what makes him the edgy anti-hero badass he is. All the trailers look promising, seeing how this depiction of Deadpool is much more similar to the comic book version as compared to the one in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, charm and wit included.
HOW TO BE SINGLE
Release Date: 18 February 2016
Director: Christian Ditter
Stars: Dakota Johnson, Rebel Wilson, Leslie Mann
Rating: NC16
We’re really excited to see what Rebel Wilson has to bring to the table while 50 Shades of Grey actress Dakota Johnson takes the lead role as a single young woman named Meg who works at a law firm in New York. It already sounds like those typical rom-coms where a girl goes through a heartbreak, yada yada… except that Robin (played by Rebel), a wild child receptionist at the same firm, decides to take Meg out and “teach” her the ways of being single – everything from hooking up with a guy at a bar, getting guys to buy drinks to having one-night stands. The girls-just-wanna-have-fun bunch try to mend their lonely hearts while learning how to be single in a city where love has just as many definitions as the people living in it.
THE FINEST HOURS
Release Date: 18 February 2016
Director: Craig Gillspie
Stars: Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster
Rating: To be advised
You’re essentially about to witness the remake of one of the bravest rescue missions in U.S. Coast Guard history. The film takes you back to February 1952 when a cyclonic storm hit New England and ravaged through towns on the Eastern seaboard and brought trouble to ships in its path, including the SS Pendleton, the T-2 oil tanker that was dramatically ripped into half. Very Titanic, sans the romance, grandeur, and iceberg. Once word of it gets to the U.S. Coast Guard, Warrant Officer Daniel Cluff (Eric Bana) orders a mission to rescue the stranded men.
ZOOTOPIA
Release Date: 25 February 2016
Director: Byron Howard, Rich Moore
Stars: Idris Elba, Shakira, Ginnifer Goodwin
Rating: To be advised (though we all know this is probably going to be PG-13)
Definitely a feel-good film because, which Disney film – animated or not – isn’t? In a metropolis where animals live harmoniously together, a rabbit named Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) moves into an apartment in Zootopia and finds a job at the Zootopia Police Department. Although she ends up with parking duty as a first stint, she goes on to try and solve a case of a missing otter and in the process, befriends a sly Fox named Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman). Like most Disney films, it’s bound to be peppered with life lessons and situations that reflect reality. Even the trailer has quotable words of wisdom like “We may be evolved, but deep down, we are still animals,” and “No matter what type of animal you are, change starts with you”.
