On the 4th of October, the Moviexclusive crew was treated to explore the soon-to-be opened GV Vivo City to check out with what largest cinema complex in Singapore has to offer. First off, we have the Managing Director of Golden Village Multiplex, Mr Kenneth Tan introducing to us what’s hot and fabulous in GV Vivo City which you could check out at the presentation here.
He also shared with us on what we can expect at GV Vivo City from now to the grand opening in November.
Right after the opening on the 7th October, the first program highlight for GV Vivo City would be the 16th European Union Film Festival 2006. Incidentally, this European Film Festival will mark the first of the many future film festival that will be held in Vivo City. For the opening film, it will be the official Finland’s entry to the Oscars, Mother of Mine, on the 13th October. This movie tells about the fate of one little boy, amidst the warring world, will be one of the many highlights of the first film festival in GV Vivo City.
The next line up would be the Gala Premiere of Ex Vice President of USA, Al Gore’s, An Inconvenient Truth, a documentary on the fragile status of the environment that we are in. Global warming is reaching critical condition with many still unaware of this situation and the often misunderstood Ex Vice President is reaching out to those uninformed and teaches on how everyone’s action, no matter how small, plays a part in protecting the environment.
A little further up on the program list would be the “Speak Mandarin campaign” which some government bigwig will be running the campaign in Vivo City. You might wonder how “Speak Mandarin campaign” will tie in with movies. Not to worry as our very own film auteur, Mr Eric Khoo will be doing a short film and presenting it for the very first time at where else but the theatre to be in, in the month of October.
Then the biggest finale and the most awesome wrap of celebration for the opening of Vivo City, Mr Kenneth Tan gave us a sneak peak of what could possibly be the Movie Event of the Year! The GV crew is working hard to discuss with the Stars of the GV production, “Happy Feet”, to grace the Grand Opening of Vivo City in 21 November 2006. Not one, not two but six of the main cast of “Happy Feet”! If you are not aware of the mega production from GV, the stars are Robin Williams, Hugh Jackman, Elijah Wood, Nicole Kidman, Brittany Murphy and Hugo Weaving.
Of course, the schedules of the famous stars are often unpredictable and nothing is cast in stone yet. But the plan has been set in motion and let’s all cross our fingers and hope that the hard working crew of GV succeeds in achieving another milestone for this multiplex, bringing us yet another step closer to the Hollywood Stars.
Big Stars aside, folks at GV are also known for the Big Heart and Mr Kenneth Tan announced to us that for the GV Vivo City’s opening month of October, every ticket purchased will see $1 donation to Ren Ci Hospital & Medicare Centre. This donation drive is to aid Ren Ci Hospital & Medicare Centre to build the new Ren Ci Hospital at Irrawaddy Road.
So what do we think of the Cineplex?
We visited the GVmax for a short presentation of 2007 Summer Blockbusters trailers and were we blown out of our seats! GVmax, one of the widest screens in Asia is one of the ultimate big screen experiences that movie lovers must experience for themselves. The sitting arrangements were well thought out and as Mr Kenneth Tan proudly proclaims, every seat in the GVmax is the best seat of the theatre.
We have to agree to a certain degree on that. Even seating on the first two rows, the 22.4 metres wide screen was well placed and you won’t get a neck ache from cranking your neck up all the time. But while playing the trailer, the big screen did expose a problem for viewers who are seating right in front as fast moving objects such as the Ghost Rider, on the big screen will be blurry ie. too fast to catch.
Minor glitches aside, all the seats in all the theatre comes with extra wide leg room, creating that extra comfort that every movie goer would be extremely grateful for. We also tried the extreme corner seats and the verdict is out, Mr Kenneth Tan is right about every seat is the best seat in GVmax.
The 3 Gold Class Cinemas were like heaven for movie fanatics like us. Plush electronic recliner seats that are almost comfortable enough to sleep in and it will be equipped with call buttons to cater to any hunger plunge. If that is still not enough, blankets will be provided for those who need a little extra warmth. The Gold Class Cinemas are the answers to the growing threats of Home theatre system, after meeting on par in the arena of technologies, the Gold Class Cinemas are now setting the difficult standard of comfort.
GV ninth flagship cinema complex will be unveiled to the public this Saturday, 7 October at 12.30 pm with an open house tour, special promotions and a charity drive for the Ren Ci Hospital
