Beauty And The Beast
1 What a Beauty
The re-telling of Beauty And The Beast is scheduled for a March 16 release and it’ll be interesting to see if this updated version can do justice to one of the most beloved Disney animation movies of all time. We’re especially curious to see how the film’s anthropomorphic characters (like Lumiere the candlestick!) will be brought to life in the live-action remake without looking tacky. And then there are the songs. There’ll be re-recordings of the film’s original numbers. Who will be singing them? And there’ll be three new songs too. It stars the beloved Emma Watson from the Harry Potter movies and Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens. Gasp! – Kenneth Chaw
2 Gorillaz attack
We’ve been waiting for a new Gorillaz album since 2015, when Damon Albarn announced that he and Jamie Hewlett were working on it. Initially supposed to come out last year, it was pushed back to 2017 instead. Rumoured collaborators this time around include the likes of Liam Bailey, The Twilite Tone, Jean Michel Jarre, Massive Attack and Vic Mensa. And if past Gorillaz albums are anything to go by, we should expect something totally unexpected with the new one. – Michael Cheang
Gorillaz
3 Lucky 13
Malaysian jazz queen Datuk Sheila Majid, who has been relatively quiet in recent years, is making her comeback. She will be releasing her first original album in 13 years in the first quarter of the year. Having released very little new material throughout these years, it’ll be nice to hear how Sheila has evolved musically. Will she stay true to her unique sound fans have come to know and love? Or will she offer something new to capture a younger audience? – KC
4 A new revolution
In the action-packed trailer for J Revolusi, Jay Zulkarnain is a member of the elite Special Operations Force who gets a gun pointed at him by a lady and butt-kicked during a fight. Maybe they are saving all of heartthrob Zul Ariffin’s hero-defining moments for the big screen. Nevertheless, this film with a RM2.7mil budget should be on your radar this year for its star-studded cast – co-starring Fazura, Farid Kamil and Izara Aishah – explosions, hand-to-hand combat and well, perhaps, to see if Zul could make a name for himself as an action hero. Due for release in March. – Angelin Yeoh
Zul Ariffin stars in J Revolusi. Photo: Grand Brilliance
5 Book this
This year will be the sixth year since author George RR Martin’s last book in the A Song Of Ice And Fire series, A Dance With Dragons, was published. Considering the fact the gap between that book and the title before that, A Feast For Crows, was also six years, it stands to reason that The Winds Of Winter should be out this year, hopefully before the Game Of Thrones TV show gives away too much of the story. Martin himself has said that the book would not be completed by the beginning of 2017, so we’re crossing our fingers for it to come out in the later half of the year. – MC
6 Strictly confidential
When you pair an actor from one of the hottest K-dramas of the decade and a member of one of the biggest girl groups of all time, people will talk. Slated for release this month, the South Korean movie Confidential Assignment brings together Secret Garden’s actor Hyun Bin and Girls’ Generation’s Yoona on screen. The film tells the tale of a North Korean detective (played by Hyun Bin) who’s sent to cooperate with his counterpart (portrayed by veteran actor Yu Hae-hin) in South Korea. The movie has been garnering plenty of buzz thanks to its star-studded cast and the age-old tale of rivalry between North and South Korea. And of course, there’s the sizzling pairing of Hyun Bin and Yoona. Watch out, this K-movie has “blockbuster” written all over it. – Chester Chin
Confidential Assignment brings together Hyun Bin and YoonA on screen.
7 Super VIII
After a brief detour back to the past with last year’s Rogue One, regular scheduling resumes on the Star Wars franchise with this, the follow up to 2015’s The Force Awakens. The actual title of the movie has yet to be announced, but whatever it is, we are sure it is going to be epic. We’re also probably going to shed a tear or two when we see the late Carrie Fisher as General Leia Organa. – MC
8 Revenge album
Taylor Swift has been releasing albums every two years since she made her debut in 2008. But last year, we didn’t get anything from Swift. What we got, instead, were tabloid news of her romantic flings and failures. There was her relationship with Calvin Harris which went bust and her hook-up with Tom Hiddleston which ended as fast as it started. Then, there was Kim Kardashian who exposed Swift on social media as a lying, manipulative person. We can’t help but think with so much negativity, the singer must have collected enough material for her upcoming album, usually released in October. Nothing like turning revenge into a No. 1 album. – Gordon Kho
USS Discovery NCC 1031 is the starship in Star Trek: Discovery.
9 Starry, starry journey
It has been 11 years since the last Star Trek television series was on air. Star Trek: Enterprise ended in 2005 and the franchise moved to the big screen with JJ Abrams reboot in 2009. But like any good TV series, it’s back where it belongs. It has been reported that Discovery is set in the Original Series era, when Klingons and Federation are not exactly on friendly terms. Three actors – Chris Obi, Shazad Latif and Mary Chieffo – have been cast as Klingons in recurring capacity. Discovery is also said to adhere to creator Gene Roddenberry’s vision – a future in which science is the key to solving problems and the population is a diverse one. For that, the series will feature Malaysia’s pride and joy Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh as a captain of a starship and Sonequa Martin-Green (The Walking Dead) on board the Discovery. This will be the first time a Star Trek series doesn’t revolve around a captain but a lieutenant commander (Martin-Green). Discovery, set to premiere in May, is truly going where no other series has gone before. – Mumtaj Begum
Yes, there’s a Wonder Woman film coming up, but the Justice League film is the one all DC Comics fans are waiting for. We’re still apprehensive about Zack Snyder helming the film, but the chance to see Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg come together as the Justice League on screen is just too awesome to ignore. – MC
11 Solid gold
It seems whatever Datuk Siti Nurhaliza touches turns to gold. Her last two efforts, studio album Fragmen (2014) and live album Dato’ Siti Nurhaliza Unplugged (2015), took home the prestigious Best Album award back-to-back at the Anugerah Industri Muzik. It’s not too far fetched to think that Siti’s upcoming release might just give her her third consecutive Best Album win (she has a total of seven Best Album wins so far), given her track record. Siti revealed she has received some 300 songs from new as well as established composers, which means the album’s final tracklist must be the cream of the crop. – KC
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
12 Evil lives here
Need reasons to make friends in 2017? How about having some people over for company while you play Capcom’s survival horror game Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. You play as Ethan, a guy looking for his wife in what you can only hope is an abandoned farm. Then, you have to stop hoping and focus on getting out alive before members of the Baker family get you. Who are the Bakers? Well, based on the creepy footage-style teaser trailers on YouTube, the Bakers’ goal is to have pieces of you for dinner. Check it out on Jan 24. – AY
13 Persnickety plan
Neil Patrick Harris stars as Count Olaf, a truly terrible person who is truly terrible to children in this adaptation of the novel Lemony Snicket’s A Series Of Unfortunate Events. Unfortunately for the three Baudelaire orphans (Violet, Klaus and baby Sunny), creepy Olaf is their guardian who is only looking after them in the hopes of their inheritence. But fortunately, the Baudelaires are able to outsmart Olaf. Also starring Patrick Warburton, Joan Cusack, Alfre Woodard, Malina Weissman and Louis Hynes. The eight-part series is set to premiere on Jan 13 on Netflix. – MB
Neil Patrick Harris as Count Olaf in Lemony Snickets A Series Of Unfortunate Events. Photo: Netflix
14 All fired up
Why are we excited about a new Arcade Fire album? Well, because it’s been almost four years since the Canadian band’s last album, Reflektor, and it has yet to release a bad one yet. Heck, almost every single one of its albums was ranked as one of the best albums the year it was released in. If that’s not reason to look forward to an Arcade Fire album, we don’t know what is. – MC
15 Defending New York City
The debut of the series Daredevil on the small screen in 2015 created a whole new level for TV shows based on comic books. It was dark, daring and, all at once, compelling. It even excelled where Marvel films have failed – providing a complex villain with a believable backstory. Since then, other Marvel superheroes have emerged including Jessica Jones and Luke Cage with their own TV shows. In March, we will get Iron Fist starring Finn Jones as Danny Rand, a warrior with, erm, an iron fist. The Defenders series, set for release later this year, will see Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist teaming up to fight crime in New York City. – MB
16 Root for Groot
I am Groot. I am Groot? I am Groot, I am Groot! I am … GROOT! I am Groot? I AM GROOT! (Translation: Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 is going to be awesome. Why? Because it’s the sequel to the most fun Marvel movie ever! And there is … BABY GROOT! What else is there? YOU ONLY NEED BABY GROOT!) – MC
The Defenders
17 The end
This year marks the conclusion of many of our favourite TV shows. And it is about time too, as some have overstayed their welcome. Pretty Little Liars, for instance, has gone from “Wow, what a series!” to “What the heck is going on?”. The show has lost its plot over the years but still, diehard fans, like me, who have invested so many years in the series, will stick around to see how Aria, Spencer, Hanna and Emily get out of the tangled web they have created. Series like The Vampire Diaries and Grimm are also ending this year, much to the chagrin of fans who love all things supernatural. But most of all, we are sad to see the conclusion of Bates Motel – a series that features top notch acting from Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore. The final season will see Norman Bates (Highmore) fully transform into the pyscho he is, and we can’t wait for the infamous shower scene which will feature Rihanna in the role of Marion Crane, the unfortunate hotel guest who’s slashed to death. – GK
