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Tuesday, November 24, 2009
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2009-07-28
We are starting to see the flood of TV on DVD releases that hit the home market this time every year.
It makes sense: after all, what better time to release the previous season on DVD than just before the next season starts?
Three such releases, The Middleman - The Complete Series, Battlestar Galactica - The Complete Series - Blu-ray Box Set, and Dollhouse - Season One - on DVD or Blu-ray are in contention for DVD Pick of the Week.
The Battlestar Galactica release is a tad too expensive for most people, while I am unsure of the exact nature of the extras on Dollhouse.
That leaves The Middleman - The Complete Series as the DVD Pick of the Week, for the second week in a row.
With the increasing number of TV on DVD releases, the list is large enough that it has to be split into two parts with part two found here.
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2009-03-23
Technical difficulties with Amazon's site meant this column was a lot harder to get done than usual. However, I won't hold that against this week's releases, and there are a number that are worthy of the DVD Pick of the Week from practically every category. TV on DVD has Andy Richter Controls the Universe - The Complete Series, from the classics we have The Odd Couple - Centennial Collection, from new releases we have Bolt - Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack, Blu-ray offers us James Bond Blu-ray Collection - Volume 3. We even have a late entry, as Let the Right One In - Blu-ray arrived. All five are worthy of the DVD Pick of the Week, but if I was forced to chose just one, Bolt - Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack would probably please the most people. After a couple of "slow" weeks, we are back to splitting the column into two parts. The second part can be found here.
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2003-07-02
Reloaded is not longer dominating the International Box Office, several films are all vying for their piece of the pie. Coming in first in its fourth week of international release was Bruce Almighty with $23.9 million. The divine comedy earned its box office in 17 markets on 2,414 screens, which is an excellent per theatre average for the international market.
Charlie’s Angels 2 managed second place thanks to opening first in 9 of 11 markets, mostly in Asian markets. The Hulk came in third with $11.3 million, again mostly thanks to new openings. In markets where The Hulk debuted last week saw very large drop-offs mimicking its North American results. Also dropping fast is 2 Fast 2 Furious, which still came in fourth with $11.1 million despite losing more than half its box office in most markets.
One last note, The Matrix Reloaded earned another $9.9 million to raise its total to $397.2 million. It will cross the $400 mark any day now.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-07-02
3 and it’s time to look at the state of the movie industry, and the news is decisively mixed. The overall box office is down approximately 1.5% while the average ticket price has increased more than 2.5%. And there’s no monster hit like last year’s Spider-Man. But despite this, so far in 2003 just the top ten movies represent almost 40% of the box office. (Up nearly 4 percentage points from last year.)
Good news is the dramatic increase in the number of $100, $200 million movies, and the number of $50 million openings. All are double what they were this time last year. Also good news, production budgets seem to be coming down, closer to 2001’s figures.
But even with lower average costs, of the 60 movies that received a wide release, only about half made more at the box office than it cost to make. Factor in P&A budgets and theatres’ share and only a handful will make a profit domestically.
Highest grossing movie by June 30th
2002: Spider-Man at $395,874,471.
2003: The Matrix Reloaded at $269,409,164.
Number of $200 million movies
2002: 2 (Spider-Man and Attack of the Clones)
2003: 4 (The Matrix Reloaded, Finding Nemo, Bruce Almighty, X2: X-Men United)
Number of additional $100 million movies
2002: 3 (Ice Age, Scooby-Doo, The Sum of All Fears)
2003: 6 (Anger Management, Bringing Down the House, 2 Fast 2 Furious, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, The Hulk, Daredevil)
Number of $50 million openings
2002: 3 (Spider-Man, Attack of the Clones, Scooby-Doo)
2003: 6 (The Matrix Reloaded, X2: X-Men United, Finding Nemo, Bruce Almighty, The Hulk, 2 Fast 2 Furious)
Submitted by: C.
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2003-06-30
e saw a disappointing box office. The box office was down almost 15% from the same time last year and more than 20% from last weekend. Overall, June’s box office was down just 2% from last year.
Expectations for Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle were high, with some predictions going as high as $70 million. But not only did it not live up to predictions, studio estimate, it even failed to match the original’s. It opened with only $37.6 million, and with reviews that just don’t cut it, this movie’s box office won’t even match its budget, (estimated at $120 million.) Add in the P&A budget and the theatres share and you get a bomb.
The Hulk’s plummet at the box office could be the story of the week. Making just $18.9 million, a drop that was just a few hundred thousand shy of 70%. Eighteen movies have opened with more than $60 million at the box office. Of those, only one has failed to make $200 million. Not only will The Hulk fail to make $200 million, it will fail to make $150 million.
Fortunately, there is some good news at the box office. Finding Nemo earned $14 million at the box office to cross the $250 million mark. And after tonight, it should have beaten Monsters Inc. to become the highest grossing Pixar movie. Up next, Shrek’s crown highest grossing CG movie ever. There should be a new king sometime early next weekend.
The good news continued as 28 Days Later beat even my prediction. $10.1 million in only 1258 theatres is fantastic, more than doubling some analysts’ predictions. With a total budget estimated at under $15 million, Fox Searchlight must be ecstatic over this movie’s performance. But how well this movie does in the long run is still a bit unsure. Going against it is its genre; most horror movies drop fast at the box office. But the positives, including amazing reviews, outweigh any negative effect the genre might have.
2 Fast 2 Furious just managed to make the top 5 one last time, beating Bruce Almighty by only $35,000. $6.2 million was added to its running total of $114 million, which is still not enough to make a profit anytime soon.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-06-27
wide opening this weekend, predicting which movie will win is very easy.
Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle will come in first, and probably double its nearest competitor. The original opened way back in 2000 with a $40 million opening. As with many sequels these days, expect Full Throttle to open bigger and drop faster. $55 million for an opening weekend, but a final total that’s not much more than the first. Reviews won’t have much of an effect on this movie’s box office, which is good news for the studio cause they are mostly bad. It managed only 41% positive on Rotten Tomatoes, that’s 27 percentage points below the original. Another movie that will open big then fall fast.
Speaking of falling fast, The Hulk appears ready to challenge 2 Fast 2 Furious’ record for largest second weekend drop for a number one movie. From Friday to Thursday The Hulk lost 83.2% of its daily box office; in comparison 2 Fast 2 Furious lost 83.6%. However, 2 Fast didn’t have as strong competition its second weekend out. At this point, anything less than a 60% drop would be is better than expected. The Hulk will pull in just shy of $24 million.
Another week, another milestone for Finding Nemo. This time around it’s passing the $250 million mark, which it could do as early as Saturday. The weekday numbers are starting to show signs of weakening, but that’s to be expected for a movie that’s been out nearly a month. $13 million this weekend is a safe prediction. On a side note, by Tuesday Finding Nemo should beat Monsters Inc. to become the highest grossing Pixar movie.
The only other movie to open in more than just a few cities is 28 Days Later. Opening in only 1258 theatres will limit this movie’s initial draw at the box office. But with very strong reviews this could be the sleeper hit of the summer. Other predictions for this movie range from less than $5 million to over $8 million, but I’m going to be bold and prediction $9 million with lots of legs as well.
Rounding out the top five will be Bruce Almighty, with $6.5 million. This Jim Carrey flick is unlikely to cross anymore major milestones, but it will be in the top 40 all-time when the weekend it over.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-06-25
ttp://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2003/MTRX2.php>Matrix Reloaded made its sensational debut in May, no one could really tell how far THIS rabbit hole would go.
But it soon became clear that Reloaded was a big thing, Critics say it has dropped off to quickly in the US. Nonsense,
reloaded has stuck in the top ten for 40 days. Thats a Long time for any flick to stay in that reigon, and its takings offshores are still strong despite the same stiff competition that knocked it off the US top rolling out across the world. But reloaded is set to stop at around 720-740 Million, depending on US performance in the months to come. "2 Fast 2 Furious" furiously smashed in at number one in the uk after extensive advertising. It took $2.7 Million($4.5 Million) for its first weekend, but Reloaded only took 660k. But with a healthy $30 Million ($50.5 Million) from the UK alone in its bank, And no sign of slipping to let the nearest rival, Identity, overtake it, Reloaded should stay in the top three for a few weeks yet.
But Identity has started out strong, knocking Anger Management down to fourth. The movie has opened to brilliant reviews and good buzz, being likened to intellegent hits like "The Usual Suspects" it did take a fairly healthy $51 Million in the us, enough to cover its budget.
But the main competition for all, sure to crush the other grosses, its the mega-hyped and Uber advertised "Bruce Almighty" which hits cinemas this friday in the UK. With three weeks of pre-release advertising under its belt, Bruce is sure to demolish the box office competition, In previews alone in limited theartres this weekend, it took an astonishing $1.8 Million($2.9 Million).
The hit comedy looks like its legs will be challenged too, with Charlies Angels 2 making its debut the week after Bruce's release, it will just show how Mighty he is. One things a dead cert, 2 Fast wont be Furious enough to fight of Bruce and The Angels, its expected to drop to fourth when Bruce is released. Reloaded could make big dropoffs, but due to a surprisingly strong UK support base, its likely to fluctuate between 2-4th positions for a while.
Elsewhere on the UK Charts, Igby Goes Down, the "Indie-Teen Movie Of The Year" rose a place, knocking X-2 down to 11th while it nestled into the top ten. And John Travolta's "Basic" debuted with an embarrasing £248k ($412k) Weekend, while a good figure for UK, the number was much lower than the millions expected, but the critics trashed the return of travolta, "Connie Nielsen is like a walking acting folio, she morphs her accent more than she blinks, and Travolta is totally outshone by Jackson"
Bringing Down The House slipped three places in the charts. The Queen Latifah hit had not mirrored the huge success it enjoyed in the US, it is expected to close in the UK at around $5 Million.($8.3 Million)
British Classical Diva, Charlotte Church's acting debut, "I'll Be There" is also opening soon, but reviews have been mixed, one speaking on Church-"Is worse than Madonna and makes you realise Britney wasnt that bad in Crossroads" and another on the same subject "Church is up to the role, it was written with her personality in mind, so the acting wasnt challenging, and it shows"
Forthcoming UK Releases Summer 2003
Sure Hits:
Bruce Almighty, Charlies Angels 2: Full Throttle, T3: Rise of The Machines, Legally Blonde 2*, Tomb Raider 2
Maybes:
The Extraordinary Leauge Of Gentlemen, Hollywood Homicide, Bad Boys II, The Hulk, Spy Kids 3D
Report Researched and Writ
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2003-06-23
uper Hero movie opened this week to record breaking numbers. Unfortunately, the overall box office didn’t do as well, down roughly 5% from last year.
The Hulk opened in first place this weekend, $40 million ahead of the nearest competition and $8 million above the previous record holder for largest June weekend. And even still the $62.1 million it brought in was seen as a disappointment. The really telling figure is the drop off from Friday to Saturday, nearly $3 million or 11.3%. Reviews were much better than most films released this summer, but probably not good enough to let the Hulk have much legs.
Finding Nemo continues to have amazing legs beating most industry predictions with $21.1 million in it’s fourth weekend at the box office. It is now the second highest grossing film of the year, and could overtake The Matrix Reloaded before its run is finished.
2 Fast 2 Furious didn’t drop as badly as predicted, ending up with $11.1 million. This was enough to cross the $100 million milestone, but that should be the last major milestone for this movie.
As predicted, Bruce Almighty was able to earn $9.8 million and overtake X-Men 2 for third highest grossing film of this year. There’s still some life left in its box office run, and by the end the studio’s take should cover the production and P&A budgets.
Surprising nearly everyone by landing in fifth place was The Italian Job with $7.2 million. Despite losing 600 theatres this week, this remake was able to hang on to nearly 75% of its box office. That was a drop in the per theatre average of only 4%.
Alex and Emma opened almost exactly as predicted, $6.1 million and seventh place. It was also one of the worst reviewed movies of the year, getting only 11% positive.
Doing even worse was From Justin to Kelly, which earned only $2.7 million and finished in eleventh place. And with even worse reviews don’t expect much more at the box office.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-06-20
are opening wide, only one is making any news.
Everyone is predicting the Hulk will easily win this weekend, and most analysts agree it will break the record for a June opening currently held by Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me at $54.9 million. But how well will it compare to the other monster openers of 2003. Some are predicting The Hulk will beat fellow Marvel Movie X-Men 2. But I think matching Finding Nemo is a more likely scenario. $69 million for an opening weekend, and based on the good reviews, enough legs to get well past $200 million.
The week to week drop-off for Finding Nemo was even better this week than last week. So look for an even smaller drop off this weekend. A box office of $20 million and second place for the year this weekend, after breaking $200 million Wednesday.
Speaking of $200 million, Bruce Almighty was able to cross that milestone on Thursday, completely a week which say it lose very little of its box office. If this trend continues, and it should despite losing nearly 400 theatres, Bruce Almighty should earn $9 million and could overtake X-Men 2 for third place this year.
2 Fast 2 Furious didn’t drop quite as badly during the mid-week, but it is losing nearly 10% of its theatres in just it’s third week. So another 60% drop at the box office should be expected. Still, this leaves it at $8 million for the weekend and just shy of $100 million total box office.
Rugrats Go Wild has held up surprisingly well during the midweek, and a drop of less than 40% could help this movie make a profit, eventually. Look for $7 million on the box office and enough legs to get at least close to $40 million.
Alex and Emma is the second new movie opening wide this weekend. On paper, this movie should be a sure hit. But the terrible reviews, including 0% from the cream-of-the-crop suggest it will be anything but a hit. Look for it to get worse numbers than other ‘also ran’ comedies like The In-Laws and Down With Love. About $6 million and missing the top five is in store.
The last new movie released this week is From Justin to Kelly, which wasn’t screened for critics. Some are comparing it to The Real Cancun; another reality TV turned movie. I think it’s safe to assume From Justin to Kelly will not do quite as badly, with an opening weekend roughly the same as The Real Cancun’s total gross. Or about $4 million, but it may not make the top ten.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-06-16
, and all three movies bombed, to one degree or another. This and larger than expected drops for the rest of the holdovers led to a collapse at the box office. It was down more than 25% from last week, and nearly 25% from the same weekend last year.
As predicted, Finding Nemo returned to first place. However, the numbers were not quite as good as was predicted on Friday. $28.4 million was still an excellent box office, and beating Monsters Inc. record for Computer Animation film is definitely in sight.
2 Fast 2 Furious didn’t drop as far as I thought in the standings, but it dropped harder at the box office. Its plunge to $18.7 million was a whopping 63% drop from its first weekend. This could be the worst second week drop-off of a first place movie, ever. It beat recent examples like Cradle 2 the Grave (60.44%) and 8 Mile (62.25%).
Also earning a lower than predicted box office was, Bruce Almighty. However, it was two places higher on the charts than what I thought. This says more about the weak performances of the new movies than anything else.
On Friday I predicted The Rugrats Go Wild would be the lowest of the new movies, and it actually earned less at the box office than I predicted. However, with a box office of $11.6 million it was the highest wide opener of the week. It also had the best-reviews, but at only 43% it’s nothing to brag about.
Only able to grab half of what I predicted was, Hollywood Homicide at $11.1 million. For a movie that cost more than $100 million to make and advertise, this is nothing short of disaster. The next Indiana Jones movie can’t comes soon enough for Harrison Ford.
The last of the new movies to open wide was Dumb and Dumberer. With only $10.8 million in its first weekend, the pseudo-prequel wasn’t able to match the original’s opening and its reviews were much worse .
Submitted by: C.
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2003-06-13
open this week, it seems likely that a holdover will hold on for top place at the box office.
Returning to first place this week will be Finding Nemo. This fish tale has again held up remarkable well during the week and should only drop by about a third at the box office. $31 million would be an impressive third weekend total and leave the movie just a few million shy of $200 million.
Coming in second place should be Hollywood Homicide, but it could be a close race between it and the next two movies. The ad campaign for this movie is a bit of a puzzle, first it was advertised as a buddy cop action comedy, much like Lethal Weapon. Now it’s being advertised as a serious crime thriller. Chances are, that means the jokes didn’t work out, and the reviews tend to support that theory. With only 32% positive it is one of the worst reviews movies in Harrison Ford’s career. Look for $22 million opener and questionable legs.
Dropping all the way to third is 2 Fast 2 Furious. This movie had dropped every day of its release till the 1.1% gain in Thursday’s numbers. And it looks to drop massively on its second weekend. It was tracking roughly 35% below Finding Nemo by the end of the week, and that trend should continue into the weekend. Which leaves the movie at $20 million this week at the box office.
Next is the second release of the week, Dumb and Dumberer. Last week we had a pseudo-sequel open, now we have a pseudo-prequel. It has different actors, different director, different writers, different producers … and much worse reviews. Still, beating the original’s opening of $16 million should be the goal this weekend, but don’t expect this movie to have anywhere near the legs. $50 million total should be as good as it gets.
Right behind is Dumb and Dumber’s star Jim Carrey’s latest movie Bruce Almighty. How’s that for a forced segue. This movie is showing great legs and should earn another $15 million this weekend. That would put it over Batman Forever for second best Jim Carrey movie. And in probably just one more week it will cross the $200 million mark.
In sixth place is the last of the movies opening wide this weekend. The Rugrats Go Wild is a crossover effort with both Rugrats and Wild Thornberrys. And while the two previous Rugrats movies did well, they no longer have the following they once had. And the first Wild Thornberrys movie under-performed at the box office to the tune of only $6 million opening weekend. Good news is The Rugrats Go Wild is the best-reviewed new opener this week, but that’s not saying much. Look for $12 million opening weekend and the last of the theatrical releases for either franchise.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-06-09
opening wide, this could have been a slow week at the theatres. And while the box office did drop from last week, it was more than 50% above the same weekend last year.
The pseudo-sequel 2 Fast 2 Furious blasted off the starting line with nearly $20 million on Friday, but it Saturday figure dropped by 6.5%. And the final weekend number was $50.5 million, $2 million below Sunday’s Studio estimate. Those figures would suggest this movie will have horrible legs, but the drop off was better than the original’s and the internal multiplier was only slightly worse. Still, with weaker reviews and lower user ratings on both The Numbers and IMDb it is unlikely that 2 Fast 2 Furious will be able to maintain its early numbers. And considering its production budget is double the first’s, that’s bad news for the studio.
Finding Nemo dropped to second place, despite leading for Saturday and Sunday. Its second week drop-off was greater than Monsters Inc., however Finding Nemo did have much stronger competition. Either way, $46.6 million for its second week is still great.
In third place was Bruce Almighty with $22.4 million. The movie’s total of just over $170 million in only three weeks is amazing, and it will make a profit from its US theatrical distribution alone, even after advertising and the theaters' take is taken into account.
Down to fourth, but holding up well was The Italian Job, which was down just a little more than 32% to $13.2 million. Granted, part of that is due to the nearly 250 theaters added to its count. But even taking the increased theater count into consideration, The Italian Job dropped less than 40%.
The Matrix Reloaded finished fifth with just $9.2 million, well below the original’s take at this point in its run. Even the IMAX version opening was a disappointment taking in only an estimated $700,000 on 39 screens.
Submitted by:
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2003-06-06
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Buy this poster at
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Only one movie is opening this week, and that should mean good news for that movie. But it’s better news for the holdovers.
Taking into account the lack of competition, the excellent mid-week number and the phenomenal word-of-
mouth and Finding Nemo should finish first for the second week in a row. A drop of less than 40% is expected with a box office of $50 million not out of the question.
The only wide opening this week is 2 Fast 2 Furious, which is a sequel in the loosest definition of the word. Only one star from the first is in the second, there’s a new director, new writers, new producers, etc. How will all of these changes affect the box office? If the reviews are anything to go on, 2 Fast 2 Furious won’t be able to live up to the original. It is getting much weaker reviews than the original, especially among the Cream of the Crop reviewers. Still, it should at least come close to the original’s opening thanks to the sequel effect. Look for nearly $40 million, but absolutely no legs.
Bruce Almighty, already the highest grossing comedy of 2003, will continue its strong run with about $25 million for third place. It just failed to cross $150 million yesterday, but by the time you read this, it will have hit that milestone.
There’s quite a drop between third and fourth place, with The Italian Job getting about half of Bruce Almighty. The predicted $13 million is less than a 40% drop, which is a good sign. But the movie cost too much to pull a profit from the home market.
The Matrix Reloaded will fall to fifth place with just $10 million. You know a movie has high expectations when nearly $250 million in five weeks is considered a disappointment.
On a side note, after a two-week absence Bend It Like Beckham should reappear in the top ten.
Submitted by: C.S.Strowbridge
| Rank | Movie | Theaters | Change | Weeks in
Release | Distributor |
| 1 | Bruce Almighty | 3,544 | +54 | 3 | Universal |
| 2 | 2 Fast 2 Furious | 3,408 | New | 1 | Universal |
| 3 | Finding Nemo | 3,391 | +17 | 2 | Buena Vista |
| 4 | Matrix Reloaded, The | 3,186 | -267 | 4 | Warner Bros. |
| 5 | Italian Job, The (2003) | 2,877 | +244 | 2 | Paramount |
| 6 | Daddy Day Care | 2,713 | -415 | 5 | Sony |
| 7 | X2: X-Men United | 2,050 | -483 | 6 | Fox |
| 8 | In-Laws, The (2003) | 2,047 | -605 | 3 | Warner Bros. |
| 9 | Wrong Turn | 1,613 | -2 | 2 | Fox |
| 10 | Down with Love | 775 | -525 | 5 | Fox |
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| 37 | Love the Hard Way | 6 | New | 1 | Kino |
| 39 | Eye, The | 4 | New | 1 | Palm |
Estimated Theater Counts for Next Week's Openers
See the full theater coun
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2003-06-04
k promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here’s a list of highlights, plus one last look at websites for films opening this week. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.
2 Fast 2 Furious
Current Content: This site starts with a warning not to perform any of the stunts found within. So I was looking forwards to seeing some really dangerous stunts, but alas, the only stunts shown were in the trailers and TV Spots I had already seen. But besides that disappointment the site was ok. It had all the usual suspects (Synopsis, trailer, cast and crew bios) but it focuses a lot on the real stars, the cars. The biggest complaint was the music. The clip was too short and too repetitive to add to the site. I quickly turned it off.
L'Auberge Espagnole
Current Content: This website finally launched, two weeks after the movie opened. The main page has a collage of people, clicking on some of them will take you to that actors filmography. Others take you to the synopsis, trailer, photos, etc. It’s a little different, and the novelty helps.
Bad Boys II
Current Content: The second six issues is up, sort of. There are two need wallpapers and buddy icons in the download section, and the gallery has six new images. However, the story section is marked coming soon and the video section is just a repeat of issue one. Granted, it is almost a week early so the rest of the new content should be there by next week.
Brother Bear
Current Content: Starts with an intro by Bob and Doug McKenzie, I mean Tuke and Rutt. Besides the talking caribou, there’s the trailer and a clip of the movie’s theme song, ‘On My Way’ by Phil Collins. More should be added as the release date nears.
Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle
Current Content: The game that had been marked coming soon is up … and it’s just the demo for the new Charlie’s Angel video game. Bit of a disappointment there.
The Eye
Current Content: The English version of the website is sparse, with synopsis, cast bios, trailer, images and a spoiler section on where the ghosts can be seen. There is also a section for reviews and where to find theatres playing the movie. No animations, no sounds.
From Justin to Kelly
Current Content: This is a surprisingly well done site. It has tons of information including synopsis, production notes and cast and crew bios. Multimedia like photos, behind the scenes with much more marked coming soon. Plus lots of downloadables like AIM Icons, wallpapers, screensaver, and poster. The animated segues are pretty good, but the music is a bit of a distractions. Individual clips are too short and at least one of them has looping problems.
Godsend
Current Content: After weeks of coming soon the site launched this week, sort of. Right now it only have the trailer. But that’s something.
The Last Samurai
Current Content: The second section is up, this time on the seven principles of the Samurai code.
The League
Current Content: The Nautilus section has been added to the site. And while the graphics used are quite impressive some of the information borders on technobabble. I was hoping for more.
Looney Tunes: Back in Action
Current Content: Right now there’s just four posters and a trailer. But the movie is nearly half a year away, so I’m sure we’ll see plenty of updates before then.
Love the Hard Way
Current Content: This has the beginnings of a good site. Good information (synopsis, cast and crew bios, a section on the music in the movie) and it has good segues between sections. But it has no sound, which really detracts from the enjoyment. The trailer and images are still marked coming soon, so maybe sound will be added then.
Rugrats Go Wild
Current Content: Another week, another small update. This time it’s a Spike Clickable for your desktop.
Swimming Pool
Current Content: This is actually Francois Ozon’s website. But it does have a lot of information on his latest movie, including synopsis, trailer, etc.
Underworld
Current Content: This is a cool site with some unusual features. In fact, it has very little of the usual features, just the synopsis and trailer. The rest of the site includes character bios, a vampire and lycan history, user-submitted sightings and a preview for the video game. Some of the sightings are particularly interesting to read, but there are too many to go through all of them. Of note, there is two different versions on the website, one for Vampires and one for Lycans. However, only the graphics, intro and segues change, the content is the same for both. Lastly, the music and sound for the site is better than most. Music clips are long enough and loop well enough to avoid being repetitive, while adding to the site’s atmosphere. And it is that atmosphere which helped this site win the impeccable Weekly Website Award.
Whale Rider
Current Content: This is a good site hampered by a somewhat overdone menu system. When you move your mouse over a section with more than one option it expands sideways, pushing the other options away and some off the screen. But besides that small complaint this was an enjoyable site. There’s plenty of information to read: synopsis, cast and crew bios, production notes, location notes, and even a glossary of Maori terms. There is also the trailer and plenty of images to look at as well as three wallpapers, a screensaver and a poster to download. Another positive is the background music, which worked well with the site and the clip was long enough to avoid being repetitive.
Submitted by: C.
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