It's another week where first run releases are taking a backseat to limited releases and TV on DVD.
That latter category is especially busy with the Fall season under way.
In fact, it is from that list that we get the DVD Pick of the Week, My Name Is Earl - The Complete First Season - Buy from Amazon, but Hard Candy - Buy from Amazon earns an honorable mention.
Every week films get a second chance at success from the home market; or, in some cases, a first chance at success. Here is a list of wide releases, limited releases and a few from the growing TV on DVD section, including the winner of the DVD Pick of the Week That 70's Show - The Complete First Season - Buy from Amazon.
Every week films get a second chance at success from the home market; or, in some cases, a first chance at success. Here is a list of wide releases, limited releases and even one or two from the growing TV on DVD section. This week has more to offer than last week, which is not saying much.
As expected, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King dominated the international markets this week, setting many records along the way. It played in 28 countries on 7,403 screens earning $125.9 million, which is a record for international weekend. The film also broke individual market records for Wednesday openings in 15 countries, out of 17 Wednesday openings. It also broke weekend records in more than half a dozen other countries, including major markets like the U.K. and Germany. Worldwide totals for Return of the King are already at $250 million, (another record) putting it in 168th place on the all-time chart in just 5 days. Even with this success, it is unlike to unseat Titanic as the number one movie of all time, but it should become only the second film to earn $1 billion worldwide.
For the fifth straight week Finding Nemo was number one at the international box office. And while the film is starting to show signs of slowing down, its weekly performance is still amazing. A total international take of $31.5 million on 5,200 screens made it the clear winner. Plus it was number one in 20 of 27 markets it played in and surpassed $300 million internationally. Current totals for the Pixar smash hit are $330.2 million internationally, (good for 20th place) and $669.9 million worldwide, (for 15th place.) The Lion King is the only animated movie to make more. With only a couple more markets to open in, Finding Nemo must rely on long legs to take top spot away from The Lion King.
Finding Nemo not only won the weekend in convincing fashion, it also became Pixar's biggest international hit internationally, overtaking Monsters Inc.. The film's performance this week was even more impressive than last week. Number one in 20 markets helped it to another $45.9 million, bringing its total to $283.4 million internationally. That's 28th overall and 3rd for animated movies. However, it is only a few million behind Aladdin for second and will surpass that film mid-week (most likely, it has already done so.) Worldwide, Finding Nemo is even more impressive with $623.1 million, 18th overall.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl continues to lead the international box office despite dropping weekend totals. This week's take of $12.7 million was a significant drop from last week, but was still nearly double its nearest competitor. It was also enough to move the movie into 20th place on the all-time worldwide box office, ahead of Armageddon. It will still take a few more weeks to break $300 million internationally and $600 million worldwide.
The Italian Job stayed in second place with $6.5 million, nearly the same as last weekend. Its international take is now $28.2 million with several openings in large markets still to come. These include South Korea this weekend and Germany later in November.
A pair of number one openings in Asia helped S.W.A.T. to a weekend total of $4.6. It's still way too early in the game to tell where its final figure will land.
Four was the charm for Calendar Girls, which topped the U.K. box office in its fourth week of release there. The British comedy has only opened in a few countries but was still able to take fourth place internationally with $3.6 million. It opens stateside on December 19th.
Rounding out the top five was American Pie: The Wedding, also with $3.6 million. It's hard not to compare its run to the first two, and with more than 2 dozen openings still to come beating American Pie's $100 million internationally is almost guaranteed. Topping American Pie 2's $140 less assured, but still quite likely.
On a side note, Nemo Watch: International Edition will kick into high gear this weekend. Finding Nemo is being shown in previews in the U.K. this week before opening wide next weekend. We will then see a better picture on how the movie will compare to other hits this year and other animated movies from the past.
tarted much slower than predicted. Not only did the two new movies fail to deliver at the box office (or critically), none of the holdovers managed to perform well either. Not only was the weekend the weakest of the year so far, it was arguably the weakest in the past several years. The total box office was down 35% from last week and 7% from last year.
Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star was in a close battle to win top spot at the box office this week. It did come in a bit lower than expected with only $6.7 million, and with very poor reviews don't expect much more than that for the rest of its run. On the positive side, with a production budget believed to be under $20 million it could show a profit from the home market.
While a drop of 57% is massive no matter how you look at it, it wasn't as massive as predicted. Combined with the poor showing of the rest of the holdovers, that led to Jeepers Creepers 2 dropping only one spot to second place with $6.6 million.
With the best drop-off in the top five, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl climbed two places into the top three. Its 9th weekend grab of $5.3 million was also enough to vault it over The Matrix Reloaded into second place for the year and 19th on the all time chart.
Still one weekend away from the coveted $100 million club, Freaky Friday earned another $5.0 million at the box office.
S.W.A.T. managed one last weekend in the top five adding another $4.6 million to its total.
Both the early reviews and the box office for The Order were a little better than expected. Reviews were at one time at 28% positive, nothing to brag about, but not the complete disaster. However, they have since come down and are now at 10% including 0% from the Cream of the Crop. And its opening weekend take of $4.4 million is better than expected. But when compared to an estimated production budget of $35 million, a few hundred thousand more at the box office is essentially meaningless.
American Wedding dropped out of the top ten this week, but it was able to cross the $100 million mark. That's enough to cover the production budget and a bit of the advertising. Add in its international run, which has barely started, and you have a profitable performance.
r a long weekend, this Labor Day long weekend broke records for biggest opening weekend and highest total box office. It's no surprise that the three day total is up, albeit only 0.8% from last weekend, and the four day total is up approximately 9% from last year.
Jeepers Creepers 2 broke the record for best Labor Day weekend, a record that the original set in 2001. Despite reviews that were much worse than the original, Jeepers Creepers 2 made $15.3 million for the 3 day weekend and $18.4 million total.
As predicted, Freaky Friday was able to climb back into second place. The addition $9.2 million / $12.6 million puts the Disney remake roughly one week away from $100 million.
The next three movies were very close. In fact, their standing at the box office changes depending on if you count Monday or not.
S.W.A.T. did crack the $100 million mark this week, and did it with a better than expected $8.3 million / $10.8 million. That was good for 3rd / 4th depending on how many days you count.
Earning almost exactly what it was predicted to, Open Range nevertheless finished one place lower for the three day weekend and two places lower for the four day weekend. With a final tally of $8.1 million / $10.7 million it was just a rounding error behind S.W.A.T.
It seems than Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl benefited the most from the long weekend as its box office was up the most out of the top five (or the top ten for that matter.) Its $8 million for the 3 day weekend was good enough for fifth place. But add in Monday's figure and the total of $10.8 put it into third place.
And now for an update on the three other movies are trying for the $100 million club this weekend.
Charlie's Angels: Full throttle lost almost two thirds of its box office from last weekend, but that was still more than enough.
The Italian Job's expansion helped more than expected as the movie rose to 12th place with $3 million. Almost $1 million more than it needed to cross $100 million.
Seabiscuit needed the most money at the box office to make it. It also earned the most, hitting $100 million on Sunday.
Next on the list to cross $100 million? As I've already mentioned, Freaky Friday could do it next weekend, but American Wedding will probably beat it to that goal.
Labor Day long weekend is the slowest long weekend of the year. And this year looks to be no exception. Only one new movie is opening, however, The Italian Job is expanding to over 1900 theatres in a push to reach the $100 million milestone. Like last week, expect limited releases to get a boost from weak wide releases.
Finishing first will be no problem for Jeepers Creepers 2, the real question is whether it will beat the original. Earlier this summer it would have been a forgone conclusion that the sequel would open bigger, and drop faster, than the original. But lately that hasn't always been the case. Reviews for Jeepers Creepers 2 are bad, currently a little more than half what the original got. Added in sequel burn out and you get $13 million Friday to Sunday and $16 for the long weekend.
I know Freaky Friday finished fourth last week, but by Thursday it had risen to 2nd place. Add in the family friendly nature and this movie should benefit the most from the Labor Day long weekend. $8 million for Friday to Sunday and $10 million overall.
Coming in third for the third week in a row will be Open Range. Targeted at a more mature audience, this movie will also benefit more from the long weekend than other movies coming in virtual tie with Freaky Friday. $8 million for Friday to Sunday and $10 million overall.
S.W.A.T. has been in first place on the daily charts since Wednesday, but several other movies have been gaining on it during the week. So it will drop to fourth for the weekend, but the $7 million / $9 million it will earn will be enough to push it over the $100 million mark.
Returning to the top five after two weeks at number 6 is Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. At the beginning of the week it was more than $500 thousand out of top spot, but by Thursday it was only a little more than $100 thousand and comfortably in the top five. And even without a long weekend Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the black Peal had held up well at the box office. So expect it to do even better this weekend. $6 million Friday to Sunday and $8 million over the long weekend.
Three other movies are trying for the $100 million club this weekend.
After last weekend, Charlie's Angels: Full throttle had only $500,000 to reach the milestone, and even battle mid-week numbers would have cut that in half by Thursday. After taking into account the drop of 40% of its theatre count this weekend it should still make the grade by Monday.
The Italian Job is just a little more than $3 million away and this weekend it expands to over 1900 theatres. That gives it an outside shot at $100 million this weekend, but even if it just cuts the gap in half it should reach it by the end of next weekend.
Lastly, Seabiscuit has made more than $95 million, including more than $6 million last weekend. Giving its strong legs and the long weekend it has a very good chance at $100 million by Monday as well.
ses this week did significantly worse than expected, however, the holdovers didn't pick up the slack as they usually do. This led to a massive 31.5% drop from last weekend but a 12.2% increase from last year. An interesting note, the top four films this week remained in the same order as they did last weekend. I don't know when that last happened.
While Freddy vs. Jason did finish first, that's a small bit of good news in an otherwise terrible second week performance. It was only able to grab $13.2 million, well below most predictions, which resulting in a 64% drop-off. The biggest second week drop off for a number one movie since The Hulk, and second largest such drop overall. Next weekend when the similarly targeted movie Jeepers Creepers 2 opens could spell an even worse result.
Second place again went to S.W.A.T. with $10.6 million. $100 million by next week is the goal and there's talk of a new TV spin-off in the works.
Just missing predictions by a rounding error was Open Range which added $9.5 million to it's total. Unfortunately, this genre usually doesn't do well internationally and the studio will most likely have to wait till the home market to see a profit.
Freaky Friday was the only movie to outperform its predictions, albeit by only a few hundred thousand. The $9.3 million earned this week makes the movie very close to showing a profit after only 3 weeks of release.
The first of three new releases this week was The Medallion, which could only manage $8.1 million and fifth place at the box office. The Medallion had the best reviews of any wide release of the weekend, but at 20% it really doesn't mean much. Despite similar reviews and international performances as The Tuxedo this movie couldn't find an audience domestically. This probably means Jackie Chan needs to do something different in his next film. And Around the World in 80 Days does look different than the usual Jackie Chan movie.
Some analysts had My Boss's Daughter finish in the top five. However, not only did it miss the top five, like I predicted, it barely landed in the top 10. It could only grab $4.9 million in its opening weekend, which was only good enough for tenth place. It also had the lowest per theatre average in the top ten. This movie wasn't screened for the critics, and for good reason. My Boss's Daughter only managed a lowly 11% positive.
Getting the worst reveiws of the week was Marci X. This could be the movie that stops people from making fun of Gigli. That's how bad it did both at the box office and with the critics. It's apropos that I compared Marci X to Grind since Marci X finished in 17th place with less than $900 thousand and Grind finished 18th. Marci X earned less in its first weekend than Finding Nemo did in its 13th. Marci X's per theatre average for its first weekend was lower than Daddy Day Care's in its 16th weekend. This is a failure that should result in people being fired and careers coming to an end.
To update the box office of the movies I mentioned on Friday, Thirteen and American Splendor both did well enough to be featured on the top ten per theatre average chart. Step into Liquid and The Magdalene Sisters both saw significant increases in their box office and both should cross the $1 million mark mid-week while The Secret Lives of Dentists crossed that mark on Friday. And Passionada saw its per theatre average increase from last weekend.
ems to be little to get a movie fan interested this week. At least when it comes to wide releases.
It's almost a foregone conclusion that Freddy vs. Jason will finish first this week, just as much as it's a foregone conclusion that it will lose at least 50% at the box office. Just the genre alone would suggest that. Add in the Fanboy effect and sequelitis and the like and a drop of closer to 60% is likely. Mid-week numbers have been horrible; Freddy vs. Jason has lost more than 84% of its daily box office since last Friday. That's on par with The Hulk, which went on to lose nearly 70% at the box office during its second week. The one thing this movie has going for it is the complete lack of competition this week. This should help it grab $15 million this weekend.
The Medallion has already opened internationally and the numbers are average at best. It's currently tracking about 10% lower than The Tuxedo, and that performance should be similar stateside. Reviews are also on lower than The Tuxedo, in other words, bad. Really bad. Although most reviewers did comment on how special effects are replacing stunts in Jackie Chan's movies. (He's turning 50 next year, cut him some slack.) The Medallion should earn about $12 million this weekend.
In third place is S.W.A.T. This TV show turned movie didn't drop nearly as much as expected last weekend and should continue to show some legs. Not a lot mind you, but better than average for the summer. The $11 million is should grab this week will put it close to $90 million and it should cross $100 million by the end of next weekend.
Open Range added a few more theatres in its second week, but it's still not enough to crack the top ten theatre count this week. It will fair better at the box office coming in fourth with $10 million.
Rounding out the top five is Freaky Friday. $9 million for its third weekend is good news for this $26 million movie. $100 million total could be in the cards for Freaky Friday.
Just missing the top five will be My Boss's Daughter. When judging how well a movie will do one of the factors to consider is advertising. Not just how well is the advertising done, but does it even exist. In the case of My Boss's Daughter I've only seen a few ads on TV and it doesn't even have an official website. Earlier in the week it was expected to open in about 1200 theatres, but Dimension Films pushed to have it opening is a respectable 2200 theatres. This after being bounced around to no less than 4 release dates. Add in the fact that is wasn't screen for critics and $7 million opening weekend is about as good as it gets.
Doing even worse and just missing the top ten will be Marci X. A lot of things have been blamed for the soft summer this year from pirates to text messaging. But the real culprit is quality or the lack thereof. You can't tell me there aren't better scripts that haven't been made. Like the previous movie, Marci X wasn't screened for critics and advertising has been nearly non-existent. And with a release of just over 1200 theatres, this movie will probably do even worse than last week's loser Grind did.
But fret not brave reader. There is hope at the box office this weekend in the form of limited releases. Thirteen opened on Wednesday and if the reviews are correct it deserves to find an audience. And the reviews are even better for last week's winner of the per theatre box office, American Splendor (which expanded into 26 more theatres this week.) Other limited releases that should be worth checking out include Passionada, (reviews.) Step into Liquid, (reviews), The Secret Lives of Dentists, (reviews) and The Magdalene Sisters, (reviews.) It may take a little more effort to find a theatre showing these movies. But if enough people see them, then maybe Hollywood will make more high quality movies and fewer movies like Marci X.
couple of surprises this week, and they were pleasant ones. This helped the box office rise by 4.9% from last week, and an amazing 32% from last year.
Beating practically all predictions, and not just mine, was Freddy vs. Jason. $36.4 million was not only double my prediction, it was higher than the total box office of all but one Friday the 13th movie and all but two Nightmare on Elm Street movie. Where were all these fans last year when Jason X bombed at the theatres? However, Freddy vs. Jason did have pretty bad reviews, although they were on par with the rest of the Nightmare and Friday the 13th series. Add in the genre, fanboy effect, sequelitis and your looking at a large drop next weekend. Oh, and before I get anymore more insulting e-mail on this topic please remember two things: 1.) Try and use actual words and proper grammar, when you say stuff like, 'u r stupid' it just makes me pity you. 2.) Try and be insulting. I hang out in ASVS so it takes a lot to offend me. Be creative, be witty, don't repeat, 'LOL' a dozen time and expect it to have an effect.
S.W.A.T. is holding onto its box office better than expected but it still dropped over 50% this weekend. 51.1% to be more precise leaving a figure of $18.1 million. A relatively average result.
Going back to the genre that made him a star, Kevin Costner did better than expected with Open Range. Buoyed by the best reviews of any wide release this week, it was able to earn $14.0 million this week.
Freaky Friday made just a fraction less than predicted at $13.4 million. It's probably just a couple weeks away from making Disney a profit.
Conversely, Uptown Girls made a fraction more than predicted at $11.3 million. However, reviews suggest future earnings will be hurt by word of mouth and MGM will most likely have to wait till the Ancillary market (Hotels, Airliners, Cruise Ships, etc.) before it sees a profit.
Over the weekend reviews for Grind improved all the way to 9% positive, just ahead of reviews for Gigli. However, its box office was actually worse at only $2.5 million. Grind's per theatre average was barely more than $1000, lower than Finding Nemo in its 12th weekend, and lower than Bend it Like Beckham in its 23rd weekend.
movies opening wide this week, and with such a crowded market at least two will bomb. And considering the dubious quality of the release, they could all fail to make much of an impact. With so many new openings I'm going to profile them first and then deal with the rest of the top five after.
Freddy vs. Jason - Ten years too late. The Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street franchises are some of the longest lasting with a combines 17 films between them. But despite this they have less than $450 million domestic box office. That's less than Austin Powers has made in just 3 movies. Predictions for this movie go as high as $30 million, but that's more 10 of the previous films earned in their entire run. And the people who grew up with the franchises have grown up themselves and are unlikely to see another slasher movie. Reviews are about what you would expect, 33% overall and about half that for the cream of the crop. Look for about $15 million this weekend and about $35 million overall.
Uptown Girls - MGM misses again. This is the eighth movie released by MGM/UA this year, and so far only one has beaten expectations (Agent Cody Banks) and one other will be profitable (Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde.) Normally I'd give this movie an extra boost given it's target audience, but this year there has been several movies aimed at similar audiences from What a Girl Wants to The Lizzie McGuire Movie to the more recent How to Deal and Freaky Friday. Unfortunately for MGM, reviews are closer to How to Deal than Freaky Friday. And so will the box office. $10 million this week, but with better legs it could top Freddy vs. Jason's $35 million.
Open Range - The Best reviewed wide release of the week. In fact, its score of 77% is higher than the other three movies combined. Too bad it is also the smallest release of the four opening in just over 2000 theatres. Recently Kevin Costner movies haven't performed well at the box office, and chances are good reviews won't save this one. $8 million opening weekend and good word of mouth will be its only hope.
Grind - Worse reviews that Gigli? As I'm writing this Grind is currently sitting at only 8% positive, which's the same score as Gigli. However, even Gigli had one cream of the crop reviewer give it a positive review, the same can't be said for Grind. The only thing going for this movie is it is relatively unknown, so at least there's no negative buzz surrounding it. $5 million opening weekend before dropping out of theatres by September.
If I lived in Cleveland I'd be checking out American Splendor this weekend. Since I don't I'll see if any of the local theatres are playing Passionada. If not, well, I've got a pretty good DVD collection I could dip into.
Now on to the holdovers.
Repeating at top spot will be S.W.A.T., not due to its quality, just because there's so little competition this week. It will stop roughly 55%, but that still leaves $16 million, good enough for first place.
Freaky Friday will drop one spot to land in third. A weekend total of $14 million will raise its run to nearly $60 million. More than it cost to make and advertise.
Making one more appearance in the top 5 will be Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. It's just $100,000 from beating Bruce Almighty for third place this year. It is starting to slow down and the race for 2nd place is becoming more interesting. $9 million this weekend will leave it just short of the $250 million mark.
ary Step Into Liquid easily won the per theatre average race this week. Its average of $27,197 was well ahead of the second place film Le Divorce. The star-studded film earned almost four times what Step Into Liquid did, but did it in 34 theatres to get an average of $15,201. The Magdalene Sisters dropped just one place to third just ahead of S.W.A.T. $11,981 to $11,575.
Submitted by: C.
Friday's predictions, but the holdovers all fell faster than expected. This mixed result led the box office down 3.4% from last week and 2.3% from last year.
S.W.A.T. not only finished first, but did so with a much higher box office than predicted. An opening weekend of $37.1 million is pretty good for a movie budgeted at $70 million. However, weak reviews will probably mean its legs will be cut short. Still, if it does similar business internationally it should make a profit before it hits the home market.
Even after upping my prediction for Freaky Friday last Friday, it wasn't enough. The Disney remake earned an impressive $22.2 million on a production budget of just $26 million. (Although P&A budget could be more than the production budget.) Garnering some of the best reviews this summer, which was a bit of a surprise, and given its family friendly nature, this movie could have serious legs.
Dropping more than expected, but better than average was the last in the American Pie trilogy, American Wedding. Earning $15.5 million in its second weekend will make getting $100 million a little harder to come by, but still within reach.
Seabiscuit dropped a little more than expected, down to $12 million. With a total box office of nearly $70 million, breaking the $100 million mark could be possible, but it will have to show some serious legs to get there.
Barring a complete collapse of two of next week's four new openings Finding Nemo has spent it's last week in the top 10. And while it earned $2.5 million last weekend it is still a couple of weeks before it beats Forest Gump into 8th place.
wide releases this week, one of which was already released on Wednesday. Reviews for both movies started out strong, but only one was able to hold on to the positive press.
This week sees the release of Colin Farrell's fourth of five movies this year. Each one will either bring him closer to superstardom or overexposure. And while it's almost a sure thing S.W.A.T. will finish first, it looks like this movie won't make Colin Farrell a superstar. Reviews started out strong, over 80% on Wednesday, but have now fallen to just over 50%, and they could fall farther as the weekend progresses. In the end $25 million for the weekend and a total take equal to its production budget are in the cards.
My prediction for Freaky Friday's Wednesday opening was right on the money with $6 million. However, my prediction that the reviews would take a drop was not. In fact, reviews have increased to 89%. Because of this I'm increasing my prediction for the weekend to $20 million.
After disappointing figures its first week, American Wedding will start to quickly drop down the list landing in third place this week. Its box office will be cut in half to just under $17 million, which is better than most this summer.
Its weekday numbers are tracking on par with last week, but Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl is starting to shed theatres so a slightly bigger drop-off than last week is in the cards. That still leaves Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl $15 million and just shy of Bruce Almighty. It should beat that movie sometime mid-week.
The battle for fifth place is too close to call at this point. Seabiscuit did have a miniscule 15% drop last week, but it also had a more than 20% increase in theatre count. And without a significant increase in theatres with week I see a much larger drop in box office, down to $13 million. That's the same number I see for Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over. That would bring its three week total to $90 million, ahead of Spy Kids 2's total run.
Nemo Watch takes a break this week as there are no milestone that Finding Nemo is likely to cross this week. At least not on the domestic front.
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. Felt like a slow week, I don't know if that's cause it is a slow week, or that fact that I moved this week meant I didn't have time to really research website updates. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.
Beyond Borders
Current Content: None, just redirects you to Paramount's movie page.
Calendar Girls
Current Content: The movie is still months away but there is considerable content on the site already. Synopsis, trailer, poster and cast and crew (no bios.) There's are background music and a few audio clips, but they don't repeat so you only hear them once.
Cabin Fever
Current Content: New design, new URL. Right now there are only two clips and without any context they make no sense. There are two other clips coming soon so hopefully they will help explain things.
Cheaper By the Dozen
Current Content: None, just redirects you to Fox's movie page.
Cold Creek Manor
Current Content: None, just redirects you to Touchstone's movie page
Envy
Current Content: The VaPOOrizer site was removed last week and now we know why. Its theatrical release has been pushed back to 2004, or perhaps never. Word is it could go direct to video at this stage.
Freaky Friday
Current Content: Just in time for its release the last few features were added. These include the bios and party planner and lots of clips, (a few scenes, some behind the scenes and two music videos.) Overall, this site has a good format and good content to match. The only thing its missing is background music, but it has plenty of sound to make up for that. It's this week's winner of the inescapable Weekly Website Award.
Le Divorce
Current Content: While lacking any really unusual features, this site does present the usual features in a good fashion. Also, the background music fits well with the theme of the movie and avoids becoming repetitive.
Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Current Content: You can now submit questions for the cast interviews that will be part of the site when it launches later on.
Passionade
Current Content: The seafood recipes are finally up. A bit beyond my cooking expertise, but they look good.
The Princess Blade
Current Content: This site has quite a bit of features, but none that are really unique. However, the way they all come together helps. Sound effects, a bit of animation for the segues and good background music are all pluses.
S.W.A.T.
Current Content: I can't give a review of this site since some features do not work with my browser, and some actually cause it to crash.
School of Rock
Current Content: Just a placeholder site with no actual content.
Step into Liquid
Current Content: Because this is a documentary some of the regular features aren't here, like synopsis. But they do have the trailer and cast bios of sorts. (There's bios in the surfers shown in the movie.) Besides the trailer there is a clip of behind the scenes shoots. Definitely a plus is the background music, it's long enough and loops well enough to not become repetitive and is effective without being overwhelming.
Thirteen
Current Content: The old placeholder site is gone and now it redirects you to the trailer on Apple.com.
Timeline
Current Content: Right now there is just the trailer and several audio clips. But their presentation is very cool and hopefully as new content is added this site it will only get better.
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.
Bad Boys II
Current Content: Issue 3, which used to deal with the original Bad Boys, was added, again. But this time it has Bad Boys II info. Specifically, an interview with the costume designer Carol Rasmey (to be added later), the Finesse TV Spot, Jay-Z music video, six more images and two more wallpapers and Buddy Icons. Issue #4 was also added, and along with the standard 6 images and 2 wallpapers and Buddy Icons, this issue had production notes and two more TV Spots, (Time Out and We’re Going In.) Overall this site is coming together nicely.
Envy
Current Content: The site launched this week, but it’s set up to look like an ad for VaPOOrize. You can watch the Infomercial, or the Flash animated add, and there’s even a free giveaway marked coming soon. Of the usual suspects, only the movie trailer is there.
Freddy vs. Jason
Current Content: They’ve completely redone the format and the new format is a little too bright. Besides the new format there was some new content added, namely a timeline for both franchises and a tale of the tape.
Hidalgo
Current Content: This site just opened and so far there’s just a flash intro and the synopsis and trailer.
The Incredibles
Current Content: Just the logo and the teaser trailer. I’ve must have watched the trailer a hundred times and I still can’t figure out who’s doing the voices.
Johnny English
Current Content: Already a hit overseas, the North American version of the site just launched. And it’s an excellent site. There’s a section on the movie that has a lot information, trailer, cast and crew bios, synopsis, image gallery, production notes, etc. But most of the content is elsewhere. A section on MI-5 contains an interaction dossier, (including a very well done picture of John Malkovich as a naughty nurse), demonstration on some of the latest gadgets, surveillance footage of Johnny English, more than a dozen audio clips from the movie, 2 animated E-cards, a screensaver and 2 wallpapers. Then there are three games the plays as well. Combined with the good segues and sound FX, this site definitely earned the extravagant Weekly Website Awards.
The Last Samurai
Current Content: The third section is up, this time about warriors … sort of. Doesn’t seem to fit well with the rest of the site, and certainly isn’t as compelling as the last addition on the Samurai code.
Masked and Anonymous
Current Content: This movie has a huge cast of very famous people, and the site wisely focuses a lot of attention on them. There’s page after page of information: Cast and crew bios, production notes, two essays, etc. The amount of multimedia is limited to the trailer and a couple of songs. But the text is so well written that no more is needed.
Mona Lisa Smile
Current Content: Typical Sony placeholder site. Right now, it has just the trailer but that should change.
Sharkaslayer
Current Content: The movie is still more than a year away, so there’s very little on the site. Just the cast and the character they play. Although, the way they are introduced is well done.
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas
Current Content: With just as few days before the movie opens, the site added a couple of new games and eight clips from the movie.
S.W.A.T.
Current Content: The flash site opened this week and there’s a lot to it. Trailer, synopsis, cast and crew bios (coming soon), games, music, Animated E-cards called Veepers (doesn’t work with Mozilla), screensavers, wallpaper, etc. There is also a lot of information on the real world S.W.A.T. forces; this included history, training and equipment. The music is quite good for this site, the clip is very long so it doesn’t get repetitive. However, the looping is not as well done as it could be. Transitions are also done well, and the sound effects add to the experience without overwhelming it.
Terminator 3
Current Content: This site has more multimedia content than any other I’ve reviewed. It was overwhelming at times. The information about the movie was well done; trailer, synopsis, cast and crew bios, production notes, it’s all there. But when in came to images and such, they could have trimmed it down. For instance, there are more than 200 wallpapers to choose from, more than 90% of them user created. It seemed to dilute the effectiveness of the official content. Which is too bad, cause this is an otherwise good site.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
