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Tuesday, November 24, 2009
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2005-10-17
Every week, films get a second chance at success on the home market; or, in some cases, a first chance at success.
This week is deceptively weak for releases; while there are plenty of DVDs coming out tomorrow, many of them are re-releases, double-dips and the like. The best of the bunch is Lifeboat - Special Edition, with Batman Begins - Buy from Amazon close behind.
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2004-02-10
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. The selection is not as strong this week, which is good since my wallet took a beating last week. There are still several DVDs of interest including the pick of the week Angel Season 3 - (Buy from Amazon.)
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2003-11-25
a three-way race for top spot in the international market. And in the end, the top three films were just $2.0 million apart.
Despite opening in only four markets, Finding Nemo earned the number one position with $22.3 million. It also broke records for animation is all four new markets. In Germany it hauled in $12.9 million on a little more than 1000 screens, in Austria $2 million on 123, in Switzerland (French and German regions only) $1.6 million on just 97 and in Poland $909,000 on 125 screens. Internationally, Finding Nemo's catch now stands at $186.2 million (89th all time) and will cross $200 million next weekend. Worldwide the Pixar blockbuster has earned an incredible $525.9 million, just below Monsters Inc. for 25th place on the all-time chart.
The Matrix Revolutions' international run is mirroring the domestic run; huge openings followed by huge drops. The final film in The Matrix Trilogy dropped 60% in South Korea and China, 57% in Germany, 56% in Taiwan, 54% in Russia and Mexico. But a much stronger performance in Japan, where its week-to-week decline was just 16%, helped The Matrix Revolutions to $21.5 million and second place this weekend. It also crossed the $200 million marked sometime mid week, and should cross $400 million worldwide. But that will be its last major milestone.
Opening in a lucky 13 markets, Love Actually had an amazing week with $20.3 million on just 2200 screens. The directorial debut of screenwriter Richard Curtis, Love Actually is tracking ahead of Bridget Jones's Diary in most markets and even ahead of his biggest hit, Notting Hill is some. At this point, $200 million internationally is almost a sure bet and $300 million worldwide is well within reach.
Intolerable Cruelty dropped another spot to fourth, while its international box office climbed this week to $6.4 million. More than half that came from a number one opening in France. It should cross $100 million worldwide, either late the week, or early next weekend.
Kill Bill: Volume 1 international take abated slightly this weekend to $3.4 million. However, its international run topped its domestic run this week $69.2 million to $68.4 million.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-11-18
http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2003/MTRX3.php>The Matrix Revolutions broke records, both internationally and worldwide, (the final figure for last week's worldwide box office did beat out Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.) This week it was able to maintain the number one spot at the box office with $42.0 million, but like the domestic side, its international run was marred by fast drops in many markets. In Australia it was down 66%, France 62%, Russia and Taiwan 60%. In some holdover markets the decline was less dramatic, like China at just 36% and Japan and 39%. International totals are just shy of $200 million and worldwide the film broke $300 million.
While $7.3 million may not seem like a lot for Finding Nemo, especially compared to the number one film this week. It was the result of two or three animation records. It clearly set records in Sweden ($2 million) and Norway ($1 million.) However, in Denmark it isn't so clear, it failed to top Tarzan in Kroner but the box office in American was a record. The international total is now up to $162.9 (115th overall) and its worldwide total topped $500 million, only the 29th film and only the fourth animated film to do so.
Intolerable Cruelty dropped another spot to third. This week it took in another $5.0 million to raise its international total past $50 million. Worldwide it should cross $100 million before its run is finished.
Kill Bill: Volume 1 international take rose slightly this weekend to $3.6 million. However, that wasn't enough to keep it in third place.
Opening its international run in just two markets, Love Actually managed a spot in the top five with $2.6 million. It took top spot in Italy with $2.2 million, which pushed The Matrix Revolutions into second spot. In Portugal it finished second to Revolutions with an impressive $330,000 on just 50 screens. These results have the film tracking ahead of Richard Curtis' most recent film, Bridget Jones's Diary, which went on to earn more than $200 million internationally.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-11-12
story internationally this week, and that was the performance of The Matrix Revolutions. Not surprisingly, it was tops on the international box office. Its international take was $117.6 million since Wednesday, just ahead of the previous record of $113.2 million The Matrix Reloaded took in its second weekend of international release. However, Revolutions was shown on more than 1000 addition screens, so its per screen average was lower. Worldwide, The Matrix Revolutions took in $201.4 million, just shy of the $201.8 million Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers earned in its first five days of release. In a country by country comparison, The Matrix Revolution's performance was mixed compared to Reloaded's. However, even in countries where it was weaker, it held up much better than it did domestically.
After two weeks on top Intolerable Cruelty drop to second with $6.5 million. The film has only earned a disappointing $33.5 million domestically, but has already beat that internationally already with a few more significant opening in the coming weeks.
Kill Bill: Volume 1 was killed at the box office dropping from $8.9 million to just $3.3 million. It should recover this weekend when it opens in South Korea.
This should be the last slow weekend for Finding Nemo. It hasn't had an international opening since it debuted in the U.K. more than a month ago, so the fact that its still in the top five with $3.1 million is quite a feat. However, this week Finding Nemo opens in four mid-ranged European markets before major openings in Germany, France, Italy and then Japan in quick succession. So it should be making waves at the international box office very soon.
With just $2.9 million, Bad Boys II has probably had its last weekend on the top five. At least till it opens in Japan on the last weekend of November.
Submitted by:
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2003-11-04
g weekend at the international box office full of twists and surprises … I'm only kidding. The top five was exactly the same as last weekend. Same five movie, in the same order.
Holdovers were very kind to Intolerable Cruelty, which added $10.7 million to its international run. With that, the film passed its domestic total of $31.9 million by a clear margin. The film is showing much better legs internationally, especially in Australia (down 22%), the U.K. (down 21%) and Spain (down just 10%). Its international box office could prove to be the film's saving grace.
As with the previous film, strong holdovers helped Kill Bill: Volume 1 into second place with $8.9 million. Kill Bill's best holdover performances came in Italy (down 18%) and Germany (down 14%.) Japan's numbers weren't available due to a holiday on Monday, but they were expected to be just as good.
Bad Boys II has just one more international opening in the works, and that's in Japan on the last weekend of November. Until then it will have to rely on holdovers to help it stay on the charts. This week another $6.5 million was added to its total of $110 million.
The international story for Finding Nemo has been the same since it opened in the U.K. four weekends ago. And with no new openings next weekend, it will probably be the same for one more week. This week's catch was $6.4 million, down slightly from last weekend. Its totals are now $151 million internationally (137th all-time) and $490 million worldwide (31st all-time, just ahead of fellow Pixar classic Toy Story 2.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen crossed the $100 million mark sometime mid-week. With the $4.6 million earned over the weekend, its international total climbed to $105.4 million.
This Wednesday, The Matrix Revolutions opens in an unprecedented 80 countries worldwide and should easily take top spot. But with no studio foolish enough to have a major international release to compete with it, the rest of the top five should look very similar to this week's, only with much smaller box offices.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-10-28
omedy Intolerable Cruelty led the international box office in a close contest with $13.1 million on 2405 screens in 22 markets. It had the best results in the U.K. with $2.5 million and Germany with $1.9 million. It had smaller box offices, but first place finishes in Spain, Australia and Austria.
Kill Bill: Volume 1 came in second place overall with $12.1 million on 2315 screen in 20 markets. However, it did manage to beat Intolerable Cruelty in several markets including The U.K., Norway, Denmark and Finland. The film also had a number one opening in Japan with $3.5 million.
It was a milestone weekend for Bad Boys II. After winning the last two weekends, the film took in another $9.8 million to cross the $100 million mark by just half a million dollars. It is the 20th film to do so this year. The film has yet to open in Japan, and could make more internationally than the original made worldwide.
For the third week in a row the U.K. accounted for more than 90% of Finding Nemo's international box office. And for the third week the animated movie finished in the top five. This week's catch of $6.8 million pushed its international total to $134 million (163rd all-time) and its worldwide total to $472.7 million (33rd all-time, just ahead of fellow fish tale Jaws.) Finding Nemo will probably drop out of the top five before its next major market opening in France on November 12th.
With just one more market to open in, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is wrapping up its international run. While it was a major disappointment domestically, it managed another $6.8 million internationally pushing its total to $96.3 million. Next week it should cross the $100 million mark.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-10-13
ekend for new releases with four movies opening wide. New releases generally performed above expectations, but not by a large margin. The overall box office was up by 19% from last week but a mere 1.8% from last year. The year to year box office increase was much smaller that the increase in average ticket prices.
Kill Bill: Volume 1 had by far the best opening for a Quentin Tarantino movie at $22.1 million. By the end of the weekend, reviews were at the same level as Jackie Brown, and if its legs are the same it will get close to $100 million. If so, expect a re-release when Volume 2's release date nears to push it over that milestone.
As expected, School of Rock's box office bounced back after weak weekday numbers. In fact, it bounced back so well that it took second place with $15.5 million. That represents just a 21.1% drop, much better than fellow surprise hit Freaky Friday. But without the strong summer weekdays, School of Rock won't have the same shot at $100 million.
When I first predicted Good Boy! would open with $8 million it was only expected to open in 2500 theatres when in fact it opened in over 3200. So it is no surprise that the film beat expectations with $13.1 million. On the other hand, reviews dropped over the weekend finishing with just 47% positive.
Going the opposite direction was Intolerable Cruelty which failed to match expectations with just $12.5 million for its opening weekend. The George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones darkly romantic comedy did see an impressive improvement in its reviews with a final result of 80% positive. Still, it was the best opening for a Coen Brothers' movie and if it has the legs to match that pedigree, then the film will be profitable before the final box office is done.
Out of Time almost matched predictions with $8.6 million, a drop of 47%. Good for its genre, especially given how most movies have faired during their second weekend of release. But it is not good enough to help this movie become profitable before the home market.
The House of the Dead managed slightly more than predictions with $5.7 million. But given its genre and the fact that out of 13 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes not one was positive, don't expect it to earn more than $5.7 million for the rest of its run.
Lost in Translation slipped slightly faster than expected, but managed to stay in the top ten for one more week. Its $2.8 million raised its total to $18.1 million, impressive compared to its very humble production budget of $4 million. Focus Features should be happy even if no Oscar nominations are in the future.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-10-13
ning this weekend, but only two of them have a serious shot at top place. The other two will be fighting for the scraps and a place in the top five.
Note: This is how the story was written on Wednesday. I was planning on revising my estimates on Friday before publishing it. However, that was not to be, so here present the unrevised story with the weekend wrap up to follow shortly.
Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill by Quentin Tarantino opens this week in over 3000 theatres. The fourth film directed by Quentin Tarantino, or fifth if you count Quentin Tarantino's segment in Four Rooms, or sixth if you count My Best Friend's Birthday, which Quentin Tarantino directed but was partially destroyed before it was ever shown. It’s a testament to Quentin Tarantino's work that Miramax is using his name so prominently in its advertising campaign. The biggest question mark is how the public will react to the decision to split the movie into two parts. Either the shortened length will make for a more enjoyable movie going experience, or there will be a backlash for being asked to pay twice for one movie. Reviews are the weakest for any of Quentin Tarantino's previous full-length movies, but it is also the widest by far. Look for about $21 million opening weekend.
After major hits in 2000 and 2001, George Clooney stumbled with Solaris and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Look for him to rebound with Intolerable Cruelty, which should make more in its opening weekend than either of the above films did in their total run. Granted, this will not be due to George Clooney alone as Catherine Zeta-Jones is a proven box office star as well. Reviews are average, but not poor enough to have a major effect on the box office and a $16 million is the target for the weekend.
School of Rock's box office has plummeted during the weekdays, but given its target audience that is to be expected. It should bounce back on the weekend to take $13 million, which's a drop of just 33%.
Out of Time will drop much more due to its genre, dropping to $9 million. That is in the mid-40s percent wise, much better than the average this year.
A kids' movie is the third movie to open this week, Good Boy! With reviews that are just straddling the 60% needed for an overall positive rating, and an average theatre count Good Boy! will have to settle for $8 million. That is nearly half its production budget, so the news isn't all bad.
The last new movie to open wide this week is The House of the Dead, based on a popular video game. Movies based on video games have generally performed very poorly at the box office. And since this is the fourth of five low budget horror movies released this year the market place could very well be saturated. Reviews are sparse, and generally very bad. Look for it to make about $5 million this weekend before dropping out of theatres by Halloween.
Spending what will likely be its last week in the top ten is Lost in Translation. While it gained more theatres this week, it's not enough for it to hold onto its box office. $3 million this week and fading hopes for Oscar nominations.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-10-10
ery short version of my weekend predictions because I'm out visiting my family for Thanksgiving, (in Canada we celebrate it in October.)
I already wrote the full story on Wednesday and was going to return home today to upload, but plans changed at the last minute and I couldn't make it.
Normally I'd just rewrite the story in full and publish it, however, I'm stuck on my parents'
computer. It's a Pentium 166 with 24 megs of ram and a 33.6k modem, it's like living in the stone age.
It took so long just to login to the site that I decided to write this version now and when I get back on Sunday
night I will post the original story that has more commentary. But for now, just the raw predictions.
#1 - Kill Bill Volume 1 with $21 million.
#2 - Intolerable Cruelty with $16 million
#3 - School of Rock with $13 million
#4 - Good Boy! with $11 million
#5 - Out of Time with $10 million
And The House of the Dead will finish out of the top five with $5 million.
Submitted
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2003-10-09
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.
This will be an abridged version due previously mentioned scheduling conflict. But you can't really tell.
The Alamo
Current Content: The full trailer is up, along with the old teaser trailer.
Barbershop 2
Current Content: A placeholder site so far with just the teaser trailer.
Big Fish
Current Content: Typical Sony placeholder site with just the synopsis and trailer.
Broken Lizard's Club Dread
Current Content: Typical Fox Searchlight placeholder site with just the synopsis so far.
Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind
Current Content: The site is based on the company Lacuna from the movie. Right now its just a commercial for that company, but it says to check back tomorrow for further updates.
The Dreamers
Current Content: Typical Fox Searchlight placeholder site with just the synopsis so far.
Dopamine
Current Content: Simple site without sound or animation. There's some interesting content, including some on the role of Dopamine in the brain. But overall there's not enough to keep a surfer's attention for too long.
Elf
Current Content: Another game was added, Stocking Stuffer. But that background music is getting to me something awful. And to think, I've got to listen to every week to check for updates.
Girls Will Be Girls
Current Content: The format is the same as most IFC sites, but there is more content than most of their sites. Trailer, synopsis and cast and crew bios are all there, so are a few clips, image gallery and even sites for the three girls from the film.
Good Boy
Current Content: Another game was added to the site, this one a variation on concentration. Overall, this is a good site especially for its target audience.
House of the Dead
Current Content: The original site was removed due its graphic nature. The new site is toned down, but relatively unchanged.
Intolerable Cruelty
Current Content: Two TV spots and four clips were added just in time for the movie's release.
Kill Bill
Current Content: No changes from last week, and with Volume 1 opening tomorrow I doubt the remaining three character intros will be added till Volume 2 is nearing its release date.
Looney Tunes: Back in Action
Current Content: The second blog was added to the site, which adds a bit more background information.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Current Content: Did they really need the whole name in the URL? I don't think so. A large portion of the site is called The Journey, which alternates between entries in the Captain's Log and information about life on a ship from the sails to meals. There are also regulars features, but so far much of this is marked coming soon. Synopsis, Cast and Crew Bios, Production Notes and Featurettes are all marked coming soon. That does leave the trailer, images, interviews with three consultants (in .pdf format) and something called The Broadband Experience. The last feature is for Internet Explorer users only, so I can't review it. There are also several international sites, but they are all marked coming soon. The only complaint is the URL, but to deny it an award based on that would be petty, so it wins this week's nugatory Weekly Website Award.
The Matrix Revolutions
Current Content: As expected, there were more updates this week. This time it was information on The Matrix Reloaded's DVD release and a couple more posters, one just for international sites.
Mystic River
Current Content: There were no new additions since the last update. It is still an understated yet compelling website.
Shark Tale
Current Content: New name, new URL, same intro.
The Singing Detective
Current Content: The flash site launched and while it takes a little advantage of the animation flash allows, there is no sound outside the trailer and a clip from E.T. The site does have synopsis and cast and crew bios, but I was looking forward to for some behind the scenes info.
Spider-Man 2
Current Content: Quite a big update this week. A new webisode was added with director Sam Raimi and costume designer James Acheson that is about the changes to Spider-man's costume. The character section was added with brief bios and connections between the characters. In addition, the Ultimate Quiz will quickly show how much time you spent reading Spider-man comics as a kid (for me it was obviously too much.) There were also some more behind the scenes images and another wallpaper added.
Submitted by:
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2003-09-24
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.
Duplex
Current Content: It's a Miramax site. Boring beige background. Short synopsis. Cast and crew, no bios. The film opens in two days and the trailer is still marked coming soon.
Elf
Current Content: I know I usually love it when a site has background music, but I don't think I can take this background music for much longer. Maybe I'm old fashioned, But I feel it's too early for Christmas. Besides the background music this site has synopsis, trailer, photos, lots to download and a coloring book. Two of the sections also have more content marked coming soon, but no details on what that could be.
Gothika
Current Content: The trailer was added to the placeholder site.
The Haunted Mansion
Current Content: The full trailer was added to the site.
Honey
Current Content: No new content this week, but there was a redesign of the site.
Intolerable Cruelty
Current content: One of many flash sites that launched this week, and this one takes the divorce theme of the movie to heart. For instance, instead of downloads its called Disposable Assets. Besides the usual suspects, this site has a lot of interactive features and downloads. It also have TV spots and clips marked coming soon.
Kart Racer
Current Content: Having multiple, complete songs on a site is becoming a more common feature on sites, and this site has two. Besides the songs the site has the usual content plus a trivia game you have to register to play.
Kill Bill
Current Content: The flash launched this week and while there's a lot of content, most of it is either from the old site or is marked coming soon. There are flash intros to each of the characters, including one on Hanzo the sword, which was first on the old site. The last three characters are coming soon so is most of the new content, (Cast and Crew, Locations and Press Notes.) The character intros are good, especially Go-Go's which has some information on the band 5.6.7.8's and one of their songs you can listen to. I'm looking forward to when the rest of the sections are added and seeing how it all fits together.
Love Actually
Current Content: Just the placeholder site for now with the synopsis, cast and crew (no bios) trailer and photo gallery.
Love Don't Cost a Thing
Current Content: Typical Warner Bros. placeholder site with just the synopsis and a few images.
Luther
Current Content: The rest of the content has filtered in. There's an impressive amount of content, a lot of which deal with the historical aspect of the movie.
My Life Without Me
Current Content: Nothing new has changed since the site was first reviewed.
Mystic River
Current Content: The section on Clint Eastwood is now up. It consists of more than half a dozen interviews from the cast, the author of the novel and Clint Eastwood himself.
National Lampoon's: Dorm Daze
Current Content: This movie is set to be released this week, or maybe dumped is a better term. The site itself is offers nothing to keep the surfers attention. There's the trailer and four TV spots, none of which are intriguing, a few images and some posters.
Pieces of April
Current Content: The flash intro makes good use of flash animation and clips from the movie, both visual and audio. And it is definitely the best part of the site. All the usual suspects are there, (trailer, synopsis, cast and crew bios, production notes) but I kept going back to the introduction.
Prey for Rock and Roll
Current Content: Nothing new was added since the site was last reviewed but its still a great site with cool music that's just needed some extra flash to put it over the top.
The Punisher
Current Content: Complete redesign of the site. The old teaser site was moved and in its place is a new more in-depth site. It's still mostly teaser but there's a lot more background information.
Resident Evil: Apocalypse
Current Content: None, just a redirect.
Run Away Jury
Current Content: The sections that were marked coming soon last week were added this week. The last two characters were Nick Easter (3 clips) and Marlee (1 clip and 6 photos) as well as the clips section (4 clips) was added. Needless to say, this site is heavy into the multimedia. But it's not at the expense of other content, there's a synopsis, production notes and even a section on Hackman's and Hoffman's longtime friendship and how Run Away Jury is their first movie together. The excellent content combined with the animated intros, sound effects and background music add up to this week's emotional Weekly Website Review.
The Run Down
Current Content: A previously award winning site, this site have nearly everything a site should have. Animated intros, background music, video and audio clips, there's even a game to play. And this week several more multimedia clips were added including a behind the scenes featurette and three more clips from the movie.
The Singing Detective
Current Content: The trailer was added to the site, and the Coming Soon was removed.
Sylvia
Current Content: The teaser flash site is up with just the synopsis, trailer and image gallery. The full site is marked coming soon.
Tupac: Ressurection
Current Content: Nothing, just a redirect to the Paramount movie page.
Under the Tuscan Sun
Current Content: Just in time for this week's release, the flash site was launched and it has a good mix of multimedia and text content. For example, there's the trailer and five clips from the movie. There is also extensive cast and crew bios as well as behind the scenes information. There are also animated intros to each section and good use of music.
Yossi and Jagger
Current Content: This site is silent and still. In fact, the absence of any unusual features prevents the surfer from staying too long.
Submitted by:
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2003-07-30
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. Strange mix this week with mostly placeholders plus a few minor changes. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.
American Wedding
Current Content: Nothing has changed since I reviewed it last week. TV Spots and clips are still marked coming soon. But you can still check out the trailer, 'Bubble Clips', games, etc.
And Now Ladies and Gentlemen
Current Content: All the usual features are here, presented in a simply fashion with nice animated segues. There is, unfortunately, no sound. The inclusion of background music would have really helped this site stand out.
Anything Else
Current Content: Just a placeholder site. Currently it just has the name and release date. ... Wait a second, the trailer was just added. How's that for up to the minute updates.
Bollywood/Hollywood
Current Content: It was just learned that the movie's American release was pushed back a month, but the site has been up since it's Canadian release last year. A Bollywood Musical by way of Canada, this site naturally has a lot of music. There are six clips including Rocky's Song, which pays on the home page. Now the music is very much Bollywood themed so it's probably something you've never heard before, but it grows on you. There's also the synopsis, cast bios, the trailer and animation on every page. It's the little touches like the animations that helped this site win the wondrous Weekly Website Awards.
Bubba Ho-Tep
Current Content: Most of this site is dedicated to the press this film has received, and there is a lot of it. Reviews, stories, audio clips, etc., it's all there. There's also a synopsis and a trailer, but there should have been some more sounds as well. I would have loved to hear some Bruce Campbell as Elvis quotes.
Envy
Current Content: The VaPOOrizer site was removed and replaced with the old placeholder site.
Freaky Friday
Current Content: A few more features were added, the Wild to Mild personality test, Fortune Cookies and Teenage Translator. The bios, party planner and auditions are still marked coming soon.
Freddy vs. Jason
Current Content: New images from the Weight In were added to the site.
Gigli
Current Content: This movie opens this week and Sony still hasn't launched a flash site. The last time that happened was with Hollywood Homicide, and we all know how that turned out.
Grind
Current Content: This site has an impressive amount of behind the scene clips. However, it is missing some of the regular info, like synopsis and cast and crew bios. There is some info on the characters and images and a game to play.
Gothika
Current Content: Typical Warner Bros. placeholder site with just a single image and a synopsis. Full site should be launched as the release date nears.
Intolerable Cruelty
Current Content: The site just launched but the movie doesn't come out till October. So right now there's just the synopsis, trailer and a few photos.
The Magdalene Sisters
Current Content: It's a Miramax site. So you know what that means.
The Run Down
Current Content: Slightly different format for the placeholder site. The trailer was added, and so were some animation and quotes for the transitions.
Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed
Current Content: Placeholder site with just the poster, photos (two of them) and news from the set.
The Secret Lives of Dentists
Current Content: This site screams for sound, which is too bad cause it has pretty much everything else. All the usual suspects are here, including not only the trailer bur four clips. There's even a section for the music, but no actual music.
Under the Tuscan Sun
Current Content: Placeholder site with trailer, poster and 20 images.
Wonderland
Current Content: Another placeholder site with just the trailer.
Submitted by:
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2003-07-24
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.
American Wedding
Current Content: Cast and crew bios and production notes are up, TV Spots and clips are still marked coming soon, however.
Buffalo Soldiers
Current Content: One word: Miramax. This is a Miramax site. Small image of the poster. Trailer. Showtimes. Cast and crew, (no bios.) Synopsis. Just like every other Miramax site.
Civil Brand
Current Content: The placeholder site was removed and replaced with the standard Lions Gate Films under construction warning. Eventually it redirects you to the Lions Gates Films index page. This might be due the 'Caged Heat' vibe the images used on original site was giving off. Or was I the only one that felt that way?
Fighting Tempations
Current Content: Just a placeholder site with a synopsis, trailer and nine images.
Gigli
Current Content: A flipbook was added with about half a dozen images. I also heard Jennifer Lopez's 'booty' was trimmed down for the poster. But I can neither confirm nor deny that.
Hotel
Current Content: Another movie being released this week whose site that hasn't been updated since the last review. Which is a shame, as this site's only purpose seems to be to try to shock. It uses foul language, nudity and violence in a most unappealing way. Maybe if they talked more about the plot and characters it would be more engaging. Then again, if what some people are saying is true Hotel doesn't have a plot.
Intolerable Cruelty
Current Content: None, the URL just redirects you to Universal Pictures movie index.
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life
Current Content: Major new look right before its release. It's mostly the same content with a better format. Animated segues, sound effects, background music. In fact, there are clips of nine songs. Impressive. In addition to the usual suspects there is also information about some of the mythology in the movie, lots of images and video clips. Also, there was something called iPIX but that wouldn't work with my browser.
Masked and Anonymous
Current Content: It appears that nothing has changed since this site was last reviewed in the beginning of the month. So the review again before it opens this week: 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.
Mondays in the Sun
Current Content: As far as I can tell, nothing has changed on this site since it opened three months ago. More time is still spent on the director and producer than the rest of the movie.
Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Current Content: Sony's typical placeholder site. Synopsis, cast and crew (no bios), trailer and a few images. Expect a flash site within a few weeks.
The Run Down
Current Content: Another placeholder site. This time with a synopsis, cast and crew (no bios) and 9 images in the image gallery.
Seabiscuit
Current Content: The rest of the content has filtered in, but the overall continuity failed come together. Too bad, because it is an otherwise great site.
Second Hand Lions
Current Content: This movie site received a bit of a rework this week. It has the same content as before, just a different format. Now each section is linked by a picture with some animation and sound.
Spider-Man 2
Current Content: Would it be too early to call this the biggest movie of 2004? So far it's just a placeholder site with a synopsis and wallpaper.
Spy Kids 3D - Game Over
Current Content: The last two levels were added, theoretically. You see, you have to beat each level to progress to the next. And since I'm old and my reflexes are no longer as sharp as they once were, I'm unable to beat Platforms, the third level game. (Several hours pass) Woohoo! I finally beat Platforms. Never say I'm not willing to waste my time to bring you the information you desire. Moving on ... Level 4 (Lava Mountain) was much easier and allowed me to take on play the Unwinnable Level. If you can win here all hidden secrets can become unlocked, (with a little searching.) Even before the bonuses are unlocked this site is excellent, with them it easily wins the surreal Weekly Website Award.
Submitted by: C.
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