The Numbers - Box Office Data, Movie Stars, Idle Speculation
Shop at Amazon.com!

Buy Posters at AllPosters.com
Thursday, November 26, 2009

News Stories About The Singing Detective

DVD Releases for March 23, 2004

2004-03-22

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. Remember last week when I said it was a slow week cause no new release finished on Amazon's Top Ten Sales Chart? This week no new release is in the top 25 and only 2 in the top 50. In a week dominated by box office flops, not-so-special special editions and nearly featureless limited releases, it was a rock band that took my DVD Pick of the Week. Weezer - Video Capture Device 1991-2002 - (Buy from Amazon) is the only DVD I plan to pick up tomorrow. But there are a couple of rentals on the list.

Movie Websites Launches for October 17 - October 23

2003-10-23

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.


21 Grams
Current Content: The redirect was replaced with a placeholder site. The only content on the placeholder site is the trailer.


Alien: The Director's Cut
Current Content: All six clips were added to the site, as was the interview. The only feature left to be added is the modern reviews.


Beyond Borders
Current Content: The movie opens this week, but there were no changes in the website from last week.


Brother Bear
Current Content: The movie opens in just two theatres tomorrow before opening in 2500+ next week. A couple more games have been added since the flash site first launched. I still think Rutt and Tuke are the best part of the site.


The Butterfly Effect
Current Content: Just a placeholder with the trailer, image gallery, wallpapers and poster.


Dawn of the Dead
Current Content: Just the placeholder site for now. The site has the synopsis, cast and crew (no bios) and the teaser trailer.


Elephant
Current Content: There is a lot of information on the production and the crew, but very little for the cast, most of whom were acting in their first movie. While the production notes were interesting to read, the lack of sound or animation was a disappointment.


Elf
Current Content: Activity center was added to the games and toys section.


Girl With a Pearl Earring
Current Content: Just a placeholder site with no real content for now.


The Haunted Mansion
Current Content: There was a major update this week, including a mostly new format and some additional content. The synopsis, trailer and image galleries are still there. Added to the site was the cast and crew, (no bios yet, not even ones marked coming soon) a good sized behind the scenes movie and a virtual tour of the mansion. So far the tour only lasts up to the front door, but there should be weekly updates till the movie is released.


Honey
Current Content: A music clip was added to the site, and not only is it very long for a website (clocking in at almost 24 seconds) it also loops extremely well.


In the Cut
Current Content: In the Cut opened on Wednesday, but so far the only content on the site is the trailer.


Looney Tunes: Back in Action
Current Content: A couple of games were added.


Love Actually
Current Content: The flash site launched this week and it has a lot to offer. This isn't surprising given the number of characters and relationships in the movie. Not only does the site have all the usual features, but also has plenty of extras. The best of which is the Find Love section that details the nine stories of love featured in the movie where you can click on each character to read a one sentence description and hear a quote from the movie. Each story has an audio clip, a video clip and a question for the Love Quotient Quiz. Some also have additional features like the Soundboard from Love American Style. With all these features, and a couple TV Spots marked coming soon, this site wins the beloved Weekly Website Award.


The Matrix Revolutions
Current Content: This week's updates include three more 30 second TV spots and 2 15 second spots.


Polar Express
Current Content: The redirect was replaced by a placeholder site. The only content so far is the poster.


Radio
Current Content: The movie opens tomorrow, but no changes were made to the site. I guess we'll have to wait for the last two previews to be added.


Scary Movie 3
Current Content: Another movie that opens tomorrow that had no updated from last week. This site is particularly sparse with only the trailer. Not a good sign.


The Singing Detective
Current Content: Like the previous two sites, this movie opens this week but had no updates to talk about. Here is the original review of the site.


Timeline
Current Content: Two IPix and an Internet exclusive trailer were added.


Submitted by: C.

Movie Websites Launches for October 2 - October 9

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:

Movie Websites Launches for September 18 - September 24

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: