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Wednesday, November 25, 2009
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2007-05-28
It's a slow week for top-notch releases, but strangely not one for spotlight reviews as we have four of them. Even weirder, three of those are martial arts movies. The best of this week's offerings is Shanghai Express with fellow Cynthia Rothrock release, Above the Law being an honorable mention.
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2004-03-01
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of last nights Oscars was the lack of surprises. Even the sweep by Lord of the Rings: Return of the King wasn't that big of a shock.
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2004-03-01
The Oscars weren't the only award celebration held over the weekend as the IFP Independent Spirit Awards were also handed out. Lost in Translation was the big winner but plenty of other talent was rewarded.
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2004-02-29
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King swept all the categories it was nominated for in winning a record-equaling 11 Oscars earlier this evening. Here is a list of the winners with reactions to be posted tomorrow.
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2004-02-29
The final results are in from our Predict the Academy Awards Competition, and Numbers readers are forecasting a Lord of the Rings sweep at the ceremony tonight.
A stunning 90% of voters are calling for Lord of the Rings to win Best Picture and Peter Jackson to win Best Director - some of the strongest predictions we've seen in the 7 years we've been running the poll.
The movie is also projected to win in every other category in which its nominated.
With no Rings stars nominated for acting awards though, some of the other results are still ripe for speculation.
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2004-02-26
Having called the results for Best Animate Feature and Achievement in Directing over the past two days, we're ready to announce a projected winner for the big prize... Best Picture.
Our projections are based on the entries in our Predict the Academy Awards competition.
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2004-02-25
Every day between now and the Academy Awards ceremony we're predicting the result of one of the categories based on votes in our Predict the Oscars competition.
Yesterday we predicted a safe win for Finding Nemo as Best Animated Feature.
Today we're calling the result for Directing.
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2004-02-23
In amongst the more than a dozen awards handed out at the 56th Annual Writers Guild Awards on Saturday were two for theatrical releases.
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2004-02-19
The rerelease of the French musical Umbrellas of Cherbourg topped this week's per theatre average chart with $14,760 in its lone theatre. Three other films very close to each other battling for second place. The overall champ, 50 First Dates finished a strong second with $11,098 in almost 3600 theatres. While Osama spent its second weekend on the list with $10,151. The final film to top $10,000 was the self-distributed Robot Stories. Despite having a tiny distribution budget, the Science Fiction anthology sold out four showings on its way to earning $10,026 in it only theatre.
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2004-02-02
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. There is an excellent selection this week as a number of Oscar contenders were released to take advantage of last week's nominations. Both American Splendor - (Buy from Amazon) and Lost in Translation - ( Buy from Amazon) are on my must buy list. As are box sets for The Office and Red Dwarf). Don't forget Labyrinth (Collector's Edition Boxed Set) - (Buy from Amazon.) I guess I don't need to buy food this week.
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2004-01-30
It's been a while since the prospects for catching a good movie at the theatres was this bad. And it's not like there's lack of wide releases this week. There are three of them. Three wide releases with combined reviews of only 17% positive. In fact, the box office race for top spot should prove more interesting that any of the movies trying to get there.
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2004-01-27
Nominations for the 76the Annual Academy Awards were announced today. As always, here is a list of the nominations, plus reactions below.
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2004-01-26
While the Writers' Guild of America hand out more than a dozen awards each year, only two apply to theatrical releases, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Here are the nominations in each of those categories.
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2004-01-26
Recapping last nights Golden Globes ceremony, here are the winners with a brief reaction below.
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2004-01-25
With the awards ceremony only hours away, here's one last look at the theatrical nominations for tonight's 61st annual Golden Globes awards.
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2004-01-18
On Thursday the 10th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards(R) Nominations were announced. Here is a list of all the nominations in theatrical categories as well as a brief reaction to them.
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2004-01-13
For the first time since it was released, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King had some stiff competition for top spot on the charts. It did still take first place for the fourth weekend in a row with $35.3 million in 51 markets. Including wins in head-to-head competition with second place The Last Samurai. For instance, Return of the King's fourth weekend easily won in the U.K. $6.7 million to Samurai's $4.9 million. It was a closer contest in Germany, but King remained number one $5.5 million to $4.9 million. But with only a couple of mid-level openings this week in Indonesia and the Czech Republic it could drop out of first place next weekend. Its international total $455 million, second for the year surpassing The Matrix Reloaded by less than $1 million and putting it in a virtual tie with The Lion King for 10th all-time. Worldwide it hit $767, which is also second for the year but 13th all-time.
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2003-12-23
Taking top spot on the Per Theatre Charts in consecutive weeks is not an easy task, but that's just what Big Fish did this week. And it did it by keeping nearly 80% of its premiere audience landing at $27,440 per theatre. Add in a few awards / nominations and an early January wide release and it could add up to box office hit.
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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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2003-10-07
e for top spot was not as close as initially thought. However, even with two movies doing well we saw a decrease of 2% from last weekend. And without a record breaker like last year's Red Dragon there was a substantial 17.5% drop from last year.
Jack Black is best known for supporting work in films like High Fidelity, even in his first staring role he was a secondary draw to Gwyneth Paltrow. So it comes as a bit of a surprise that School of Rock won this weekend's box office race with $19.6 million. It comes as a much bigger surprise than it won over so many film critics; its 91% positive rating at Rotten Tomatoes is the second best for a wide release this year. Given its reviews and target audience, it may have an outside shot at $100 million.
While Out of Time failed to meet expectations this weekend, $16.2 million for an October opening weekend is still in the top ten all time. Overall the reviews are just above the level needed to be overall positive, however, its cream of the crop score is much better at 79% positive. Its legs won't be as strong as School of Rock, but $70 million or more should be attainable.
There was a little bit of good news for The Rundown this weekend, it fell less than 50% at the box office to $9.7 million. But that's too little, too late for a movie with a reported production budget of $85 million.
While Under the Tuscan Sun fell just over 20% to $7.7 million at the box office this week, that was mainly due to an increase in theatre count. On a per theatre count it was more than a 40% drop.
Secondhand Lions just beat expectations with $5.2 million this weekend. And its total box office is now just ahead of its reported production budget of $30 million.
Lost in Translation climbed three places into 7th this week with $4.2 million. Unfortunately, most analysts agree that its per theatre take is dropping too fast for it to be a serious Oscar contender.
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2003-10-03
o movies open wide and to good reviews. And for the first time in nearly a month, there could be a battle for top spot.
I'm a fan of Jack Black, so much so that I own I Still Know What You Did Last Summer cause he's in it. But I never thought I'd see the day when he'd star in such a critically acclaimed movie. School of Rock is currently sitting at 90% positive over on Rotten Tomatoes and even more for the Cream of the Crop. That's one of the best wide scores for a wide release this year. Still, surprisingly high reviews didn't help The Rundown last weekend so look for $19 million this week with good legs in the coming weeks.
Denzel Washington has made a career with movies released at this time of the year. In 2001 it was Training Day, the year before that it was Remember the Titans, next year it's The Manchurian Candidate. His movies generally open well, if unspectacularly, and rely on strong legs to become hits. Expect Out of Time to be no exception. While the reviews are not as strong as some of his previous work, at 65% positive they are not going to be a liability either. $18 million opening weekend and similar legs to School of Rock.
Despite good reviews, The Rundown wasn't able to match predictions last week. And the mid-week numbers have not been kind to the action movie. Look for it to lose a little more than 50% in its second weekend dropping to $9 million.
Unlike the previous movie, Under the Tuscan Sun beat expectations and was rewarded this week by adding nearly 500 more theatres to its count. This increase will counter most of the drop in its per theatre average leaving it with just under $9 million for the weekend.
With the novelty of the Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King trailer gone, Secondhand Lions will drop more this weekend than last weekend. It will still be left with $5 million and a fifth place finish.
Lost in Translation adds almost 400 theatres this week and will again finish in the top ten with $4 million.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-10-02
the-numbers.com/movies/2003/0YSJG.php>Yossi & Jagger opened this last weekend in one theatre and pulled in $19,395 to top the per theatre average this week. That pushed last week's first and second movies down a notch. The re-issue of Scarface lost a theatre and finished second with $16,208 per theatre, while Bubba Ho-Tep gained a theatre and finished third with $15,670 per theatre.
Meanwhile, Lost in Translation's third weekend in this top ten list helped it stay in overall top ten for a second weekend in a row. Its haul of nearly $3.7 million in less than 500 theatres was good for an average of $7,558 per theatre.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-09-29
increases at the box office, the box office stumbled this week. And while two of the three new movie beat expectations, the overall box office dropped by 11.8% from last week and 9.1% from last year.
No one was predicting The Rundown would break the record for biggest September weekend, but some predictions had it coming close. However, in the end its $18.6 million was barely half what Sweet Home Alabama made last year. Even with good reviews and few blockbusters as competition, The Rundown won't have the legs needed to save this movie from its $100+ million total budget.
Opening in the fewest theatres of the three wide releases didn't hurt Under the Tuscan Sun, which earned $9.8 million, almost $2 million more than predicted. Reviews were mixed with most of the praise going to Diane Lane rather than the film itself. Look for an expanded release next weekend with lots of legs at the box office.
Underworld dropped just a little more than predicted finishing with $9.4 million this weekend. Its box office is just one weekend away from topping its total production cost of $45 million.
Buoyed by the trailer for Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Secondhand Lions made $8.3 million this weekend. How much of that was due to the trailer will be known by its performance next weekend.
Finishing out the top five was The Fighting Temptations with $6.4 million. That's a larger second week drop-off than expected and doesn't bode well for the film's legs.
The last new release for the week, Duplex, actually did a fraction better than expected. But $4.6 million will still be looked upon as a disappointment regardless of expectations. Even more bad news, reviews weakened over the weekend from 41% positive to 33%.
Lost in Translation did stay in the top ten for the second week in a row. However, its per theatre average was not the best in the top ten, as expected. That honor went to Under the Tuscan Sun.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-09-26
er three new movies are released. Two of the three movies are getting positive reviews, but it might be bit of a shock which movie is getting the best reviews.
Neither The Rock nor Seann William Scott has a reputation for staring in critically acclaimed movies. In fact, between them only the first American Pie has earned better than the 60% needed for an overall fresh rating needed at Rotten Tomatoes. So it comes as bit of a shock that The Rundown is getting the good reviews that it is. 74% is well above the other two releases for the weekend, and the best for either star. And its box office will be even farther ahead of the nearest rival with $25 million this weekend.
Underworld will drop just over 50% to $10 million, something that would have been seen as a disaster earlier in the year but is now seen as par for the course. There is already talk of a second, and possibly third film being made.
In third place will be the trailer for Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Anticipation for the last of the trilogy is so high that the trailer will pull in $9 million this weekend. Also showing is Secondhand Lions.
Despite opening in only 1,226 theatres, Under the Tuscan Sun will land $8 million for fourth place. Reviews are mixed, but on the positive side and a good performance this week should lead to an increased theatre count in the coming weeks.
The gospel comedy The Fighting Temptations will land in fifth place with will with just over $7 million. Probably not what Paramount was hoping for, and closes out a poor year in which the studio had only two hits in nine tries.
The latest dark comedy from director Danny Devito, Duplex, also opens this weekend. Danny Devito's directorial debut was Throw Mamma from the Train and he followed that up with War of the Roses. Both were dark comedies and both were hits. However, his last movie was the dark comedy Death to Smoochy, which failed to connect with an audience despite the almost Oscar worthy performance by Jon Stewart. Unfortunately, it looks like Duplex will resemble Death to Smoochy more than the other two. It is opening in nearly identical theatre counts (2,189 to 2,164) and nearly identical reviews (41% to 40%) and should get nearly identical opening weekends ($4.5 million to $4.3 million.)
Also of note, Lost in Translation is expected to stay in the top ten, perhaps even climb a spot.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-09-23
y re-release of Scarface hit top spot on the Per Theatre Average this weekend. Playing in lucky 13 theatres it was able to grab $242,821 for an average of $18,679 per theatre.
Finishing in the top ten per theatre average and overall was Lost in Translation, which earned $2,622,737 in just 183. The average was $14,332 good enough for second place, while the total was good enough to crack the top ten.
Submitted by:
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2003-09-22
top three movies at the box office were new releases and four of the five new releases placed in the top five. The boost to the box office was very noticeable, 18.8% from last week and just shy of 30% from last year.
Underworld took top spot this week with just a shade ahead of the predicted value. With $21.8 million the $23 million Sony spent to make the movie seems like an absolute bargain. Poor reviews will probably hurt the movie's legs, but no matter how it performs from now on it will make a profit by the home market at the latest.
Also out performing expectations was Seconhand Lions, also by a very small margin. $12.1 million was just 10% more than expected, but reviews were weaker with only 57% positive. And its too early for any serious Oscar buzz to help so its final box office will probably disappoint the studio.
Essentially matching predictions was The Fighting Temptations. The movie finished in third place with $11.8 million, less than one quarter of a million dollars below predictions. Probably not enough to see any serious expansion in its theatre counts in the coming weeks, and with medicore reviews it won't be in the top five for long.
Once Upon a Time in Mexico dropped farther than expected finishing fourth with $11.0 million. This is still a good result and profitability is just around the corner.
Coming in fifth place was Cold Creek Manor with $8.2 million. This was just a little lower than predictions, and with bad reviews and a plot twist worthy more of Scooby Doo than a film aimed at adults, expect a large drop next weekend.
It seems that moviegoers were not interesting in seeing Woody Allen's words spoken by younger actors as Anything Else failed to make the top 10. Reviews didn't help and with only $1.7 million in its opening weekend, this is arguably the worst performance for one of Wood Allen's movies ever.
One film that did make the top ten was Lost in Translation. This movie's $2.6 million take was even more impressive since its theatre count is only 183. That's by far the smallest theatre count in the top ten and only one move (Mambo Italiano) had a smaller theatre count in the top 20. Lost in Translation continues to expand into more theatres next weekend and should more than double its theatre count.
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2003-09-16
the-numbers.com/movies/2003/LSTNT.php>Lost in Translation did huge business the past weekend taking in nearly $1 million in less than 2 dozen theatres. Its $40,221 per theatre average was not only head and shoulders above its nearest rival; it's the highest in the past several months. If this is any indicator, then Lost in Translation should do very well when it opens wide in two weeks.
Next on the charts was Touchez Pas au Grisbi in its second week of re-release. It's average rose to $12,158, but this was due to a cut in its theatre count. Also appearing on the charts were all three major releases this week in 4th (Once Upon a Time in Mexico), 7th (Matchstick Men) and 10th (Cabin Fever.)
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2003-09-12
ks since Open Range opened to positive reviews. At that was just one movie in an otherwise bad week. To find more than one movie opening wide to positive reviews you would have to go as far back as May 30th when Finding Nemo and The Italian Job were released. This week, all three wide releases are getting favorable reviews (and so are many limited releases, but more on that later.)
As for the actual box office predictions for the weekend, that's a little more confusing. During the past week four different movies finished first in the dailies.
The final installment in Robert Rodriguez's El Mariachi trilogy, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, has the widest opening this week and should finish first at the box office. The movie has a production budget more than four times the first two combined, but that's only $30 million (half what the average Hollywood movie costs.) Robert Rodriguez is a master of getting the most bang for his buck and a $20 million opening will be his reward. And with overall positive reviews it will easily have the legs to make a healthy profit for the studio.
From 1996 - 1997 Nicolas Cage had 3 $100 million dollar movies in a row, since then only one of his next 10 releases was able to cross that barrier. It's doubtful that Matchstick Men will be able to do that, but is should open to the tune of $13 million. And with it's reviews, which are overwhelmingly positive, should help him regain some his box office and critical clout lost in recent years.
The third wide release should open in third place. Cabin Fever, which opens in only a little more than 2000 theatres, should have similar box office results as 28 Days Later. Cabin Fever has a wider release, but weaker reviews and is opening at a weaker time of the year. An opening of $8 million and better legs than the genre usually allows will spell profit for the studio on this release.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl spent the mid-week in first or second place and looks to translate that into another top five finish this weekend. Another $4 million will take its domestic total past Home Alone and into 18th place on the all time chart.
In fifth place will be another Disney release with legs, Freaky Friday. With $3 million this weekend, it will be the 21st movie to make $100 million this year. However, unless Once Upon a Time in Mexico surprises it will be the last movie to do so till November when The Matrix Revolutions is released.
One movie you didn't see in the top five was Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star. Despite finishing first last weekend, it had dropped to seventh by Tuesday and with three wide releases this week it's chances of sticking around the top five this week are minimal. And with even more movies opening next weekend, it should drop out of the top ten and that would tie a record.
There are also several limited releases opening this week: Lost in Translation, Dummy, Millennium Actress, Warrior of Light, So Close and all are getting positive reviews. Also, long time Per Theatre Average charter American Splendor expands into nearly 200 more theatres this weekend.
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2003-09-10
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.
Cabin Fever
Current Content: There is more information on the non-flash site. It has the synopsis, trailer, cast and crew, among other features. The flash site has … atmosphere. It's still as confusing as the day it launched.
Cold Creek Manor
Current Content: Flash site launched this week, and it has the usual features, (synopsis, cast and crew bios, etc.) and a lot of multimedia content. It has the trailer, of course, four movie clips and a making of video that weights in at nearly 4 minutes. That is quite impressive for a website. There are more features like an image gallery, e-cards, wallpaper and the poster, and one feature, The House, is marked coming soon. Combined with interesting segues and good background music it wins this week's enlightened Weekly Website Awards.
Dummy
Current Content: Opening in limited release this week, the site consists of just the trailer and the poster. However, on another page there are some additional clips and on yet another page, there's the synopsis. Sort of a build it yourself website.
Fighting Tempations
Current Content: The features previously marked coming soon, Music Mixer, E-cards and Media Player Skins were added. As were pop-up facts about singers who got their start singing in their church choir.
In the Cut
Current Content: The redirect was replaced by a placeholder site. Typical of Sony placeholders, this one has just the trailer so far.
Lost in Translation
Current Content: Opening in limited release this week, the website has changed very little since its launch. There's a new clip added, but the video clips for each section are still marked coming soon.
Matchstick Men
Current Content: Nothing has changed since the site was first reviewed. There is still a lot of information, and a disappointing lack of sound.
Millennium Actress
Current Content: The website launched last week, and the movie opens this week. It appears that nothing has changed, but it's still worth checking out.
Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Current Content: Nothing has changed since the flash site was first launched, but it's a very well done site so nothing really needed changing.
Out of Time
Current Content: The flash site launched this week, and it includes almost everything a movie site needs. Synopsis, trailer, cast, crew and character bios, image gallery, film clips, background music and even some animation and audio clips between sections. There are also some downloads, but right now it's just some wallpaper and the official poster with the rest marked coming soon.
So Close
Current Content: An excellent site with good content present in an entertaining way. There's the usual features, cast and crew bios, trailer and images, wallpaper, screensaver, buddy icons. There is also a detailed synopsis, perhaps a little too detailed as there are some potential spoilers there. There are some wallpapers that you can grab from the downloads section, others appear intermittently while surfing the site. It's a cool feature.
Stuck on You
Current Content: The final trailer was added, which includes one of the most disturbing bedroom scenes I have seen. Perfect for a Farrelly brother's movie.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Current Content: Another movie that had its flash site launch this week. Not much new content was added, it was mostly just a format change. Synopsis, cast and crew bios, trailer and TV spots, images, screensavers, AIM icons are all still there, but the background music was removed. Hopefully it will return later on.
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2003-08-20
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.
The Alamo
Current Content: After the intro there is just the synopsis, trailer and cast and crew (no bios.) But as the release date nears that should change.
Battle of Shaker Heights
Current Content: It's a Miramax site. Same as all the other Miramax sites.
Beyond Borders
Current Content: Just a placeholder site with only the trailer for now.
Fighting Temptations
Current Content: The flash site launched this week and as expected music was a major focus of this site. There are half a dozen songs from the soundtrack on the site, much better than the usual 6-second-looped clip. There's even the music video for the title track, although that's just a link to the MTV site. As for the rest of the content it has all the usual features (synopsis, cast and crew bios, trailer, images, etc.) plus some more marked coming soon. (Music mixer, movie clips, media player skins.)
Highwaymen
Current Content: The release date is still months away, so the lack of content is not surprising. Synopsis, trailer, e-cards and images are there. But there is no sign of cast and crew bios, for example. There is some background music that helps the site. Hopefully more content will be added later.
House of the Dead
Current Content: A movie site should have a hook, something different that keeps a surfer's attention. For this site it's the diary. "I feel like a real actor now. I have been decorated with fake poo." You don't get that kind of insight with most sites. Besides this features, there's the synopsis, cast and crew bios, trailer (on fangoria.com) and lots of images.
Lost in Translation
Current Content: This is the second site this week with lots of music. This time, however, there are only clips of the songs. Still, this is a major step above most sites that seem to treat music as an afterthought. The transitions between sections is well done and I look forward to when the video clips are added in.
Marci X
Current Content: This movie opens this week and the only content on the site is the synopsis and the trailer. Not a good sign.
The Medallion
Current Content: Not much has changed since the last time I reviewed this site. The content is still good, the background music is still way too short, and the best part of the site is still the side scrolling game you can play.
Mystic River
Current Content: The introduction with the characters is superb. Enough is given to keep you intrigued, but not enough to spoil anything. The rest of the content is given in an understated fashion, which fits well with the tone of the movie. This mood is further enhanced by the background music. There is still some sections marked coming soon, notably crew bios and a section on Clint Eastwood.
The Order
Current Content: There's a big problem with this site. The video clips, which there are a lot, are too quite compared to the other sound effects. So you either can't hear the voices, or get blown over by the sound effects, or you have to change the volume in between every clip. This overshadows what should have been an otherwise good site.
Pieces of April
Current Content: Placeholder site with just the synopsis and the trailer.
Polar Express
Current Content: Not even a placeholder site, just a redirect to the Warner Bros. movie site.
Saved!
Current Content: Just the name. Very, very plain even for a placeholder site.
Shattered Glass
Current Content: Just a placeholder site for now.
Stoked
Current Content: This site is divided into two sites. The main site with synopsis, image gallery, timeline, etc. And the bonus site with trailer, crew bios, and play dates. The main site has animated segues and background music and another song.
Thirteen
Current Content: This is an excellent site that has much more than the usual features. Its main focus is thirteen clips from the movie and interviews with some of the cast. These give a greater insight into the movie. And the way they are presented adds to the experience. The only thing the site is missing is background music. Even so, it wins the enviable Weekly Website Award. Also worth noting, Thirteen opens in theatres today (Wednesday) so if you live in New York City, you can check it out.
Veronica Guerin
Current Content: It's been a while since the placeholder site was first launched, so it's nice to see the flash site up. However, most of the content is still marked coming soon, including cast and crew bios and film clips. There are animated introductions to the section, accompanied by an audio clip from the movie. There is also background music that is long enough and loops well enough to not become repetitive too quickly.
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