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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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2003-12-02
Smaller, independent films dominated the top Ten Per Theatre Average chart this week, taking the first seven spots.
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2003-11-25
independent films is kicking into high gear, so we should be seeing a lot more limited releases topping the Per Theatre Average charts hoping to garner award nominations, Oscars and otherwise.
This week's winner was 21 Grams, which boasted an impressive cast, as well as an award-winning director. Unfortunately, it also has a $20 million production budget so it will have to rely on Oscar hype to earn back that investment for Focus Films. In its first weekend of release, 21 Grams brought in an impressive $274,454 in just 8 theatres for an average of $34,307 per theatre. That's the best per theatre average since Lost in Translation opened back in September. It is worth nothing that Lost in Translation was also a Focus Features film. So far this year, all four Focus Features films have opened number one on the per theatre average charts. An amazing feat.
Amazing could also be used to describe the performance of My Architect, which saw its per theatre average increase 14% during its second week of release. A second weekend average of $21,624 bodes very well for the wide rollout planned for early next year.
Also doing well at the box office was the U.S. release of The Barbarian Invasions, which already opened in its native Canada with a very successful, earning nearly $5 million, Canadian. Strong reviews helped the film to a solid $13,275 per theatre average.
The only other movie to make it in the $10,000 club was this week's box office winner, The Cat in the Hat.
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2003-11-20
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.
21 Grams
Current Content: First of all, your body doesn't lose 21 grams when you die. That's just one of those urban legends about death, (another one being your hair and finger nails continue to grow after you die.) Now that that's out of the way we can talk about the website, which launched this week. Unfortunately, the urban legend surrounding the title is more interesting than the site itself. There are no sounds and only a tiny amount of animation outside the trailer. And while there was quite a bit of information in the synopsis, cast and crew, and production, it seemed to take an unacceptably long time to load. Other, flash heavy sites, loaded in a fraction of the time it took to load just the production notes.
Along Came Polly
Current Content: Just the placeholder site so far with the synopsis, trailer and photo gallery.
Anchorman
Current Content: Placeholder site with some exclusive clips.
The Barbarian Invasions
Current Content: Typical Miramax site. The movie opens tomorrow and the trailer isn't even up.
The Big Empty
Current Content: As promised last week, this site added a lot more information. It's mostly just text, with dozen or so images and the trailer. Considering the unusual nature of the movie, one would hope that the website would be less static.
Cat in the Hat
Current Content: The movie opens on Friday, but not much has changed since the flash site first launched.
Cheaper by the Dozen
Current Content: The flash site launched this week and to no one's surprise much of it is dedicated to introducing the characters. The rest of the site has all the regular features, including synopsis, both the teaser and full trailers, cast and crew bios and so forth. There are a few extras, like wallpapers, AIM icons and two e-cards, as well as movie clips that are still marked coming soon. Unlike many of the site on today's list, this one has plenty of sound and animation. There are also clips from three songs that play in the background, which takes care of the repetitiveness although makes the looping a bit harder.
Cold Mountain
Current Content: What's this? A Miramax site that isn't just a short synopsis on a dull beige background? How can this be? Of course the current site isn't much better than the ordinary Miramax site, as it only has the trailer while the Enter Site button only takes you to the Miramax home page.
The Cooler
Current Content: The background music for this site really sets the right mood. Sort of a depressing, smoke filled lounge atmosphere. The site itself is understated, which fits well with the style of the movie. Only the most common of features are there, synopsis, cast and crew bios, trailer and image gallery.
Envy
Current Content: The old VaPOOrize info site is back, with a new flash intro and opening page. Right now the only other feature is the trailer.
Gothika
Current Content: Just in time for tomorrow's release, two clips were added to the already award winning site.
The Great Raid
Current Content: It's a Miramax site. That's all you need to know.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Current Content: The site just launched and so far there's only the trailer and Sirius Black sightings.
The Hebrew Hammer
Current Content: This site is something that has to be seen. An exploitation film, The Hebrew Hammer uses a lot of stereotypes in the same vein as Shaft did. So there's a lot here that could offend those who take it too seriously. While there's almost all the usual suspects, (the trailer is marked coming soon) it's the extra's that steal the show. Including a parody of Space Invaders called Gentile Invaders in which you're a menorah that shoots Star of Davids at 'Gentiles' that drop Swastikas for matzo balls. You can also test how Jewish you or look up important Jewish words like, ' Tuchis' and 'Boca Raton.' I also recommend downloading the theme song to listen to later. The sheer audacity of the site makes it this week's winner of the Meshugge Weekly Website Award.
Laws of Attraction
Current Content: Placeholder site with just the trailer so far.
The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra
Current Content: The film is a parody of the 50's low budget sci-fi horrors and the site takes advantage of that genre. It's so cheesy, but in a good way. I especially like the virtual collectibles, or skelectables as they call them. The site has all the usual features, including very extensive production notes and a F.A.Q. in case you were confused about the parody aspect of the movie.
Pride & Prejudice
Current Content: This site has most of the usual features, synopsis, trailer, image gallery and cast bios, (but no crew bios.) There are still a few things marked coming soon, for instance, not all the cast bios are on the site yet. Also marked coming soon is the behind the scenes, video clips and additional downloads. The site has good animated menu / intros with sound effects, audio clips and background music. Background music is just a little too happy for my liking, but that's a matter of taste.
Timeline
Current Content: Some more features were added, but it's getting more and more difficult to spot them on such a huge site. There's still some interview clips and the Donner Q&A yet to be added.
Torque
Current Content: Typical WB placeholder site with quite a few images, including the poster.
Win a Date with Tad Hamilton
Current Content: None. It's just a placeholder site with only the name and the release date.
You Got Served
Current Content: Typical Sony placeholder with just the trailer so far.
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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.
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2003-08-28
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: None, just a redirect to the Universal Pictures movie site.
Anything Else
Current Content: The flash site was launched this week and it has a lot of multimedia. This includes the trailer and 10 minutes of interviews with the two main cast members. Also included were four clips and a short behind the scene video. It is interesting to note that much of the clips and behind the scene stuff is also in the trailer and interviews, so there's a lot of repetitiveness. It also has synopsis/production notes, cast and crew bios and an image gallery.
Cabin Fever
Current Content: The last two photos have videos now, but they make about as much sense as the first two. Watch the trailer on the regular site before coming to the flash site. Or check out the old site for a little more information.
Cheaper by the Dozen
Current Content: Just the placeholder site for now, with just the trailer and cast and characters (no bios.)
Civil Brand
Current Content: The old site is back with the trailer as its only content.
Elf
Current Content: The trailer is back on the site.
Honey
Current Content: As I have mentioned early, Honey is the first site I wrote about and in that time there have been no substantive changes, until now. Half a dozen more images were added to the gallery this week. That may not sound like much, but it more than doubled the content of the site. Late Update: The trailer was added today. See, having the column a day late was a good thing.
Jeepers Creepers 2
Current Content: The content of this site is told almost exclusively through multimedia. Each section starts with a short clip, and there are eight sections in all. These include the image gallery, e-cards and storyboards. Plus two trailers, four clips and character intro (in the form of short clips.) There is only one section presented in text and that's the 'About the Film' section. Although there are five parts and it is quite extensive. There is also sound effects and background music. Unfortunately the music, while moody, was too quite compared to the rest of the site.
Mambo Italiano
Current Content: This site has a lot of information, synopsis, cast, crew and character bios (character bios are almost always a plus), press kit, trailer and seven clips. What it doesn't have is any sound or animations. Because of that this site is an effective but simple site. A little more flash might have really helped.
The Matrix Revolutions
Current Content: Along with the content for the first two movies, the international trailer for the third movie was released. From now to its release expect plenty of updates to this site.
Mystic River
Current Content: The crew bios are now available, including Clint Eastwood. But the section on Clint Eastwood in the main menu is still marked coming soon. So I expect that to be much more detailed than the current bio.
Nola
Current Content: As long time readers of this column know I feel the most overlooked aspect of movie websites is sound, specifically background music. Many sites have no background music whatsoever, others have only short clips, (much of which is too short or poorly looped.) This site has not one, but two full songs. Right away that puts it ahead of the pack, and many weeks it would be enough to win the weekly website awards. But this site has even more. There is plenty of content with all the regular features present, (synopsis, trailer, image gallery, cast and crew bios) and some lesser used features like production notes, directors statements, wallpapers and e-cards, an interview with the director and 3 clips from the movie. Add in animated segues and you have this weeks winner of the inescapable Weekly Website Award. And it's the first winner with the new graphic.
Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Current Content: This is a week of double shots. First two movies with Emmy Rossum and now two movies that take their name from the classic Sergio Leone movie Once Upon a Time in America. The Flash site opened this week and it is a very well done site. The main part of the site has animated intros that rotate through the three main characters. There is also very good use of animation and sound effects for each section. For example, the options are shown as bullet holes complete with gunshots are they are created. The content is also well done with the synopsis, trailer, cast and crew bios (the three main stars also have a few images) and production notes. And most of this information is given in both English and Spanish. It's a very nice touch indeed.
Once Upon a Time in the Midlands
Current Content: The second movie to borrow its title from Sergio Leone, this time the homage extends to the trailer (especially the fonts) and the background music for the website. It's a nice touch. The site also features a bit of animation to introduce the sections, which include all the major features (synopsis, cast and crew bios, production notes, and image gallery.) It’s not very flashy, which is probably for the best.
Something's Gotta Give
Current Content: Just the typical Sony placeholder site for now. Just the synopsis and the trailer and that's all for now.
Underworld
Current Content: The new, full trailer was added.
Wonderland
Current Content: Got an error message about the flash animation for this site, something about a slow script. So I can't give a review of the site.
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Tuesday, November 24, 2009
