During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here the list of this week's releases, a couple of new sites and few updates, including this week's winner, Ice Princess - Official Site. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.

The Amityville Horror
New flash site was launched this week and it has a lot of animation, with intros for each of the five sections. Sections include the movie (cast and crew list, image gallery and behind the scenes videos), videos (just the trailer so far), downloads (take a guess) and the truth (which ironically contains very little truth).

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Wonka Industries website has launched; just click the logo on the main page. So far there's only a few features but there's plenty of time for more to be added before the movie opens.

Crystal
Not what you would call a polished site, but at least it has all the usual features.

Death of a Dynasty
Just the synopsis, cast list, image gallery and trailer. On a side note, given the number of "Special Appearances", this movie looks like a prime example of the Gratuitous Cameos genre.

The Game of Their Lives
Just the trailer so far and links to a bunch of soccer sites.

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
A Q&A interview was added to the production journal section of the site.

House of D
The cast bios were added to the site.

Ice Princess
A massive update just in time for tomorrow's opening, with nearly a dozen new video clips added to the site plus other new features. That means the site has not only all the regular features (synopsis, cast and crew bios, production notes, image gallery and trailer), there are tons of extras, mostly in the form of video clips. There are six clips from the movie, two behind the scenes videos and three music videos (well, one music video and two interview clips with the song in the background). There are also some interactive features like Share You Dreams and Design an Ice Princess (dress up one of the characters in the movie and then skate them around a rink collecting roses, teddy bears, etc.), and information about ice skating including different moves, and how the judging works (although they left out the part about rampant bribery). Add in the background music and audio clips and you have the winner of the flutzy Weekly Website Award.

King's Ransom
Total redesign of the site, which now has most of the usual features, cast and crew bios, image gallery and the trailer.

Kung Fu Hustle
There's been another slight change in the style of the site, but the content is mostly the same. Still excellent and worth checking out.

Madagascar
The placeholder site has been redesigned so I really expected something new on the main site. But if there is something new I couldn't find it.

Melinda and Melinda
No changes in about a month.

The Ring Two
"Enter the ring!" That's as far as I can get on the site. I assume it’s a browser compatibility issue and the security flaws in IE are just too great for me to use it.

Serenity
Nothing new on the main site, but the Browncoat site has clips from with Joss Whedon and some of the crew at WonderCon. Quicktime format: Small , Medium and Large

Sin City
The latest trailer was added to the site, and this one is much better and getting the balance between style and substance right.

The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants
The placeholder site has been complete redone. So far just the synopsis, image gallery, downloads and links to the books are there with everything else marked coming soon.

The Skeleton Key
Typical Universal placeholder site with the synopsis, cast and crew list, small image gallery and the trailer. Actually, it's just a link to the trailer.

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
The final trailer is online. I've been asked why this site hasn’t been on the list before, and the reasons are twofold. Firstly, I've been avoiding this site like the plague because there are simply too many spoilers. Secondly, all the really good stuff is locked behind the Hyperspace, the Star Wars fan club and I'm not about to spend $49.95 a year to learn inside information about a movie that I want to know as little about before the opening scroll starts.

Steamboy
Typical Sony placeholder site. The Japanese site looks better, but is in Japanese, of course.

Undead
The site has undergone a complete redesign but it's now just a placeholder site with no real content.

Winter Solstice
The flash site launched this week and while the usual features are there it's a pretty subdued site overall.

Zathura
The trailer is up, but I've got mixed reactions to it. A pseudo-sequel to Jumanji, it tries to set up a feeling of awe and wonder, but I was left cold. Perhaps on the big screen it would be more impressive.

Submitted by: C.S.Strowbridge

Date posted: 2005-03-17