Movie Website Reviews for the Weekend of March 27th, 2009

March 29, 2009

At the box office this weekend it was a case of one monster hit, and a lot of 'also-rans'. This is true of the movie websites as well. Monsters vs. Aliens's Official Site is the only one truly above average, and it is incredible, and easily the winner of the Weekly Website Award.

12 Rounds - Official Site
The basics are her, plus five clips. They also have clips as intros to each section, but these clips are presented without audio, so they are less effective. Overall the site is nothing more than average.

American Swing - No Official Site
Nothing to review.

The Cross - Official Site
Not a bad site for a documentary with plenty of information in text and video form. However, it screams 'Preaching to the choir' and I don't think this site will sell the movie outside of its target demographic.

The Education of Charlie Banks - Official Site
As far as I can remember, nothing has changed since the site was last on this site.

Goodbye Solo - Official Site
In terms of regular features, there's just the synopsis, bios, and trailer, meaning there is not an image gallery. There are four clips and a guide to Winston-Salem on Google Maps. The site doesn't have a lot of polish, on the other hand, but this is common for low budget films like this.

Guest of Cindy Sherman - Official Site
Just the very basics, in fact, there are no bios and just a cast and crew list. Additionally, there's nothing in the way of sound or animation outside of the trailer.

The Haunting in Connecticut - Official Site
I hate sites that spend more time trying to convince you that ghosts are real than trying to convince you the movie is worth watching. I consider that insulting to my intelligence, And all of the extras here do just that. There information on the 'real' story, information on the 'most haunted' places in the United States, talking to the dead, etc. Obviously this is a winning marketing strategy, as movies like this make a lot of money, but I can't stand it.

The Headless Woman - No Official Site
Nothing to review.

Monsters vs. Aliens - Official Site
Wow. This is a huge site and there's a lot to explore, so much so that I might miss a few part here. Let's start with the basic. All the usual features are here including synopsis, cast & crew bios, image gallery, and trailer. Extras start with character bios, behind-the-scenes video clips for each character, behind-the-scenes featurette on the 3-D element of the movie, two games that you can play on the site, more games you can download for your mobile phone, activities you can download and print out, etc. Also, at the heart of the site is a collection of nine scenes from the movie that are filled with video clips (and the occasional audio clip). It would take almost as long to explore everything, as it would to watch the actual movie. Overall it a great site and clearly the winner of the colossal, gargantuan, enormous Weekly Website Award.

Shall We Kiss? - Official Site
All of the usual features are here (synopsis, bios, images, and trailer) and it also has extras like a trio of clips and a text based interview with the writer / director / star. Additionally, there's a lot more sound and animation that most limited releases have on their websites.

Spinning into Butter - Official Site
No changes from last week.


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Filed under: Monsters vs. Aliens, The Haunting in Connecticut, The Education of Charlie Banks, 12 Rounds