Movie Website Reviews for the Weekend of May 22nd, 2009

May 24, 2009

For the first time in a long time, we have two wide releases battling for top spot on the weekend box office. I thought this would encourage competition on the websites, but Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian's Official Site was clearly the best of the week.

The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story - Official Site
Better style than most documentary sites in term of style and presentation, but not a lot in terms of content. There's just the basic information here. That said, the trailer alone should sell the movie very well.

Dance Flick - Official Site
A solid site with all of the usual features, plus a number of extras. These include eight clips from the movie (plus some used as intros), as well as a soundboard, a game, and a photo editor to put your self in the action. Effective, but it doesn't sell the movie very well. I think that has more to do with the quality of the movie than the quality of the site, on the other hand.

Easy Virtue - Official Site
All the usual features are here (synopsis, production notes, bios, image gallery, and trailer). Extras include four clips from the movie and clips from the soundtrack, while there's enough sound and animation to not seem boring. Then again, there's not enough sound and animation to truly stand out.

The Girlfriend Experience - Official Site
Just the basics on one single page. It feels like it should be a page on the distributor's site, and not a site on its own.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian - Official Site
A big site with plenty to see and do. They have all of the usual features (synopsis, cast & crew bios, image gallery, and trailer). Extras include character bios, and a couple games. (There are clips, but they are marked coming soon.) As far as style goes, there is plenty of sound and animation, including audio clips used as intros to each section. I do like the strategy game on the site, despite having a very familiar feel to it. It's a very busy site, which is to be expected given its target audience, and it is the best site on this week's list. In fact, it is the winner of the archival Weekly Website Award.

O'Horten - Official Site
Typical of many limited release sites. All the usual information is here (there are only a couple bios) but there's not much else. A text-based interview with the director is the only extra, while there is a little in terms of style to prevent the site from feeling too static.

Terminator Salvation - Official Site
The site uses short clips from the movie quickly edited together has background. This does mean there is always a lot of movement on the screen. It also means that sometimes the next is nearly impossible to read. Some sound and animation is a good thing, but too much is not. This site falls into the latter category. There is a side site, Skynet Research, which is a bit of added value, but not very in-depth.


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Filed under: Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, Terminator Salvation, Dance Flick, Easy Virtue, The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story