Movie Website Updates for July 22 - July 28

July 28, 2006

Another big week for movie sites with several excellent entries. In this crowded field there were a lot of sites that showed promise and could be just one big update away from winning the award. But this week the best of the best was World Trade Center - Official Site. Let's hope that the movie can live up to the site.

13 Tzameti - Official Site
No changes since last week.

America: Freedom To Fascism - Official Site
There's a lot of information here, but the overall feel is more akin to a conspiracy site than a movie promotional site.

American Hardcore - Official Site
There's a lot of information here from the bands, to the scene, to the lasting effects of the Hardcore scene. Sells the movie very well and anyone interested in the music will want to check it out.

Ant Bully - Official Site
The rest of the features were added to the site including regular features like cast & crew bios and production notes, as well as extras like three games and a personality test. Overall it's a good site, just not an award worthy site.

Brothers of the Head - Official Site
A very chaotic site, which matches the film very well. Fortunately there's a effective menu system to help you navigate the site. Each letter in the title takes you to one of the sections, while clicking on the buttons takes you back to the center. You can also simply scroll around the site, for a more random look at the feature.

Casino Royale - Official Site
The latest blog is about the surprise party they threw for Danial Craig. And in case you haven't hear, the release date for the next Bond film has already been set, which would indicate that the producers are very happy with this one. Even it if fails to match its production budget domestically, it should have no trouble earning a profit worldwide.

Charlotte's Web - Official Site
They've added a coloring book and changed the background music.

The Chosen One - Official Site
There's... there's an actual update this week. After saying, "Happy 2005! Updates and info coming soon!" for more than 18 months, we finally have an update. The design is good, the content is still a little light, and it could use some sound and animation. I'm hoping the final trailer sells the film well and I'm looking forward to seeing more.

Clerks 2 - Official Site
This is the practically the first week in 10 months where this site won't be featured on the Website Review column... damn. Okay, next week will be practically the first week in 10 months not to feature this site.

Crank - Official Site
The cast and crew bios were added to the site while the video e-cards are marked coming today. (I'll check back later to see if they were added.) Also, if you are on the main section of the site you have an adrenaline meter and if you don't move the mouse enough, it slow goes done and you die. It's a little something that you don't see on most sites and it really adds to the overall experience. The video e-cards were indeed added and they let you choose three of eight clips and send them to someone.

Crossover - Official Site
A history of street ball was added to the features section of the site.

The Descent - Official Site
A new section called Experience was added to the site. It is semi-interactive featuring several clips. (To be truly interactive, there must be branching, which is something very few sites have.) It does has it will be updated today, so I'll check back later. ... nope, so far no further updates, but there are still a few more hours left in the day.

Factotum - Official Site
The flash site launched this week and it has all the usual features plus a trio of clips from the movie. There's good background music and some animation, but not enough to make it stand out.

Flicka - Official Site
There's a new trailer, but it still hasn't sold me on the film.

The Fountain - Official Site
The full trailer is online, but you have to go to Apple.com to see it. As for the site, it terribly still. It's about as exciting as a screensaver.

Ghost Rider - Official Site
The latest video blog entry includes a compilation of clips from the ComicCon panel. I'm not entirely sold on the project, but its stock is rising.

The Grudge 2 - Official Site
There's a new placeholder site and a link to the blog, which hasn't been updated in months.

Half Nelson - Official Site
I don't consider these types of sites, ones that are just a page on the studio's main site, to be a real site and don't often mention them. But I recently saw the trailer and thought I'd mention it. Then I figure out that the trailer isn't even on the site yet. That should change soon.

Hollywoodland - Official Site
Just the synopsis and the trailer so far.

In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale - Official Site
The flash site launched this week and it looks about a hundred times better than the movie does. And it's not that good of a site. The usual features are here, (minus the bios), and there's enough sound and animation to not be boring, but there's not enough to stand out.

John Tucker Must Die - Official Site
It's a MySpace site. I hate MySpace. I especially hate it when a studio uses MySpace as their only movie site.

Lassie - Official Site
The only real content so far is the trailer.

The Last Kiss - Official Site
Just the trailer so far, but the movie doesn't open for more than a month so that should change.

Little Miss Sunshine - Official Site
This is a good site with all the required features plus plenty of clips but not enough to stand out. One last note, I like the background music, I just wish it wasn't so repetitive.

Lucky You - Official Site
Just the trailer, but I couldn't get it to work.

Material Girls - Official Site
There's a new blog entry from Hilary who says how much she likes heading up to Canada, specifically Toronto, which she describes as a clean New York. Coincidentally, I was watching the morning news today and the entertainment reporter mentioned how many stars compare Vancouver to Los Angeles, only with breathable air. I think we could combine those two into some kind of tourism marketing slogan. Canada, like the US, but with less grime.

Miami Vice - Official Site
I think the site is down at the moment, I don't think the server can handle the demand. ... Site's finally back, but there have been no major changes since the site won the award.

The Night Listener - Official Site
The usual features are here, synopsis, cast & crew bios, production notes, image gallery and trailers. It also has a lot of information on the book it is based on, so much so that one might assume you should skip the movie and read the book instead.

Pathfinder - Official Site
Just the synopsis, image gallery and trailer so far.

Pulse - Official Site
Another site that's down. I thought it might be my internet connection, but I can get into every other site I try. ... And it's back. This week the fifth TV spot was added as was the third clip. The clip actually helped explain the film better and helped restore some of my faith in the movie.

Rocky Balboa - Official Site
The pictures on the blog are gone. Not sure why or when they will be back. ... And now the site's gone, again. It's been replaced by a re-direct.

Scoop - Official Site
Very small site with just the basics plus five clips. The clips help sell the film, but there's not enough here to stand out.

Stranger than Fiction - Official Site
I've mentioned this website in the past and commented how it was very strange and peaked my interested in the movie. However, in the meantime it fell off my radar and while I remembered the site, I couldn't remember what movie it was advertising. This week I remembered and when I check it out again I found that the trailer had been added. It is a very effective trailer and my interest is again renewed. I look forward to the main site, which I suspect with be award worthy.

Trade - Official Site
Absolutely no content at this time.

World Trade Center - Official Site
Even more videos were added this week raising the total to 18 so far. Overall the site has all the usually information, (synopsis, cast & crew bios, production notes), media, (image gallery, trailer, TV spots, tons of clips, and songs), and of course the interviews with the real life people dealt with in the movie. Not only does the site have all the right content, but also it presents it in a way that is interesting without being flashy and emotional without being maudlin. This is an amazingly fine line the film had to deal with and it does it well and because of that it wins the sentimental Weekly Website Award.

Yesterday Was a Lie - Official Site
I missed some of the new content added last week including a couple more bios and pictures. Apparently, there is also an Easter egg or two, but I haven't been able to find them.

Zoom - Official Site
The rest of the rooms were added to the site this week and include the regular features plus some games. However, the site is still not doing a good job selling the movie.


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Filed under: Movie Website Updates, Quantum of Solace, Casino Royale, Ghost Rider, Charlotte's Web, World Trade Center, Rocky Balboa, Miami Vice, Little Miss Sunshine, John Tucker Must Die, Stranger Than Fiction, The Grudge 2, Crank, The Descent, Clerks II, Flicka, Pulse, Hollywoodland, Zoom, The Last Kiss, Material Girls, Scoop, Pathfinder, The Fountain, The Night Listener, Crossover, Lucky You, In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, Half Nelson, Factotum, Trade, Brothers of the Head, The Ant Bully, America: Freedom to Fascism