Movie Website Updates for September 30 - October 6, 2006

October 7, 2006

Good week for websites, but most were smaller updates or new sites with just a few features. Two sites, Happy Feet - Official Site and The Prestige - Official Site, stood out above the crowd, but both will need a few more update to take home the Weekly Website Award.

20 Centimeters - Official Site
The site launched but there's still not much here just the synopsis, image gallery and trailer.

300 - Official Site
The teaser trailer is online, but it is over on Apple.com. It's a great trailer for showcasing the film's visual style, but I'm still waiting for the full trailer to make a more informed decision.

Babel - Official Site
Just the trailer and the image gallery.

The Blood Diamond - Official Site
Just the trailer so far, but it is powerful enough to sell the film.

Casino Royale - Official Site
The time the blog is about some of the difficulties they've encountered in filmmaking, including the nightmare that is Venice. Gondolas are not the ideal method of transportation when it comes to bulky moviemaking gear.

Catch A Fire - Official Site
There's nothing new on the site, but there's a featurette online.

Cocaine Cowboys - Official Site
Just the synopsis and some links.

Copying Beethoven - Official Site
There's the synopsis, extensive notes, image gallery, and trailer. But the heart of the site are the interviews. There are 21 interview clips with Diane Kruger and Ed Harris.

Deck the Halls - No Official Site
The site isn't live yet, but the trailer is online. My first reaction to the trailer was, "This is why I hate Christmas."

Deja vu - Official Site
Just the synopsis, cast & crew list, (no bios), image gallery and trailer. The trailer certainly got me interested, but I'm still waiting for more information before I make and hard predictions.

Deliver Us From Evil - Official Site
The synopsis, the gallery, and the trailer are here, but the most powerful feature is the map of abuse. If that doesn't cause outrage, I don't know what will.

The Departed - Official Site
It feels like an overstuffed teaser site. All the feature are here, but stylistically it feels weak.

Driving Lessons - Official Site
Just the basics so far with little in the way of style. On the other hand, the trailer was effective.

Employee of the Month - Official Site
Three clips were added to the site. I'm not sure why they were chosen, but hopefully they were the best in the film, or it is in real trouble.

Fast Food Nation - Official Site
The site launched but it is mostly a ton of links to other sites.

Flicka - Official Site
The flash site launched this week but while it has all the usual features, there's not much here to set it apart from other sites. The only current extra is the music video while there's a section called My Indie Spirit marked coming soon.

Flushed Away - Official Site
It's telling me I don't have the latest version of flash and I need to install it. But when I go to the Adobe site, it tells me I have the latest version of flash. Seeing how other sites are not giving me this problem, I assume the issue is on their end. ... The problem appears to have been fixed.

Ghost Rider - Official Site
The week's blog is in part on the iconic look of Ghostrider and his flaming skull. I'm hoping for more movie specific blogs in the future to help sell the movie more.

The Good Shephard - Official Site
Just the synopsis, image gallery, and trailer.

Happy Feet - Official Site
The flash site is totally redone and not only does it have all the usual features, (synopsis, character bios, image gallery, and trailer), but there are also a few extras. These include a game, some interactive features and plenty of sound and animation. It's a good start and with enough features marked coming soon, (more bios, production notes, soundtrack, and another game), it could be an award-winning site when all is said and done.

Harsh Times - Official Site
The trailer was added to the site. Initial reaction was a solid wait and see.

Home of the Brave - Official Site
Just the trailer so far.

Little Children - Official Site
Simple site with just the synopsis, image gallery and the trailer.

Man of the Year - Official Site
There's a new side site for Dobbs for President.

Marie Antoinette - Official Site
The first podcast was added, but it felt too fractured to be effective. All of the regular features previously marked coming soon were added this week, but while there's a section called Trailer and Clips, there are no clips. Those may or may not be added before the film hits theatres.

Mr. Woodcock - Official Site
Just the trailer so far, which makes it look like the sequel to School for Scoundrels and that's not a good thing.

National Lampoon's Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj - Official Site
Just the trailer so far. My initial reaction was, "That's a long name. Too long. And should Van Wilder really be in the name cause he's not in the movie." This meant I was too distracted to pay attention to the trailer itself, which is a good thing. Second time around it was a lot less entertaining.

Pan's Labyrinth - Official Site
The flash site launched this week, and it is certainly more stylish than 90% of the sites out there. Unfortunately, there's not enough content to be a contender for the Weekly Website Award. There's also nothing marked coming soon. However, I have a feeling more will be added to the site as we get close to its release date.

Norbit - Official Site
Just the trailer and if I were to choose just one word to describe it, that word would be, "Ugh."

The Prestige - Official Site
Another flash site that launched this week. This one has most of the regular features marked coming soon, but more than makes up for it with video clips, 10 in all. Some of them reveal torn fragments of the journal after you watch them, and when you've collected them all you get another video clips. Overall an excellent site and one that sells the movie very well.

Shortbus - Official Site
This is a very scattered site and that makes it harder to navigate, but probably better at selling the movie.

Sleeping Dogs Lie - Official Site
Just the synopsis, cast & crew bios, image gallery, trailer, and a special message from writer / director Bobcat Goldthwait. It's that last feature that helped sell the movie the most, at least for me it was.

Spider-Man 3 - Official Site
Ted Raimi talks about his role in the trilogy.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning - Official Site
The site has all the usual features, but it feels like there should be more here. Something interactive perhaps.

Wrestling with Angels - Official Site
None of the links on this site would work for me.


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Filed under: Movie Website Updates, Spider-Man 3, Happy Feet, Casino Royale, The Departed, Ghost Rider, Norbit, Flushed Away, Déjà Vu, The Good Shepherd, Blood Diamond, The Prestige, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, Man of the Year, Deck the Halls, Babel, Employee of the Month, Mr. Woodcock, Flicka, Marie Antoinette, Little Children, Catch a Fire, Van Wilder Deux: The Rise of Taj, Harsh Times, Shortbus, Fast Food Nation, Copying Beethoven, Driving Lessons, Deliver Us From Evil, Cocaine Cowboys, Home of the Brave, Wrestling with Angels, 300