Movie Website Reviews for Weekend of March 14, 2008

March 15, 2008

The biggest hit of the year so far opened this weekend in Horton Hears a Who and fortunately the studio put together an Official Site that matches its box office strength.

Doomsday - Official Site
The usual features are here, but the are also enough extras including several video clips, information on the character and weapons, as well as a game. There is also restricted content, but since I'm not American, I can't get to it. I find that frustrating. Only one of two sites that stands out, but it doesn't do enough to be award-worthy.

Funny Games - Official Site
Lot of video clips here, a whole lot of clips; however, that's pretty much all that's on the site. Worse still, the clips don't sell the movie very well.

Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk - Official Site
A documentary site with a lot more style than most sites have. There's a lot of information on the site, including educational tools, as well as an impressive featurette on the movie. I expect the last feature to make it on the DVD.

The Hammer - Official Site
All of the usual features are here, but nothing extra. There's just enough animation in the transition to avoid feeling boring, but that's it.

Heartbeat Detector - No Official Site
Nothing to review.

Horton Hears a Who - Official Site
Big site with lots of information and plenty of activities and animation. All the usual information is here, synopsis, bios, production notes, image galleries, and trailer. There are also extras like character bios, activities like coloring books, several games, and more. Add in plenty of sound and animation and this is the best site of the week. However, there are some issues including having most of the videos marked coming soon. (The trailer and TV spots are there, but the clips, featurette, and interviews are M.I.A.) Finally, one of the games, Vlad Attack is lost behind a broken link. Even so, it is still the best of what we have and the problems won't stop it from winning the Weekly Website Who-Award.

Never Back Down - Official Site
Just the basic with nothing that sells the movie well.

On Broadway - Official Site
A simple site that seems smaller than it is. There's nothing here to make it stand out.

Sleepwalking - Official Site
Just the basics features (synopsis, bios, image gallery, and trailer) with three clips as the only extra on the site. The clips are interesting, but don't exactly sell the movie very well; there needs to be more here.

Sputnik Mania - Official Site
Like most documentary sites, this one is heavy on information, but it also has good style and feels like it's promoting a movie from the 1950s. Also selling the site are the six clips that sell the movie well and I especially like the last one.

Towards Darkness - Official Site
This site has a lot more style than most limited releases do, but it is at the expense of information. There are just the usual features there, sort of. The bios are just links to IMDb.com. There is a section for clips, but it is marked coming soon.

War Made Easy: How Presidents & Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death - Official Site
Typical documentary site with most information than style. Very little style. Even the trailer lacks the punch needed to sell the movie.

Wetlands Preserved: The Story of an Activist Rock Club - Official Site
Less information than on most documentary sites, but there's plenty of images and a great song in the background.


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Filed under: Horton Hears a Who, Never Back Down, Doomsday, Funny Games, The Hammer, Sleepwalking, On Broadway, Sputnik Mania, La Question Humaine, Wetlands Preserved: The Story of an Activist Rock Club, War Made Easy: How Presidents & Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death, Hacia la Oscuridad