Movie Website Reviews for the Weekend of February 6th, 2009

February 8, 2009

There was an equal mix of wide and limited releases on this week's list, but as usual, it is the wide releases that dominate the top end of the websites for this week. But it was the smallest wide release for the week, Coraline, that had the best Official Site, and it is this site that wins the Weekly Website Award.

The 2008 Academy Award-Nominated Short Films - No Official Site
Nothing to review.

Chocolate - No Official Site
No official site for its limited release here, but the original site can be found here. Strangely, the menu is in English, but the rest of the site is not.

Coraline - Official Site
A huge site with plenty to explore. It has all of the usual features (synopsis, bios, images, and trailer) but most of the site involves exploring the 'other' side. Here you can check out the mouse circus, go to Mr. Jones' study, get your tea leaves read. I suggest doing that first, as it makes exploring the rest of the site much easier. You can create flowers in the garden, watch a dozen videos in the theater, and more. (I loved the video on the woman who knits the sweaters for the characters. Fascinating.) The little things are done very well; for instance, when you leave the garden, the flower you were working on falls apart. An amazing site and easily the winner of the koumpounophobic Weekly Website Award.

Fanboys - Official Site
Just the bare minimum: synopsis, bios, images, and trailer. Sadly, there's not even a real sense of style to make up for the lack of content.

He's Just Not That Into You - Official Site
All of the usual features are here, plus a few extras including a couple of quizzes and a video of the top ten 'Chick Flick Clichés' not in this movie. These are not as funny as they should be.

The Objective - Official Site
This site is rather mixed in terms of quality. It is missing some of the usual features like bios and image gallery, but it has director's statement, a blog, a forum, and even a making of featurette. The making of featurette makes up for the missing bios and images, but overall it still doesn't do enough to really stand out.

Pink Panther 2 - Official Site
A big site with lots to explore. This includes the usual features (synopsis, bios, images, and trailer) as well as plenty of extras. These extras include six clips, most of which I couldn't sit through, and five rather simple games. But overall the site is still just mostly average.

Push - Official Site
This site is a little too busy. All of the images on the home page switching back and forth is too much going on for too little information. All the usual features are here, plus information on the psychic powers from the movie, an online comic book, and several clips that are over on MySpace. Overall it is not as effective as it could have been.


-

Filed under: He's Just Not That Into You, Coraline, The Pink Panther 2, Push, Fanboys