Movie Website Reviews for Weekend of August 1, 2008
August 2, 2008
The first week of August did not bring a bumper crop of new releases. Furthermore, only two sites on this week's list even stood out as above average. However, one of those sites, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor - Official Site stood out as worthy of the Weekly Website Award.
America the Beautiful - Official Site
Frozen River - Official Site
In Search of a Midnight Kiss - Official Site
Midnight Meat Train - Official Site
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor - Official Site
Sixty Six - Official Site
Stealing America: Vote by Vote - Official Site
Swing Vote - Official Site
All the usual features for a documentary site are here, as is the usual lack of polish. They do have a featurette of audience testimonials, which is interesting to watch.
All of the usual features with enough style and polish to stand out compared to many limited releases, but not enough to really shine.
The site feels very disorganized, as if they are trying to fit too much in too small of a space. This hurts what could otherwise be an effective site.
Just the trailer. It's an effective trailer, but that's not enough for the site to stand out.
A very big site to explore that rewards surfers with video clips, audio clips, concept art, and more. In addition, the site has all of the usual features (synopsis, production notes, cast & crew bios, image gallery, and trailers), as well as an action game, and a timeline of China, although it is not really a timeline and simply states a number of facts on a number of topics. On a side note, the Great Wall of China is not visible from space. I don't know where that urban myth started, nor do I care, but I wish people would stop repeating it. But besides that common error, this feature is still worth checking out. Add in plenty of sound and animation, and this is easily the biggest, and best site on this week's list, and the winner of the preserved Weekly Website Award.
Typical of many limited release sites, there's not a lot of flash here, but there are a number of video clips (mostly off site in the two blogs). On a side note, there are no bios on the site, unless you download the press notes. Being able to download the press notes is good, but the bios should still be on the site.
No flash, but there's a lot more video clips than most sites have and that helps sell the movie.
There's a lot of features on this site, including a personality quiz / non-scientific poll, game, trivia quiz, etc. I liked the Swing Vote Tiemaker where you have to try and create an electoral map that hangs on only one state. However, it is pretty easy for any political junkie, especially if you spend too much time over on 270ToWin.com.
Filed under: The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Swing Vote, Deadly Blessing, Frozen River, Sixty Six, In Search of a Midnight Kiss, Stealing America: Vote by Vote, America the Beautiful