Movie Website Updates for July 22 - July 28

July 28, 2005

During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here the list of this week's releases, a couple of new sites and few updates, including this week's winner, Sky High - Official Site.

The 40-Year-Old Virgin
Good site with most of the usual features and a couple of extras. The biggest extra is the four-part video diary featuring director Judd Apatow. The background music, which features clips from a few songs, helps the site as well.

The Barnyard
The placeholder site underwent a redesign with the teaser trailer and downloads sections added, however, the trailer requires Internet Explorer to view. After spending a few minutes hunting it down from an alternate source, the trailer is far too much teaser to make any kind of judgment about the movie.

Beowulf & Grendel
There is a short announcement stating there will be a big announcement next week.

BloodRayne
After weeks of counting down, the new site was finally launched. Was it worth the wait? Hard to say, most of the information was on the old site, and there was a problem with long load times. But judging by the new trailer, the final site will be better than the movie by quite a margin.

The Chumscrubber
The flash site launched this week and it earns bonus points for style, but whenever the site tries to create a new window it fails. At first I thought it was my pop-up blocker, but even turning it off did nothing. So I assume the problem is a browser compatibility issue. This meant I was not able to play the game and I had to search for the trailer from another source. It was worth looking for.

CSA: The Confederate States of America
Typical IFC movie website with the synopsis, cast & crew bios, and the trailer.

Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo
The last game was added to the site and there's some information about radio promotions. The game was a simple platform jumper and wasn't that entertaining. Also, the new trailer is on the placeholder site, and wow, is it ever tastless.

Doom
Placeholder site with more animation than most, and that's a good sign. The only content on site is the synopsis and the image gallery, but there is a link to the trailer / comic con panel. It looks pretty generic, but it could turn out to be a fun popcorn flick.

Four Brothers
More features were added to the site, some of which are marked coming soon. Cast bios are up along with the image gallery are new. Marked coming soon are the sections About the Film, (safe to assume this would contain crew bios and / or production notes), clips and webisodes. I'm not sure if the background music is new or different, but it is a plus.

Get Rich or Die Trying
The trailer is up, but it looks like any number of similar movies. It will likely have a hard time standing out in a crowded genre and will have to rely on the popularity of 50 Cent to draw crowds.

The Great Raid
Just the synopsis and the trailer.

Into the Blue
There's a new trailer, which is marginally better than the first. Still, it feels like the only real drawing power will be Jessica Alba in a bikini.

Last Holiday
Placeholder site with no real content.

Little Fish
The site has all the usual features, plus some sound and animation. The audio quotes really help sell the film, but not enough to stand out in a crowded field.

Memoirs of a Geisha
Typical Sony placeholder site with no real content.

The Memory of a Killer
Not much in the way of style, but there were a couple of text based interviews and the director's statement.

MirrorMask
There's a new trailer on the site, but it still deals very little with the actual plot and spends more time showing us the amazing visuals and bizarre sights. I still think it's going to be an amazing movie, but I don't think the marketing department is capable of selling such a unique film.

Must Love Dogs
The film opens tomorrow but the TV spots and clips are still marked coming soon. It's common for a site to leave the clips marked coming soon till after the film opens, but TV spots are another matter.

Oyster Farmer
Pretty simple site missing some of the usual features, (like bios.)

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio
Just the synopsis and trailer so far.

Revolver
The teaser trailer was added to the site, but a word of warning, it contains a lot more violence and nudity than one would expect from a Hollywood trailer and it shouldn't be viewed at work.

Serenity
Nothing new on the site, but the new trailer will premiere tomorrow on the Sci-Fi channel during the second part of the Firefly pilot, which runs from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. It should be on the site by this time next week.

Sky High
The class registration worked for me this week, it allows you to choose a power and play games for credit. There are the two older games and two new ones and if you beat enough you can print out Student ID and a diploma. It's a fun site and should please the target audience. Overall this is a great site aimed directly at its target audience with information like character bios, interactive features including four games, (and another marked coming soon) as well as hidden features to unlock. Add in plenty of sound and animation, (as well as a color scheme that is cheesy, but in a fun way) and you have the winner of the superlative Weekly Website Award.

Stealth
Not much has changed since the site was awarded the Weekly Website Award. Obviously since it was an award winning site, not much needed to be changed since then.

Tony Takitani
All the usual information is here, but there's not enough sound and animation to make the site stand out.

Two for the Money
They put the trailer up using a more standard format this week, (Quicktime and Windows Media.) Initial response was not positive; it wasn't overly negative either. I just couldn't shake the feeling that I've seen it all before.

Underclassman
The release date has apparently changed to the September 2nd, which is spooky since in the August preview I wrote that a September release date might be a better for the film than an August one.

Undiscovered
A music video was added to the site.

V For Vendetta
The trailer is online so stop reading this and go watch it, don't worry, I'll wait. ... It's one of the best trailers I've seen in quite some time and the film instantly became a must see.

Valiant
Another game was added to the site.

Yours, Mine and Ours
Just the trailer, but I can't get it to work.

One last note, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events's Official Site, which is the only movie website to win the Weekly Website Award, twice, is up for Best Website of the Year. I suggest readers head over there and vote for the film.


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Filed under: Movie Website Updates, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, The 40 Year-old Virgin, Four Brothers, Barnyard: The Original Party Animals, V for Vendetta, Sky High, Memoirs of a Geisha, Yours, Mine and Ours, Must Love Dogs, Last Holiday, Stealth, Doom, Serenity, Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, Valiant, Into the Blue, The Great Raid, Underclassman, BloodRayne, Undiscovered, MirrorMask, CSA: The Confederate States of America, The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio, De Zaak Alzheimer, Revolver, The Chumscrubber, Little Fish, 2 For the Money