Movie Website Updates for September 2 - September 8
September 8, 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, Tideland - Official Site.
Bee Season
BloodRayne
The Child
The Chosen One
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
Curandero
Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story
Eragon
The Exorcism of Emily Rose
Flight Plan
Forty Shades of Blue
Hooligans
Just Like Heaven
Kamikaze Girls
Lord of War
Make it Funky!
The Man
My Big Fat Independent Movie
North Country
Oliver Twist
The Passenger
The Passing
Proof
Serenity
Shopgirl
Steal Me
Tideland
An Unfinished Life
Venom
Waiting...
Why We Fight
Typical Fox Searchlight placeholder site, but the trailer and a featurette are up on Apple.com.
There was yet another redesign of the site this week, and this one either doesn't work with Mozilla, or is just a terrible design; it looks unprofessional.
Typical Sony Picture Classics placeholder site with just the press kit.
After telling us that more information was coming soon eight months ago, the official site was dead today. I'm not sure if it's dead, dead or if there's just a problem with the server. I'll check back later. ... Nevermind, the site is back again.
There are a couple section to explore in the Step into Narnia section. It's mostly a hunt for hidden downloads, but there some additional information as well.
It's a Miramax site.
The placeholder site was redesigned and now has the second trailer, which is nearly identical to the first trailer.
This is taking a long time to load, either the film is much more popular than the studio thought it would be, or the server is having technical difficulties. Right now just the Legend and Lexicon sections are up with The Land and The Spine Online marked coming soon.
The site spends way too much time trying to convince me that demonic possessions are real and not enough time trying to convince me that the movie is worth seeing. It's a common marketing flaw but it still bugs me every time it's used.
I was finally able to see the images, but the navigation system only works about a third of the time, if that, and the rest of the time clicking either forward or back will do nothing.
The site has all the usually information, but not enough style to make it stand out.
This site either doesn't work, (either because of browser incompatibility or some other reason) or this is the slowest site I've ever seen. ... it's just really, really slow. It will take a couple of minutes to load a different section, so be patient.
Darryl the Psychic section was added this week; the heart of that section is the Ouija board with lots and lots of audio clips from him. It also has a poll about fate, top five reading list and some downloads.
No changes in a while.
Three more locations in the World Tour section were added this week leaving just Germany and Afghanistan left to go.
There's more here about the DVD, which is coming out in less than three weeks, than there is about the movie, which hits theatres tomorrow.
It's been a long time since there's been any significant change to the site.
Warning this site has a red banner trailer which means the MPAA thought it was too racy for a general public and that means it would probably be considered not safe for work. However, if you're spending your time at work surfing movie sites, your job isn't your primary concern. The film itself is a spoof of independent movies and the site has that certain feel. That does mean it's not a flashy site, however.
The trailer was added to the site and it's very powerful and could propel Charlize Theron into the upper echelon of actresses.
A section on set and costume design was added and it includes comparison between concept art and final product.
Typical Sony Picture Classics placeholder site with just the photo gallery.
Good site with most of the usual features, (there are no bios for the cast) and a couple of clips. Also, there's a behind-the-scenes featurette marked coming soon.
Just the synopsis and the trailer, but it's much better than most Miramax sites.
The wallpaper maker was added this week, plus I found a couple more features I didn't notice last week. The cockpit and the airlock have small video clips to find and the engine room has a mini-game.
The flash site launched this week and while it has all the usual features, there's not much here to make it stand out. There's a whole style using two choices for each section, which mimics the theme of the film, but it's subtle and I'm not sure if it works entirely.
This site has all the usual features, and while there is a lot of information the site has a very simple format.
The flash site launched this week and like anything involving Terry Gilliam, it is incredibly imaginative. There's a lot of exploration to find the usual features, as well as the tons of extras, but fortunately there is also a map so you can jump to individual sections if you want to. Much of the content was on the previous incarnation of the site; new stuff includes additional images, interviews, synopsis, and production notes. The trailer is still marked coming soon, and the extensive production notes are in pdf format. I was already looking forward to seeing this movie, and now I can't wait. So for only the second time in the two and a half years I've been doing this column, I am awarding the dreamy Weekly Website Award to a previous winner. On a side note, the film is playing at the Toronto International Film Festival tomorrow.
It's a Miramax site, it all its beige glory.
The trailer is up on Apple.com, but it's not even close to being effective. Look like too many other Teenage Slasher films.
The broken link on the image gallery was fixed.
Typical Sony Picture Classics placeholder site with just the press kit and photo gallery.
Submitted by: C.S.Strowbridge
Filed under: Movie Website Updates, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Flightplan, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Eragon, Just Like Heaven, Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story, Serenity, Lord of War, North Country, Waiting..., Shopgirl, An Unfinished Life, The Man, Proof, BloodRayne, Oliver Twist, Bee Season, Venom, Green Street Hooligans, Tideland