Movie Website Updates for April 29 - May 5, 2007

May 6, 2007

Among the more than two-dozen films on this week's list, there were a few that came very close to winning the Weekly Website Award. Of the three, Spider-Man 3 - Official Site was probably the closest to winning, but in the end was brought down by high expectations.

Americanizing Shelly - Official Site
All the usual features are on the site, minus the bios, but there's not enough here to make it stand out. There are clips from the soundtrack, which is a nice bonus, but there needed to be more sound and animation for the site to really pop.

Away from Her - Official Site
All of the usual features are on the site, (synopsis, bios, production notes, image gallery, and trailer), as well as the Memory Catcher section. It's enough to sell the movie, but not enough to really stand out.

Blind Dating - Official Site
A couple clips were added to the site.

Charlie Bartlett - Official Site
No new updates this week, but I have to say that the more I see the trailer the more I want to see the movie. That's good news because usually I see a trailer so many times during my research for my job that by the time the movie comes out I hate it.

Civic Duty - Official Site
The site has all the usual features as well as lots of clips and even some terrorism related statistics. Overall it sells the film well, but there's not enough style here to make the site stand out.

Crazy Love - Official Site
The site has the synopsis, crew bios, image gallery, and a few clips from the two subjects. More style than most documentary sites, but not enough content to make a final decision.

Eagle vs. Shark - Official Site
The regular features were added to the site, but there's still a huge amount of extra left marked coming soon.

The Ex - Official Site
There are a couple contests online including a build your own poster and a The Ex Dodgeball. I was hesitant to tell people about the latter game, but I was knocked out of the top ten and it doesn't look like I'll be getting back in anytime soon.

Fido - Official Site
The trailer and the synopsis are online now. This movie is twisted enough that it could be a hard sell, but the trailer really works for me.

The Golden Door - Official Site
Facts about Ellis Island were added to the site.

His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass - Official Site
A new section on the Daemons is online. Mine would be an ocelot. I'm very happy with this outcome, mainly cause ocelot is such a fun word to say. Ocelot. Ocelot. Ocelot.

Hot Rod - Official Site
Just the placeholder site. A dull placeholder site. It would be more exciting if is had an ocelot on it. Ocelot.

Ocelot.

Okay, I'm done with the Ocelots.

The Invasion - Official Site
Just the synopsis and the poster.

Knocked Up - Official Site
The clips were added to the site and they include a behind-the-scenes featurette. The Edit Bay is also on the site now, but it won't load for me. ... Just checked back and it still won't load. That's too bad because it was one of the best site on this week's list and could have been the winner of the Weekly Website Award.

License to Wed - Official Site
Just the synopsis, image gallery and the trailer. I didn't have high hopes for the film's box office chances, but they took a hit after seeing the trailer.

Lucky You - Official Site
An average site with nothing that makes it standout. There is a Texas Hold'em game on the site, but the AI is below average.

A Mighty Heart - Official Site
Just to synopsis, image gallery, and trailer.

Mr. Brooks - Official Site
Who is Mr. Brooks section is now working fully for me.

Mr. Woodcock - Official Site
The flash site is up and it has all of the usual features and even a clip. However, the more I see of this movie, the less I want to see.

No Reservations - Official Site
The synopsis and the image gallery were added to the site.

Ocean 13 - Official Site
The rest of the character mini-bios were added to the site.

The Other Conquest - Official Site
All the regular features are here, but there's not enough style to set it apart.

Paris Je'Taime - Official Site
Just the basics with some clips as the only extras.

Ratatouille - Official Site
The flash site launched this week, but I'm of two minds on this one. On the one hand, there's a lot of content here for a just launched flash site including a lot of video clips, (trailers, clips, behind-the-scenes, etc.). There are even three games, (two of which are marked coming soon). On the other hand, I was expecting more in terms of sound and animation on the site in general. The backgrounds are too static for my preference and with a bit more animation, and maybe some more interactive features, this could have been an award-winning site. However, I will admit that the content does sell the film well, and that's the primary job of the site.

Rush Hour 3 - Official Site
After being arguably the worst movie website ever for a very long time, the placeholder site launched this week. So far there's just the synopsis, image gallery, and the trailer, but after exploring the site, I am less bullish on the film's chances.

Spider-Man 3 - Official Site
Simply put, this site should be better than it is. There's all the right basic content, (synopsis, bios, gallery, trailers), a number of extras, (movie clips, behind-the-scenes, games), but there's a lack of style. I was expecting a lot more sound and animation for this site. Perhaps a bit more interactivity. Even so, it is still a good side, but high expectations prevent it from being an award-winning site.

The Transformers - Official Site
There's some information on the new line of toys coming out for the movie. Personally I want overpriced, deluxe versions of the toys aimed at adult collectors.

The Treatment - Official Site
All of the usual feature are here, including some clips from the movie. (On a side note, the sound on the clips was too low compared to the background music.) There was enough animation to not seem dull and the answering message on the Shrink Story Competition page was funny.

Waitress - Official Site
Typical Fox Searchlight site. It has enough content to sell the movie, but not enough individual style.


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Filed under: Movie Website Updates, Spider-Man 3, Transformers, Ratatouille, Knocked Up, Rush Hour 3, Ocean's Thirteen, The Golden Compass, License to Wed, No Reservations, Mr. Brooks, Mr. Woodcock, Waitress, The Invasion, Hot Rod, A Mighty Heart, Lucky You, Paris, je t'aime, Away From Her, Charlie Bartlett, The Ex, Nuovomondo, Crazy Love, Fido, Eagle vs Shark, Americanizing Shelley, Civic Duty, Blind Dating, The Treatment