Movie Website Updates for August 5 - August 11

August 11, 2006

The torrid pace of website updates continues with more than 30 films on this week's list. There were a few sites that really caught my eye, but it was Trust the Man - Official Site and its interactive map of New York City and its more than 2 dozen clips that won the Weekly Website Award.

300 - Official Site
The seventh video journal is online and it discusses the making of the movie and the way they balanced history and Frank Miller's vision.

Accepted - Official Site
The clips were added this week, but they didn't do a great job of selling the movie.

Beerfest - Official Site
All the usual features are here, plus a lot of sound and animation. But there is nothing here that sells the film. The more I see, the lower my opinion is. On a side note, they way they mention the R rating at the beginning of the site skirts dangerously close to breaking MPAA rules. It might be changed before the movie comes out.

Casino Royale - Official Site
The latest blog talks about the recent fire at the Pinewood Studios and its significance to the Bond franchise.

Catch A Fire - Official Site
Just the synopsis and the trailer.

Come Early Morning - Official Site
Just the synopsis, cast & crew bios, image gallery, and a clip from the film. That's not much, but there's a long time before the film opens and that should change.

Conversations With Other Women - Official Site
No changes in a while, the site has all the necessary features and an appropriately subtle feel to it.

The Covenant - Official Site
The game was added to the site, but there's not much strategy here, at least not so far. It's just choose attack or defense, then click for power. Perhaps if I had more people in my covenant, I would have more options.

The Departed - Official Site
The site is now up and the trailer is online. But that's the only feature on the site right now.

The Fountain - Official Site
The flash site is up, but there's still not much here, just the synopsis and the trailer.

Ghost Rider - Official Site
Who is Johhny Blaze? That's the question asked by the latest blog entry. It's short and not very in-depth, but works as part of the overall blog.

The Grudge 2 - Official Site
The trailer is online and it gives away way too much. I fear the movie, or at least its biggest scares, will be ruined by the trailer.

Half Nelson - Official Site
The links to the trailer were fixed.

Happy Feet - Official Site
The flash site is up, but so far all that's on the site is the synopsis, image gallery, a series of ineffective trailers, and games marked coming soon.

Haven - Official Site
The site has been entirely redone, but so far the only content is the synopsis and the trailer.

House of Sand - Official Site
There's a lot of information here, (synopsis, text based interviews, extensive production notes), but not much flash, which is many ways is a lot like the movie it is promoting.

Idlewild - Official Site
There's an update this week, but it's not on the site. Click here for the music player and here for clips.

Invincible - Official Site
So far there are more features marked coming soon than on the site, and there's not much time to add them. Right now there's the synopsis, image gallery, and trailer for the regular features, with cast & crew bios, production notes, and TV spots and clips marked coming soon. Extras include interviews and music videos marked coming soon as well as the Open Tryouts section. This section lets your register, tell them your favorite player, (they wouldn't allow me to choose Lui Passaglia as my favorite player), and keep track of your stats on the three games. Only special teams are online at the moment, but so far I'm in seventh place. It's a good site, but that Lui Passaglia issue means it won't win the Weekly Website Award any time soon.

Lassie - Official Site
They've completely redone and it looks a lot better than the old site. There's still not enough in the way of sound, animation, or extras to stand out in the crowd, but at least it doesn't stand out for all the wrong reasons either.

The Last Kiss - Official Site
There are three video blogs over on iTunes featuring Zach Braff. They are amusing, but hardly add any deep insight into the movie.

Night at the Musem - Official Site
The teaser site is up, but so far it only has the synopsis, image gallery, and trailer.

The Protector - Official Site
New site for Tom Yum Goong has just the synopsis, cast and crew bios, (one of each), and the trailer. I suspect the film will have average acting, a plot that is missing and presumed dead, and a ton of really cool fight scenes.

Pulse - Official Site
The rest of the TV spots and clips were added to the site, but they don't sell the film enough to compensate for it being withheld from critics.

School For Scoundrels - No Official Site
There's no official site yet, but we have a link to the trailer, which can be found here. It's like Hitch via Bad Santa. It could be good, but that September release date suggests otherwise.

Step Up - Official Site
It's a MySpace site. I hate MySpace.

Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny - Official Site
The trailer is online. I literally had no idea what to expect with this trailer, and I'm happy to report my expectations were met. Honestly, I think this film will be too bizarre for most people, but will find a cult following on DVD.

Trust the Man - Official Site
The site has all the usual information, synopsis, cast & crew bios, image gallery, and trailer. There are also plenty of clips with one for the synopsis and one for each of the six bios. If that was it, this would be a great site; however, the heart of the site is the map of New York City where you can check out the various locations from the film. Each one contains a quote from the movie and a clip. When I heard of this feature I was expected 6 or 7 of them, maybe 10 at the most. There are 25 locations and 25 clips. Even with many of these map clips coming from either the trailer or the clips from the main site, it is still an excellent addition to the site. Add in great background music and enough animation and you have the winner of the reliable Weekly Website Award. One last note, that line, "Ohh, I've taken a wrong turn somewhere" is one of my favorite lines in any trailer on this week's list. However, I preferred the older trailer where the line was given more context. I know they had to trim the scene for the trailer, but it really hurt its effectiveness.

Viva Pedro - Official Site
The site has some information and the trailer for the series, as well as information on all of the films involved. But for more information, one will have to follow the links to the individual movies' sites.

Waltzing Anna - Official Site
There were no changes since the site was last featured on this column.

World Trade Center - Official Site
Al the usual features are here, as well as extras, mostly in the form of video interviews with the actual people depicted in the film. Power and moving site.

Zoom - Official Site
Five clips were added to the site, but they don't sell the film very well.


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Filed under: Movie Website Updates, Night at the Museum, Happy Feet, Casino Royale, The Departed, Ghost Rider, World Trade Center, Step Up, Invincible, The Grudge 2, Accepted, The Covenant, Pulse, Beerfest, School for Scoundrels, Idlewild, Tom yum goong, Zoom, The Last Kiss, The Fountain, Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny, Catch a Fire, Half Nelson, Trust the Man, Lassie, Viva Pedro, Casa de Areia, Conversations with Other Women, Haven, Come Early Morning, Waltzing Anna, 300