Movie Website Reviews for the Weekend of July 24th, 2009
July 26, 2009
There were seven releases this week, including three wide releases. All three wide releases have websites that are at least average, with two have substantial extras, and one, G-Force's Official Site being worthy of the Weekly Website Award.
The Answer Man - Official Site
G-Force - Official Site
How to be a Serial Killer - Official Site
In the Loop - No Official Site
Orphan - Official Site
Shrink - Official Site
The Ugly Truth - Official Site
Mostly just the basics (synopsis, bios, images, and trailer). There's just a hint of animation to go along with the content; just enough to not seem boring, but the site certainly doesn't stand out.
A massive site, especially compared to the recent average, with all of the usual features (synopsis, cast & crew bios, images, and trailer) and substantial extras. These extras start with a section for character bios. Each of the main CG animals has a little information about themselves, as well as a game based on their character. For instance, Speckles game is a word puzzle / computer hacking game. There is a mixed of action and puzzle games, but mostly action, and most a quite short. There is a second section for games that has a couple new games as well, so that's eight games in total. In the video section there is a featurette on the movie, two music videos, but the film clips are marked coming soon. Overall, this is clearly the best site of the week and worth of the Rodentia Weekly Website Award. Except for Speckles, who is a member of the Soricomorpha order. I learned that from The Frantics. ("Boot to the head!")
There are two links on the main page, Theatrical Website and Filmmakers Website. Strangely, these two links are backwards. On the real theatrical website, there are some student testimonials, an infomercial for the seminar, biography for the lead character, and the actual trailer for the movie. There's also a bit of sound and animation, so the site doesn't look boring. Much better than the average limited release.
Nothing for the North American release, but the original British site can be found here.
Like most site on this week's list, this one has just the basics, but there's more sounds and animation on this site than most others on this week's list. It's enough to be effective, but 'effective' is hardly glowing praise, especially for a wide release.
Synopsis, cast & crew bios, images, and trailer. Just the absolute basics with no sense of style to make it stand out.
On the positive side, at least this site has something more than just the basics. In addition to the synopsis, bios, images, and trailer, there are three games and a clip. On the negative side, the background music is incredible repetitive. Drove me nuts before I was halfway through exploring the site.
Filed under: G-Force, The Ugly Truth, Orphan, In the Loop, Shrink, How to be a Serial Killer, The Answer Man