Movie Website Reviews for Weekend of April 11, 2008
April 12, 2008
Like last week, there are only 11 movie that came out this week, however, more of them have real sites. But unlike last week, none of the site rises to the level of the Weekly Website Award. I would rate either The Visitor - Official Site or Smart People - Official Site as the best of the rest, but while both are effective, neither are award-worthy.
Bra Boys - Official Site
Dark Matter - Official Site
Don Giovanni - No Official Site
Emma Smith: My Story - No Official Site
Jack & Jill vs. The World - Official Site
Prom Night - Official Site
Remember the Daze - Official Site
Smart People - Official Site
Street Kings - Official Site
The Visitor - Official Site
Young @ Heart - Official Site
Typical documentary site with few extras like a blog and several media clips. However, I don't like image galleries where I can't choose the images I want to look at. For instance, here is it just an automated slideshow.
All the usual features are here (synopsis, bios, image gallery, and trailer), as well as a section called The Science. Here they talk about the five elemental theory in Chinese philosophy, which is not scientific but still interesting, and the science of dark matter, which is both scientific and interesting. However, there's little in the way of style to draw in surfers.
Usually it's the smallest limited releases that don't have official sites. But this week it is the two largest that don't.
Nothing to review.
All of the usual features are here (synopsis, production notes, bios, image gallery, and trailer), as well as a TV and Radio section that features two interviews. On a side note, Hannah Lochner's bio is still marked coming soon and is the only one that is. This made me want to look up her bio and it turns out she's Canadian; besides this movie, she's been in Dawn of the Dead and Firehouse Dog.
What a stupid site! They show the kill scenes in the video clips. We already know who the killer is (it's in the trailer), and now they are showing the kills (or as much as they can on a MPAA approved site). So there's no reason to see the movie. I know, I usually really like interactive sites like this, but the job of the site is to sell the movie, not ruin it. There's also a game, but it crashed my browser. Can't review what I can't see.
A relatively good site with all of the usual features, plus a making of featurette that wouldn't be out of place on the DVD release. Unfortunately, the bios are just links to IMDb, and that hurts. Overall it is effective, but not outstanding.
A smaller site than I was expecting with just four section. But in these four sections, there are all of the usual features, as well as four clips in the video section and four additional shorter clips introducing the characters, one in each section. I also enjoyed the word search that precedes each section. However, while the site is effective, it is not award-worthy.
The first of two Fox Searchlight sites on this week's list. I like the content on the site, but it looks too much like all of the other Fox Searchlight sites and that's not good.
One of the better sites this week, not only are all the usual features here (including character bios) but there's a large selection of video clips as well. Ten video clips, in fact. By the time you finish them all you feel like you've watched the movie, but you still want to see more. The background music adds a little to the site, but it is repetitive.
Typical Fox Searchlight site. Excellent content, weak style.
Filed under: Prom Night, Street Kings, Smart People, The Visitor, Young @ Heart, Dark Matter, Jack and Jill vs. the World, Don Giovanni, Remember the Daze