Movie Website Updates for June 24th - June 30th

June 30, 2006

It seems a lot of people are starting their holidays early, but not this column as it's the busiest it's been in more than a month. Including in this list are a few newly released teaser trailers and a handful of flash sites, most of which are worth checking out. But the best of the best is the Running With Scissors - Official Site.

10th and Wolf - Official Site
The site was complete re-designed this week and given a much more polished feel. However, even with a good intro, there's not enough here to stand out.

Ant Bully - Official Site
The flash site launched this week and it has everything you would expect from a site like this, although some of the basics are marked coming soon, (cast & crew bios and production notes). Also marked coming soon are the games and a personality quiz. Without those two features it is hard to judge the site, although it is off to a great start.

Borat - Official Site
The trailer is online, but you have to surf over to Apple.com to see it. It's even worse than I imagined.

Brothers of the Head - Official Site
A scattered site that seems to fit very well with the movie its promoting, (which is about conjoined twins who become a punk rock sensation). There's quite a bit of information here, but it's a little hard to find. A menu would have helped.

Casino Royale - Official Site
Another blog, this time defending his complaints about the cold weather in the Bahamas.

Clerks 2 - Official Site
Another video journal entry this week, and it is one of the most interesting so far. It looks at the most complex special effect shot in the movie and how it was accomplished. Would make a good extra on the DVD release. Also, there is a second journal entry over on Apple.com, which features a lot of clips from the journal entries on the main site, but is still worth checking out for those who have been following the Train Wreck site from the beginning.

Crank - Official Site
Just the synopsis so far.

The Descent - Official Site
Added to the site this week were the cast & crew bios, (most of them, anyway), and the image gallery. This is a small site and is certainly not in contention for the Weekly Website Award, but it does help sell the film very well.

The Devil Wears Prada - Official Site
The movie opens tonight, but the desperate message feature is still marked coming soon. Overall it is still a very good site.

Edmond - Official Site
The trailer was added this week leaving just a few bios marked coming soon.

How to Eat Fried Worms - Official Site
Another flash site that launched this week, and again, it has all the usual features. Add in a few games, including one where you have to search the site for ingredients and it should please the target demographic.

Little Man - Official Site
The regular features were added to the site, but they don't help sell the film. But at this point, I don't think anything would.

Marie Antoinette - Official Site
The full trailer is online, but while it is better than the teaser trailer, it still didn't sell me on the film.

Mini's First Time - Official Site
The trailer was added to the site, and I found it effective and it increased my interest in the movie.

The Motel - Official Site
There's a lot of information on this site, but it doesn't have a very polished feel.

My Super Ex-Girlfriend - Official Site
Another new flash site this week, and on the one hand it is technically well done with all the usual features, (synopsis, cast & crew bios, production notes, image gallery, trailer). Also on the site are two games, but neither is that impressive. Overall, the site doesn't really help sell the movie, and that is its main job.

The Nativity Story - Official Site
Just the synopsis, image gallery, teaser trailer, and a behind-the-scenes featurette. As for the trailer, it is way too much teaser for my taste.

The Oh in Ohio - Official Site
All the usual features are here, but there's almost no sense of style. I did like the trailer and I am looking forward to seeing the movie, but the site could sell it better.

Open Season - Official Site
The place holder site was re-designed, again.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - Official Site
Three more games were added to the site with the Pirate Dice game being the most fun.

Running With Scissors - Official Site
This site was turned into a re-direct so long ago that I thought the movie was in serious trouble of never coming out. But now the flash site has launched and it was worth the wait. The heart of the site is the memoirs, which is filled with text, images and plenty of video clips, (some of which are marked coming soon). There is also a menu above to help you find the regular features, (synopsis, cast & crew bios, image gallery, trailer), which is good because the memoirs are a little hectic at times and it would be very hard to find something specific otherwise. This style will also make it much more difficult to figure out when there are updates, but as it is, it�s the best site on this weeks like and the winner of the deranged Weekly Website Award.

Saw III - Official Site
The placeholder site was redesigned and features the new teaser art. Check it out while you can, because I think the MPAA will force them to change it.

Snakes on a Plane - Official Site
There's a new feature to help customize your MySpace site with a Snakes on a Plane motif. I don't have a MySpace site, so I don't know how it looks.

Spider-Man 3 - Official Site
The new teaser trailer featuring Spider-man in his black suit is online. All the Fanboys cheer... WEEEEeeeeeeeeeee! Okay, now that the mandatory geek attack is over with, we can look at the trailer seriously. It's much better than I was expecting. Longtime readers know how much I hate most teaser trailers as they are all about getting the base excited without giving moviegoers any indication about the quality of the movie. This one has more emphasis on the latter, which is a nice touch.

Strangers With Candy - Official Site
No real changes in a couple of weeks. An effective site, but not an award contender.

Superman Returns - Official Site
The clips were added to the site, but the section for interviews that was marked coming soon was reviews. Overall is it a good site, but I was expecting more. (On a side note, I've been using the phrase, "But I was expecting more." To describe a lot about Superman's run so far.)

The Transformers - Official Site
Another teaser trailer hitting the web this week that's sure to make the Fanboy's squeal. However, this one exhibits all the problems I mentioned above when I talked about the Spider-Man 3 teaser.

The U.S. vs. John Lennon - Official Site
The site starts as a parody of the Drudge Report called the Grudge Report. There are plenty of links here, many to outside sites. There are also some of the usual features, including trailer, filmmakers' bios and more. I like the combination of style and content, but not enough for it to be a content for the weekly website award.

Who Killed the Electric Car? - Official Site
The site spends more time talking about the vehicle than the film itself, but since it is a message movie this is forgivable.

You, Me and Dupree - Official Site
The Wisdom of Dupree was added to the site, and it was better than I expected as it featured several clips from with Owen Wilson.

Zoom - Official Site
The flash site launched this week, however, only one section, (a shooting game), is on the site. Everything else is marked Access Denied.


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Filed under: Movie Website Updates, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Spider-Man 3, Transformers, Superman Returns, Casino Royale, Borat, The Devil Wears Prada, Open Season, Saw III, You, Me and Dupree, Little Man, The Nativity Story, Snakes on a Plane, Crank, The Descent, Clerks II, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Marie Antoinette, How to Eat Fried Worms, Zoom, Running With Scissors, Who Killed the Electric Car?, The U.S. vs John Lennon, Edmond, The Ant Bully, 10th & Wolf