| Remember when summer blockbusters actually started in the summer? Now studios get a jump on release dates by pumping out titles in the merry month of May. Last May gave us X2, The Matrix Reloaded, and Finding Nemo. This year will likely prove as profitable with Van Helsing (May 8th), Shrek 2 (May 21st) and The Day After Tomorrow (May 28th).
Despite its Flash-heavy site that slows download times, vanhelsing.net has some interesting features worthy of the wait. In addition to providing the essential trailer of the ass-kicking vampire duellist, you can access storyboards, concept art of Van Helsing’s weaponry, and a library of information influencing the film, including Transylvanian history and the evolution of the term Goth.
Shrek2.com is geared more towards a younger clicking crowd with a fun and games section that holds a memory card game and colouring page that you can print. In the Meet the Characters option you can get wallpapers, AOL buddy icons and audio clips of your favourite characters, including the Gingerbread Man, Puss-in-Boots and Donkey. The Behind The Fairytale section isn’t available yet, but, given the assumption that it would hold various "making of" featurettes, could prove to be worth going back for.
Thedayaftertomorrow.com is easily one of the better film companion sites I’ve seen in a while. Global weather alerts scroll across the top of the screen with radio transmissions heightening the sense of urgency. The film’s subject matter of human civilization wiped out by the elements is eerily highlighted by newsworthy weather events of 2003, including the heatwaves in Europe and India that killed tens of thousands of people. Don’t forget to download the majestic shot of Manhattan being swallowed by gigantic waves. |
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