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Sony beefs up Web fare

Sony will make more of its films available for free on Crackle.com, the company's online movie and TV video Web site, adding "Spider-Man 2" and other male-skewing titles as it looks to lure viewers and advertisers.

The site also is adding more original programming, launching Crackle Cinemactive, a video-clip-based game about pop culture, Variety reports.

In addition to "Spider-Man 2," new films added to Crackle's free ad-supported service include "Groundhog Day," "Stripes," "A Few Good Men," "1941," "El Mariachi," "Big Fish," "The Fan," "LaBamba," "The People vs. Larry Flynt," "Johnny Mnemonic" and several installments of the "Godzilla" franchise.

The move makes nearly 100 films available on the Web site, with the latest additions specifically targeting younger males.

The Cinemactive game is being added to a group of original series that includes Ed Brubacker's thriller "Angel of Death," starring Zoe Bell and Lucy Lawless, and "Starv-ing," with David Faustino.

Crackle recently brokered a content deal with YouTube that it hopes will drive more traffic to its own site.

According to comScore Inc., the company has seen streams increase 84 percent during the first three months of the year, and it ranked as the seventh-most-trafficked entertainment video site in March.

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