Well this is it! The final news story for the A3U site! Perhaps a few words of explanation are in order here:

Although A3U Podcast is down and over, most of our diligent staff has relocated to a new site called Fancore Pirate Radio. www.fancorepodcast.com Please feel free to check it out.

As you may have noticed, having no doubt traveled from some link in a forum or Wiki article, the URL has changed and if you go to the old address you will no doubt be told that the account has been suspended. Well friends, it has taken this long to resurrect the old site as an archive here. While I don't wish to name names, if you join us on the new site, you'll see there is really only one main contributing member who has not joined us. This person is indeed the reason for this change. Without an Ages Three and Up store, there is really no reason to have a podcast and it soon became even more difficult to move the domain when he, like he did with so many of his customers before him, decided to be a prick and shut down the site. I'm sure a quick search on any Transformers forum like www.tfw2005.com or www.cybertron.ca will quickly give you an idea to the depths of how low he can sink. Lies and pathetic deception really.

So with the help of past-cohost and now host of his own podcast Frontlines, Michael J. Cohen helped us set up a new site and through the steadfast reliability of Michael Stepney we saved the old site as an archive so as not to lose these wonderful interviews.

I hope you all join us at the new site www.fancorepodcast.com We have a couple of new sponsors, www.metropolis-comics.com and www.thickonline.com We're still talking about movies, doing interviews and giving you all the candid opinions you're looking for without sugar coating. We're a crazy resource of movie info and hopefully some intelligent thoughts as well... although I wouldn't hold my breath.

John Woo's Mega Spectacular War epic will be unveiling the second chapter into theatres for Asian audiences in the new year.

For those who can wait for a North American release, the movies will be edited into one film and released about the same time.

People buying bootlegs and Chinese DVDs will have already seen the first part of a beautiful period piece set ablaze by the fury of a war that threatens to tear apart the country! As China's most expensive movie to date, John Woo has much on his shoulders.

Watch the Trailer to Part 2 Here

This week, MTV News named Robert Downey Jr. as the actor we’re most thankful for this year, and we here at Splash Page couldn’t agree more. After all, not only has Downey taken the role of Tony Stark/Iron Man and made it his own, there doesn’t seem to be an actor more excited about not only his place in comics-based films, but the future of the genre as well.

The internet damn-near gave the actor a standing ovation when news broke last month about Downey not only signing on for “Iron Man 2,” but also officially joining the cast of the absurdly-anticipated “Avengers” movie. So naturally, we had to get Downey’s take on the upcoming film that’s destined to be the Holy Grail for Geekdom, and you can rest assured knowing that the actor is well-aware of how important the film will be to not only Marvel, but the comics community as a whole.

“If we don’t get it right it’s really, really going to suck,” said Downey. “It has to be the crowning blow of Marvel’s best and brightest because it’s the hardest thing to get right. It’s tough to spin all the plates for one of these characters.”

However, in taking on the role of a key member of the Avengers to such digital fanfare, Downey has in a sense become the face of the operation — at least until other Marvel films such as “Captain America” and “Thor” get made (and, likewise, until Marvel figures out how to handle the Hulk). To a lesser actor, this seems like an insurmountable amount of pressure, but Downey remains level-headed, and like any good soldier, knows he’s got a job to do, knows he’s already got a solid team at his side, and looks forward to seeing how the other films will play into the “Avengers.”

“I think its important that I do what I’m supposed to do which is keep my side of the street clean,” said Downey. “The danger you run with colliding all these worlds is [director] Jon [Favreau] was very certain that ‘Iron Man’ should be set in a very realistic world. Nothing that happened in ‘Iron Man’ is really outside the realm of possibility. Once you start talking about Valhalla and supersized super soldiers and jolly green giants it warrants much further discussion.”

SplashPage

Imagi Animation Studios, will be bringing Astroboy from classic cell animation to the CG variety this coming year! Their first feature, TMNT was well conceived and executed, bringing respect back to an overworn franchise. Their second feature was a 2D animated addition to the Highlander franchise; Highlander: Search for Vengeance.

With this third movie, Imagi hopes to bring Astroboy to the world in all the ways we could never even conceive of as children.

Astroboy is a manga and anime series from the sixties featuring a robotic boy created by a scientist to look like his own son who died in a car accident. Astro becomes a superhero who fights crime with his crazy robot powers, such as flying and super strength as the series continues.

Click the following link to check out the teaser!-Moviefone

Based on a book by Scott Smith, the Ruins follows two young couples on vacation to some Mayan ruins for what shouldn’t be a nasty exercise in the fun game of “who the hell is going to survive this”? The formula is pretty run of the mill, the first twenty minutes sets up our characters and once they find the ruins they become trapped there and have to try to find a way out while at the same time, bickering and fighting and doing their best not get dismembered or eaten or whatever the ruins have in store for them.

The movie delivers a fairly standard fare in the teen horror genre with more gore and blood than what a “Scream” movie would deliver. This movie has the integrity to deliver on its promise of horror and in teen horror flicks that is something that could go either way. Much of nineties teen horror movies couldn’t seem to pull their balls out of their producers purses and watered down the gore. Rest assured, the Ruins is not one of these movies.

Director Carter Smith makes his first entry into feature length films here showing much promise for his career by steering his characters into the most horrible situation and having the integrity to deliver upon them the brutal tragedy we all want until we actually see it and then giggle madly. The use of CG in the film is kept to a tasteful minimum at times when it becomes necessary to use them. This is another valued skill that too many directors can’t seem to get the handle of.

The cast has been assembled of strong young leads that become their characters so completely; their previous performances are lost amidst these new fully rounded people. Shawn Ashmore who’s best known for his role as Iceman in the X-Men franchise, melts into this world as easily as his mutant characters would in the hot sun. Jena Malone’s performance is also one of note as she plays the most despised and universally criticized characters in the film. People’s confusion on her character is that as an actress she plays a completely irritating character and while we hate her character, we should respect her performance. Malone is an actress that has shed her need for popularity and opted for truth in the film. That may be a little too deep for a horror flick like this, but it’s important to recognize her achievement in playing an irritating bitch!

Spoiler Begins:

This movie has one main twist that should be held in reserve to be discussed after seeing the movie. It is both original and possibly silly. The evil that has claimed the ruins and now attempts to kill our characters are the plants that grow up the side of the ruins. That’s right plants! Now if you haven’t seen the movie, shame on you for ruining the gimmick that makes the Ruins original! This is a seemingly silly premise and as stated on the commentary, when creating a killer plant for a movie, you can’t help but feel the need to avoid any possible comparison to Little Shop of Horrors. This movie pulls it off! These green vines are creepy and sinister as all hell. So if you’ve held off on this flick because someone ruined the Ruins for you and gave away the twist, fear not, you’re in good hands.

As an addendum to those of you who have seen the flick, the bloody leg severing scene was so freaking sweet in the worst way!

Spoiler Ends.

This is not the absolute height of film making in any sense. It does fulfill all of the criteria one usually expects from a movie in this genre; toe curling gore, young and vibrant tweens left in terrible peril, creepy villains, a dash of something new and taught edge-of-your-seat delivery. The closest film in this sub-genre of horror one could think of off the top of one’s head would have to be Neil Marshall’s the Descent, and that is almost too high of praise. The Descent is an even more visceral experience watching a film, but the Ruins is a welcome addition to its ranks.

Universal Studios has purchased the exclusive rights to Robert Ludlum's Bourne character and set up shop to take on a fourth film for the series.

The deal with Ludlum Entertainment paves the way for more installments in the Bourne saga, which was originally envisioned as a three-picture series but has become Universal's answer to James Bond.

After the first three films grossed a total of more than $1 billion worldwide, U signed Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass for a fourth film that George Nolfi is penning. Produced by Frank Marshall and Ludlum Entertainment chairman-CEO Jeffrey Weiner, the film will be readied for a summer 2010 release.

Weiner will take offices on the Universal lot as part of the deal and hire development executives as the company takes an active hand in developing projects, including some not based on books by Ludlum. Weiner was the author's accountant for 16 years before being tapped by Ludlum to be estate executor and to run the holding company that produces his movies and publishes his books and videogames.

"Universal has done such an excellent job with the first three films that they deserve the opportunity to keep Jason Bourne at the studio forever," Weiner told Daily Variety.

The frenetic action of the Bourne sequels does seem to be influential on other movies, even if it's not for the best. Shaky camera and quick cuts in editing throughout all of Quantum of Solace's action sequences were terribly executed in the newest Bond movie. Even so, if Bourne's hard edged and gritty rendition of a spy can have such an impact on the the James Bond reboot Casino Royale, they must be doing something right. let's just hope that the fourth Bourne is worth the effort and that Bond-directors shape up for their next entry in the new series of 007 films.Variety.com

Filled with images no doubt inspired by Kill Bill, this Korean revenge flick is in good company next to movies like Oldboy and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. Despite the name dropping, City of Violence is a sharp, violent and brutal movie as solid as can be.

When four childhood friends grow into men and take their separate paths in life, one moment will bring them back together again. When one of them is brutally killed, two of the friends come together to find the killer. This is classic revenge at its best. All of the characters are fully realized and sympathetic or contemptible or both and when that is coupled with the stylized action sequences and vicious bloody battles, you can’t help but be drawn in. This movie has everything from savage torture scenes, to wicked sword fights, crazy gang rumbles and personal beef venomous enough to make grown men cry!

Jung Doo-Hong plays the main character Tae Su, a man you could follow into hell. He is outstanding in the movie, giving you the quiet cool man of action that so embodied the likes of Charles Bronson. Like Bronson he carries a certain pain in his eyes of a man who has seen too much violence in his life and has given himself to it. The Korean Charles Bronson, commands the fight scenes superbly which isn’t much of a surprise when he’s also one of the martial arts supervisors. The fighting style is Tae Kwon Do, which is illustrated in both martial beauty and elegant brutality to absolute perfection.

In the final fight sequence alone, (heavily inspired by Kill Bill) two men go into a restaurant and slay possible hundreds, making their way across the outside of the property before even getting in the building where more henchmen lay in waiting and then video game-style, work their way up the ranks until they are face to face with their boss. This is a tragic sleeper in the west that most likely didn’t get a theatrical release and that is a crime. City of Violence rocks!

The Dragon Dynasty release is loaded for bear with two discs, containing scads of extras including a commentary with director and star, bloopers, deleted scenes, interviews and more featurettes than you could shake a katana at. The only trouble could be if you don’t want to sit through added hours of subtitles since most everyone making the film speaks Korean.

After Greg McLean made his outback horror thriller Wolfcreek, I was chomping at the bit for what he would do next. For those who haven’t seen it Wolfcreek was the Australian Texas Chainsaw Massacre; the Marcus Nispel remake of Chainsaw. The shear dirtiness of the movie eclipses that of Nispel’s Chainsaw and it’s all brought to life with a fraction of the budget. It was a dirty and gutsy movie and I waited exhilarated for what his next movie would be.

What did I get? A killer crocodile flick! My mind immediately races towards images of Lake Placid and Toby Hooper’s Crocodile, both only fun if you’re going to make fun. This is not one of those flicks though! Rogue has more edge, less Hollywood gloss and goes the distance in terms of tension. The crocodile itself is split between practical effects and a digital monster, but all CG effects are pretty damn good considering the budget.

Following a group of tourists on a boat trip to see crocs in their natural habitat, the movie takes us up a river into the territory of one bad-ass killer crocodile. He is the rogue that this film is named after; a term used to describe lone male crocodiles that defend a certain area as their own. The boat quickly becomes holier than swiss cheese and our cast are stuck on a small island that gets smaller by the minute as the tide rises. Of course the killer croc is still out there and picking them off one at a time.

Is this movie better than Wolf Creek? No. Is it a fun and exciting watch? Yes. McLean also changes his visual tapestry by leaving the dust and grime of the desert Australia to that other film and giving this movie, bright and vivid colors to show another side of the continent. Much of the first half of the movie is filled with sprawling shots of beautiful landscape which is great because you know where this movie is going to end up and sure enough it does. It could have been bloodier, but as stated earlier, the bulk of the movie was built on tension and in that it delivers. The third act finds itself a little less believable and trying but Rogue is still good fun!

Dear lord, please don't let this happen! Spielberg and Will Smith are thinking about remaking Oldboy? The greatest revenge movie ever? Say it isn't so! The man who used CGI to replace cops' guns with walkie-talkies is going to make a movie about a man who smashed peoples skulls in with a hammer? Cuts tongues out? Give me a break!

I've got no beef with Will Smith, with the exception that his movies don't ever have the edge needed to remake a flick like Oldboy! I Am Legend should have been darker, but it was okay, I Robot should have been so much more... I think he's got the acting chops, but most likely his PR machine that makes him the nicest guy in Hollywood, would prevent him from pulling people's teeth out.With Speilberg using CGI to turn a brutal extraction into a gentle tooth flossing lesson, I think the movie would stink.

Steven Spielberg and Will Smith are in early discussions to collaborate on a remake of Chan Wook-park's "Oldboy." DreamWorks is in the process of securing the remake rights, and the new pic will be distributed by Universal.

Spielberg had been looking for an opportunity to make a film with Smith, who would play the kidnapped man if all the pieces fall into place. Spielberg is looking for a writer to begin the development process.

Variety.com