Beastmode, blood, bullets, bunny hopping, tasers, and unrequited love in Love Hurts will entertain for 83 minutes. Thank you for the return of a proper Action Rom-Com.

Marvin Gable (Ke Huy Quan) is ecstatic to be named the regional realtor of the year. A red envelope appears on Valentine’s Day that points to his past. The mysterious Rose (Ariana DeBose), with whom he showed mercy in a flashback, repays the favor by dragging him kicking and punching back to confront his old life as his brother’s (Daniel Wu) chief enforcer.

Five minutes in, they sidestep the boring plot building and cut to the action. The cadre of heavies deployed to call Marvin to task is key to the plot, appearing seamless. Destroyed homes, violence, legitimate action sequences, and a love story ensues.

The character you will remember is King; a scene suffocater in the best way possible. The audience will fixate on his excellent mix of comedic timing and physicality during the action sequences.

This is the perfect Valentine’s Date Night movie; presented with excellent choreography in fight scenes, dark comedy, and romance that will leave you engaged. Does he or doesn’t he get the girl? Watch in theaters on February 7th to find out.

(Mild Spoiler Alert) This movie left me wanting more: I demand an Otis (André Eriksen) and King (Marshawn Lynch) spinoff or origin story, what happened between Renny (Cam Gigandet) and Rose, but I’ll settle for more of The Raven (Mustafa Shakir) and Ashley (Lio Tipton) plot line. Drew Scott had a legendary cameo.

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The wild robot (based on a Peter Brown book) drops he viewer into a beautifully drawn, animated, lush woodland island. Our main character, Rozzum Unit 7134 (Lupita Nyong’o), crashes and awakes in an unknown environment.  Conflict arises when only animals surround the robot, custom-designed to serve humans.  No amount of new customer stickers slapped onto creatures can gain acceptance.  Deemed a monster, Rozzum sits and meditates to seek a new purpose.

After a season has passed, reawakening now fluent in all animal tongues, a tragedy occurs.  A now orphaned gosling imprints itself on her.  They adopt alternative names: Rozzum Unit 7134 is now Roz, and the gosling takes Brightbill.  Along with a crafty fox named Fink (Pedro Pascal), their mission is to get the runt, Brightbill, ready for the upcoming migration. 

Hidden within the storyline is a love letter to those who are non-biological parents.  The process of going from stranger to raising someone is on full display. Showing the herculean task of motherhood, which starts with no instruction manual.

This movie weaves together multiple themes: the awkwardness a child experiences when peers shun them, the feeling of making parental mistakes that seem to ruin everything, dealing with rejection from children you raise, and the more significant lesson of working together with those perceived as enemies. 

Memorable line: Pinktail the opossum (Catherine O’Hara) to her children, “the dead don’t have to explain themselves.”

Director Chris Sanders has surpassed expectations by combining high-level animation with prominent and memorable personalities from even the smallest woodland creatures.  Smashing the recycled formula for animated stories, Pixar currently makes. Dreamworks has delivered a worthy successor to Shrek and How to Train Your Dragon.

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評価：9/10

映画レビュー：忍者スクロール 30周年記念

忍者スクロールの世界に浸りました。吉浦康裕監督が冒頭で登場し、ダイ・ハードのジョン・マクティアナン監督が素晴らしいアクション映画の基礎を築いたと称賛しています。台詞よりもアクションを重視するというアプローチです。

意図された通り、日本語音声と字幕で観るのは素晴らしい体験でした。吹き替えの問題はありませんでした。マンガ版「忍者クラシック」はどうでしょうか？アニメーションは今でも美しいですが、現代のアニメほど滑らかではなく、色の深みに欠けます。暗めの色調が映画の雰囲気を予感させます。ヒロインの描写には問題がある点も指摘されています。

映画は、傭兵の獏絵が優れた剣術と誠実さを見せながら3人の悪党を倒すシーンから始まります。義務か運命か、彼は鬼門八人衆の標的となり、彼らの独特の忍術と対峙することになります。追跡から生き延びるため、獏絵は政府の密偵・榊と、毒味役兼忍者の影絵と手を組みます。影絵には命がけの秘密があります。

この3人組は、鬼の一族とその首領・幻魔（獏絵の過去の亡霊）が現政権を転覆させるのを阻止しなければなりません。

主要キャラクターの物語の展開は、激しい剣戟と流血のペースを落とすことはありません。映画全体を通して計画的なペースを保っています。

おすすめの観客層：アニメ、忍者、マンガファン

次に観るべき作品：ニンジャカムイ（現代の忍者アニメ）

本質的には、復讐と冷酷な野心の暴力に包まれた悲恋物語です。

RATING 9/10

Movie Review: NINJA SCROLL 30th ANNIVERSARY

Travis and I sank into the universe of Ninja Scroll, the 30th Anniversary. Director Yoshiaki Kawajiri opens the movie. He praises Die Hard's John McTiernan for laying the blueprint for a great action movie. Let the dialogue take a backseat to the action.

Watching it in the original Japanese with subtitles as intended was amazing.  There were no bad dubs that day. How does the manga Ninja Classic hold up?  Still gorgeously animated, however, it is not as fluid as modern anime and lacks the vivid depth of color.  Its darker shading foreshadows the movie. Problematic depiction of the heroin included.

The film opens with Jubei, the sword for hire, displaying superior swordplay and integrity while dispatching three rogues.  Through duty or fate, he becomes the target of the 8 devils of Kimon, and their unique ninja skills.  To survive their pursuit, he teams with a government agent, Dakun, and a poison taster/part-time ninja, Kagero; she has a deadly secret.

This trio must prevent the demon clan and their leader, Lord Genma, a ghost from Jubei’s past, from overthrowing the reigning government. 

The development of the main characters’ stories does not slow down the furious nature of clanging blades and blood.  It maintains a methodical pace throughout the movie. 

Who is this movie for: Fans of Anime, Ninjas, & Manga 

Watch next: Ninja Kamui: A Modern Ninja anime

At its core, it is a doomed love story cloaked in the violence of revenge and ruthless ambition.

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Thirty-plus years ago, we moved to a small town in Florida. It had three movie theaters: Regency 8 played first-run movies; the Plitt showcased indie and smaller-budget movies; and the Dollar Theater was the last stop before home video. Fast-forward 33 years, and my brother Travis and I are walking into Regency 20 to screen a classic. Walking through those two yellow doors is akin to stepping into a time machine.

It’s the old part of the theater where the original eight screens still live. There’s no fancy stadium seating or plush recliners with footrests; they upgraded from cloth and generously increased the seats’ recline beyond an airplane seat. This is not a large format or Dolby surround; I’ve been in living rooms with more immersive sound.

However, when the title: Ninja Scroll hits the screen:

The lack of amenities fades into the background. I’m sitting beside my brother, enjoying one of the greatest anime classics ever. Our age gap leads to it being a movie we grew up watching separately. I saw it on videotape, and he probably saw it on a burned DVD from a friend or me.

If you’re ever feeling disconnected from someone, sit in a dark theater, put electronics off, and don't talk. Start talking as you walk out of the darkness and into the bright lobby lights. You have spent 90 minutes to 3 hours not speaking, time to bond over it.

As for us, we walked to my truck and started talking. I asked him to do a guest movie review for my podcast, and the conversation flowed from there. We discussed his upcoming podcast, the movie's lasting appeal, and life. Until the inevitable kicked in, it was past 11 o’clock. Time to get home to the families. Until next time, read my no-scroll review of Ninja Scroll.

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Mission Statement: Straight to the cut without reading an essay.

Ranking Process: We use a five point rating system

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