Today's Hit List: The Running Man and Wake Up Dead Man

Let's talk about the good and the bad in today's hit list.

Oh, Glen...what are we trying to do here?

The Running Man was a stinker, folks. I wanted to like this movie so much, but it just didn't deliver.

Here's the thing: Glen Powell does two things supremely well: Cocky and charming. And if you want to add a third thing...charming cocky guy.

What GP can't do is bitter, angry dude. He doesn't have it in him. It's not natural to who he is...AT ALL. So this is no shade to Powell, it's just saying this wasn't the role for him. It wanted him to access a darkness that I don't think he has in him. And this story is dark.

Another flaw of TRM is that the tone is all over the place. If you've read the book, you're aware that Stephen King does dystopian unlike most people. It's dark, it's dreary, it's violent, and on and on. This movie, which is NOT a remake of the 1987 The Running Man, will toe the line of that darkness, then pull back before moving into the goofiness of the OG. You can't do both. Well, you can't do both well.

More Domingo, por favor

Let's talk about the highlights of this movie. There aren't many, but let's give praise where praise is due. Colman Domingo, Michael Cera, and Josh Brolin give great performances, but these guys are naturals.

I can't, in good conscience, recommend this movie, even as a $5/6 special day, but I wouldn't pay full price for it either.

Josh O'Connor and Daniel Craig in Wake Up Dead Man

THANKFULLY, the week ended on a high note with Wake Up Dead Man, the third installment of the Knives Out franchise.

Josh O'Connor is excellent in this movie. This is HIS movie, for sure. Unfortunately, there's also a huge ensemble cast that isn't given much to do.

If you're a fan of the KO franchise, you know Rian Johnson loves his big ensemble, huge star casts. He loves giving them a script akin to a verbal boxing match, hitting the bell, and letting them go. It was what made the first one such a treat. The characters sparred, and we were the better for it.

In this one, outside of the verbal punches thrown between Josh O'Connor, Josh Brolin, and Daniel Craig, you're left wondering why the rest of the cast is here.

Many characters aren't given much, and the ones that are given anything...well, they aren't fleshed out enough to make anything they do memorable.

Take me to church

This isn't to crap on the film. It's a visually stunning, gothic, modern-day Agatha Christie novel come to life. It's fun, predictable, and funny.

But it's also the longest one of the three, clocking in at 2 hours and 20 minutes. One does get the feeling that Johnson, not wanting to put down his pen, kept adding elements to this story so it wouldn't end.

Overall, I still think it's worth the full price ticket to see Josh O'Connor do what Glen Powell failed to do...carry a film