Francesca Rudkin: The Running Man and Keeper

The Running Man  

In the near future, "The Running Man" is the top-rated show on television, a deadly competition where contestants must survive 30 days while being hunted by professional assassins. Desperate for money to save his sick daughter, Ben Richards is convinced by the show's ruthless producer to enter the game as a last resort. Ratings soon skyrocket as Ben's defiance, instincts and grit turn him into an unexpected fan favorite, as well as a threat to the entire system. 

 

Keeper  

A wife becomes isolated in a secluded cabin and has to fend off an unspeakable evil. 

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Team podcast
from News Talk SEDB.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
Oh.

Speaker 3 (00:41):
I like a little bit of europop from time to time.
That's Robin the Swedish pop legend. It's a new song
called Dopamine. I like it, but of fun. Just coming
up to twenty to ten on News Talks ed B,
which means it's time to get your film picks for
the weekend. Francesca Rudkin as our film reviewer. Of course,
she's here with her two films for the weekend.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
Killed her.

Speaker 4 (01:01):
Good morning.

Speaker 3 (01:02):
Let's begin this morning with the remake of The Running Man, Ben.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
Richard's thirty five Marry one child in medical crisis. We
need money for a doctor now, but there's still a
way out for you. I think it's the biggest show
in the country. Welcome to The Running Man.

Speaker 3 (01:27):
Right over Glenn Glenn Powell. Not to be confused with
Glenn Close, of course, although that would have that really
would have been a remake, wouldn't that. Yeah, yees ye's
guilty as charge.

Speaker 4 (01:40):
There we go.

Speaker 5 (01:41):
Look, he is the man in a moment, isn't he.
He kind of He's been around for a long time.
I think it was twenty twenty two his top Gun Maverick,
which kind of showcased his charisma and his star power.
And since then he's kind of been unstoppable. There's been
anyone but you and hit Man and.

Speaker 4 (01:57):
Twister, and he's on fire.

Speaker 5 (01:59):
If you remember, if you remember the eighties, if you
were going to the rooms in the eighties, you remember
that I was thought to make a start of the original,
and this is an adaptation of Seven Kings dystopian novel,
and they're quite different films in the sense that in
this film, the director Edgar Wright, who is responsible for
things like Shawn.

Speaker 4 (02:16):
Of the Dead and Hot Fas and Baby Driver.

Speaker 5 (02:18):
He's stuck a little bit more closely to the book
as opposed to the original adaptation, and instead of Ben
Richards being a falsely and prisoned convict, he's.

Speaker 4 (02:27):
Kind of an ordinary unemployed father.

Speaker 5 (02:29):
Struggling to look after his family. And they've created, I think,
this character so that we get behind him a little
bit more. We can relate to him and have sympathy
with him in things. But you know, this is a
pretty violent film. I mean, it's everyone for themselves. We're
set in this very, as a said, dystopian world where
there's just a few who are in control, and they
manipulate and they're corrupt, and you know, they run.

Speaker 4 (02:51):
Things for themselves.

Speaker 5 (02:52):
And Ben Richards is unemployed because he tried to stick
up for his fellow workers who were suffering from radiation
poisoning and things, and so he's been blacklisted.

Speaker 4 (03:02):
He can't work. His daughter is sick, she has the
flu and saying she is going to.

Speaker 5 (03:07):
Die of the flu because I can't we can't afford medication.

Speaker 4 (03:11):
So he goes off in auditions.

Speaker 5 (03:12):
For these TV shows and get selected for The Running Man,
which is a little bit like Hungry Games for adults
in the sense that you've got thirty days to try
and outwit an outlast some hunters who are after you,
and if your last thirty days you win one billion
new dollars. If you don't, you killed. So yeah, a
bit on the line there, jack, Yeah.

Speaker 4 (03:30):
And so off we go. Lots of really great action scenes.
It's fun.

Speaker 5 (03:36):
Michael Sarah and William H. Macy also Appira's Allies. It's
got a great cast. I think they struggled a little
bit to keep the pace consistent. It fell a bit
flat at times, and it led to a little bit
of an underwhelming final act. I can't going.

Speaker 4 (03:50):
Okay, it wasn't quite what I was hoping it would be.

Speaker 5 (03:52):
But look, if you're after a popcorn movie, then of
course Glenn Powell dressed and only a towel, some great
action scenes and if you last, what more do you want?

Speaker 4 (04:01):
There? You go?

Speaker 2 (04:02):
Very good?

Speaker 3 (04:02):
Okay, yeah that sound like a bit of fun, but yeah,
pretty violent as well. Okay, so that's The Running Man,
the remake of The Running Man that's showing in cinemas
at the moment. Also showing in cinemas this is keeper?

Speaker 4 (04:16):
Can I trust this man?

Speaker 2 (04:21):
Can I trust this one?

Speaker 4 (04:35):
Oh?

Speaker 3 (04:35):
Yeah, I am.

Speaker 1 (04:36):
I was just I was.

Speaker 3 (04:37):
I was letting the hang there for a moment. I
can tell already just from the audio.

Speaker 4 (04:43):
I'm like, yeah, so I did have a giggle when
I was watching this.

Speaker 5 (04:47):
I just went, I'll just leap jet No, this is
he can miss this one. He really wouldn't with this
one at all.

Speaker 2 (04:52):
Well.

Speaker 4 (04:53):
Osgard Perkins is the director.

Speaker 5 (04:54):
He brought us Long Legs, which was the big breaker
hit last year maybe and The Monkey.

Speaker 4 (05:00):
He's very prolific when it comes to releasing films at
the moment. He's a horror master.

Speaker 5 (05:03):
And he really does try and provide us with something
different but unique. We have a couple who go to
a cabin in the woods and then and then off
we go, and the whole time we're a little bit
confused as to whether this is sort of one of those,
you know, relationship horrors, whether it is actually all a dream,
or whether it's you know, it's very eerie, it's very creepy.

(05:24):
It's very understated, but the jump frights in there. There's
a lot of wonderful confusion. This house, which is really awesome,
Cavin in the woods, very understated architectural gym.

Speaker 4 (05:35):
Can I just say I love looking at that. It
kind of breathe with the woods. You don't quite know
what's going on or who to trust all what's happening.
It's actually quite a simple story.

Speaker 5 (05:43):
But the way he shoots them, and the angles he
chooses and the shots and the sounds that he uses
just does it takes you on a really nice horror ride.

Speaker 3 (05:52):
Okay, yeah, it's a bit I feel like that in itself.
It's just like a bit of an oxymoron, a really
nice horror ride. It takes you on a really nice
horror ride, you know, it's just satisfactory horror. Yeah yeah,
yeah yeah, okay, cool, So that's keeper. Francisca's first film was,
of course, The Running Man, and both of those will

(06:13):
be up on the News Talks Hibi website. Thank you
so much, Francisca. We will catch you again very soon.

Speaker 1 (06:18):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to News talks 'b from nine am Saturday, or follow
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