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The Black List is an annual movie-biz survey of unproduced screenplays that insiders believe are worthy of being bought and made into movies. Some scripts do benefit from this attention, and the process has enabled some great films -- David Fincher's "Zodiac," for instance, and Martin Scorsese's "The Wolf of Wall Street." It has given us lesser works, too, of course -- who even remembers the 2014 "Foxcatcher," or still cares about the Sandra Bullock misfire "Bird Box" and (if you ask me) director Taika Waititi's, um, problematic Nazi comedy "Jojo Rabbit."

Two new movies based on Black List scripts are opening this week. Neither of them is great, in the sense that you might be willing to pay money to see them twice, but one of them is interesting. Let's start with that one.

I'm not much of a sports person -- shoot me if you wish -- so I had no trouble tamping down any prerelease excitement about "Him," which comes from Monkeypaw Productions, the company run by director and horror entrepreneur Jordan Peele. Peele chose TV veteran Justin Tipping to direct and to weigh in on a Black List script by Zack Akers and Skip Bronkie. The result is a wild and violent art movie that recalls the feverish work of Panos Cosmatos, the wild and violent filmmaker who introduced Nicolas Cage to demon biker gangs in the 2018 "Mandy." Tipping's picture is distinguished by Kira Kelly's brooding cinematography and Bobby Krlic's brain-mashing industrial score. It is not distinguished by its script, which in the end adds up to very little.

"Him" tells the story of Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers, of the FX series "Atlanta"), a hot young college quarterback who's being groomed to step into the cleats of retiring pro Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans in a dark, menacing performance). To get some personal attention from White, Cameron is brought down to the man's remote training facility in the Texas desert, a shadowy compound that wouldn't be out of place on Planet Dune. Here, subject to unexplained injections by an onsite doctor (Jim Jefferies), Cameron contends with towering, tinselly nightmare creatures (one in a cowboy hat), occasional interactions with a resident temptress (played by Julia Fox, still pursuing one of the most eccentric of movie careers), and an unsettling heart-to-heart with Isaiah -- the player he's intending to replace -- about his recurring nightmare of "watching somebody else do what I'm so good at."

The movie isn't dull, at least, but with its overbearing weirdness it becomes exhausting. And while it's only 96 minutes long, Lord, it feels longer.

Also opening this week is "A Big Bold Beautiful Journey," a movie that lives up to neither its title nor the engaging Black List script (by Seth Reiss) on which it's based. Korean American director Kogonada ("After Yang") aims for sunny magical realism, but dawdles from the start, allowing the certified charisma of his stars -- Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie -- to slowly fade, along with the story's narrative energy.

Farrell is an Irish American loner named David and Robbie an all-American loner named Sarah. They're both making their way, separately, to a wedding that will change their lives. For reasons we needn't go into, they're both driving rental cars -- 1994 editions of the long-out-of-production GM Saturn -- which they've acquired from a mysterious car-rental agency (it's called The Car Rental Agency) staffed by Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Kevin Kline. Each of their cars is equipped with an otherworldly GPS system that's apparently been programmed for chit-chat (with a German accent) and that wants to take them on a "big bold beautiful journey."

So off they go, on what turns out to be a sentimental tour of significant places in each of their lives, all accessible through freestanding portal/doorways in unlikely locales (and all gorgeously photographed by Benjamin Loeb). David finds himself back in his old high school pining for a long-ago crush; Sarah visits her long-departed mother, who died on a night when Sarah was busy bedding one of her college professors. Along the way she and David trade melancholy insights into their flaws as romantic partners. (David fears being hurt, Sarah fears hurting -- she's a cheater, and very clear-eyed about it.)

It's strange that two performers as personable of Farrell and Robbie can muster so little chemistry in this movie. And that the picture itself is so easily distracted: At one point it shape-shifts into a mini musical, with David breaking into song and dance in an amateur production of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." After that, the action ambles on, but the story never finds a solid groove to settle into.

To find out more about Kurt Loder and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators website at www.creators.com.

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