Best movies with a verb in the title?

[Shoo]

Running can be a verb, present participle as well. The Running Man can be read as "the man that is running" in a sense.

It's still an adjective there.

 

[Alice]

Depends on how you interpret the title. I've always taken it to be interpreted as "the man that is currently running", since the original story was a guy on the run. It could also be interpreted to mean "the man that runs" e.g. the runner. I assumed if King had meant the latter, he would have called the story "The Runner" instead of "The Running Man." To-may-to, to-mah-to.

The title has always been pretty vague, so it could be interpreted either way.

 

[Shoo]

Depends on how you interpret the title. I've always taken it to be interpreted as "the man that is currently running", since the original story was a guy on the run. It could also be interpreted to mean "the man that runs" e.g. the runner. I assumed if King had meant the latter, he would have called the story "The Runner" instead of "The Running Man." To-may-to, to-mah-to.

The title has always been pretty vague, so it could be interpreted either way.

It's not a matter of interpretation, it's a matter of grammar and the function a word has in a sentence.

According to your reasoning:

"The Infuriating Man can be read as 'the man that infuriates' in a sense." Yes, obviously. And not "in a sense" - that's exactly what he does, hence the adjective. But "running" there is just that - an adjective.

By the same logic, you could say the word "know" in "People in the know" is a verb, because it can be read as "people who... know". Yet it isn't - it's a noun, because you are not saying "people who know", you are saying "people in the know", so the word is not acting as a verb there.

So no, "To-may-to, to-mah-to" doesn't apply here, as there are no two ways about it. ;-)

 

[Alice]

"The Infuriating Man can be read as 'the man that infuriates' in a sense." Yes, obviously. And not "in a sense" - that's exactly what he does, hence the adjective. But "running" there is just that - an adjective.

I see what's confusing me. The meaning of the title can be interpreted either way. In the way I'm interpreting it (and apparently how others seem to interpret it), the word running is viewed as a present participle verb. However, like you say, the function of "running" in the title itself is a present participle verb used as an adjective. The phrase itself can be interpreted either way, but the structure the phrase is built on can not.

For some reason, running water sounds like an appropriate adjective form of running to me, but when I think of a "running man" as an adjective it conjures a picture of a man that as become a running mess of goop.

The English language can be silly at times.

 

[Wor-Gar]

The Man who has the runs.

 

[Prime Clone]

Dirty Dancing

I think that's a noun.

This thread is hilarious Prime Clone.

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

First Blood. It's an adverb, but close enough.