Bullet Train and The Forgiven

"Bullet Train" is true to its title in that it is a violent comedy about hired assassins going after each other on a train trip from Tokyo to Kyoto. HCC film professors Marie Westhaver and Mike Giuliano discuss the film in a podcast episode in which they agree that Brad Pitt gives an amusing lead performance, but otherwise tend to disagree about the film. Marie enjoys this wildly over the top train ride, while Mike is bothered by so many violent scenes played for laughs. Marie and Mike also talk about "The Forgiven," in which Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain play an unhappily married couple whose vacation trip to Morocco has a jolting incident when their car kills a young man. Marie and Mike agree that these two characters and many of the other wealthy characters are unsympathetic. Also, some of the plot twists seem unlikely. They do acknowledge that Ralph Fiennes gives a strong performance in a film that also has striking cinematography.