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Reviews
The Tiger Hunter (2016)
Better than one reviewer led me to believe
I went into this movie expecting the worst, after reading another review but was totally surprised by this movie. I enjoyed it, a lot.
I do not normally write reviews but I thought I had to add another perspective to the one that nearly made me miss out on watching this movie.
Okay it wasn't laugh out loud, though I did find myself chuckling more than half a dozen times, this was a heart warming story about the underdog rising from his position. Not to harrowing heights but to his rightful place. It was about one man uncovering the true treasures in life. Friendship, respect and yes, love.
I liked it because it was told from a totally different and quite a quirky perspective. The world is different and this was another side to the multi faceted coin called life.
I walked out of this movie with a smile on my face and made me once again believe in the goodness of people.
One reviewer had us believe the movie was chaotic but I had no problems following the story as it was simply laid out with its mixture of flashbacks and real time. Set in the late seventies India and America. It showed us another viewpoint. It showed America as a land, people in far off countries, often though of as a place of unlimited opportunities and freedom. Although the reality was far from the truth. It showed a love story that not only felt real, it's a reality for many people facing parental expectations and arranged marriages.
This movie also showed us that even though America didn't live up to its initial expectations, it was still a land that offered freedoms that their home countries didn't. It showed them happy in there lot. A place where even a street sweeper owned a car.
One reviewer would have us believe that the actors didn't seem to enjoy themselves in the making of this movie yet I felt that is far from the truth. I just saw them having fun with it all under the guise of making this entertaining movie.
Will it win an Oscar, no. But it definitely isn't a waste of an hour and a half of your time.
The Grand Tour (2016)
It's not as good as it could be or as they were
I loved Top Gear and it needs to be said, first and foremost, this is not that show.
This show seems to be a canvas for 3 blokes doing silly things in 4 wheels wherever they can get away with it. Usually somewhere exotic, which only serves to pique people's interest.
But on the whole, now we have seen the first 5 episodes, this is a totally scripted & very stilted version of it's predecessor. It's full of awful dad jokes, like the misspelling of James May's name each week, reminds me of Faulty Towers roadside sign that was altered each week. The fact the guests never make it inside, once was funny although the first episode did it three times but now we have had 5 episodes I for one, am over it. And of course the carry over from the predecessor, James is still very much the brunt of a lot of jokes. Unfortunately they are not in the least bit funny. They are all contrived and delivered in such badly acted "wishy washy" ways that I have cringed on more than one occasion. The show lacks any spontaneity. If it morphed and grew weekly then I might see a point. But the formula has already grown old after these first 5 airings. The three hosts seem to turn up. Do there bit, without any thought of rehearsing and leave. If I was Amazon, I'd be worrying about the money I had spent.
There are no cars here you and I would drive. The New Mazda MX5 is perhaps the closest to date but nothing four wheeled wise for the common man. This show is all about "unobtanium". Vehicles we can dream about. Super cars, sports cars or Grand Tourers. Beautiful expensive machines that these three louts throw about.
The other reviewers would have us believe this is some amazing replacement for TG. It's not. In fact I preferred the recent episodes of TG to this. They were not great but at least the shows were about cars and not silly digressive stories from the hosts.
It reminds me of the quote by Aristotle: "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts." These three without the people in and behind what made Top Gear the great show we all loved are simply quite inadequate of the task at hand.