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Watercolor Postcards AKA Watercolour Postcards AKA Home Is Where the Heart Is
R2 - United Kingdom - Simply Media Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (10th November 2015). |
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The Film
 ***This is an A/V and Extras review only. For reviews on the movie from various critics, we recommend visiting HERE.*** A buncha folks hangin their hats on the last hook of a whole lotta hope. A small town girl with a troubled past returns home, only to find that both her sister and her home town are in peril. Only when she falls for a man who similarly has dark days behind him, will they muster up the faith and love needed to save the things they hold dear in life. Home is where the heart is.
Video
Independent British distributor Simply Media make the 2013 drama "Watercolor Postcards" available on home media for the first time in the United Kingdom. They release the feature using an anamorphic transfer at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. It is nowhere near reference quality, but it isn't bad by any means. First things first, IMDB list this film as having an original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 with the trailers on the official Youtube channel backing this claim up, so it is a shame to see a 1.85:1 transfer here. There are some fairly obvious minor framing issues because of this, with many scenes feeling overly tight, especially those with several characters in close proximity. At the same time though, there is nothing that feels drastically poor, and it is at least passable. The palette chosen suits the film perfectly. There are a lot of yellows and oranges that fit the dusty rural American small-town Texas location. Blacks are generally deep and crush is minimal, usually happening ever so slightly in internal darker locations only (like the bar). Details are nothing to shout home about, but nothing to complain about either. Shot on digital using a Red One camera, I did expect some slightly better clarity in the mid-range, though these details are never overly clunky. No complaints about the close-ups, with out of place strands of hair, facial contours, and more minute aspects of clothing all clear to see. On a couple of occasions there is some negligible motion judder, banding and aliasing, though there are no signs of any sort of damage to the transfer. Compression is good, and there are no noticeable artefacts to speak of. The transfer is good overall, but the lack of original aspect ratio on such a new film from a reputable company is a bit of an own goal. The feature is uncut, and runs 110:54 PAL.
Audio
There are two audio options included: - English Dolby Digital 5.1 - English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo It should be noted that the English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track plays by default, though to be honest, that is a good thing. Once I put the 5.1 track on, I didn't stay with it very long. For some reason, the volume of the dialogue in comparison to the score and effects is horrendously low, and turning it up to a suitable level just means the score becomes far too loud. I double checked this anomaly during various points of the feature, and it was a consistent issue throughout. A good comparison point to use is in the 63rd minute, when Laura Bell Bundy belts out a song. The stereo track sounds much more fluid and natural, with the 5.1 track sounding strangely flat. Apart from this problem, there are no issues to be found. There are no pops, crackles, scratches, or drop outs, and I noticed no background hiss. No subtitles have been included.
Extras
No extras are included on this release which is reflected in the low RRP.
Overall
Not a bad film, and worth a lazy watch on a rainy day. Although the audio and visual elements aren't bad, each section has some rather unfortunate anomalies (no OAR, poor 5.1). Rent it.
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