Alone
On The Island Of The Blue Dolphins
(2018/First Run DVD)/24 X
36 (2016/MVD/FilmRise
DVD)/World Series
Champions: The Boston Red Sox
(Shout! Factory Blu-ray Box + Blu-ray/DVD Set)
Picture:
C+/C+/B-/B- & C+ Sound: C+/C/B-/B- Extras: B+/C/C-/C+
Main Programs: C+/B/B+/B-
Here
are some new documentary & special interest releases....
Millions
of children have read Island
of the Blue Dolphins,
the story of a 12 year old girl who survived on an island ...alone
for 18 years. What they don't know is that it was based off a true
story, the story of the Lone Woman. Who was she really and how did
she survive? And find out what really happened to her after she was
'rescued'? Paul Goldsmith's Alone
On The Island Of The Blue Dolphins
(2018) may have some answers.
The
Lone Woman was a real person, the inspiration to the book that became
a famous children's book, but who was she really? After discovering
her on an deserted island she spoken an unknown language and people
began to realize how modern civilization was destroying and erasing
Indian culture forever. Ironically, even when the modern world
welcomed and she was surrounded by people who cared for her, the Lone
Woman died 6 weeks later never knowing who her people were or why she
was left alone.
This
was an insightful documentary on the rare story of what it would be
like if a person was to be alone, what would you feel like if you
felt like you were the last person in the world? And then suddenly
you discover there was a whole world out there... but you were the
last of your kind? It is ironic the Lone Woman survived 18 years
alone but then only survived 6 weeks in the modern world. Extras
include Lone Woman Artifacts found in Santa Barbara, Nicolenos before
the Island of the Blue Dolphins, Ernestine De Soto on Religion, more
about Scott O'Dell and his book and the Cache ~ the Archeology Story.
Kevin
Burke's 24
X 36
(2016) is a new documentary about movie posters, the changes in the
industry over the decades and a new semi-retro movement of posters
you will not see in theaters. The makers start with the great art
posters from the beginning of cinema all the way to the 1970s, with
some of the most iconic such posters ever made. Though they could
have delved more deeply into this era, it is covered sufficiently and
makes its point of how creative and smart they used to be.
Then
home video arrives in the 1980s and the posters start moving towards
pictures ofd the actors only and even just big fat cutouts of their
heads o a poster to in part, combat video competition and the cheap
art showing up on far too many VHS and Beta tapes was something the
major studios could easily isolate and shoot down versus their more
expensive product. Add cable, satellite and now digital access to
films and the sometimes complex painted, drawn and otherwise artistic
posters as the official one sheet were abandoned, but a new group of
fans have made possible as secondary market of new (even officially
authorized) posters tied into films old and new, with prices to
match.
They
are not always that good or creative, but they can impress and you
can judge for yourself by seeing what artists (who also tend to be
fans) have come up with. It is not necessarily a happy ending to the
loss of the great art posters of the past, but shows the return of
the repressed and that fans still long for what should never have
been totally discounted and discontinued.
Extras
include 30 minutes of extra interview footage and a trailer.
And
finally, we have maybe the longest running series of annual sports
releases on home video (started by A&E many years ago) involving
the Major League Baseball Championship. For 2018, we get the World
Series Champions: The Boston Red Sox
box set (now in Blu-ray form) of the entire series of games that had
the Sox beating the formidable Houston Astros to prove they are one
of the greatest baseball teams of all time and the documentary
Blu-ray/DVD set that gets more specific in how it all happened. This
includes beating the legendary New York Yankees to get there.
As
has been the case before, we get the story of the team, some of its
history, the pride, the fans and a bit about the greatness of the
city itself, something the MLB has been able to pull off in these
releases from day one. It may start as slightly formulaic, but that
becomes a basic schematic soon replaced by the real story of the
victory and triumph of a whole year of hard work and dreams coming
true. No matter how good an athlete is in a given sport, unless they
have at least one championship victory under their belt, the result
is a failure that cannot be replaced, spun or otherwise explained.
The true victors get there through selflessness, caring, character
and leadership that is increasingly lacking in too many sports of
late or their franchises.
Boston
is one of the all-time great cities, has seen some ups and downs
(including that horrid marathon terrorist attack) and if any city had
what it could to survive the worst and build up to the spectacular
victory shown so well and thoroughly in these releases, it was them.
There is a time when fans of other franchises (if they are not overly
obsessed goofs with no life) need to put the rivalries aside and both
understand and respect what happened for Boston this year. The Red
Sox victory is a moral victory for us all and they earned it!
The
box set has printed statistics and a bonus disc of the ALDS clinching
Game 4 versus the Yankees, while the smaller set has regular season
highlights, clinching moments, postseason highlights, "How
They Got There"
featurette and scenic footage from the duck boats at the World Series
parade.
The
anamorphically
enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on the three DVDs are not bad, but the Boston
disc is actually masking some flaws. The
1080i 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on the single
Boston
Blu-ray disc and the 720p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image
transfers on the Boston
box cannot hide the strange flaws, digititis and even blocking that
show up in weird ways throughout. Both Blu-rays have fine,
consistent color that helps, but can the HD video masters have these
same flaws?
The
lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on the Boston
DVD and lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo on the Dolphin
DVD are talky, passable and have some music, which I could also say
about the 36
DVD's lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, but it tends to be much weaker,
so be careful of high volume playback and volume switching.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on Boston
Blu-ray documentary and several options for the Boston
box in DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Stereo lossless mixes (TV audio,
two radio broadcasts, a third Spanish radio broadcast) tie for best
audio here, but don't expect anything extraordinary.
-
Ricky Chiang (Dolphin)
and Nicholas Sheffo