THE LAST WINTER (2006) Blu-ray Review

The Last Winter (2006) d. Larry Fessenden (USA)

An unscrupulous American oil company, hell-bent on drilling into the fragile Alaskan tundra, hires renowned environmentalist James Hoffman (James LeGros) to supervise and (hopefully) endorse their efforts. When the "greenie" takes a little long for comfort and profit margins (due to increasingly erratic temperature fluctuations), company man Ed Pollack (Ron Perlman) is dispatched to expedite matters, specifically to get the ice roads approved so that heavy equipment can be brought in. Camp leader Abby Sellers (Connie Britton) is caught in the middle, involved in a romance with Hoffman but intent on getting the project up and running. Just as the imminent war of wills begins its opening salvos, a supernatural presence begins to exert itself over the health and sanity of the various skeleton crew members on site, including resident mechanic Motor (Kevin Corrigan), Pollack's nephew Maxwell (Zach Gilford), cook Joanne (Dawn Russell), go-to guy Lee (Pato Hoffmann), and tech assistant Elliot (Jamie Harrold). Is Nature rebelling against its most potent enemy at long last?

Fool's Views (3/3 – 3/16)

VERONICA MARS??  You said we were going to THE LEGO MOVIE!

Howdy folks,

This two-week period was highlighted by conversations with the one and only Larry Fessenden (and preparation for same), as well as a healthy dose of Aussie-flavored genre fare. But the civilian side had its own rewards, aided by a long overdue visit to the Chicago Public Library stacks and movie pal Lee Shoquist’s urging that if I liked Charles Bronson’s pairing with Cape Fear veteran J. Lee Thompson for The White Buffalo, then I owed it to myself to check out some of their other work together. After all, for these guys to work together nine, count ‘em, NINE TIMES, something must have been clicking, right?

And, for better or worse, it was also in the company of Mssr. Shoquist that I made my way to the cinema for the first – and to date only – time in 2014. Too bad it was to see a free screening of Veronica Mars. Next time I get the urge to watch a feature-length TV episode, I’ll just pop in Munster, Go Home!

As always, feel free to leave your two cents worth – we’ll make sure you get some change back.

Enjoy!

THE LAST WINTER (2006) movie review

EDIT 11/12/2015: CLICK HERE FOR FULL BLU-RAY REVIEW

Last Winter, The (2006) d. Larry Fessenden (USA)

Via his breakthrough films, Habit and Wendigo, NYC indie director Larry Fessenden fashioned multi-layered characters dealing with supernatural situations...subtly informing viewers what we’re really scared of. In his largest scale effort to date, he approaches a much broader and overtly political canvas (that of global warming).  Unfortunately, by placing the fate of the Earth itself center stage, his usually reliable storytelling techniques lose some of their potency.