THE LAST WINTER (IFC) I’ve evangelized elsewhere about the brilliance of Larry Fessenden’s latest handcrafted genre standout, but I’ve hardly grown tired of it. So, once more, with feeling: The Last Winter, which stars the great Ron Perlman as the leader of a deep-core drilling team fending off paranoia and worse in the no-man’s land of northern Alaska, goes further than any eco-horror movie to date in addressing certain apocalypse-now realities about our failed stewardship of the planet. Complain if you must about the derivativeness of the snowy-cabin-fever set up (though the allusions to Carpenter and Kubrick are elegantly wrought) or the thrift-shop CGI (which, frankly, has a ghostly beauty), but it’s impossible to deny the urgency and sincerity of the film’s central, heartbreaking refrain: that we — and Fessenden means all of us — “can’t go home again.” EXTRAS: Making-of, director commentary, deleted scenes, interview with Fessenden.
HAROLD AND KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY (UNRATED TWO-DISC SPECIAL EDITION) (Alliance) No, it doesn’t live up to its predecessor (that’s a pretty high bar) and, yes, the filmmakers’ conception of George W. Bush as a sweet dimwit with daddy issues who lightens up once he lights one up is fairly appalling. But H & K Part Deux, which takes some barnside-broad swipes at US Homeland Security (embodied by Rob Corddry in his usual grinning-asshole mode), has its moments. Unsurprisingly, it finds its groove at roughly the same time that Neil Patrick Harris rears his impeccably coiffed head. EXTRAS: commentaries by the filmmakers, the writers and the stars, interactive featurette, deleted scenes, outtakes, “Bush PSA,” trailers.
Also out this week
DOOMSDAY (UNRATED WIDESCREEN EDITION) (Alliance) Neil Marshall (The Descent) slips badly with this reverential/referential splatter-punk mash-up: call it Escape From Thunderdome. Lots of gore, guns and scantily clad warrior-women, yet, somehow, pretty dull. EXTRAS: “Anatomy of Catastrophe” making-of doc, interviews with visual effects crew.
SHINE A LIGHT (Paramount) Martin Scorsese’s Rolling Stones concert film is framed by an ersatz behind-the-scenes power struggle (Marty wants a set list; Mick says “no way”) but the tone is pure backslapping self-congratulation (peaking with a cameo by the Clintons in full PR-op rictus-grin mode). Jagger’s aerobics quickly grow tiring (for him and us both); the only guest star who even remotely brings it is a hard-shredding Buddy Guy. EXTRAS: supplemental featurette, music videos.
Out Aug 5
The Counterfeiters, Nim’s Island and Miss Conception, a solid contender for the 2008 Worst Title For a Direct to DVD Film award.