wickedmikehampton Reviews

Peace, War and 9/11 (2023)

'Peace, War and 9/11' is painful to watch, making it necessary

[10/10 · 11 September 2023]

The best way to remember the horror of 9/11 and the commencement of the War of Terror is to watch the new documentary, 'Peace, War and 9/11'.

Graeme MacQueen, a long-time peace activist, discovers that he's soon to die from cancer. With help from friends and colleagues, he spends his final months testifying against the war industry.

The 'Peace, War and 9/11' documentary is an initiative of the International Centre for 9/11 Justice. MacQueen was one of its leaders. Ted Walter, the co-director, is its Executive Director.

Why do America's greatest tragedies have so many unanswered questions?

'Peace, War and 9/11' is painful to watch, making it necessary.

9 Days in Raqqa (2020)

Leila Mustapha is a brave woman and an inspiration

[7/10 · 22 August 2023]

"What matters most is that we're free from the ISIS nightmare. We remember things we went through and the constant fear we lived in.

Children who lost their innocence and started playing with guns instead of toys. Children who watched their mothers being killed. Sons who caused their fathers' deaths. Fathers who killed their sons. Fathers who saw their sons being killed.

The crimes committed were horrendous. We will always remember the tears of our fathers and mothers, and the children who were robbed of an education and a childhood. We will always remember our martyred comrades, and how we witnessed their deaths.

They will always be in our hearts."

Those are the words of Leila Mustapha, a 30-year-old Kurdish woman, an engineer on the city council of Raqqa. She's co-Mayor with an Arab. Their deputies represent Turks, Christians and Circassians. It's a union in utter contrast to their previous ISIS overlords who used heads of the innocent as ornaments on the fence posts of the town's main traffic circle.

How to stand up after your city has been destroyed? Watch '9 Days in Raqqa'.

Vice Special Report: 187 Minutes: The January 6th Insurrection (2023 TV Movie)

What Happened?

[7/10 · 1 March 2023]

'187 Minutes' is essential viewing for those wanting to escape shouting into fact. Step-by-step, the chaos is unfolded into something easy to understand... but the emotions it wells will be more difficult.

It doesn't matter whether you're a Donald Trump supporter or not. What matters is that, for 187 minutes, he never acted like a President. He neither stopped nor supported the violence. He's ironically responsible for both those that unnecessarily died and for the revolution failing.

The perfect companion documentary, for historical record, is HBO's 'Four Hours at the Capitol'.

There's truth beyond propaganda and hysterical partisanship. I love documentarians that don't take a side.

Dying to Divorce (2021)

Women beaten, not loved.. I'm horrified!

[8/10 · 29 November 2022]

'Dying to Divorce' devastated me. I lost any chance at alpha male status when I cried. I'm disturbed that I'm the first person to post a review. I wish that a thousand people had been compelled to write before me.

Beaten or shot, Turkish women face an uphill battle against a misogynist legal system. Director Chloë Fairweather follows the cases of Arzu and Kubra, two women represented by the We Will Stop Femicide Platform and the extremely brave activist lawyer, Ipek Bozkurt.

'Dying to Divorce' took 5 years to make. Fairweather and her team's effort won a BAFTA and became the UK's submission to the Academy Awards.

And Still I Sing (2022)

Extraordinary Bravery vs Inevitable Tragedy

[7/10 · 27 November 2022]

I am angry-sad. It's my de facto mood when watching documentaries about human rights abuses, particularly involving women in the Middle East.

'And Still I Sing' feels like a sequel to 2009's 'Afghan Star' (2009) despite having different directors. They can be watched individually, with full understanding, but, together, provide a timeline for the Afghanistan version of American Idol.

Under the false liberation of the USA, the female 'Afghan Star' contestants play with their lives as they compete against religious chauvinism. More than a decade later, as shown in 'And Still I Sing', the competition is flashier and better organized but the enemy remains the same - only males have been the winners, and some male viewers want the women dead.

The dreadful twist, which sometimes makes 'And Still I SIng' feel like a thriller, is that the USA is about to pull out and the Taliban are coming.

Through the voices of Judge Aryana Sayeed and contestants Sadiqa Madadgar and Zahra Elham, we're presented with unambiguous bravery against the odds.

In forsaken places, hope is dangerous. 'And Still I Sing' will make you rage until you're depressed. As contradictory as I may seem, that's why you have to watch this documentary. It's eye-openingly important.

Stars at Noon (2022)

Loved it... but I don't know why

[7/10 · 1 November 2022]

Director Claire Denis' 'Stars at Noon' is as difficult to pin down as Megan Qualley's nude character. There's something much deeper than skin here.

What genre is this film? Why is Qualley in Nicaragua? Why is she such a mess? Why is her mess so damn appealing?

Is she and dysfunctional Nicaragua a synonym for those moments when I feel emotionally lost, a struggle to survive even when there's no great reason to?

But my appreciation isn't confused. It, solidly, just is. It stayed in my head for weeks, cinematic snapshots versus a holistic emotion I also cannot describe.

Qualley is undoubtedly gifted, best shown when her confident character shows flashes of desperation.

'Stars at Noon' is the daylight version of neo-noir.

Rafea: Solar Mama (2012)

So often, men SUCK

[7/10 · 29 October 2022]

The director is famous for the documentary, 'The Square', one of my favourites, I was happy to finally find her earliest work, 'Solar Mama'. It's valuable because it offers an insight into a world I knew nothing about.

An NGO chooses 27 uneducated women from remote parts of the world to attend a 6-month training course at the Barefoot College in rural India where they learn how to solder a circuit board for solar lights.

The unlikely heroine is Rafea, a Bedouin living on a hellish landscape in Jordan near the border with Syria. Her community of 300 is unemployed. She's had 9 children, lives in a tent, has no electricity, and is second wife to a loser husband who lives with his first wife.

Nevertheless, the chauvinistic culture means that he makes her main decisions. If it were a fiction movie, he would be labelled 'The Enemy'. In reality, he's as pathetic as he's an opposer.

It's an interesting scenario juxtaposed with the joy the women, who cannot speak in each other's language, find in each other and empowerment.

Midwives (2022)

An insightful sad look into a forgotten country

[7/10 · 19 October 2022]

Some called it Burma, others Myanmar. Most won't find it on the map. Whilst Ukraine dominates Western media, Myanmar is almost forgotten, left to suffer under a cruel military regime whilst civil war is their sad but best hope.

As with wars everywhere, they've little to do with the majority, the average person seeking to feed their family and daring to dream of a better future.

Similarly, the hatred of Muslims in Myanmar is driven by politicians and a political military, not the general Public.

Enter a village where there was peace between Buddhists and Muslims yet now Buddhists are forced to alienate Muslims lest they be killed as supporters of the 'enemy'. Yet a Buddhist midwife is training a Muslim women in her trade.

The documentary isn't a narration nor a Hollywood spectacle. It's a slow fly on the wall observing silent desperation, the poor plight of women whilst living with fear. It also shows the complicated relationship between the two women, as human in its contradictions as it is anywhere else in the world.

I highly recommend that it be watched as a double-feature with 'A Thousand Fires', also released this year. That shows the life of an impoverished, illegal oil mining family in the same country.

Masking Threshold (2021)

Unique, intelligent... then vicious!

[8/10 · 17 October 2022]

An intelligent, anti-social man searches for the reason for his tinnitus but discovers a fundamental part of our existence. Or does he? The ending is gloriously explosive and cynical.

A small workshop, a bunch of dialogue and stunning micro cinematography are the basis for this original film by Johannes Grenzfurthner, an experimental Austrian artist. Part of my joy as a viewer was not being spoken down to - this isn't for the masses.

'Masking Threshold' is more visually appealing than 'X', more mentally stimulating than 'You Won't Be Alone' and and as vicious as 'Bull'. And, along with those movies, the best thrills of the year.

Donbass (2016)

The much-needed other view of the Ukrainian war

[9/10 · 11 August 2022]

I've been researching the war for several months, finding it difficult to gain video perspective that isn't the USA's propaganda cry for war. 'Donbass' is heart-rendering, informative and brave. It should be watched alongside the award-winning 'Distant Barking of Dogs' and 'The Earth is as Blue as an Orange'. These bring home the human side.

For political perspective, watch polar opposites, 'Winter on Fire' and 'Ukraine on Fire'.

Homeward (2019)

a country torn apart, the Ukrainian movie you must see

[7/10 · 2 June 2022]

A father and his youngest son transport the body of the older brother from Kyviv, the capital of Ukraine, to Russian-occupied Crimea. There's a deep rift in the family, a clash of culture and consequent desire.

The father is a Tatar and Muslim. His sons and wife left him to pursue a new life. His dead son was engaged to a woman outside of Islam. His younger son is a University student, having learnt Ukrainian and studying journalism. He wishes to return to Kyiv after one week whereas his father wants him to mourn for a longer period and then remain at the home he built.

It's a family road trip movie, filled with meaning instead of the comedy of Hollywood. The unsaid question is, "What is it to be Ukrainian." And how does family, with polar opposite views, fit into that.

'Homeward', also known as 'Evge', is the best Ukrainian movie I've seen. Considering the current narrative on the Russia's invasion, it's notable that the dialogue is Russian. Nariman Aliev is a director to follow.

Under the Open Sky (2020)

To live or die under an open sky

[6/10 · 2 June 2022]

Despite moments of unnecessary melodrama, director Miwa Nishikawa has made a fine movie about an aged, ex-Yakuza trying to find his way "under the open sky".

The plot of ex-prisoners attempting to reintegrate into our society (which doesn't care for them) has been repeatedly rehashed. Nevertheless, the main character, well performed by Yakusho Koji, kept me absorbed and ensured that I followed this movie with two more Nishikawa movies, 'Sway' and 'The Long Excuses'.

I recommend you spent your next free (and rainy day) with that triple viewing. In context, the theme is redemption.

Olmo & the Seagull (2015)

Great actors, lot of emotion, thoughtful script

[6/10 · 2 June 2022]

"Yesterday, I had a loose tooth. A friend said, 'That's normal, the baby needs calcium. During pregnancy, women often lose teeth.' I laughed at the thought of such an uneven deal. A life for a tooth. But the casual way she said it troubled me, as if it were no big deal to give parts of yourself. When I think of myself as a mother, the fear comes... because I don't know how to do it... I want to go out, I want to go out... I feel like there's an alien in my belly, feeding on me, imposing the rules of the game."

The game is life and life isn't a game. A theatre actress, on the bring of success she has long worked for, is faced with the dilemma of pregnancy. The world, both chauvinistic and conformatively female, expects pregnancy to be mentally normal. But it isn't. A baby can expand life or erode it - the decision to grow a child or abort it, or trade our life for another, is something us males can never fully understand.

'Olmo and the Seagull' is positively feminist in refusing to conform. It presents the seeming impossibilities of being women.

Co-directed by Petra Costa and Lea Glob, it's the aforementioned that made me find it. Costa made one of my favourite documentaries, 'Edge of Democracy'(2019). Despite being about gritty politics and corruption, I sometimes felt like I was floating with a view of the madness of men below. That led me to her earlier documentary, 'Elena', about her missing sister - another discombobulation, making me surreal whilst marrying me with down-to-earth sadness.

I immediately wanted more but its taken me two years to find 'Olmo & the Seagull' (2015). It may not stand equal with pregnancy masters such as 'Ninjababy' (Norway) and '4 Months, 3 Weeks And 2 days' (Romania) but it exceeds its small budget with a contemplative script and good actors (Olivia Corsini and Serge Nicolai). Unlike in Costa's later films, I found no ambiguity. It makes us men more women, and women human.

I will always follow Petra Costa and hope to find something more of Lea Glob's too.

Huda's Salon (2021)

Ignore the misogynists who downrate this wonderful movie

[7/10 · 7 May 2022]

Hany Abu-Assad made one of the my favourite movies. 'Omar'. I loved 'Paradise Now' too. With Huda's Salon', I now rank him with my best directors.

As with all his films, this is an occupation drama, the difficulty of being Palestinian. But, as he's done before, he doesn't attack Israel but instead shows damage through the experience of ordinary folk on the ground.

A young mother is blackmailed in order to force her to become a traitor. Her impossible situation, and the hunt by Palestinian rebels for both her and her blackmailer adds a thriller element. However, it's greatest strength may be founded in a sublime conversation in an interrogation room. Simplicity is what makes 'Huda's Salon' most profound, and must be accompanied by, "What would I do to save my life?"

Actresses Manal Awad and Maisa Abd Elhadi step wonderfully away from their previous support roles into their leads here. The triad is completed by veteran Aliman Suliman (from '200 Meters' and 'The Attack').

As an important side-note, I'm disappointed that hate has entered the review section. Some people don't review but instead express their bias, giving movies low ratings. Here, it appears to be religious misogyny but can be seen elsewhere as anti-Russia, anti-Israel, anti-anything... It must be addressed lest the review section be made as obsolete as the comments sections on most major websites. This is a movie website. Movie lovers, directors and actors must be more important than politics. Moderation is important.

Wesele (2021)

'Wesele' confirms Wojciech Smarzowski as Poland's best director

[8/10 · 5 May 2022]

'Wesele', a.k.a. 'The Wedding Day' is the marriage of modern xenophobia with World War 2 genocide. Director (and writer) Wojciech Smarzowski continuously weaves those time zones together but never with exhaustion and always with clarity. That dexterity alone makes him one of the smartest movie makers. He now competes with Italy's Paolo Sorrentino for my favourite European director.

Smarzowski's filmography shows him to be a human of conscience. I highly recommend that you follow this with his 'Wolyn' a.k.a. 'Hatred' (made relevant by the current Ukraine/Russo War on Poland's border). And, if your heart doesn't burst, you could turn that into a triple billing with director Thomas Vinterberg's 'Celebration'(1998). Although the latter's topic is familial, there's style and editing kinship with 'Wesele'.

Considering the rise of racism in Europe. 'Wesele' is both warning and a modern parable. Can we change? Can we lose the worst parts of us? Of course we can.

Paris, 13th District (2021)

The dredges of thrusting body parts...

[8/10 · 11 April 2022]

A sophisticated cleaving of the heart and identity that's both a sex drama and a love story - just like life. I was absorbed by the complicated reality of finding oneself and each other. When we give away parts of ourselves, can we jigsaw them back together?

Director Jacques Audiard impresses - he's previously made great movies but this is his classiest. All round, the actors were perfection - Lucie Zhang dazzles in her feature debut, and Noémie Merlant is as wonderful as she was in 'Portrait of a Lady on Fire'. The screenwriting and cinematography were terrific too.

'Paris, 13th District' more than absorbed me as its emotions remain with me. Its black & white was perfect for watching last rainy night, and holding onto this rainy morning.

Drunken Birds (2021)

'Drunken Birds' is one of Canada's best French movies

[7/10 · 9 April 2022]

'Drunken Birds' is artfully directed, a tapestry of challenging emotions balanced by dramatic cinematography offering hope.

The opening scene of a man fleeing in a car on fire is the best of the year. It suggested a stylish crime drama, a man escaping the local drug cartel. However, the spark is a woman and thus, for a while, it becomes a passionate romance.

But with our Mexican protagonist's (Jorge Antonio Guerrero) arrival in Canada, in search of his love who has escaped her husband, it transforms into an immigrant story that, initially, seems unlike others we know.

Genre blurs again, the farmer's family problems gaining equal attention - his failing marriage, his wife's infidelity, his daughter's coming-of-age frustration.

The stories of the lovers, the exploited immigrant and a family in crisis could have easily been three movies. But they're skillfully intermingled towards an explosive ending.

I cannot properly explain how I felt emotionally except that it was the same as when I watched director Carlos Reygadas' epic 'Our Time', beauty and distraught combined.

In relation to other good Canadian movies, this isn't as high as 'Incendies' and 'Monsieur Lazhar' but respectively edges above 'Antigone' and 'The Barbarian Invasions'. I may give the story a 7 out of 10 rating but direction and cinematography deserves 8.

Walking the Himalayas (2015–2016)

The best view of the Himalayas and its remote people

[9/10 · 5 March 2022]

There have been many great documentaries about the Himalayas but none compare to this. 'Walking the Himalayas' is not another white guy climbing a mountain with a 'pack' of sherpas. Instead, Levinson Wood, my favourite explorer, shows the best of people in the worst places.

Afghanistan isn't just a war, Kashmir isn't inaccessible, Nepal isn't unknown, Kathmandu doesn't have to be a mystery and Bhutan isn't only the 'happiest country'.

Lev took me to wonders at heights that my asthma previously could only imagine.

From Russia to Iran: Crossing the Wild Frontier (2017)

SPECTACULAR

[10/10 · 5 March 2022]

Levinson Wood delivers the road less traveled better than anyone else. Whilst most shows feel like there's a massive tourism crew in the shadows, Wood is he adventurer bring Indiana Jones into reality.

His Nile, Himalayas and Arabia treks are full of courage and insight but 'From Russia to Iran" tops them by delivering an even more alien world of beautiful people and rugged places. That I include Russia, Armenia and Georgia as "alien", after seeing so many many movies about those countries, is because he shows them from such unique perspective that they feel like another world.

Far from the cities, there are humans living as if the past thousand years of civilisation never happened. It's both tragic and wonderful, and always intellectually stimulating. Levinson Wood makes people exist.

Divines (2016)

So wow - one of my top French films

[8/10 · 15 January 2022]

Oulaya Amamra, the lead who is the young sister of the director, is enormously promising in this brutal coming-of-age tale, Add her counterpart, Déborah Lukumuena and you one of my favourite best dialogue/friendship duets: "He eyed you up like a Bic Mac during Ramadan."

'Divines' joins the lofty 'Les Misérables' and 'La Haine' as our best views into French inequality. It's possible that those three equal or exceed the best ghetto crime dramas that the USA has to offer (I'm excluding 'The Wire' and 'The Corner' because those dirty beauties are series).

Wonderfully, 'Divines' gives us a female perspective, going much deeper than Céline Sciamma did with 'Girlhood'.

'Divine' made me laugh and excited but the inevitable collapse gut-wrenched me because I know that darkness is a reflection of our real world where inequality, for most, is a living death sentence. That's the present and intensifying world hierarchy.

It's unfair to viewers that Director Houda Benyamina's debut hasn't had a follow-up the past 6 years. The good news is that she has received funding for 'All For One' which will hopefully appear in 2023.

Bad Roads (2020)

How does war transform us?

[7/10 · 2 January 2022]

We're survivors. In a democratic country with low unemployment and access to health care, it's easy to have morals or pretend to be noble. Plummeted into poverty and the threat of extinction, we're more likely to do whatever it takes to live - avoidance, running or fighting.

'Bad Days' isn't about running away. This is about those left behind. It's appropriate that this is an anthology, four stories showing different angles to devolution in the Ukrainian context of war. The theme may be consistent but tension, or the lack thereof, isn't. Consequently, I recommend that each be watch individually, at different times over one day or one per day. As short films, they work stronger. And they need to be impactful because 'Bad Days' is important.

Part 1: A school headmaster arrives at a checkpoint without his identity document. The frustration at not being able to move freely within one's own country reminds me '200 Meters' and excellent Palestinian movie released last year. The personal and internal conflict here is meekness versus bravery.

Part 2: Part 1 indirectly introduced the topic of sex during war. Or maybe it's more precise to state men versus women with the caveat that women are capable of making their own bad choices. Here, a young woman and her grandmother sit at a bullet riddled bus stop, the latter trying to persuade the teen orphan to come home with her instead of pursuing her infatuation with a soldier.

Part 3: This is the most direct and will likely be most viewer's best segment. A soldier has captured a woman. He claims to enjoy inflicting pain, and enacts it upon her, but he pauses at the possibility of love which suggests he wasn't an animal before the war.

Part 4: What would you do if you ran over a chicken? And what would you do if you were the chicken's owner? Are we always who we are, or does poverty devolve us? Although subtle, I found this segmen to be profound.

Director Natalya Vorozhbit has made a strong debut as director. I will seek out her previous screenplay, 'Cyborgs: Heroes Never Die', a biopic about the fight for an airport. Whereas that title had previously deterred me, I'm now confident that Vorozhbit chooses nuance and ambiguity over taking a side.

'Bad Days' can be appreciated by both Ukrainians and Russians.

Little Tickles (2018)

Actress Andréa Bescond makes stunning debut

[7/10 · 1 January 2022]

Initially, the expressive dance and small budgeted production of 'Little Tickles' made me hesitate. But the longer I watched, the more emotional I became. By the end, it was as if I'd been the one dancing.

Actress Andréa Bescond is superb. Absolutely our loss that she's taken so long to make her debut.

Extra kudos to the screenplay. The dialogue worked, and the shuffling between timelines was easy to track.

Berlin Alexanderplatz (2020)

One of the best movies of 2021

[8/10 · 10 December 2021]

Operatic yet gritty in scope and gloom, 'Berlin Alexanderplatz' is one of 2021's highlights. Director Burhan Qurbani is to be commended for joining the rare rank of directors who are unafraid of an epic length to allow their stories and characters to develop - I wouldn't cut any of the 3 hours.

Welket Bungué is excellent as a frustrating character I both rooted for and berated. Albrecht Schuch is darkly exuberant as the protagonist, competing with the likes of Anthony Hopkins for actor of the year.

If there's a lesson to be learned it's that loyalty can be an addiction, and that addiction isn't love.

I am encouraged to find Qurbani's previous movie, 'We Are Young, We Are Strong'.

Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (2021)

What if you had made a different life choice?

[8/10 · 5 October 2021]

Director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi made me emotional again. His previous 'Happy Hour' remains the longest movie I've seen. It had 5 hours to hug my approval and persuade me that it wasn't a soapie but real life. This time, the 2-hour 'Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy' anthology sucked me in quicker and deeper.

Themes of failed love, loneliness and regret link three stories with different plots and characters. The first was interesting enough to keep me going but it was the middle and end segments that stung my heart. That was made possible through believably flawed characters and well-constructed dialogue.

There are no special effects, grand stage sets or bright lipsticks here. What is said is of utmost importance, as is the rhythm it finds (which is the combination of good screenwriting and remarkable acting).

In the theory of parallel universes, our infinitive selves have had sex with and married different people, been childless and impregnated many, died young and lived to be a century, been happy and depressed.

I use the above only for emphasis because the "fantasy" in this movie title is grounded in only the "What if?" part.

What if I had loved another and they had loved me? And the unasked, accompanying question is "Would I be happier now?"

I may now be wiser and more convinced of myself but what built me can never be erased. Psychology may shift bricks around, add another floor and paint, but all of who I have been is still here. I know this because 'Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy' unexpectedly touched me.

My older self doesn't indulge in wasteful contemplation but my younger self spent too much time reflecting on what outcomes different choices would have made. I was wonderfully reminded of those painful years. "Wonderful" because a good movie makes me feel.

Now I'm searching for the filmographies of the shining actresses who are unfortunately obscure. Such talent must surely mean there's more sincere emotion to be discovered.

Taipei Suicide Story (2020)

An affecting "What if?" at Suicide Hotel

[7/10 · 18 September 2021]

Director KEFF delivers more in 40-minutes than most directors can in two hours. Questioning our purpose in a dislocated society is something most of us can relate to but what happens when the questioning is bigger than the fake faces we wear for fake onlookers? What happens when all that remains is oneself?

Who am I? And am I happy enough with myself to keep on living... or will I reach for the razor blade, noose or poison? But it's not as if an existential asteroid is about to hit us. Maybe one person's reaching hand is all that it takes to choose life.

Dialogue and mood driven, our two characters search for connection filled me with anticipation... except that I never knew if that would be towards dread or relief. That subtle suspense creates the mood but the theme of despair is greater.

'Taipei Suicide Story' is one of the most poignant and interesting movies I've watched in 2021, and dangerously perfect for those feeling philosophically lonely during covid.

KEFF is a director to keep track of.