Five movies, three books

By Curt Swarm

“The Banshees of Inisherin,” directed by Martin McDonagh, held me spellbound. I have never seen or read anything like it. The symbolism is stark, dark and confusing. I must admit, I have no idea what the symbolism represents. I’ve read some analyses of the movie and believe the “experts” are as confused as I am. I must see this movie a second time, and turn up my hearing aids — the characters’ thick Irish brogue is hard to understand. Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleason are feuding frenemies (how do you like that word? It means “a person with whom one is friendly despite a fundamental dislike or rivalry”) who go to shocking lengths to destroy or strengthen their male bonds.

“Air” is fun. It’s about the making of the famous “Air Jordan” basketball shoe, and selling it to the Jordans. It stars Ben Affleck, (chubby) Matt Damon, Viola Davis and Jason Bateman, so you know the movie’s good. For the life of me, I don’t know why the director, Ben Affleck, didn’t want to show the face of the actor who played Michael Jordan, Damian Delano Young. It’s a teaser. Sure, Jordan is an icon. But so is Abraham Lincoln. In the myriad of movies made about Abe, the actor’s face is usually shown, albeit heavily made-up.

Speaking of makeup: “The Whale,” oh, boy, where do I start? It stars Brendan Fraser as The Whale and Hong Chau as his nurse/caretaker. Fraser received the Academy Award for Best Actor, and the movie scored another Academy Award for best makeup — deservedly so. Brendan Fraser looked like he actually did weigh 600 pounds.

“Personality Crisis: One Night Only” a documentary on Showtime, co-directed by Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi, is about the life of David Johansen, also known as Buster Poindexter. Johansen was the lead singer in the 70s for the iconic band, the New York Dolls. Johansen then and Johansen now makes for intriguing viewing.

“Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant” (actual title) is about rescuing an interpreter from

Afghanistan and finding safety for him and his family in the U.S. Starring Jake Gyllenhall and Dar Salim as the interpreter, the movie is an action-packed war story with all the frills and kills. I agree with a review I read before seeing the movie. The first half of the movie is pretty well done. The second half is so predictable that it puts tarnish on what is a unique perspective of modern warfare. It’s still worth seeing.

The three books I’m recommending is Jane Smiley’s trilogy, “The Last Hundred Years.” The three books are “Early Warning,” “Some Luck” and “Golden Age.” Jane Smiley, as you may remember, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1992 for her Iowa farm story, “A Thousand Acres.” Although not from Iowa, Smiley has a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa, taught creative writing at Iowa State University and loves to write about Iowa, particularly about farming and farm folk. She references the L-Way Cafe in Ames and the Hamburg Inn in Iowa City. “The Greenlanders” is one of the best books I ever read. And her book “Moo” is a tongue-in-cheek spoof about Iowa State University (Moo U), something Iowa State didn’t appreciate.

Her trilogy, “The Last Hundred Years” is all about an Iowa farm family, its growth and dispersion over, obviously, the last 100 years. “All wealth comes from the soil,” might be a theme of her trilogy. The story is complicated and confusing, with way too many characters who are hard to keep track of, a privilege I would never allow my creative writing students. But if you’re Jane Smiley, you can get away with it. She has a good ear and is a master at creating vivid characters through dialogue. Her prose is stunning at times. I consider Smiley one of the best writers of modern fiction. With 60 some books under her belt, she may be a future Nobel Laureate.

Contact Curt Swarm at curtswarm@yahoo.com