review – Des Moines Film

‘Parasite’ Reviewed: A Cinematic Sleight of Hand

Posted on November 6, 2019

“You know what kind of plan never fails? No plan at all.” So says Kim Ki-taek (Song Kang-ho), the patriarch of the impoverished family at the center of “Parasite,” director Bong Joon-ho’s deliriously funny and darkly disturbing thriller about the unforeseen misfortunes that can alter life’s trajectory. For Ki-taek, making plans seems to have been a futile exercise in his life. He is an unemployed car driver, forced to live in a "semi-basement" apartment with his evidently...

‘Joker’ Reviewed: Predicting the Punchline

Posted on October 17, 2019

by Clinton Olsasky

Few films in recent years have generated as much excitement, controversy and, yes, fear as “Joker,” director Todd Phillips’ dark and twisted origin story about the infamous DC Comics villain. Scrutinized for its potential to inspire real-world violence, “Joker” details one lonely man’s transformation from outcast to killer — all from a highly subjective (and arguably dangerous) point of view. The fact that “Joker” has elicited such scrutiny, igniting a debate over the moral responsibilities of...

‘Ad Astra’ Reviewed: Ambling into the Unknown

Posted on October 2, 2019

by Clinton Olsasky

The future looks strangely familiar in “Ad Astra,” director James Gray’s space drama about mortality, legacy and familial disturbances. From the airline-esque accommodations on a shuttle to the moon to a lunar base’s neon Subway sign, there are many times in “Ad Astra” in which we’re left with an uncanny feeling of time periods intersecting, of futuristic facilities being saturated with present-day ephemera. In other words, what we deem familiar becomes strange. Out of place. So it goes...

review Tag

‘Parasite’ Reviewed: A Cinematic Sleight of Hand

‘Joker’ Reviewed: Predicting the Punchline

‘Ad Astra’ Reviewed: Ambling into the Unknown