Welcome to the Film Pie! Brisbane based film critic Matt Toomey has reviewed thousands of movies since 1996. See what's out now, or browse the review archive.

Mini Reviews

Mini Review - Ponyo

Ponyo (out Aug 27) is an animated flick from acclaimed Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away). It's about a 5-year-old boy and a talking goldfish who wants to be a human, but his evil wizard of a father has other ideas. I don't know what Miyazaki smokes but it's strong stuff. I love his creativity however this one didn't achieve the heights of his previous work. Grade: B.

Mini Review - Storage

Storage (out now) is a locally made thriller about a young guy and his uncle who manage a large storage warehouse. You'd be surprised what secrets lie within. With two strong performances from the leads and a few nice twists, it's definitely worth seeing. Grade: B+.

Mini Review - Spread

Spread (out now) is a stupid romantic drama about a model/hustler (Ashton Kutcher) who shacks up with a rich, older woman (Anne Heche). Just terrible. Grade: C.

Mini Review - The Age Of Stupid

The Age Of Stupid (out now) is a wishy-washy documentary about global warming which doesn't get the message across. It focuses on some uninteresting people too. Why tell the story of the airline owner? I believe in global warming but this film isn't doing much to get others on board. Grade: B-.

Mini Review - Inglourious Basterds

Inglourious Basterds (out now) is the latest from Quentin Tarantino - a ficitious film set in WWII Paris about a cinema owner and a group of American soldiers looking to defeat the Nazis.  It's typical Tarantino with awesome dialogue.  The first scene is a beauty.  Christoph Waltz is brilliant as a German colonel.  Unfortunately, the ending was a let down, a little silly if you ask me.  Grade: B+.

Mini Review - Adam

Adam (out now) is about a young man (Hugh Dancy) with Asperger Syndrome who must confront a new life after the death of his father. He finds comfort in his new next door neighbour (Rose Byrne) but she is struggling to come to grips with his condition. This is the second film on this disorder we've seen this year (after Mary & Max) and I liked it, particularly the ending. Grade: B+.

Mini Review - The Taking Of Pelham 123

The Taking Of Pelham 123 (out Aug 27) may star Denzel Washington and John Travolta but just a predictable, clichéd thriller about a guy who hijacks a subway train and demands a $10m ransom. Too far fetched for me. Grade: C+.

Mini Review - The Cove

The Cove (out Aug 20) is a doco which focuses on the slaughter of dolphins in a small Japanese coastal town and how a small team of activists are trying to stop it. It opened my eyes to this issue but I would have liked to have seen more about the politics in the background. Grade: B+.

Mini Review - District 9

District 9 (out now) is a documentary style science fiction thriller about an alien species who become refugees in a South African camp. It's a very effective movie - putting forward a realistic scenario if such aliens ever did land on our planet. Their weapons are cool too. Grade: A-.

Mini Review - Orphan

Orphan (out now) was very slow to start... but then something happened. It started living up to the genre and developed into quite the freaky horror flick. It's the tale of a family who adopt a 9 year old girl and then realise she has a personality to rival Satan. Yeah! Grade: B+.

Mini Review - Dance Flick

Dance Flick (out Aug 20) is yet another stupid spoof flick from the Wayans brothers. 10% of the population will find this funny. 90% of the population will not. I don't like those odds. Grade: C.
  1. Mini Review - Lake Mungo
  2. Mini Review - Eden Is West
  3. Mini Review - Bandslam
  4. Mini Review - Tyson