Couple of movies I just watched

[thesalmonofdoubt]

The Gift The 2015 one with Jason Bateman, not the 2000 one with Cate Blanchet.
The plot Ideal couple move from the big city to the burbs - the same home town the Husband grew up in. The idea is "something traumatic" happened and they need a fresh start, wife is a bit messed up by past events and needs a clean space to get her head together, they are also trying to start a family. Stranger meets the new couple in a shop and turns out to have gone to school with Husband. Stranger is a strange fellow who immediately integrates himself into their lives and does some strange things. Stuff happens.
Verdict - Surprisingly good action/suspense flick with some genuinely clever twists even if it does tread on well worn ground.
Script is beyond excellent, shot beautifully - surprisingly good performance by Jason Bateman in a role I've never seen him play before and wouldn't have guessed he could pull off so amazingly well. Joel Edgerton who wrote, directed and stars in this, has turned out a pretty bloody mature first big effort. I'd give this a solid 7.5 to 8.0 for how fresh/ genuine it feels given the generally predictable nature of this genre.

Infini - sci-fi horror made on an impressively small budget.

The plot Set in the distant future where the vast majority of the world (95%) lives below the poverty line. High paying jobs are available for people to slipstream (be digitally transported) to remote off world mining sites to - well, mine stuff.
Main character is making his first slip stream.. Previous to the events in the movie, a team of 1600 stationed at the "Infini" mining station experienced some undisclosed disaster killing everyone on the station. Another team is sent in to retrieve a lone survivor and return all demented, infected with some sort of something. To prevent contamination, the entire earth base (used to slipstream from and to) is terminated. One man illegally slipstreams to "Inifni" to avoid being terminated. Another team from a different slipstream base are sent in to retrieve him and stop something terrible from happening that threatens the entire world.

The verdict Much better than I was expecting given its relative obscurity, the budget and that its an Australian Sci-Fi - not something we are known for. Feels a lot like 80's Aliens meets The Sphere meets Pitch Black. Lead is played by a chap called Daniel MacPherson who is know here more for working in Neighbours and hosting talet shows than having any serious acting chops. Turns out, he's really bloody good in a pretty demanding role. Also stars the unknown Hemsworth (Older brother Luke) who has a minor part to play but is ok at it. .. Worth a watch, its not amazing but its pretty fresh and has a good enuff story kinda ruined by a less than par ending. I'd give it a 6.5.

Spectre - the last in the Daniel Craig James Bond movies but I'm sure you have all heard of this.

The plot is kinda hard to really work out with any degree of clarity - mi16 is being absorbed by MI5 and threatens to close down the 00 spys as antiquated given "new tech" .
James fights his way across the world, fucks a few people and fucks up a few more. He shoots things, drives and crashes amazing cars (new DB10 .. fuck me , this is a beautiful machine) .. and saves the day..

The verdict Enjoyable but doesn't stand up to any real scrutiny. Daniel kinda dials this in and you get the impression that he's kinda done with the whole James Bond gig. Suffers for the lack of Judy Dench, suffers from its convoluted plot but - its a bond movie so you watch it and turn off all those bits of your brain and go to watch things explode and implausible stuff happen.. The second weakest in the new bond series following the horrible "Quantum of solice" No where near as good as Casino Royal and miles behind Skyfall. Prolly a 6.0 because despite all its flaws, I still enjoyed it.

[CashRules]

MI6 is being absorbed by MI5 and threatens to close down the 00 spys as antiquated given "new tech" .

From your description the movie goes on to prove it's own supposedly false premise.

[thesalmonofdoubt]

indeed - at least it calls into question whether screwing a few women and smashing a few cars are things that we need in an MI sector.. I think this is absolutely something the spy world needs.