Film Review: Creative Control David is an ad man whose firm has taken on the marketing of Augmenta, an “Augmented Reality” device comparable to Google Glass with built in Photo Shop and some VR capability. As the stresses of the job pile on top of the relationship problems David is experiencing at home, he begins to experiment with Augmenta’s programs to pursue an affair within his Augmented Reality. Unfortunately for David, he may not be stable enough to juggle work, a relationship and two realities. Creative Control is an interesting take on the relationship drama with the occasional touch of humor and a slightly futuristic sci-fi setting, which combine to create an effective viewing experience. Writer, director and lead actor Benjamin Dickinson is clearly a filmmaker with a vision who should get a lot of attention for Creative Control considering it is only his second feature film and has a more fleshed out vision and stylistic tone than many directors accomplish in their careers. Creative Control is a well-written and fantastically acted film that walks a fine line between human drama and absurd humor while keeping all of its characters grounded and believable. Creative Control also utilizes slick black and white photography with touches of color, which gives the film a unique feel and also helps to establish its slightly futuristic setting. A quick encapsulation of Creative Control would be slightly future-ish “Mad Men” through the cinematic lens of Felini. If that description piques your interest, then I would definitely recommend you check it out. Creative Control opens Friday March 25 at the Cable Car Cinema; Director: Benjamin Dickinson; Starring: Benjamin Dickinson, Nora Zehetner, Dan Gill Film Review: 10 Cloverfield Lane After packing her belongings and leaving her husband, Michelle is involved in an automobile accident and wakes up in a bomb shelter with two strange men, Howard and Emmett. While the two men insist that some unknown catastrophic event took place on the surface and that Michelle is not a prisoner but rather there for her own safety, she can’t help but harbor a distrust toward the strangers. Tensions grow as the three learn more about one another and even though they have no idea what happened outside or what may still be happening outside, could outside be a better option? 10 Cloverfield Lane has certainly found itself to be the topic of controversy as film fans debate whether it has any tangible connection to 2008’s Cloverfield, but then again we already know that producer J.J. Abrams likes to enshroud his projects in a veil of secrecy and mystery. While not a proper sequel of any sorts, 10 Cloverfield Lane certainly takes place in the same universe and depending on how you read certain events can definitely be part of the same extended story. But no matter which way you lean on that decision, it is certainly an excellent film on its own. First time feature director Dan Trachtenberg does an amazing job of crafting a tense sense of dread as we learn more about the situation and our three main characters and all three of the lead actors do wonderful work in the movie. The movie as a whole is a thoroughly entertaining and tense thriller and I would recommend 10 Cloverfield Lane to anyone looking for a fun and challenging film. 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016); Director: Dan Trachtenberg; Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman, John Gallagher Jr. Salve Regina French Film Festival ‘Tis the season for francophiles in the Ocean State. As Salve Regina University in Newport celebrates its 11th year appreciating the best in French cinema, viewers get to watch up to six French films (with English subtitles, of course!). This year’s coordinator is Dr. Dean de la Motte, a professor of French at the University. “The Alliance Française of Newport has been involved from the beginning,” he said. “The public for the festival has always been a mix of community members, students and faculty.” The opening screening for the festival used to be held at the Jane Pickens Theatre in Newport, but as part of an ongoing effort to bring the Salve Regina and greater Newport communities together, some things have changed. “We are working with different constituencies on campus to raise the profile of the festival,” he explained. “Even our food service, Sodexo, will prepare French food all day on the Friday prior to the festival.” A number of groups across campus are co-sponsoring the festival, both academic and administrative. “This year we made a concerted effort to involve more students, faculty and staff,” de la Motte explained. Anyone with a Salve Regina ID card is granted free access to each screening, all of which will be screened on campus in the O’Hare Academic Center’s Bazarsky Lecture Hall (Salve Regina University, 100 Ochre Point Ave, Newport). There’s even a student discussion hosted by the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy the day after one of the films. 3 coeurs / 3 Hearts: Sun, Apr 3, 4pm; Wine and cheese reception to follow in McAuley Hall (adjacent to Bazarsky) Illustration by Jacob Saariaho After Paris-based tax auditor Marc (Benoit Poelvoorde) misses his train home, he spends the night in a small town in southern France, where he meets the melancholic Sylvie (Charlotte Gainsbourg). Drawn to each other, they never exchange names or numbers, instead agreeing to meet by a fountain at the Jardin des Tuileries in the French capital. This romantic plan is thwarted, however, when Marc, en route to the destination, suffers severe chest pains and is rushed to the hospital. Dejected, Sylvie returns to her unhappy marriage and soon leaves for the US. Marc, meanwhile, meets and falls in love with another woman, Sophie (Chiara Mastroianni), who, unbeknownst to him, is Sylvie’s beloved sister. Bande de filles / Girlhood: Tue, Apr 5, 7pm Celine Sciamma’s third feature focuses on Marieme (Karidja Toure), a 16-year-old who absorbs the wrath of her older brother and assumes responsibility for her two younger sisters while their mother works the night shift. She falls in with a triad of tough girls, abandoning her braids for straightened hair and her hoodie for a leather jacket. Girlhood follows Marieme as she moves toward adulthood while consistently being reminded of her limited options. Timbuktu: Thu, Apr 7, 7pm In his magnificent fourth feature film, Abderrahmane Sissako demonstrates his remarkable ability to condemn religious fanaticism and intolerance with subtlety and restraint. Timbuktu concerns the jihadist siege of the Malian city in 2012. A ragtag band of Islamic fundamentalists announce their increasingly absurd list of prohibitions via megaphone to Timbuktu’s denizens, several of whom refuse to follow these strictures, no matter the consequence. Deux jours, une nuit / Two Days, One Night: Sun, Apr 10, 3pm; A coffee and pastry reception at 2pm Acclaimed directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne join forces with one of the most talented performers working today, Marion Cotillard. The actress plays Sandra, an employee at a solar-panel factory in an industrial town in Belgium, who learns that management is offering each of her colleagues a 1,000 euro bonus if they vote to make her redundant. Sandra meets each of her 16 coworkers over a weekend to convince them to forgo the cash and let her resume her position at the company. These encounters reveal the Dardenne brothers’ signature compassion for characters torn asunder by the demands of late capitalism. La religieuse / The Nun: Tue, Apr 12; 7pm In Guillaume Nicloux’s adaptation of Denis Diderot’s 18th-century novel, Pauline Etienne plays Suzanne Simonin, a devout 16-year-old who, lacking a dowry and a vocation, is forced by her aristocratic, though financially troubled, parents to enter a convent. Although her time in the nunnery was supposed to be short, Suzanne soon finds herself imprisoned in the abbey when her mother announces her daughter is an illegitimate child and must expiate the family’s sins by staying in the convent indefinitely. A scathing examination of religious hypocrisy and a profound treatise on freedom, Nicloux’s adaptation also stars the great Isabelle Huppert and Louise Bourgoin. Hiroshima mon amour / Hiroshima, My Love: Thu, Apr 14, 7pm One of the most influential movies ever made, Alain Resnais’s masterwork from 1959 would not only shape the nouvelle vague benchmarks made in its wake, but liberate filmmakers from linear storytelling. “[I]n my film time is shattered,” Resnais once said. Hiroshima mon amour, which was scripted by Marguerite Duras, consists of multiple flashbacks. Spanning approximately 36 hours, the movie centers around the time-toggling conversations of two characters, the French actress known only as She (Emmanuelle Riva) and Japanese architect known as He (Eiji Okada). While the two reflect on the horrors of wartime — She on living in a Nazi-occupied country, He on the incineration of more than 100,000 of his compatriots — they begin to debate the unreliability of memory. The Salve Regina University French Film Festival runs from April 3 – 14. For more details about the festival, visit salve.edu/french-film-festival. Patrons are encouraged to purchase tickets and passes in advance online: web.ovationtix.com/trs/cal/29095. Film Review: Nina Forever Holly is a strange girl with a dark side who is drawn to her co-worker Rob who recently attempted suicide after his girlfriend Nina died in a car accident. Things seem to be going fine for Holly and Rob until their relationship becomes sexual because whenever they become intimate, Nina returns if only to mock them and perpetually remind Holly that she is Rob’s rightful girlfriend.