Saturday, October 21, 2017

Screening of Crimson Peak with Paul Thompson

All are welcome to the Cerilli Screening Room (Horace Mann 193) this Tuesday (October 24th) from 5:00-8:00 p.m. for a screening of Guillermo Del Toro's Crimson Peak, followed by a conversation with the film's video coordinator Paul Thompson. All are invited to this free event hosted by the Ocean State Film Society!

(Over the past twenty-plus years, Paul Thompson has worked on over 40 feature films, from Academy Award-winning films such as Room and Life of Pi to big-budget extravaganzas such as xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, Suicide Squad, RoboCop (2014), Resident Evil: Afterlife, and The Incredible Hulk (2008). He recently worked on Academy and Emmy Award-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin’s directorial debut Molly’s Game, and he has worked with acclaimed director Guillermo del Toro on The Shape of Water, Crimson Peak, and Pacific Rim. He has also worked on cult classics such as Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and Bride of Chucky.)

And, even though it has its critics, Crimson Peak is definirely worth seeing; as Sheila O'Malley describes it at rogerebert.com:
As in Pan's Labyrinth, Crimson Peak creates an environment where these high stakes can operate at full throttle. The visuals of Allerdale Hall call to mind German Expressionist filmmakers, as well as directors as various as Mario Bava and Hitchcock. But while "Crimson Peak" launches associations (Gothic/Romantic tradition, Hitchcock, Shirley Jackson, Murnau, Bava, Kubrick's The Shining, The Brothers Grimm, Jane Eyre), it's not just a tribute, it's a hybrid all Del Toro's own. The images themselves have tremendous power: A blonde woman sneaking through a dark house holding a candelabra. A black-haired woman stalking through an interior snowfall, carrying a tray of rattling tea cups. A man in his workshop creating toys that open their mouths to vomit silver balls. 
So come for the visual imagery -- and stay for insights into the prouction process that Paul Thompson can share with us in person!