David Pearson Movies

This unsettling variation on Thelma and Louise (1991) is an unusual and often macabre love story/black comedy about two peculiar women, played by Amanda Plummer and Saskia Reeves, who roam through Northern England on a killing spree. Plummer is Eunice, a tattooed, schizophrenic free spirit who is wandering in search of her recently departed lover, Judith. She leaves one gas station attendant dead when the person admits to not being Judith. But when she meets Miriam (Reeves), another gas station attendant who longs for love and attention, Eunice doesn't ask the fatal question. Strangely captivated by the eccentric woman, Miriam spends the night with Eunice and falls under her peculiar charm, Calling each other "Eu" and "Mi," they hit the road, where they murder anyone who gets in their way. Both women sense that their actions will ultimately bring about a tragic end, but their dedication to their cause (rebelling against men who trivialize and demean women everywhere) and their love for one another gives them the strength to carry on. Though Plummer's Eunice seems to have the upper hand through most of the film, it is the sacrifice that "Mi" makes for "Eu" that catches and holds the viewer at the conclusion of this bizarre little tale. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

One of the most popular stage musicals in the history of Broadway and London's West End makes its long-awaited arrival on the motion-picture screen in this lavish adaptation directed by Joel Schumacher. Christine (Emmy Rossum) is a beautiful and gifted young woman who longs to join the company of the Paris Opera House. During rehearsals for one of the opera's grand productions, a backdrop falls and crashes to the floor, nearly crushing leading lady Carlotta (Minnie Driver). When several members of the company suggest this could be the work of the "Phantom of the Opera," a spectral presence said to haunt the building, Carlotta drops out of the show, and the fates permit Christine to step in as her replacement. Christine's performance is a triumph, and on opening night she becomes reacquainted with Raoul (Patrick Wilson), a former childhood friend who is now a wealthy and well-known nobleman. Christine soon finds herself smitten with the handsome Raoul, but the same evening she makes a startling discovery -- the story of the Phantom is not just a legend. A brilliant but horribly disfigured composer (Gerard Butler) lives deep in the depths of the opera house, and taken with the beauty of Christine's voice, he abducts her and brings her to his lair, where he offers to help her perfect her talents, offering to write an opera especially for her. As the terrified Christine is comforted by Raoul, the two fall in love, but the phantom sees her affection for Raoul as a tremendous betrayal, and the jealous phantom nearly kills Christine as he nearly killed Carlotta. When the phantom emerges to present the opera's management with the piece he has written for Christine, the singer is asked to put her life on the line in an effort to capture the mad genius once and for all. Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical version of Gaston Leroux's novel, which had already enjoyed several stage and screen adaptations in the past, opened in London in 1986 and has been a popular favorite around the world ever since; the show was still running in New York and London when the film version premiered in late 2004. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide