James Duval Movies
Perhaps best known for his work as a black-clad muse for Gregg Araki, James Duval has built a career on playing alienated, melancholic lost boys. Part of his ability to capture such alienation comes from the actor's own real-life experiences: of French, Vietnamese, Native American and Irish descent, he was constantly picked on by schoolmates while growing up. A native of Detroit, Michigan, where he was born on September 10, 1973, Duval made his way to Hollywood, where, eighteen and down on his luck after a band to pursue an acting career, he had his fateful encounter with Araki. The two met in a café that Duval frequented; Araki approached him, asked if he was an actor, and proceeded to cast him in Totally F***ed Up, the first installment of his so-called "teen-angst trilogy." The 1993 film, which focused on a group of alienated gay teens in Los Angele, was a cult hit, giving its director cult status and Duval more employment opportunities. After a turn as a biker in Mod Fuck Explosion, Jon Moritsugu's 1994 tale of urban teen dysfunction, Duval again collaborated with Araki, this time on The Doom Generation (1995). Cast as Jordan White, a lamb-for-the-slaughter role Araki had written specifically for him, the actor again got to demonstrate his capacity for disillusioned brooding and his readiness to take on less than salubrious subjects. The second installment of Araki's "teen-apocalypse" trilogy, The Doom Generation was also the most controversial, mainly due to its liberal inclusion of graphic violence--the most shocking of which centered on Duval's character.No such controversy surrounded Araki and Duval's subsequent collaboration, 1997's Nowhere. The last of the trilogy, it starred Duval as yet another bored, alienated Los Angeles teen and covered Araki's familiar stomping grounds of sexual experimentation, urban disillusionment, and the search for true love amid L.A.'s cultural wasteland. It met with a degree of success on the independent circuit, further establishing Duval as one of Araki's most visible mouthpieces. Aside from his work with Araki, Duval has also appeared in a number of independent films, including SLC Punk and Doug Liman's Go (both 1999). He has also made the occasional foray into mainstream film, appearing in the 1996 summer blockbuster Independence Day. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
When a skittish crack-head disappears with a ten pack of Kush, the naïve drug dealers who fronted him the buds must scramble to raise $30,000 before word spreads to the higher ups. While their plan to kidnap the thieves' teenage brother at first seems like a stroke of genius, the scheme is complicated when the frightened adolescent unexpectedly dies. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bret Roberts, Mike Erwin, (more)
A man who planned to marry his high school sweetheart, buy a house with a white picket fence, and raise a family kisses his dreams of suburban bliss goodbye in order to travel through a hundred mile section of Central and South American jungle known as the Darien Gap in this adventure starring Christopher Masterson, Brooke Burns, Johnny Messner, and James Duval. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Kennedy Masterson, Brooke Burns, (more)
First time writer/director Matt Nourse explores the uncertainty of the time when true identities begin to emerge in this tale of four friends attempting to come to terms with the loss of a dear friend. Eddy is a vagabond musician. Though he still comes off as his usual brash self even after the incident, it's obvious that his pain runs deeper when he skips town and asks his friends to mourn in his place. But Eddy's got no place left to run, and it isn't long before he comes back home with his tail between his legs. Meanwhile, guitar maker Barron is about as happy with his own picture-perfect life as he is with Eddy's decision to abandon his friends during such a tumultuous time. Barron's wife Farah is growing tired of her life as well, and though she's as striking and tempestuous as ever, the former dancer just can't seem to move like she used to. The only member of the group who seems destined for greater things is gifted painter Chelsea, who's currently making plans to move away and pursue a career. When Eddy returns to town to discover that his friends seem to have lost any remaining sympathy and fondness they once felt towards him, he flees to the Pacific ocean on an inward journey to embrace the loss that he never truly mourned. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ryan Donowho, Dominique Swain, (more)
May star Angela Bettis trades places with that film's director Lucky McKee for this tale of a lonely recluse who finds his obsession with a beautiful girl taking a dark turn after coming face to face with the unsuspecting object of his affections. Roman (McKee) is a quiet soul whose only escape from the tedium of life and the torment inflicted upon him by his co-workers is basking in the ethereal beauty of the elusive girl who resides next door (Kristen Bell). During a chance encounter with the fragile girl, Roman's intense desperation leads him to commit a transgression that opens the floodgates of madness and deranged fantasy. As Roman's cold reality gradually begins to melt into a grisly puddle of dripping insanity, an eccentric neighbor (Nectar Rose) stealthily begins to ingratiate herself into his increasingly unhinged world. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lucky McKee, Kristen Bell, (more)
A disturbed health inspector begins a surreal descent into madness when her marriage fails, her mental health begins to plummet, and her obsession with kung fu movies drives her to seek vengeance against the Ten Tigers from Kwangtung in director Gregory Hatanaka's experimental psychological thriller. Therese's (Sarah Lassez) life is falling apart; her husband has abandoned her, her affair with a sleazy televangelist has left her sexually frustrated, and her brother may have poisoned her with some particularly bad meat. Now, as Therese begins to succumb to her all-consuming nymphomania and her doctor begins to suspect that there truly is something wrong despite her outwardly healthy appearance, the delusional slaughterhouse inspector begins the rigorous training that will allow her to take on the dreaded Ten Tigers from Kwangtung in an all-out bloodbath that could claim the lives of more than a few of her recent lovers. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sarah Lassez, James Duval, (more)
When a diverse group of lifelong friends comes together to celebrate the marriage of devoted couple Elise (Amy Adams) and Michael (Adam Garcia), the mixed-up relationships of the past pave the road to a weekend no one is likely to soon forget in the feature debut from filmmaker Matthew Cole Weiss. The setting is Los Angeles, CA, and the event is the wedding between a man and a woman who always seemed destined to be together. Unfortunately, all relationships can't be as healthy as Elise and Michael's is, and though best man and maid of honor Rich (Aaron Stanford) and Samantha (Melissa Sagemiller) seem to be preparing to take the plunge, the same certainly cannot be said for neurotic actress Lana (Mena Suvari). A free-spirited soul who has experienced flings with a variety of wedding attendees including the hapless Pockets (Jon Abrahams), alcoholic actor Simon (James Van Der Beek), and manic children's television program host Donovan (Ethan Embry), Lana attempts to sort out her past flings as lovelorn agent Quentin (Colin Hanks) pines for the bride's sister and the estranged father of the groom attempts to reconnect with his long-lost son. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amy Adams, Adam Garcia, (more)
Cody Jarrett's grade-Z horror comedy film Frog-g-g! concerns a mutant frog that emerges from the water and wants to reproduce with the only species that matches it genetically: human women. Kristi Russell plays Dr. Barbara Michaels, an EPA agent who realizes what is happening before anyone else. Unfortunately, she has a difficult time convincing anyone of her theory until it is too late and the mutant begins attacking. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kristi Russell, Ariadne Shaffer, (more)
Showcasing heavy influence from the Canadian box office legend Porky's, the teen sex comedy Window Theory concerns the antics of a City of Angels stoner, Ethan (Corey Large), who jets back to his Canadian hometown with the full intent of wooing his nuptial-entrenched ex-girlfriend, Steph Jennifer O'Dell out of the arms of her intended, Jeff (Luke Flynn) -- who also happens to be Ethan's onetime best buddy. Once there, Ethan parties hard with his other pals, Brad (Luke Kirby) and Sean (Tom Lenk), and the three devise a scheme to wheedle Steph away from her groom-to-be. Neophyte Andrew Putschoegl directed, with Large and Kyle Kramer co-authoring the script. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Corey Large, Jennifer O'Dell, (more)
A Sunday afternoon quest to find the perfect American dream home finds a group of wannabe homeowners embarking on a series of strange misadventures in this real estate musical from Slamdance Film Festival founder Dan Mirvish and starring Sally Kellerman, Anne Magnuson, and James Duval. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Rapp, Sally Kellerman, (more)
A young social outcast goes to great measures to find the perfect friend in this debut horror feature from director Lucky McKee. Set apart from her peers as a child due to her lazy eye, May's only friend and confidant was a delicate doll encased in glass. Though as a young adult May has learned to control her lazy eye with glasses and contacts, her introverted tendencies always seem to hinder her search for the perfect friend. Walking down the street one day, May happens across a young man tenderly caressing the damage of a wrecked car and falls in love with his seemingly perfect hands. As May and Adam (Jeremy Sisto) begin to spend more time together, the quirky couple seem to have much in common, and May believes that she might have finally happened across the perfect boy. Her deep-rooted psychological problems slowly surface, however, and Adam is gradually driven away, leaving the vulnerable May in the company of amorous co-worker Polly (Anna Faris). It soon becomes obvious to May that, though various acquaintances seem to have perfect traits, they never add up to a perfect whole -- leading the creative and demented young girl to her own unique method of creating the perfect friend. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Angela Bettis, Jeremy Sisto, (more)
Hank Kirk (Kevin Anderson) is a Caucasian man who objects to his half-Cherokee son Hunter's (James Duval) tendency to believe the stories of his Native American grandfather. Hunter is a hemophiliac, which makes it difficult (and dangerous) for him to take part in the same outdoor activities that dominate his father's life, especially as his mother, Maggie (Jeri Arredondo), worries about her son and tries to keep him away from danger. As Hunter grows older, he feels the need to prove himself to his father despite his medical condition, but his father objects to the Cherokee method of hunting and insists that the boy hunt like a white man, by sitting by the side of the road with a gun and waiting for game to appear. When Hunter goes deer hunting with Hank for the first time, he mistakenly bags a doe instead of a buck -- a tremendous embarrassment for both Hunter and Hank, because the animal has no antlers to show off and thus is not considered a great catch. Humiliated, Hunter seeks the advice of his grandfather, Marvin Fishinghawk (Gordon Tootoosis), and finds love for the first time with a girl his age. The Doe Boy was the first feature film from writer and director Randy Redroad, which was based on his own experiences growing up in a Native American family; the film was shown in competition at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Duval, Kevin Anderson, (more)
Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a bright and charming high-school student who also has a dark and willfully eccentric side; he does little to mask his contempt for many of his peers and enjoys challenging the authority of the adults around him. Donnie is also visited on occasion by Frank, a monstrous six-foot rabbit that only Donnie can see who often urges him to perform dangerous and destructive pranks. Late one night, Frank leads Donnie out of his home to inform him that the world will come to an end in less than a month; moments later, the engine of a jet aircraft comes crashing through the ceiling of Donnie's room, making him think there might be something to Frank's prophesies after all. The rest of Donnie's world is only marginally less bizarre, as he finds himself dealing with his confused parents (Mary McDonnell and Holmes Osborne), his college-age sister (Maggie Gyllenhaal), his perplexed analyst (Katherine Ross), a rebellious English teacher (Drew Barrymore), a sleazy self-help expert (Patrick Swayze), and the new girl at school who is attracted by Donnie's quirks (Jena Malone). Donnie Darko was the first feature film from writer and director Richard Kelly; Drew Barrymore, who plays teacher Karen Pomeroy, also lent her support to the project as executive producer. A director's cut played in select theaters on a limited basis in the summer of 2004, featuring original music cues and trimmed scenes originally in Kelly's first cut of the film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, (more)
In this action thriller, a master car thief has his skills pushed to the limit. Randall "Memphis" Raines (Nicolas Cage) can steal practically any car that crosses his path. While he has done well in his life of crime, he knows that there's a short future in theft, and he wants to get out of the business. But his retirement plans are interrupted when his younger brother Kip (Giovanni Ribisi) gets in trouble with a dangerous crime boss. To get his brother out of harm's way, Randall agrees to a profitable but risky scheme to steal 50 luxury cars in one night, with the help of several other car thieves, including Sara "Sway" Wayland (Angelina Jolie). A rival group of thieves is trying to pull the same stunt at the same time, and detectives Castlebeck (Delroy Lindo) and Drycoff (Timothy Olyphant) are trying to shut down both operations. Also starring Robert Duvall as Otto Halliwell, and Scott Caan as Tumbler, Gone in Sixty Seconds is a remake of the 1974 low-budget action hit of the same name, best remembered for a 40-minute chase scene in which 90 cars were destroyed. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicolas Cage, Angelina Jolie, (more)
Director/cinematographer Doug Liman's third feature links together three edgy stories, all beginning in the same Los Angeles supermarket with an interconnected group of characters. Ronna (Sarah Polley) is a down-on-her-luck checkout girl who is sweet talked into taking an extra shift from her friend Simon (Desmond Askew) so he can go to Las Vegas. Ronna is then approached by two good-looking actors, Adam (Scott Wolf) and Zack (Jay Mohr), who want to buy drugs. Ronna, who needs money, plans to act as a go-between between the actors and a dealer friend of Simon's, Todd (Timothy Olyphant), until a cop named Burke (William Fichtner) enters the picture. Meanwhile, Simon is living it up in Vegas; in the course of a very wild night on the town, he manages to bed two women, accidentally steal a car with his good friend Marcus (Taye Diggs), and get thrown out of the best strip club in town, with more than a few people after him, especially when he leaves behind a credit card he borrowed from Todd. Once again back at the supermarket, Adam and Zack turn out to not be quite what they seemed, and their relationship with Burke and his wife Irene (Jane Krakowski) takes an unexpected turn as their evening becomes very, very complicated. Go, Liman's long-awaited follow-up to his indie hit Swingers, received its World Premiere at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sarah Polley, Desmond Askew, (more)
What's it like being the only punk rockers in the biggest Mormon community in the world? Stevo (Matthew Lillard) and Heroin Bob (Michael Goorjian) provide the answer to this and other questions in SLC Punk. Stevo and Bob (whose name is actually an ironic reference to his fear of needles) are two friends fresh out of college who sport mohawks and blue hair, listen to hardcore and try to live up to their own anarchist ideals while figuring out what to do with their lives. Which wouldn't make them unusual in New York or Los Angeles, but they're fish out of water in Salt Lake City, Utah, where they drink beer, chase women and pick fights with "rednecks" along side a mixed bag of metalheads, hippies, hicks and posers who are fellow outcasts in the most clean-cut community in America. In the midst of all this, Stevo's dad hopes his son will follow in his footsteps and study law at Harvard; while Stevo surprisingly has the grades, he's not sure if he wants to go. Featuring a soundtrack of mid-80's punk from The Ramones, Minor Threat, The Dead Kennedys and others, SLC Punk was chosen as the opening-night feature at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matthew Lillard, Michael A. Goorjian, (more)
- 1998
Kip Koenig wrote and directed this comedy, set in a small college town, about neurotic Bell Bryant (Clea DuVall) who explains her problems directly to the camera: her older sister Sarah (Jorja Fox) has a happy marriage plus a baby on the way. Her other sister, beautiful Dot (Amy Smart), is involved in an affair with Bell's ex, Leonard (Gabriel Mann). In a remote location, Bell makes love to Leonard and then departs, abandoning the nude Leonard who makes his way to the house of a married couple (Dennis Haysbert, Marianne Jean-Baptiste). Wondering if she's a lesbian, the confused Bell dates a woman and then dashes around from one place to another, dropping in on her mom (Mary Kay Place), her uncle, John David Souther), and various eccentrics. Shown at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clea DeVall, Gabriel Mann, (more)
In an exclusive neighborhood in upstate New York, family and friends gather to commemorate the AIDS-related death of Tony (played in flashbacks by D.B. Sweeney), a much-loved young man. The gathering takes place at the country home of Tony's half-brother John (Jared Harris) and John's moody wife Marian (Deborah Kara Unger). John and Marian's marriage has been under some strain, due in large part to Marian's overriding worries about their year-old baby. When Tony's longtime lover and Marian's best friend Lyle (David Conrad) arrives with Robert (James Duval), his new boyfriend, tensions heighten further. Meanwhile, on the other side of the lake, wealthy widow Laura (Gena Rowlands) returns home to a surprise visit from her estranged daughter Nina (Brooke Shields), a B-movie actress whose latest attempt to shock her mother comes courtesy of Thierry (Gary Dourdan), the married, black Parisian she has brought along. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Deborah Kara Unger, Jared Harris, (more)
Richard Chamberlain plays a dying man trying to tie together the loose ends of his past in this melodrama. Thaddeus (Chamberlain) is in the last stages of AIDS, and he's determined to live out his final days in the company of old friends. First on the list is Allen (Michael Imperioli), an artist in Los Angeles who, much to Thaddeus' surprise, is now living with Eva (Ute Lemper). Thaddeus' arrival has forced the couple to come clean about Allen's past as a hustler; meanwhile, Thaddeus enlists Allen to help him track down Jamie (James Duval), a former trick who needs to be aware of Thaddeus' condition -- for his own sake. River Made to Drown In features Talia Shire in a cameo. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Chamberlain, Michael Imperioli, (more)
- 1997
- R
Described by director Gregg Araki as "A Beverly Hills 90210 episode on acid" (with no suggestions of what it might be cut with), Nowhere is a companion piece with Araki's previous meditations on youth gone wild in the 1990s, Totally F***ed Up and The Doom Generation -- Araki's self-described "teen apocalypse trilogy." Nowhere follows 18-year-old Dark Smith (James Duval) as he goes through a fairly typical day in Los Angeles. Dark needs, but rarely gets, emotional support from his girlfriend Mel (Rachel True). Mel, however, is also involved with a girl named Lucifer (Kathleen Robertson), while Dark moons over hunky Montgomery (Nathan Bexton). Dark's best friend Cowboy (Guillermo Diaz) has troubles of his own, as his boyfriend and bandmate Bart (Jeremy Jordan) is back on drugs and spending most of his time with his dealer. Mel's friends include sugar junkie Dingbat (Christina Applegate), doomsday poetess Alyssa (Jordan Ladd), and Egg (Sarah Lassez), who is being unexpectedly wooed by a Famous Teen Idol (Jason Simmons). Egg's brother Ducky (Scott Caan) has a crush on Alyssa, but she's keeping company with a biker named Elvis (Thyme Lewis). Alyssa's assignation with Elvis gets a psychic boost by her twin brother Shad (Ryan Phillippe) and his tryst with Lilith (Heather Graham). The day continues on a roller coaster of kinky sex, hallucinogenic drugs, random violence, romantic misunderstandings, alien abductions, and (of course) a wild party, this time at the home of noted hipster Jujyfruit (Gibby Haynes). Like The Doom Generation, Nowhere features a wealth of pop culture icons in cameo appearances, including John Ritter, Traci Lords, Charlotte Rae, Eve Plumb, and Shannen Doherty. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Duval, Rachel True, (more)
A group of intrepid humans attempts to save the Earth from vicious extraterrestrials in this extremely popular science-fiction adventure. Borrowing liberally from War of the Worlds, Aliens, and every sci-fi invasion film inbetween, director Roland Emmerich and producer and co-writer Dean Devlin present a visually slick, fast-paced adventure filled with expensive special effects and large-scale action sequences. The story begins with the approach of a series of massive spaceships, which many on Earth greet with open arms, looking forward to the first contact with alien life. Unfortunately, these extraterrestrials have not come in peace, and they unleash powerful weapons that destroy most of the world's major cities. Thrown into chaos, the survivors struggle to band together and put up a last-ditch resistance in order to save the human race. As this is a Hollywood film, this effort is led by a group of scrappy Americans, including a computer genius who had foreseen the alien's evil intent (Jeff Goldblum), a hot-shot jet pilot (Will Smith), and the President of the United States (Bill Pullman). While some critics objected to the film's lack of originality and lapses in logic, the combination of grand visual spectacle and crowd-pleasing storytelling proved irresistible to audiences, resulting in an international smash hit. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Pullman, Will Smith, (more)
Billed as "a heterosexual movie by Gregg Araki," The Doom Generation is the director's self-styled bad-taste teen film. Amy Blue (Rose McGowan) is an obnoxious teenage speed freak and her boyfriend Jordan White (James Duval) is a passive, slow-witted poseur who won't have sex with her because he's terrified of AIDS (even though they both claim to be virgins). One day, they run across Xavier Red (Johnathon Schaech), a charming but enigmatic drifter who has a bad habit of killing people. Joining the young couple on a seemingly endless road trip, Xavier (or "X,"as the verbally challenged Jordan insists on calling him), proves a threatening and repulsive yet strangely alluring companion whose very presence raises issues of loyalty and sexual identity. The Doom Generation is dotted with a variety of eccentric cameo appearances, including comic Margaret Cho, actress Parker Posey, musician Perry Farrell, "Hollywood Madame" Heidi Fleiss, and onetime Brady Bunch star Christopher Knight. This is the middle installment in Araki's "teen apocalypse trilogy," which also includes 1993's Totally F***ed Up and 1997's Nowhere. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Duval, Rose McGowan, (more)
- 1993
- NR
A group of gay and lesbian teen characters addresses the camera directly in this pseudo-documentary about the travails of queer adolescence in early-'90s Los Angeles. Andy (James Duval), who hides his sensitive side beneath a nihilistic exterior, really yearns to find a nice boyfriend and settle down the way his pal Steven (Gilbert Luna), an aspiring filmmaker, has with boyfriend Deric (Lance May). Meanwhile, their sex-crazed friend Tommy (Roko Belic) has been kicked out by his parents for being homosexual. The only seemingly carefree members of this adoptive family are Michele (Susan Behshid) and Patricia (Jenee Gill), a lesbian couple whose desire to raise a child together leads the boys to participate in a group sperm donation during one of the film's many scenes of these characters just hanging out and rapping about AIDS, fag-bashing, homophobia, and alienation. In-between polemicizing and posing in front of Steven's camera for interviews, Andy meets college student Ian (Alan Boyce), who seems, at least for a while, to be Mr. Right. Just as Andy and Ian's relationship begins to blossom, Steven and Deric's starts to fall apart, but nothing's for certain in director Gregg Araki's angst-ridden world. Framed as 15 vignettes, each one introduced by an ironic intertitle and many of them interspersed with graphic sexual and commercial images, Totally F***ed Up marked the end of Araki's no-budget phase; the glossy, gaudy Doom Generation would follow two years later. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Duval, Roko Belic, (more)
