James Cox Movies
James Cox directs the sleazy Hollywood murder tale Wonderland, starring Val Kilmer as legendary porn star John Holmes. Using a non-linear plot structure, the film explores different perspectives of the quadruple homicide that occurred on July 1, 1981, in the Hollywood Hills. At the lowest point of his career and the height of his drug addiction, Holmes was implicated in the murders of the Wonderland gang: Ron Launius (Josh Lucas), Billy Deverell (Tim Blake Nelson), Barbara Richardson (Natasha Gregson Wagner), and Joy Miller (Janeane Garofalo). Launius' wife, Susan (Christina Applegate), was the only survivor. Led by Detective Sam Nico (Ted Levine), the police investigation reveals a dark criminal underworld surrounding Holmes, his disapproving wife, Sharon (Lisa Kudrow), and his innocent teenage girlfriend, Dawn Schiller (Kate Bosworth). Eric Bogosian stars as notorious Hollywood nightclub owner Eddie Nash. Wonderland premiered at the 2003 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Val Kilmer, Kate Bosworth, (more)
Two friends hit the road to escape some homicidal gangsters with a score to settle in this angsty Gen-X flick set against the backdrop of the mid-'90s grunge music scene. Highway opens with its mohawked post-teen hero Jack (Jared Leto), up to his usual routine: smoking pot, cleaning pools, and engaging in vigorous sex with a mobster's wife. It isn't long before vengeful thugs come calling to his Las Vegas trailer-park home, however, and Jack has to flee town with his drug-dealing best buddy, Pilot (Jake Gyllenhaal). The two decide to travel to Seattle -- in the week preceding Kurt Cobain's suicide -- and along the way they encounter a succession of drifters, losers, and hangers-on, including a sweet-hearted prostitute named Cassie (Selma Blair). Highway's working title was "A Leonard Cohen Afterworld," a reference to a lyric from Kurt Cobain's song "Pennyroyal Tea"; the film was written by Scott Rosenberg, who previously made a name for himself with Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead, Beautiful Girls, and Con Air. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jared Leto, Jake Gyllenhaal, (more)
