Alex Cox Movies

A young Argentine mathematician visiting the United Kingdom is drawn into a complex murder mystery when his landlady is brutally slain in director Alex de la Iglesia's tense and stylish thriller. John Hurt stars in a film scripted by longtime de la Iglesia collaborator Jorge Guerricaechevarría. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A simple homeless man in search of a warm place to sleep is exploited by politicians eager to prove that poverty in Mexico has been eradicated in Herod's Law director Luis Estrada's caustic satire concerning the effect of globalization on Mexican citizens. A press conference has been held to proclaim that there are no more poor people in Mexico, but homeless Juan Perez (Herod's Law star Damian Alcazar) still can't seem to find a place to rest his weary head. After wandering into the World Financial Center headquarters and ending up on an elevated window ledge, Juan awakens to find that the public and press assume he is making a political statement against the powerful institution's neo-liberal stance. As Juan is swept up by the political machine that remains unwilling to admit to their claims of conquering poverty may have been made in haste, the wandering tramp is given a spotless home in the suburbs and thrust into the international spotlight. But fame is a fickle thing in the 21st Century, and rising to the top only means that one has farther to fall when the next media distraction takes center stage. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The Spaghetti West documents the film genre referred to as Spaghetti Westerns. These movies were made in Italy, where production costs were very cheap and the terrain offered perfectly believable sets, during the 1950s and '60s. While Sergio Leone became the most well-known director that made his bones in the genre, a number of famous film personalities such as Clint Eastwood and Ennio Morricone established themselves in these Westerns. The film utilizes clips of some of the most famous spaghetti westerns, as well as interviews with those who made the films and those who have been inspired by these sparse, stylish movies. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Revenge, obsession, and the morally ambiguous aristocracy are targets of this adaptation by director Alex Cox of the 17th century dark comic play Revengers Tragedy, written by Shakespeare contemporary Thomas Middleton. The vindictive and mentally unstable Vindici (Christopher Eccleston) has returned to the grimy streets of a post-apocalyptic Liverpool in order to attempt to bring ruin to the ruling family led by the Duke (Derek Jacobi). The Duke was personally responsible for the death of Vindici's fiancée ten years previously when the woman would not yield to the Duke's sexual advances. An opportunity arises for Vindici's vengeance when the Duke's youngest son is accused of raping the wife (Sophie Dahl) of Lord Antonio (Anthony Booth) -- one of the Duke's courtiers. When the Duke's son is acquitted of the rape charges, Lord Antonio's wife dies a mysterious death, which leads to even more havoc in the court of the Duke. Seizing the opportunity, Vindici acts swiftly and violently but the morality of his cause is just as questionable as the aristocracy he is ousting. Revengers Tragedy was a competing film at the 2002 Locarno Film Festival. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide

Luis Estrada directs this groundbreaking and extremely controversial satire about Mexico's long-ruling political party, the PRI. Set in the late 1940s in the remote, thoroughly backwards village of San Pedro de los Saguaros, the film focuses on Vargas (Damian Alcazar), a petty politician who had the dubious honor of being appointed town mayor after his predecessor was decapitated for corruption by an angry mob. At first, he tries to balance the books and to bring the 20th century to the backwaters. When he is visited by slick PRI politico Lopez (Pedro Armendariz), however, he learns the officially sanctioned way of running the town: at gunpoint while pilfering the bank vaults. Soon Vargas becomes a power-mad despot, more than willing to steal or kill to further his goals. Though his PRI bosses try to reign him in, the lynch mob soon appears to be the inevitable end of Vargas' political career. The first film to criticize the PRI by name, Estrada's bitter farce savages the ruling party, the church and U.S. intervention. Cult director Alex Cox plays a small role as a seedy gringo. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

One of the world's great filmmakers, and perhaps the greatest Japanese director who ever lived, Akira Kurosawa crafted a stunning body of work in his 50 years in the movie industry, creating such landmark films as Rashomon, The Seven Samurai, The Hidden Fortress, Ran, The Bad Sleep Well, Kagemusha, and Yojimbo. Kurosawa was the first Japanese filmmaker to achieve international recognition, and his early films were instrumental in establishing his nation's film industry as a potent creative force. This documentary, produced for the Independent Film Channel cable network, takes a detailed look at his life and career and features interviews with some of his better-known admirers, including directors Francis Ford Coppola, Bernardo Bertolucci, and John Woo and Japanese film historian Donald Richie. Kurosawa: The Last Emperor was directed by Alex Cox, best known for his films Repo Man and Sid and Nancy. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Terry Gilliam (Brazil, Twelve Monkeys, The Fisher King) directed this colorful, stylized, pseudo-psychedelic $21-million adaptation of the 1971 Hunter S. Thompson classic, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey into the Heart of the American Dream, about stoned sportswriter Raoul Duke, Thompson's alter ego, on a wild drug-crazed road trip, a paranoid plummet into the belly of the beast, with his pal, lawyer Oscar Zeta Acosta. Originally serialized in Rolling Stone (November 1971), the book catapulted Thompson headfirst toward the Kerouac-Mailer-Capote pantheon and jump-started the entire movement of "gonzo journalism." Carrying a suitcase of drugs, Raoul Duke (Johnny Depp with shaved pate) and his attorney Dr. Gonzo (Benicio Del Toro) drive a red convertible across the Mojave from L.A. to Vegas, where Duke has an assignment to cover the Mint 400 desert motorcycle race. As the drugs kick in, Duke ventures into voiceover, filling in the blank spots and narrative gaps. "This is not a good town for psychedelic drugs," says Duke, but even so, they consume vast quantities, eventually escalating to ether. Duke notes that with ether "you can actually watch yourself behaving this terrible way, but you can't control it." The two trash their hotel room, and Gonzo goes back to L.A. Thinking the hotel room holocaust will lead to an arrest, Duke begins a drive back to L.A., but after an odd encounter with a highway patrolman (Gary Busey) and a telephone conversation with Gonzo, he returns to Vegas to cover the District Attorney Convention on Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs in the glitzy Flamingo Hotel. This time the drugged-out duo trash their Flamingo room. The crazed carnival atmosphere segues into a carney casino, Bazooko's Circus, where a barker (Penn Jillette) spiels amid aerialists, clowns, and a rotating carousel bar. Gonzo worries over runaway teen Lucy (Christina Ricci), who paints portraits of Barbra Streisand. Soon the hallucinations begin: Duke sees Gonzo transmogrify into a demon with breasts on its back, and an acid vision of a Vegas bar features large legit lounge lizards (courtesy of monster makeup man Rob Bottin). Flashbacks depicting Duke's intro to the drug scene jump back to love-Haight relationships in San Francisco's Summer of Love. Cameos and guest stars include Mark Harmon, Cameron Diaz, Flea, Lyle Lovett, Harry Dean Stanton, Ellen Barkin, Tobey Maguire, and Hunter S. Thompson himself. The film features a Geffen Records soundtrack mixing rock of the period with Vegas lounge tunes. Over the years, various script adaptations came and went as did numerous talents; people connected with past efforts to film Thompson's book include Martin Scorsese, Jack Nicholson, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, and writer-director Alex Cox. Shown in competition at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

After director Alex Cox alienated the powers that be in Hollywood with Straight to Hell and Walker, his anarchic follow-ups to Repo Man and Sid and Nancy, it would be nearly a decade before he made a film in the United States again. After making the critically acclaimed, underseen Highway Patrolman in Mexico, he agreed to direct The Winner, based on the play A Darker Purpose by Wendy Riss. Vincent D'Onofrio stars as Philip, a soft-spoken, rather dimwitted young man who stumbles into an incredible lucky streak in Las Vegas. Every Sunday, he enters the same casino, wins some money, and goes home. While Philip himself is pretty nonchalant about his lucky streak, it earns him the attention of a lot of unsavory characters. Louise (Rebecca De Mornay, who also executive produced the film), a tacky nightclub singer, and her impotent hitman boyfriend, Jack (Billy Bob Thornton), plan to get Philip to fall in love with Louise and offer her a fortune to pay off her debt to the sinister, seemingly omnipotent Kingman (Delroy Lindo), the casino owner who employs Jack. A small-time hood, Joey (Frank Whaley) and his motley crew (Richard Edson and Saverio Guerra) plan to rip Philip off, but their plans are complicated when the antic, impulsively violent Joey begins to feel a strange attraction to his would-be prey. Wolf (Michael Madsen), Philip's thuggish brother (and Louise's former lover) arrives in town, practically guaranteeing some kind of violent showdown. After shooting the film, Cox returned to Mexico to work on his next project. While he was away, the producers then re-edited The Winner without his consent, and replaced the film's soundtrack. Cox has since distanced himself from the final product. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

This drama combines elements of humor and sarcasm to chronicle to story of a charming serial killer in Albuquerque circa 1965. It is loosely based on a true story, a story that is said to have inspired Charles Manson. Kit is the narcissistic pathological liar and killer with a love of women. His story is told by his former follower Rudy. Kit lived to deceive. He would spend hours with makeup, hair dye and elevator boots to make himself resemble Elvis. He would say anything to get a woman into bed. He becomes romantically involved with Kirsten, a kindred spirit from a wealthy family. She is as manipulative as he and soon demands he prove his love for her. Kit trustingly tells her of a recent murder he performed. He had already confided in Rudy, but she figured he was lying. Kirsten uses the information to keep Kit close to her. She also tries to get rid of Rudy by messing up his relationship with Donna. Kit and Kirsten continue their increasingly intense game. It culminates in murder. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The legendary life of Mexican singer Lucha Reyes is the basis of this fictionalized biography ( or as director Arturo Ripstein puts it "an imaginary biography"). Lucha Reyes was an unconventional, and sexually liberated woman, most famous for her "cancion ranchera" style singing. Her story begins in 1939, where at 33 she still lived at home with her mother, Dona Victora, the madame of a renowned Mexico City whorehouse. Lucha marries the liberal Pedro Calderon and then buys a beggar's daughter. She becomes the mother to this child, Luzma. Lucha craves lasting love like junkies crave heroin. But for her loyal daughter, she never finds it and in the end no one can help her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Originally prepared for European release under the title Catchfire, Backtrack wasn't given a wide distribution until 1991, and then only to capitalize on the Oscar win of Silence of the Lambs star Jodie Foster. In Backtrack, Foster plays a youngish innocent who witnesses a mob hit. Professional assassin Dennis Hopper is contracted to silence Foster for keeps. Instead, he falls in love with her. Directed by star Hopper, Backtrack has some of the feel of his earlier, better Easy Rider: the cast is populated by such old Hopper chums as Dean Stockwell, Charlie Sheen, Joe Pesci, Bob Dylan, Vincent Price and Julie Adams; and, like Easy Rider, it looks as though the story was improvised during filming. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This bizarre comedy spoof on spaghetti westerns was made in a hurry on location in Almeria, Spain. Simms (Joe Strummer), Willy (Dick Rude), and Norwood (Sy Richardson) are inept hitmen who decide to rob a bank. They encounter the MacMahon's (The Pogues), a quintet of caffeine-addicted gunslingers who ride motorcycles across the range wreaking havoc. Elvis Costello has a reoccurring role as a waiter who is always ready with a new tray of coffee. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide