Alex Cox
Encyclopedia
Alexander Cox is a British film director
, screenwriter
, nonfiction author and sometime actor, notable for his idiosyncratic style and approach to scripts. Cox experienced success early in his career with Repo Man and Sid and Nancy
, but since the release and commercial failure of Walker
, he has focused his career on independent movies
.
and Akira Kurosawa
as influences, as well as the great Western
movie directors Sergio Leone
, Sam Peckinpah
, and John Ford
. Cox also wrote a book on the history of the genre called 10,000 Ways to Die. While he once directed films for Universal Pictures
, such as Repo Man and Walker
, since the late 1980s, he has found himself on a self-described blacklist
, and turned to producing independent films. Cox is an atheist
and is decidedly left wing in his political views. Many of his films have an explicit anti-capitalist
theme or message. He was originally set to direct Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas but was replaced by Terry Gilliam
due to creative differences with Hunter S. Thompson
. By August 2009, Cox had announced completion of Repo Chick
, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival
the following month, but he remained ambivalent as to whether the film would ever be distributed to theaters. His previous film, Searchers 2.0, was not released theatrically, and only appears on DVD in Japan and North America after a televised screening in the UK on the BBC.
to attend film school at UCLA in 1977. Here he produced his first film, Edge City/Sleep is for Sissies, a 40-minute surreal short about an artist struggling against society. After graduation, he formed Edge City Productions with two friends with the intention of producing low-budget feature films.
Cox wrote a screenplay for Repo Man, which he hoped to produce for a budget of $70,000. While seeking this funding, he met Michael Nesmith
, who agreed to produce the film, and convinced Universal Studios
to back the project with a budget greatly increased to over a million dollars. During the course of the film's production, management changed, and new management had far less faith in the project. The initial theatrical release was limited to Chicago, followed by Los Angeles, and was short lived. After the success of the soundtrack album (notable for featuring many popular LA punk bands), there was enough interest in the film to earn a re-release in a single theater in New York City. This ran for 18 months and eventually earned $4,000,000, despite arriving after the movie was already on video and cable.
Continuing his fascination with punk music, Cox's next film was an independent feature shot in London and Los Angeles, following the career and death of bassist Sid Vicious
and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen
, initially title Love Kills and later renamed Sid and Nancy
. It was met warmly by critics and fans, though criticized by some for its inaccuracies. The production of this movie also sparked a relationship with Joe Strummer
of The Clash
, who would continue to collaborate with the director on his next two films.
Cox had long been interested in Nicaragua
and the Sandinistas (both Repo Man and Edge City made references to Nicaragua and/or Latin American revolution), and visited in 1984. The following year, he hoped to shoot a concert film there featuring The Clash
, The Pogues
, and Elvis Costello
. When he couldn't get backing, he decided instead to write a film that they would all act in. The film became Straight to Hell. Collaborating with Dick Rude
(who also co-starred beside Strummer, Sy Richardson
, and Courtney Love
), he imagined the film as a spoof of the Spaghetti Western
genre, filmed in Almeria, Spain, where many classic Italian westerns were shot. Straight to Hell was widely panned critically, but successful in Japan and retains a cult following.
Continuing his interest in Nicaragua, Cox took on a more overtly political project, with the intention of filming in Nicaragua. He asked Rudy Wurlitzer
to pen the screenplay, which followed the life of William Walker
, set against a back drop of anachronisms that drew parallels between the story and modern American intervention in the area. The $6,000,000 production was backed by Universal, but the completed film was too political and too violent for the studios tastes, and the movie went without promotion. When Walker
failed to perform at the box office, it ended the director's involvement with Hollywood studios, and led to a period of several years in which Cox would not direct a single film. Despite this, Cox and some critics maintain that it is his best film.
ed he finally got financial backing for a feature from investors in Japan, where his movies had been successful on video. Cox had scouted locations in Mexico during the pre-production of Walker and decided he wanted to shoot a movie there, with a local cast and crew, in Spanish. Producer Lorenzo O'Brien
penned the script. Inspired by the style of Mexican directors including Arturo Ripstein
, he shot most of the movie in plano secuencia
; long, continuous takes shot with a hand-held camera. El Patrullero
was completed and released in 1991, but struggled to find its way into theaters.
Shortly after this, Cox was invited to adapt a Jorge Luis Borges
story of his choice for the BBC. He chose Death and the Compass
. Despite being a British production and an English-language film, he convinced his producers to let him shoot in Mexico City. This film, like his previous Mexican production, made extensive use of long-takes. The completed 55-minute film aired on the BBC in 1992.
Cox had hoped to expand this into a feature-length film, but the BBC was uninterested. Japanese investors gave him $100,000 to expand the movie in 1993, but the production ran over-budget, allowing no funds for post-production. To secure fund, Cox directed a "work for hire" project called The Winner. The movie was edited extensively without Cox's knowledge, and he had his name removed from the credits as a result, but the money was enough for Cox to fund the completion of Death and the Compass. The finished, 82-minute feature received a limited theatrical release in the US, where the TV version had not aired, in 1996.
took over the film (Cox later sued successfully for a writing credit, as it was ruled that there were enough similarities between the drafts to suggest that Gilliam's was derivative of Cox's. Gilliam countered that both screenplays were based directly on the source book, and any similarities between the two screenplays were a direct consequence of this).
In 1997, Alex Cox made a deal with Dutch producer Wim Kayzer to produce another dual TV/feature production. Three Businessmen
. Initially, Cox had hoped to shoot in Mexico, but later decided to set his story in Liverpool
, Rotterdam
, Tokyo and Almeria, Spain. The story follows businessmen in Liverpool who leave their hotel in search of food and slowly drift further from their starting point, all the while believing they are still in Liverpool. The film was completed for a small budget of $250,000, and did not receive a theatrical release in America. Following this, Cox moved back to Liverpool and became interested in creating films there.
Cox had long been interested in the Jacobean play, The Revenger's Tragedy
, and upon moving back to England, decided to pursue adapting it to a movie. Collaborating with fellow Liverpudlian screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce, the story was recast in the near future, following an unseen war. This adaptation consisted primarily of the original play's dialog, with some additional bits written in a more modern tone. The film is also notable for its soundtrack, composed by Chumbawamba
.
Following this, Cox directed a short film set in Liverpool for the BBC called I'm a Juvenile Delinquent - Jail Me!
. The 30-minute film satirized reality television
as well as the high volume of petty crime in Liverpool which, according to Cox, is largely recreational.
Searchers 2.0
--named for, but in no way based on The Searchers
-- became Cox's first film for which he has sole writing credit since Repo Man, and marked his return to the comedy genre. A road movie
and a revenge story, it tells of two actors, loosely based on and played by Del Zamora and Ed Pansullo, who travel from Los Angeles to a desert movie screening in Monument Valley
in the hopes of avenging abuse inflicted on them by a cruel screenwriter, Fritz Frobisher (Sy Richardson
). Although the film was unable to achieve a theatrical release in America or Europe, Cox claimed the experience of making a movie with a smaller crew and less restrictions was energizing. It is available on DVD in Japan, and is scheduled for an October 2010 release in North America.
Alex Cox had attempted to get a Repo Man sequel, titled Waldo's Hawaiian Holiday
, produced in the mid '90s, but the project fell apart, with the script adapted into a graphic novel
of the same name. For his next microfeature, he wrote a fresh attempt at a Repo follow-up, although it contained no recurring characters, so as to preserve Universal's rights to the original. Repo Chick
was filmed entirely against a green screen, with backgrounds of digitial composites, live action shots, and miniatures matted in afterwards, to produce an artificial look. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Sept 9, 2009.
as "secret architect of the 9-11 atrocities." In the same article, Cox called the September 11 attacks "Plan Pearl Harbor," referring to the false flag
conspiracy theory surrounding the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, nonfiction author and sometime actor, notable for his idiosyncratic style and approach to scripts. Cox experienced success early in his career with Repo Man and Sid and Nancy
Sid and Nancy
Sid and Nancy is a 1986 British biopic directed by Alex Cox. The film portrays the life of Sid Vicious , bassist of the seminal punk rock band the Sex Pistols, and his relationship with girlfriend Nancy Spungen .-Plot:The film opens with several police officers dragging Sid Vicious out of the Hotel...
, but since the release and commercial failure of Walker
Walker (film)
Walker is a 1987 Acid Western film directed by Alex Cox. The film based on the life story of William Walker , the American filibuster who invaded Mexico in the 1850s and made himself President of Nicaragua shortly thereafter. It was written by Rudy Wurlitzer and scored by Joe Strummer, who also...
, he has focused his career on independent movies
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
.
Background
Cox has previously cited Luis BuñuelLuis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel Portolés was a Spanish-born filmmaker — later a naturalized citizen of Mexico — who worked in Spain, Mexico, France and the US..-Early years:...
and Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...
as influences, as well as the great Western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
movie directors Sergio Leone
Sergio Leone
Sergio Leone was an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter most associated with the "Spaghetti Western" genre.Leone's film-making style includes juxtaposing extreme close-up shots with lengthy long shots...
, Sam Peckinpah
Sam Peckinpah
David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah was an American filmmaker and screenwriter who achieved prominence following the release of the Western epic The Wild Bunch...
, and John Ford
John Ford
John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
. Cox also wrote a book on the history of the genre called 10,000 Ways to Die. While he once directed films for Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
, such as Repo Man and Walker
Walker (film)
Walker is a 1987 Acid Western film directed by Alex Cox. The film based on the life story of William Walker , the American filibuster who invaded Mexico in the 1850s and made himself President of Nicaragua shortly thereafter. It was written by Rudy Wurlitzer and scored by Joe Strummer, who also...
, since the late 1980s, he has found himself on a self-described blacklist
Blacklist
A blacklist is a list or register of entities who, for one reason or another, are being denied a particular privilege, service, mobility, access or recognition. As a verb, to blacklist can mean to deny someone work in a particular field, or to ostracize a person from a certain social circle...
, and turned to producing independent films. Cox is an atheist
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
and is decidedly left wing in his political views. Many of his films have an explicit anti-capitalist
Anti-capitalism
Anti-capitalism describes a wide variety of movements, ideas, and attitudes which oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists, in the strict sense of the word, are those who wish to completely replace capitalism with another system....
theme or message. He was originally set to direct Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas but was replaced by Terry Gilliam
Terry Gilliam
Terrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam is an American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam is also known for directing several films, including Brazil , The Adventures of Baron Munchausen , The Fisher King , and 12 Monkeys...
due to creative differences with Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author who wrote The Rum Diary , Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 .He is credited as the creator of Gonzo journalism, a style of reporting where reporters involve themselves in the action to...
. By August 2009, Cox had announced completion of Repo Chick
Repo Chick
Repo Chick is a 2009 comedy film and sequel to Repo Man, written and directed by Alex Cox. Like Cox's first feature, it centers on the repossession trade and a mysterious vehicle with a large reward. It is the second of Cox's "microfeatures," produced for a very low budget and given very little...
, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
the following month, but he remained ambivalent as to whether the film would ever be distributed to theaters. His previous film, Searchers 2.0, was not released theatrically, and only appears on DVD in Japan and North America after a televised screening in the UK on the BBC.
Hollywood and major studio period (1978-1987)
Cox began a law degree at Oxford University, but left to pursue a film career. Cox studied Radio, FIlm and TV at Bristol University, graduating in 1977. Seeing difficulties in the UK film scene at the time, Cox first came to Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to attend film school at UCLA in 1977. Here he produced his first film, Edge City/Sleep is for Sissies, a 40-minute surreal short about an artist struggling against society. After graduation, he formed Edge City Productions with two friends with the intention of producing low-budget feature films.
Cox wrote a screenplay for Repo Man, which he hoped to produce for a budget of $70,000. While seeking this funding, he met Michael Nesmith
Michael Nesmith
Robert Michael Nesmith is an American musician, songwriter, actor, producer, novelist, businessman, and philanthropist, best known as a member of the musical group The Monkees and star of the TV series of the same name...
, who agreed to produce the film, and convinced Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
to back the project with a budget greatly increased to over a million dollars. During the course of the film's production, management changed, and new management had far less faith in the project. The initial theatrical release was limited to Chicago, followed by Los Angeles, and was short lived. After the success of the soundtrack album (notable for featuring many popular LA punk bands), there was enough interest in the film to earn a re-release in a single theater in New York City. This ran for 18 months and eventually earned $4,000,000, despite arriving after the movie was already on video and cable.
Continuing his fascination with punk music, Cox's next film was an independent feature shot in London and Los Angeles, following the career and death of bassist Sid Vicious
Sid Vicious
Sid Vicious was an English musician best known as the bassist of the influential punk rock group Sex Pistols...
and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen
Nancy Spungen
Nancy Laura Spungen was the American girlfriend of Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious. Spungen has been the subject of controversy among music historians and fans of the Sex Pistols.-Early life:...
, initially title Love Kills and later renamed Sid and Nancy
Sid and Nancy
Sid and Nancy is a 1986 British biopic directed by Alex Cox. The film portrays the life of Sid Vicious , bassist of the seminal punk rock band the Sex Pistols, and his relationship with girlfriend Nancy Spungen .-Plot:The film opens with several police officers dragging Sid Vicious out of the Hotel...
. It was met warmly by critics and fans, though criticized by some for its inaccuracies. The production of this movie also sparked a relationship with Joe Strummer
Joe Strummer
John Graham Mellor , best remembered by his stage name Joe Strummer, was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist of the British punk rock band The Clash. His musical experience included his membership in The 101ers, Latino Rockabilly War, The Mescaleros and The Pogues, in...
of The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
, who would continue to collaborate with the director on his next two films.
Cox had long been interested in Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
and the Sandinistas (both Repo Man and Edge City made references to Nicaragua and/or Latin American revolution), and visited in 1984. The following year, he hoped to shoot a concert film there featuring The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
, The Pogues
The Pogues
The Pogues are a Celtic punk band, formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane MacGowan. The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. MacGowan left the band in 1991 due to drinking problems but the band continued first with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before...
, and Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
. When he couldn't get backing, he decided instead to write a film that they would all act in. The film became Straight to Hell. Collaborating with Dick Rude
Dick Rude
Dick Rude is a writer, director, and actor known for his appearance in and contributions to many Alex Cox films. He has directed the music videos "Catholic School Girls Rule" and "Universally Speaking" for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, as well as their live concert DVD, Off the Map.His most recent...
(who also co-starred beside Strummer, Sy Richardson
Sy Richardson
-Early life:Richardson was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and raised in Chicago, Illinois. He started singing at age 12 and recorded his first record with Lil June and the Januarys at 16. Richardson served two years on active duty with the United States Navy.-Career:...
, and Courtney Love
Courtney Love
Courtney Michelle Love is an American rock musician. Love is the lead vocalist, lyricist, and rhythm guitarist for alternative rock band Hole, which she formed in 1989, and is an actress who has moved from bit parts in Alex Cox films to significant and acclaimed roles in The People vs...
), he imagined the film as a spoof of the Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western, also known as Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's unique and much copied film-making style and international box-office success, so named by American critics because most were produced and...
genre, filmed in Almeria, Spain, where many classic Italian westerns were shot. Straight to Hell was widely panned critically, but successful in Japan and retains a cult following.
Continuing his interest in Nicaragua, Cox took on a more overtly political project, with the intention of filming in Nicaragua. He asked Rudy Wurlitzer
Rudy Wurlitzer
Rudolph "Rudy" Wurlitzer is an American novelist and screenwriter. He is known for his experimental style and has a large cult following for both his novels and screenplays. His fiction includes Nog, Flats, Quake, Slow Fade, and Drop Edge of Yonder...
to pen the screenplay, which followed the life of William Walker
William Walker
William Walker may refer to:* William Walker , sometime chief of the Wyandot Nation in Ohio and Kansas* William Walker * William Walker , an early governor of British Guiana...
, set against a back drop of anachronisms that drew parallels between the story and modern American intervention in the area. The $6,000,000 production was backed by Universal, but the completed film was too political and too violent for the studios tastes, and the movie went without promotion. When Walker
Walker (film)
Walker is a 1987 Acid Western film directed by Alex Cox. The film based on the life story of William Walker , the American filibuster who invaded Mexico in the 1850s and made himself President of Nicaragua shortly thereafter. It was written by Rudy Wurlitzer and scored by Joe Strummer, who also...
failed to perform at the box office, it ended the director's involvement with Hollywood studios, and led to a period of several years in which Cox would not direct a single film. Despite this, Cox and some critics maintain that it is his best film.
Mexican period (1988-1996)
Following the commercial failure of Walker, Alex Cox struggled to find feature work. Effectively blacklistBlacklist
A blacklist is a list or register of entities who, for one reason or another, are being denied a particular privilege, service, mobility, access or recognition. As a verb, to blacklist can mean to deny someone work in a particular field, or to ostracize a person from a certain social circle...
ed he finally got financial backing for a feature from investors in Japan, where his movies had been successful on video. Cox had scouted locations in Mexico during the pre-production of Walker and decided he wanted to shoot a movie there, with a local cast and crew, in Spanish. Producer Lorenzo O'Brien
Lorenzo O'Brien
Lorenzo O'Brien is a Peruvian-American writer-producer of Irish descent.O'Brien was born in Lima and attended graduate school at UCLA. He has produced many television films and several features including Walker and El Patrullero, which he also wrote.O'Brien wrote and produced for the PBS series...
penned the script. Inspired by the style of Mexican directors including Arturo Ripstein
Arturo Ripstein
Arturo Ripstein y Rosen is a Mexican film director.-Life and career:Ripstein got his break into movies working as an uncredited assistant director for Luis Buñuel. In 1965, he directed his first feature, Tiempo de Morir...
, he shot most of the movie in plano secuencia
Long take
A long take is an uninterrupted shot in a film which lasts much longer than the conventional editing pace either of the film itself or of films in general, usually lasting several minutes. It can be used for dramatic and narrative effect if done properly, and in moving shots is often accomplished...
; long, continuous takes shot with a hand-held camera. El Patrullero
El Patrullero
El Patrullero is the first Mexican feature film by the British director Alex Cox. It was produced by Lorenzo O'Brien, who also wrote the screenplay, and stars Roberto Sosa, Bruno Bichir, Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez and Vanessa Bauche...
was completed and released in 1991, but struggled to find its way into theaters.
Shortly after this, Cox was invited to adapt a Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo , known as Jorge Luis Borges , was an Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator born in Buenos Aires. In 1914 his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school, receiving his baccalauréat from the Collège de Genève in 1918. The family...
story of his choice for the BBC. He chose Death and the Compass
Death and the Compass
Death and the Compass is British director Alex Cox's second Mexican feature , made in 1992. Based on the short story Death and the Compass by Jorge Luis Borges, the film is in English, and stars Peter Boyle as Erik Lönnrot the detective, Miguel Sandoval as Treviranus, his boss, and Christopher...
. Despite being a British production and an English-language film, he convinced his producers to let him shoot in Mexico City. This film, like his previous Mexican production, made extensive use of long-takes. The completed 55-minute film aired on the BBC in 1992.
Cox had hoped to expand this into a feature-length film, but the BBC was uninterested. Japanese investors gave him $100,000 to expand the movie in 1993, but the production ran over-budget, allowing no funds for post-production. To secure fund, Cox directed a "work for hire" project called The Winner. The movie was edited extensively without Cox's knowledge, and he had his name removed from the credits as a result, but the money was enough for Cox to fund the completion of Death and the Compass. The finished, 82-minute feature received a limited theatrical release in the US, where the TV version had not aired, in 1996.
Liverpool period (1997-2006)
In 1996, producer Stephen Nemeth hired Alex Cox to write and direct an adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. After creative disagreements with the producer and Thompson, he was fired from the project, and his script rewritten when Terry GilliamTerry Gilliam
Terrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam is an American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam is also known for directing several films, including Brazil , The Adventures of Baron Munchausen , The Fisher King , and 12 Monkeys...
took over the film (Cox later sued successfully for a writing credit, as it was ruled that there were enough similarities between the drafts to suggest that Gilliam's was derivative of Cox's. Gilliam countered that both screenplays were based directly on the source book, and any similarities between the two screenplays were a direct consequence of this).
In 1997, Alex Cox made a deal with Dutch producer Wim Kayzer to produce another dual TV/feature production. Three Businessmen
Three Businessmen
Three Businessmen is a film made in 1998. It is a British-Dutch-Spanish-Japanese coproduction directed by Alex Cox. The screenplay is by Tod Davies, who was also the producer....
. Initially, Cox had hoped to shoot in Mexico, but later decided to set his story in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
, Tokyo and Almeria, Spain. The story follows businessmen in Liverpool who leave their hotel in search of food and slowly drift further from their starting point, all the while believing they are still in Liverpool. The film was completed for a small budget of $250,000, and did not receive a theatrical release in America. Following this, Cox moved back to Liverpool and became interested in creating films there.
Cox had long been interested in the Jacobean play, The Revenger's Tragedy
The Revenger's Tragedy
The Revenger's Tragedy is an English language Jacobean revenge tragedy, in the past attributed to Cyril Tourneur but is sometimes considered to be the work of Thomas Middleton by "Middletonians"...
, and upon moving back to England, decided to pursue adapting it to a movie. Collaborating with fellow Liverpudlian screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce, the story was recast in the near future, following an unseen war. This adaptation consisted primarily of the original play's dialog, with some additional bits written in a more modern tone. The film is also notable for its soundtrack, composed by Chumbawamba
Chumbawamba
Chumbawamba is a British musical group who have, over a career spanning nearly three decades, played punk rock, pop-influenced music, world music, and folk music...
.
Following this, Cox directed a short film set in Liverpool for the BBC called I'm a Juvenile Delinquent - Jail Me!
I'm A Juvenile Delinquent - Jail Me!
I'm A Juvenile Delinquent - Jail Me! is a BBC film for young people, directed by Alex Cox, written by Tod Davies, produced by Sol Papadopoulos and starring Carla Henry. It was shot in Liverpool in 2004 with the soundtrack being written by Pete Wylie....
. The 30-minute film satirized reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
as well as the high volume of petty crime in Liverpool which, according to Cox, is largely recreational.
Microfeature period (2007-present)
In 2006, Alex Cox tried to get funding for a series of eight very low budget features set in Liverpool and produced by local talent. The project was not completed, but the director grew interested in pursuing the idea of a movie made for less than £100,000. He had originally hoped to shoot Repo Man on a comparable budget, and hoped that the lower overhead would mean greater creative freedom.Searchers 2.0
Searchers 2.0
Searchers 2.0 is a 2007 road film directed by Alex Cox. It stars Del Zamora and Ed Pansullo. Described by Cox as a "microfeature," it was shot on digital video in 10 days for a budget of $180,000...
--named for, but in no way based on The Searchers
The Searchers (film)
The Searchers is a 1956 American Western film directed by John Ford, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May, and set during the Texas–Indian Wars...
-- became Cox's first film for which he has sole writing credit since Repo Man, and marked his return to the comedy genre. A road movie
Road movie
A road movie is a film genre in which the main character or characters leave home to travel from place to place. They usually leave home to escape their current lives.-History:...
and a revenge story, it tells of two actors, loosely based on and played by Del Zamora and Ed Pansullo, who travel from Los Angeles to a desert movie screening in Monument Valley
Monument Valley
Monument Valley is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of vast sandstone buttes, the largest reaching above the valley floor. It is located on the northern border of Arizona with southern Utah , near the Four Corners area...
in the hopes of avenging abuse inflicted on them by a cruel screenwriter, Fritz Frobisher (Sy Richardson
Sy Richardson
-Early life:Richardson was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and raised in Chicago, Illinois. He started singing at age 12 and recorded his first record with Lil June and the Januarys at 16. Richardson served two years on active duty with the United States Navy.-Career:...
). Although the film was unable to achieve a theatrical release in America or Europe, Cox claimed the experience of making a movie with a smaller crew and less restrictions was energizing. It is available on DVD in Japan, and is scheduled for an October 2010 release in North America.
Alex Cox had attempted to get a Repo Man sequel, titled Waldo's Hawaiian Holiday
Waldo's Hawaiian Holiday
Waldo's Hawaiian Holiday is a graphic novel from Gestalt Publishing written by Alex Cox and illustrated by Christopher Bones and Justin Randall. It is supposed to be a sequel to the 1984 cult film Repo Man.-Publication history:...
, produced in the mid '90s, but the project fell apart, with the script adapted into a graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
of the same name. For his next microfeature, he wrote a fresh attempt at a Repo follow-up, although it contained no recurring characters, so as to preserve Universal's rights to the original. Repo Chick
Repo Chick
Repo Chick is a 2009 comedy film and sequel to Repo Man, written and directed by Alex Cox. Like Cox's first feature, it centers on the repossession trade and a mysterious vehicle with a large reward. It is the second of Cox's "microfeatures," produced for a very low budget and given very little...
was filmed entirely against a green screen, with backgrounds of digitial composites, live action shots, and miniatures matted in afterwards, to produce an artificial look. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Sept 9, 2009.
Views on the September 11 attacks
In a March 2007 blog post, Cox referred to Vice President Dick CheneyDick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
as "secret architect of the 9-11 atrocities." In the same article, Cox called the September 11 attacks "Plan Pearl Harbor," referring to the false flag
False flag
False flag operations are covert operations designed to deceive the public in such a way that the operations appear as though they are being carried out by other entities. The name is derived from the military concept of flying false colors; that is flying the flag of a country other than one's own...
conspiracy theory surrounding the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Feature films
- Sleep Is for Sissies (1980)
- Repo Man (1984)
- Sid & NancySid and NancySid and Nancy is a 1986 British biopic directed by Alex Cox. The film portrays the life of Sid Vicious , bassist of the seminal punk rock band the Sex Pistols, and his relationship with girlfriend Nancy Spungen .-Plot:The film opens with several police officers dragging Sid Vicious out of the Hotel...
(1986) - Straight to Hell (1987)
- WalkerWalker (film)Walker is a 1987 Acid Western film directed by Alex Cox. The film based on the life story of William Walker , the American filibuster who invaded Mexico in the 1850s and made himself President of Nicaragua shortly thereafter. It was written by Rudy Wurlitzer and scored by Joe Strummer, who also...
(1987) - El PatrulleroEl PatrulleroEl Patrullero is the first Mexican feature film by the British director Alex Cox. It was produced by Lorenzo O'Brien, who also wrote the screenplay, and stars Roberto Sosa, Bruno Bichir, Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez and Vanessa Bauche...
(1992) - The Winner (1996)
- Death and the Compass (1996)
- Three BusinessmenThree BusinessmenThree Businessmen is a film made in 1998. It is a British-Dutch-Spanish-Japanese coproduction directed by Alex Cox. The screenplay is by Tod Davies, who was also the producer....
(1998) - Revengers TragedyRevengers TragedyRevengers Tragedy is a film adaptation of the 1606 play The Revenger's Tragedy . It was directed by Alex Cox and adapted for the screen by Cox's fellow Liverpudlian, Frank Cottrell Boyce...
(2002) - Searchers 2.0Searchers 2.0Searchers 2.0 is a 2007 road film directed by Alex Cox. It stars Del Zamora and Ed Pansullo. Described by Cox as a "microfeature," it was shot on digital video in 10 days for a budget of $180,000...
(2007) - Repo ChickRepo ChickRepo Chick is a 2009 comedy film and sequel to Repo Man, written and directed by Alex Cox. Like Cox's first feature, it centers on the repossession trade and a mysterious vehicle with a large reward. It is the second of Cox's "microfeatures," produced for a very low budget and given very little...
(2009)
Documentaries
- Kurosawa: The Last Emperor (1999)
- Emmanuelle: A Hard Look (2000)
- Bringing Godzilla Down to Size (2007) - narrator
Television
- Moviedrome (as presenter) (1987 to 1994)
- Godzilla: King of the Monsters - BBC, contributor
- Mike Hama Must Die! (2002)
- I'm A Juvenile Delinquent - Jail Me!I'm A Juvenile Delinquent - Jail Me!I'm A Juvenile Delinquent - Jail Me! is a BBC film for young people, directed by Alex Cox, written by Tod Davies, produced by Sol Papadopoulos and starring Carla Henry. It was shot in Liverpool in 2004 with the soundtrack being written by Pete Wylie....
(2003)
Books
- 10,000 Ways to Die (2008)
- X Films: True Confessions of a Radical Filmmaker (2008)
- Three Dead Princes (Illustrator) (2010)
External links
- Alex Cox website
- Alex Cox interview, from The OnionThe OnionThe Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club...
- September 20, 2000 - Interview from The Onion - March 14, 2008
- The Brooklyn Rail interview