“X,” Ti West’s retro slasher film for A24, follows a small, amateur film crew into rural Texas as they set out to make an adult film. To nail the visuals and performances of a ’70s porn shoot…
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
“X,” Ti West’s retro slasher film for A24, follows a small, amateur film crew into rural Texas as they set out to make an adult film. To nail the visuals and performances of a ’70s porn shoot, the cast and crew had to do varying degrees of preparation. Actors Kid Cudi, Brittany Snow and Martin Henderson, and writer-director West appeared at Variety‘s SXSW Studio to talk through the process of writing all things sexy and gory.
“I did most of my research in my late teens,” laughed Henderson, who plays Wayne. “I didn’t have to do too much for this movie.”
“Yeah. I used to get porn when I would cash my check when I was 18, 19,” said Cudi, who plays Jackson Hole. “It was behind the register, and it was always this weird, awkward moment where I was like, ‘Hey, can I see that right there?’ ‘Oh, this?’ ‘Yeah, just put it in the brown bag.'”
“To me, the movie was more about making porn than it was porn. The making of it is the bigger part,” West said. “RJ’s character in the film doesn’t wanna be directing porn for a living, but this is the stepping stone to where he’s gonna go, but he’s gonna show people that if he nails this one, he’s got a bright future ahead of him.”
Snow, who plays Bobby-Lynne, was attracted to the project partially due to West’s interesting take on the female characters in the film. “When I talked to Ti, I was really specific about how grateful I was that the women really control their own narrative. They’re in control of their sexuality. They’re the ones that are the head of what they want to do in terms of their career and their body. That’s not always the case in horror movies and it’s not always the case, specifically, in porn.”
The film also centers around the experiences of older people in a way that isn’t often depicted on screen. As the characters work on their film, they end up interrupted by an unexpected villain: the sexual frustrations of Pearl, played by Mia Goth — aged up with prosthetics.
“It was interesting to be a part of a movie where it really looks at that idea,” Henderson said. “What is it to be an older person, and to not have the power that comes with attractiveness and youthfulness and sexuality? And yet, having had something? That lamentable loss of something that was a part of your power.”
“I have to give credit to Scott [Kid Cudi],” Snow said while discussing her sense of safety while shooting the sex scenes in the film. “And Ti as well. We were all such a family of making sure that we all felt comfortable. It should be fun, and it shouldn’t be that big of a deal. Even though, in the very same token, making sure that everything was very specific. It was almost like a dance. And Tandi Wright, our intimacy coordinator, was hugely beneficial for that too.”
“This was my first [time] having sex scenes in a movie, and being that nude on a set around my co-stars. And it was like a family,” Cudi said. “I don’t know if it’s because we were all in the two-week quarantine together, but I just felt really comfortable around everybody, and Brittany was the best scene partner. She made me feel comfortable. You hear her say I made her comfortable, but she made me comfortable.”
“We just kept saying, ‘You look good! You look good! No, you look hot!'” Snow joked.
Watch the full conversation above.