7 Reasons Why I Think "House Party" Is The Next Black Classic
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Remaking a classic film is always a risky task; however, the new House Party film, understood the assignment and created an incredible piece of work. Here's why I think House Party deserves all the flowers, right now.
1.Captured the Current Culture
Many things go into creating a classic film, including capturing the culture of that time. The new House Party film did just that, fully embracing the present climate with current music, language, and fashion.
The original film perfectly captured Black '90s culture with the famous high-top hairstyles and exuberant fashion. The new movie was a time capsule of millennial Black culture, with hairstyles like the "scruff" and trendy cultural fashion such as Palm Angels sweatsuits, Gallery Dept., and more. Throughout the film, you also see the significance of present-day social media, as the party is promoted on Instagram, and phones are pulled out to record every minor instance.
Probably the greatest moment of the movie is when the DJ plays Juvenile's "Back That Azz Up" and the whole party abruptly runs to the dance floor.
This is a film that people will be able to look at 10 years from now and vividly see today's culture.
"This dives into the celebrity LA culture, if you go to a party in the Hills, that's the makeup of the people that are there," says House Party director Calmatic. "We often share the same spaces with these celebrities. House Party is often a snapshot of the current culture, so having people of that time is important."
Cast of House Party, Jacob Latimore and DC Young Fly, Interview
2.Directed by a Black Film Director
Having a 35-year-old Black Los Angeles native be the director for this film was an example of understanding the assignment. Calmatic is an LA historian, creative, and director who started his videography career by directing music videos for the Los Angeles group Overdoz, and later Kendrick Lamar.
The best way to capture the essence of a LA house party is to have an actual LA native tell the story. Too often, outsiders tell the stories of people who are more than capable of telling their own stories,
It's refreshing to have an authentic narrative created. Watching an interview from the director, who seemed to understand the task at hand and the significance of creating a cultural classic, made me interested in seeing the film. Directing House Party is just the beginning for Calmatic, with him also being the director for the upcoming White Men Can't Jump remake.
"Being a film director was never my end goal, but it came naturally. I learned early in this film that I knew way more than I thought. I can do everything from comedy to Marvel films," he stated.
Interview with Director Calmatic
3.Celebrity Cameos
One way that a film can capture the current culture is to have popping celebs have a cameo throughout the movie. Not only did rappers, athletes, and actors make brief cameos, but also social media influencers who are pivotal to today's current climate. Some of the celeb cameos included LeBron James, Snoop Dogg, Odell Beckham Jr, Tristan Thompson, Big Sean, Hit-Boy, Lil Wayne, Juvenile, Tinashe, Mya, Mark Cuban, Karrueche Tran, Lena Waithe, and numerous others.
4.Reflects Los Angeles Culture
Director Calmatic captured the essence of a fairytale Los Angeles story. Having the opportunity to party with celebs or see a secretive affluent society is often dreamt of when people imagine a successful Los Angeles house party. People often go to LA mansion parties with the hopes of running into a celebrity that can change their life; this film exemplified how these parties are actually set up, which is a mix of civilians and celebrities, and your chance of changing your life overnight is slim but possible.
Actor Tosin Cole, who plays Damon, speaks with a Los Angeles accent throughout the film and reflects an LA native down to his walk, pronunciation, and mentality. The movie sounds like Los Angeles, as LA music is played throughout the film. To top it off, having actors such as Snoop Dogg, AD, Watts Homie Quan, DJ Hed, and more, made this film align with the authentic LA culture.
Giphy / Via media.giphy.com
5.Remaking a Black Classic
Movie sequels and remakes have a notorious mystique of usually not living up to the original film; therefore, taking on this task is always risky. With the original film coming out over 30 years ago and being followed up by a few lackluster sequels, it's impressive that the new House Party was able to let Black culture relive this moment again for a new generation. Some films are such a reflection of the culture that they need to be remade every decade, including House Party.
"I felt the pressure of remaking a classic when the trailer came out," Calmatic revealed. "When I was filming it, I wasn't thinking of the original movie. We wanted to create new moments, not attached to the original, but carries a similar spirit."
6.A "Feel Good" Film
Over the last decade, we've seen Black film directors and writers such as 50 Cent, Lena Waithe, Ryan Coogler, and others have the opportunity to create big-budget projects that have been wildly successful. Works such as Black Panther and Insecure reflect the Black culture positively. However, the overall trend in Hollywood historically has been to show Black culture painted as violent and crime-ridden. Therefore, seeing light-hearted comedies such as House Party adds to the evolving shift of Black cinema and how we're portrayed in modern society.
7.Being Produced by LeBron James's Company, SpringHill
With much of the praise from this film stemming from its cultural reflection, what better way to capture current times than having one of the biggest Black celebrities of the current generation not only in the film, but also helping to produce it? LeBron James's company SpringHill has already created many works and is now recreating cultural classics such as House Party and White Men Can't Jump.
Being able to place people in positions, control the narrative, and create content that speaks to a certain audience is extremely commendable and takes part in what makes this film a future classic. People will remember this film because of the numerous celebrity cameos, being produced by LeBron James, and because of the legacy of the House Party series.
"I remember when LeBron came to the Lakers, he was on the cover of Hollywood Reporter, and I tweeted that it would be a new change in LA," says Calmatic. "I wanted to work with his company since then. ... They nurtured my creativity the entire process. It felt like a dream come true."
