Entertainment Binge

By Isaac White.

I know that I’ve discussed how remakes and/or reboots, or whatever these companies want to call them, are not good quality. I watched something the other day that fell into this category. I can’t say that this surprised me necessarily, I just sometimes think if such a reimagining of a film is that bad, it may taint the original.

I’m not sure if you’d agree with that thought, and I’m not sure I’m entirely convinced that what I just posited is the reality. What I can say is that the 2023 version of House Party is really bad. Like, really bad.

Now, I’m not one to pick on a film or show just to do it, no matter what others might say. I really have no clue if people say that about me, nor do I particularly believe I’ve become notorious for scurrilous reviews and such. Although I have toyed with the idea of having an alter ego who is just out to insult every single thing he watches for the fun of it. Oh wait, they already have that. It’s called Reddit.

Have you ever went on there to discuss films? If you hit the wrong forum people in there are just brutal about everything. I even saw someone say that The Godfather is overrated and not that good in there. Crazy stuff. But I will move away from my idea of having a daringly provocative Mr. Hyde who is the scourge of all filmmakers everywhere.

Back to House Party. The movie is directed by Calmatic, and I discovered something that bothered me right after I started the movie. What I’m about to tell you is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I know that most of the time when you see someone on tv say that before they’re asked to do so are lying. I promise you that I’m not. If I’m lying, I would let a rat crawl on me for one full minute.

I’m terrified of mice and rats by the way. I have a funny story about a “Friend” who thought it would be funny to try and put a mouse on me by surprise. I know the quotes may indicate he’s not really my friend. He is, I’m just still mad he did that because I yelled like a horror movie scream master. In my defense the thing had the look of evil in its eyes. I’m fully convinced it was really a monster who transfigured itself into a mouse. Like Peter Pettigrew in the Harry Potter movies.

By the way, I just want to mention that I’ve been rewatching the Harry Potter series. I liked it of course but never took them fully into my heart. I read the books though and they jumpstarted a more fully rounded out appreciation for the story. So I began watching the films again. I must say, they’re quite brilliant and I truly didn’t appreciate them the way I do now. I just finished The Order of the Phoenix and I’m gearing up for The Half Blood Prince.

Yes, I know these movies are older at this point but hey, I talked about The Devil and Daniel Johnston, and that movie is like 80 years old now. But because I’m watching them again, I thought I’d share what I’ve rediscovered and to maybe convince some of you that it may be worth investing a lof of time in those films again. It really is a lot of time thought, holy moly.

House Party again. I’m getting sidetracked like always but it’s all in service to being real with you the readers. Yeah, I’m sucking up to everyone right now. I’m simply looking to help out my homies who read my series every week.

This movie is just bad. My wife refused to watch it because she also normally loathes remakes/reboots because of their tendency to lean (or outright bathe in) terribleness. Not to mention that House Party is one of her absolute favorite movies. We’re children of the 80s and 90s after all. Not only that, but the music in the original is outstanding.

One thing I will give this 2023 version credit for is the music. The soundtrack is great. It’s filled with 90s music that really touched upon that nostalgia thing I write about frequently. And no, I’m not going to go off about it. But honestly, the music is about the only thing that I really liked about the movie.

If you remember I mentioned that I picked something out early on in the film. The thing where I said if I was lying, I’d let a rat crawl on me. Yeah, this is what the comedians refer to as a callback. I know you all know that, I’m just trying to be fancy. Anyway, I looked at this movie and I thought almost immediately that the movie was using some of the gags and material from the remake of White Men Can’t Jump.

So, I looked around and discovered that, lo and behold, the director of WMCJ, Calmatic (I have no idea who that is btw), also directed the crappy new version of WMCJ. He literally took some of the same exact material from that reboot and put it in this reboot. I don’t know who thought that was a bright idea because the reboot of WMCJ wasn’t that good and it certainly didn’t help the new House Party.

I can’t remember really laughing during the movie, the story line was entirely different from the original, which could have worked but the manner they wrote this thing meant that was destined to fail. I’m not going into details about the plot because it’s of no point. The movie is bad. If you’re curious to check it out go ahead. I warn you though, if you’re a person who came up with the OG House Party and loves that movie, I’d caution against watching this. It’s only going to annoy you I promise.

On to something I really loved. There was a show, an Amazon original called Goliath, that I had been waiting to watch. Why? The show ended a few years ago. I will tell you why. Have you all noticed that we, as viewers these days, want all of the material for a season of your show available instantly? How much do you despise when Only Murders in the Building releases an episode by the week like they did in the stone age? Yikes, I just made it sound like I’m a relic.

But we all know that feeling. And yes, I understand this is a first world problem, I’m simply pointing out that most of us are now accustomed to having everything at our fingertips instantaneously so our patience level is even less than it was back in those stone ages. Back in the day we had no choice but to wait. When we don’t HAVE to do that now, I don’t understand why these studios continue in that mode. But I digress.

So, I am almost to the point where I won’t start a show until its run has ended entirely. I’m seriously considering that for new series I want to watch. That’s how impatient I am to know the scope of the series I watch. And I’m not doing that yet, just thinking about it. How bad does that sound? Bad eh? Maybe I won’t do it.

But Goliath is a show that had been on my radar for years. As I mentioned in earlier articles, I find lawyer movies and shows are one of my favorite sub-genres. This show is about an attorney, Billy McBride, played by Billy Bob Thornton, who is a sort of washed up rummy of a formerly brilliant attorney.

The show begins with him being approached by a freshly appointed lawyer who asks Billy for his help to go after an enormous defense contractor company for a wrongful death. That starts a chain of events of four seasons worth of tension filled battles. The little guy against the powers that be.

And that is the main message for the series in my opinion. Because that’s what happens in the show. Defense contractors, Mexican cartels, drug companies, the system itself, other lawyers that have been corrupted. The list goes on.

One of the reasons I love this show so much is BECAUSE it’s the little guy fighting the big guy. I’m a huge advocate for fairness. For justice. And I don’t mean the way you may think of justice. I want to see fairness across the board in life. We all know life isn’t fair and that the little guy rarely gets a fair shake.

The rich and powerful grind people into the ground every day. This show puts that on its head. Yes, you have to go through the time to see how things shake out and no, it’s not all wins. Believe me. When you finish the second season, I guarantee you will be thinking, this is total crap, I can’t believe that’s the way they ended the season.

Overall, the show is truly brilliant. It’s one of my most favoritest (There I made Word go nuts and I’m keeping it just to mess with it) lawyer pieces of entertainment of all time. Thornton is absolutely insanely good in the show. He is raw and hurt and brilliant. He’s also a mess, he doesn’t take care of himself, he drinks too much and he’s neglectful of his daughter. But he fights. And he sticks up for those who need it.

The rest of main supporting cast is great. Patty, Billy’s other lawyer in the fight against the big guy, played by Nina Arianda, is one of my favorite characters of all time. I’m not even kidding. She was my favorite in this show, no doubt about it. Smart, tough, with ingenuity in spades. Truly a wonderful character and Arianda puts in one of my favorite performances for a supporting character of all time. I mean that.

I encourage you, if you haven’t yet, to watch Goliath. It’s incredible, I promise you won’t be bored, you won’t guess the outcomes every time. The acting is phenomenal as is the writing. Check it out.

I gotta go. Thanks for reading and until next week…..