logo
Black Movies to Watch for the Fourth of July

Black Movies to Watch for the Fourth of July

Black Movies to Watch for the Fourth of July
This Fourth of July, skip the textbook history and tap into something real—Black joy, resistance, freedom, and the flyest energy our culture brings.
Independence Day hits differently when you know the full story, so why not spend the holiday vibing with movies that reflect our power, passion, and legacy?
Whether you're pre-gaming for the cookout, chillin' under fireworks, or just catching a break from the chaos, this list brings the fireworks to your screen.
From comedy classics and quotable faves to coming-of-age gems and bold statements of Black independence, these movies remind us what it really means to be free—on our terms.
RELATED: Top 20 Classic Black Movies Since 2000
Black Movies to Watch for the Fourth of July was originally published on hot1009.com
1. The Wood (1999) – Brotherhood, nostalgia, and summer love in Inglewood.
2. Girls Trip (2017) – Black girl freedom, turned all the way up.
3. Poetic Justice (1993) – Janet & Pac? Road trip vibes and emotional healing.
4. House Party (1990) – A cookout essential. Ain't no party like a Black party.
5. Coming to America (1988) – Royalty, romance, and freedom from tradition.
6. Do the Right Thing (1989) – A hot summer day in Brooklyn turns revolutionary.
7. Set It Off (1996) – Ride or die friendship and economic rebellion.
8. Paid in Full (2002) – Hustle, loyalty, and that gritty 4th of July hustle spirit.
9. ATL (2006) – Skating, summer, and Southern Black coming-of-age.
10. Get Out (2017) – A surreal reminder of what freedom really means.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

No shortage of ways to celebrate July 4th in Denver
No shortage of ways to celebrate July 4th in Denver

CBS News

time22 minutes ago

  • CBS News

No shortage of ways to celebrate July 4th in Denver

Indy Eve is the City of Denver's holiday celebration. It's a great way to kick off the Fourth of July weekend with live music, shopping, and a drone show, but Indy Eve is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to things to do for the holiday. "There are 260 different juried artists at the Cherry Creek Arts Festival. I feel like if you've lived in Denver for any period of time, you have a piece from that festival in your home," said Taylor Shields, Director of PR & Communications with VISIT Denver. (credit: CBS) The Cherry Creek Arts Festival is a long time July 4th tradition. Set up over several blocks in Cherry Creek North, the Festival attracts artists from across the country. Fan Expo Denver is going on all weekend at the Colorado Convention Center. It's the ultimate fan experience with celebrities, cosplay, comics, anime, gaming and so much more. "So another tradition, Blues Traveler and Gin Blossoms always play Fourth of July up at Red Rocks. That's just an amazing place. They're always a fun band," Shields said. In addition to Blues Traveler and Gin Blossoms, Vulfpeck is playing Red Rocks on July 5th. Red, White & ROCK! is going on at Hudson Gardens & Event Center, which features a 13-piece yacht rock band. "What's more American than baseball and fireworks? The Rockies are having their fireworks show on the fourth and the fifth. The Rapids actually have a really fun 4th Fest with kids events, bouncy houses, soccer, darts, and fireworks this weekend," Shields explained. McGregor Square is hosting a double feature of Top Gun and Top Gun Maverick. All of Denver's museums will be showing their latest exhibitions. "There's also like really fun red, white and blue bar crawls that are going on Downtown," Shields added. LINK: For a full list of Fourth of July Fun VISIT Denver has organized this Summer in the City website which features all the fun things to do in Denver this summer.

To Make ‘Jurassic Park: Rebirth,' Gareth Edwards Had to Set a Production Speed Record
To Make ‘Jurassic Park: Rebirth,' Gareth Edwards Had to Set a Production Speed Record

Yahoo

time23 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

To Make ‘Jurassic Park: Rebirth,' Gareth Edwards Had to Set a Production Speed Record

David Koepp handed Universal his 'Jurassic World: Rebirth' script in December 2023. In March 2024, director Gareth Edwards met with producers Frank Marshall and Steven Spielberg. Production began three months later, on June 13, 2024, and wrapped last October. For a VFX-heavy blockbuster slated for Fourth of July weekend 2025, it is a virtually unheard-of turnaround. When Edwards was a guest on this week's episode of the Filmmaker Toolkit podcast, he discussed how the hardest aspect of the shortened production schedule was being hired just three months before shooting. More from IndieWire Brad Pitt Says Bradley Cooper's 'Maestro' Is 'One of the Best Movies of This Decade' 'She Rides Shotgun' Trailer: Taron Egerton Is an Ex Con Protecting His Daughter from Corrupt Cops in Thriller 'It was the same amount of prep I had on 'Monsters,' which I shot with three of us in a van,' said Edwards, referencing his 2010 festival breakout that catapulted him to becoming a studio director. 'Usually you get at least two-and-a-half years from the day they call you, to the day you finish the movie.' That was the schedule Edwards had on 'Godzilla,' 'Rogue One,' and 'The Creator.' When Universal wanted to cut it in half for one of Hollywood's biggest spectacle franchises, Edwards tried to push back. 'I remember day one, we went to Universal and there was Donna Langley and Peter Kramer, the heads of Universal,' said Edwards. 'And I put my hand up, 'Yeah, Gareth, at the back.' I'm like, 'Can we push the release date?'' The movie that hits theaters today, only 16 months after that meeting, shows no signs of being short-changed. The action set pieces and visual effects are among the very best since Spielberg's original. Edwards came up as a self-taught VFX artist and has the reputation for being not only one of the most innovative directors of VFX but also someone whose creative process combines conception with execution, leading to far greater efficiencies. 'I think I've always feel that the process is as important as the thing you're making the product,' said Edwards. 'The way you make a film is to me so fundamental, and obviously doing this movie, [we had to do that].' Edwards brought aboard Jim Spencer, his producing partner on what he called his 'two most guerilla' projects, 'Monsters' and 'The Creator,' but not in an effort to convert the 'Jurassic Park' team to their ways. 'Early on, [Spencer and I said], 'We can't change the machine,' said Edwards. 'If you try to fight the machine that is this massive blockbuster, the way these [are made], if you try to reinvent the process, 'Oh, we're not going to shoot it like this, we're going to shoot it more like this,' and really go against it, it's going to run over you,' said Edwards, indicating he was speaking from experience. 'I think you can change the machine, and do things differently, but there's a limit when you've got a really limited timeframe with three months pre-production, getting everyone on the same page to reinvent the process massively is not possible,' he said. 'It was more like, choose your battles, and my main goal was, 'Let's go to real locations.'' Edwards' philosophy: Even if those real backdrops will be significantly altered and augmented, even to the point of even no longer being recognizable, being in a real place is why his VFX-driven films feel so grounded. That 'Jurassic World: Rebirth' was able to quickly land on a main location was serendipitous. In their first meeting, Spielberg told Edwards the franchise was looking to move on from Hawaii, which represented original 'Jurassic Park' locale Isla Nublar. For the nearby Ile Saint-Hubert — an equatorial island off the coast of South America, which we learn once housed a secret lab creating hybrid dinosaurs — they were scouting Costa Rica and Thailand. 'I couldn't be better placed for this conversation because I did 'Monsters' in Costa Rica, and we looked high and low in that country for crazy primordial jungle scapes and beaches, and we'd just done that with 'The Creator' in Thailand,' said Edwards. In that first meeting, he made it clear that Thailand, specifically Phang Nga Bay, was exactly what Spielberg wanted. 'So it all clicked really quickly and it probably saved us some time. I didn't have to scout all those locations because I knew most of them.' Visual effects supervisor and second unit director David Vickery's team quickly shot footage of the locations, which became virtual 3D renderings that allowed Edwards and his collaborators to work virtually. 'I said to the studio when we started, 'We've got three months, we cannot make a mini version of this film in pre-viz, we haven't got time,' said Edwards. 'But, then we had virtual cameras, it's like there's a little volume space and they set it up in the office and essentially you could see in real time, an Unreal Engine version of your ship and the [dinosaur].' Working virtually, Edwards could go through his creative process of designing the action of a big set piece while allowing department heads to figure out what they needed to prep. 'It's like a jigsaw puzzle where you haven't got the box, you don't know what the picture is, but you start going, 'Well, we need a shot like this,'' said Edwards. 'Going through the motions of shooting those shots [with a virtual camera], it then allowed other people to go, 'I think we're going to need a helicopter.' 'I think we're going to need a drone here.' 'It creates all these ingredients so that the production can start to make all those things happen… It's just like controlled chaos, really.' Universal Pictures will release 'Jurassic World: Rebirth' in theaters on Wednesday, July 2. To hear Gareth Edwards' full interview, subscribe to the Filmmaker Toolkit podcast on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform. Best of IndieWire The Best Lesbian Movies Ever Made, from 'D.E.B.S.' and 'Carol' to 'Bound' and 'Pariah' The Best Thrillers Streaming on Netflix in June, from 'Vertigo' and 'Rear Window' to 'Emily the Criminal' All 12 Wes Anderson Movies, Ranked, from 'Bottle Rocket' to 'The Phoenician Scheme'

HBCU Coach's Style Lands Her on Essence Festival Panel
HBCU Coach's Style Lands Her on Essence Festival Panel

Miami Herald

timean hour ago

  • Miami Herald

HBCU Coach's Style Lands Her on Essence Festival Panel

NEW ORLEANS - On the sidelines, Alabama A&M head women's basketball coach Dawn Thornton is more than a strategist-she's a whole vibe. Thornton's presence is impossible to ignore, whether calling plays or calling attention with her bold game day fashion. Her signature looks have racked up over seven million views on Instagram this season alone. Now, the world beyond HBCU basketball is taking notice. Coach Thornton is set to join BeautyCon's highly anticipated "Play the Game, Get the Look" panel at the Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans on July 5, a celebration of how style, beauty, and confidence intersect-both on the court and in culture. This year's Essence Festival is especially meaningful, marking the 55th anniversary of Essence Magazine under the theme "Made Like This." BeautyCon's platform is spotlighting women from the South who are shaping beauty narratives and pushing back against outdated, one-dimensional standards. Thornton embodies that mission perfectly. "My style is definitely an extension of who I am," Thornton shared. "It's confident, intentional, and sometimes a little extra-in the best way. That's how I coach, too. I'm big on presence and energy. Your preparation is your separation. Confidence isn't just taught-it's modeled. I want my players to always see that in me." For Dawn Thornton, fashion isn't just about aesthetics-it's a form of leadership. Her dynamic looks send a clear message to her HBCU student-athletes: You can be powerful, poised, and unapologetically yourself. "I want my players to know it's okay to stand out, to take pride in how you show up, and to lead with confidence on and off the court," she said. "You don't have to dim your light to lead. There's strength in owning who you are. If I can show up in a bold outfit and handle business, it shows them they can do the same in any space." In an industry where Black women are often pressured to shrink themselves to fit outdated expectations, Thornton refuses. "There's this idea that coaches, especially Black women, have to look or act a certain way to be taken seriously. I don't subscribe to that," she said. "I show up as myself-fully-and I coach with passion and excellence. That alone shifts the narrative." The "Play the Game, Get the Look" panel will dive deep into how beauty trends born in sports culture influence the wider world, especially in Black communities. The conversation will also explore how looking and feeling good feeds into the mindset of winning-on any stage. The connection between Dawn Thornton's HBCU hoops gameday fits and her coaching philosophy is seamless. "Game day is a whole vibe, and my look is part of the energy I bring," she explained. "Sometimes the goal is to make a bold statement. Other times, it's about feeling grounded and confident in my own skin. Either way, it's part of the game plan. How I show up visually matters just as much as how I show up mentally." Essence Festival and BeautyCon will run July 3–6, with daily events from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. The event promises a vibrant mix of culture, conversation, and community, celebrating Black women in all their power, beauty, and brilliance. The post HBCU Coach's Style Lands Her on Essence Festival Panel appeared first on HBCU Gameday. Copyright HBCU Gameday 2012-2025

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store