FlorDePiel Reviews

Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970)

Should be called "Hot Mess Comes to Harlem"

[3/10 · 24 February 2024]

What the heck is going on here??? Apparently this is based off of a book but after seeing this movie, I have no desire to read it. There's a whole lot of characters and not a lot of ways to connect the dots. The one cop, Raymond St. Jacques, has one emotion, rage. Throughout the entire movie. This is listed as a comedy yet I only laughed twice. I thought he was going to be the good cop but he's just full anger. He's slapping the s hit out of any and everyone including women, shooting his gun off with no forethought and causing much damge to the city. All over a missing $87k. Yeah, I know it was 1970. But still, $87k??? He and his partner, Jeffrey Cambridge never seem to be off duty. Cambridge shows promise of humor but he is poorly matched with Mr. Rage in Harlem. Blaxploitation?? How about femalexploitation? I've seen very few blaxploitation movies but the sexism is truly off-putting if you're a self respecting woman. Numerous gratuitous shots of women nude but the one shot of the cop undressing they conveniently turn out the lights. This movie is just a hot mess. If you're looking for laughs, you won't find it here. Oh wait, a guy did get a pie thrown in his face. I gave this movie a 3 and only because of Calvin Lockhart. He played the role of the charlatan well. As an older review stated, the bungled plot and the angry (abusive) cop leaves the viewer hoping for the redemption of O'Malley moreso than the need to root for the police officers.

Dream Date (1989 TV Movie)

Cute tv movie!!

[8/10 · 28 November 2023]

It's a tv movie so take it with a grain of salt. I thought I would just watch it because it has Clifton Davis starring in it and I loved him in "That's My Mama" and "Amen." Plus it put focus on the Jan Brady of the Cosby show, Tempest Bledsoe, aka Vanessa. Cliff as the helicopter parent is a bit over the top but then there'd be no movie if he just had a normal conversation with his daughter. This is a good movie if you want to see a lot of your favorites from AA sitcoms from the 80's & 90's. It also has Anne Marie Johnson from "What's Happening Now," Kadeem Hardison from "A Different World," Michelle Thomas from "Family Matters." It also has Pauly Shore and Richard Moll. The pervy neighbor's behavior would so get him cancelled in this day and age. I got some good laughs out of it so it was worth watching.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)

Typical white guy humour

[4/10 · 8 May 2022]

Foul language, unnecessary frontal male nudity, attempts at making deviant sexual behavior the norm or desirable. The lead character is just annoying. Unbelievable how many random males popup to support this total stranger. I always wanted to see this movie and now that I have, what a disappointment. Ironically the females in the movie are pretty good and for the males, Russell Brand saves this movie from being a total dumpster. If you like Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis or Russell Brand then it's worth seeing. If not, it's an easy pass.