Hollywood Shuffle

Amadeus “two motherfuckers who are really into music“. Oh my god this was a satire.

This isn't another Hollywood film about working artists dreaming of making it big while confronted with inept suits. Hollywood Shuffle is genius because Townsend gets that while that conflict can be annoying for white folk, it is another in a long line of soul crushing experiences for African-Americans. He draws from his own life with fantastic dream & nightmare sequences. The film gets kudos both as a prequel to In Living Color & an admitted inspiration for Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.

This was really funny and, as a clear spiritual precursor to In Living Color, I can't believe I'd never heard of it until recently. The sketches were much more funny than the main narrative, but they worked together really well in bringing out the underlying satire of the whole thing. We've certainly made some progress since 1987, but the ills pointed out are not yet a thing of the past.

Townsend and Wayans's near perfect In Living Color progenitor!

Lost steam in the 2nd half. Fav scene: the two guys reviewing movies and the fake movie clips.

At least Townsend didn't get SNL so we could get this movie. Bitter and hilarious. Great filmmaking could watch them take down other movies for hours

Often poignant, Townsend's satire is certainly entertaining in all of its silliness. A look at black actors in Hollywood that, sadly, has aged very well.

Winky! Dinky! Dog!

Good double-feature paired with PUTNEY SWOPE.

The Winky Dinky Dog thing was funny...and of course Sneakin' In At the Movies.

thought this movie was hilarious when I was a kid

Very fun and sharp satire on stereotypical black roles in Hollywood a scary amount of which remains relevant. It’s basically a sketch movie and has a lot of the same problems as all sketch comedy work - a lot of meh jokes, initially-funny segments go on way too long - but it’s kept afloat by Townsend’s wit and versatility as well as some good supporting turns. Very impressive this turned out this well and looks this good given the tiny budget. The ending credits rule.

Some very funny parody segments, but everything between them is completely flat and unfunny.

Yeah yeah yeah we've all heard the story of how Robert Townsend managed to make this on a shoestring. It's still totally not funny