Half in the Bag: The Bruce Willis Fake Movie Factory

Hey you guys are famous in Australia : https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/bruce-willis-reportedly-battling-memory-loss/news-story/6217b2e8f9fbc11414d861d1d2bc7c85

Anyone knows what is the music when Bruce is wandering around in the woods picking berries?

I remember seeing some energy-drink roadside commercial down in Budapest this December with Bruce Willis in it, thinking that looked unconvincing. I guess that goes into the overall picture of him doing -anything- for money these days.

Jostein Kjønigsen

One of the great mysteries of the movie world is what the hell happened to Bruce Willis? I can't think of any other big actor who's changed their 'signature' acting style so much over time. And I don't mean to say the guy's versatile. My partner said he used to love him in Moonlighting, we watched it together and I didn't really see the appeal. I guess you had to be the right age to enjoy it. But on that he's just this cocksure guy who's in love with himself. He's a walking erection basically. We found a really embarrassing episode where he goes in an African American bar, and puts shades on and starts acting all 'black', oof! That and Return of Bruno (look it up), this is just a guy with an ego the size of a small galaxy. Then around the time of Twelve Monkeys, he did that subdued, depressive character, and it was like the wind changed and he stayed like that forever. All I can think is Demi Moore had something to do with it. Did she mess up his mind?

Mel

No one ever credited Bruce (I don't think thats his real name) with being the best actor. Have you ever seen Moonlighting? It was Nakatomi Plaza. And apart from that, we figured you were dead about an hour into the movie.

Gavin Redmond

get even.

Gavin Redmond

I need more boozeahol to et through this.

Gavin Redmond

Since you guys love random (weird?) trivia: Bruce Willis also did commercials for Hell energy drink, which is kinda cheap energy drink. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHYE0qG63Vw https://www.hellenergy.com/who-says-bruce-willis-doesnt-look-good-in-red-2/

I figured the red marks were from the masks.

Marissa Adams

For me Bruce Willis is a sort of Reverse of Adam Sandler. While Both are doing the "Let's not bother anymore", with Adam Sandler he is at least giving Four 5ths of a Shit, with Bruce it's like I'm gonna be One Fifth of the Movies I'm in. Many slam Adam Sandler for his laziness but at least he still releases a movie or two I kinda wanna watch, if anything it makes me mad that he is a talented man who wastes his talents. Bruce Willis I used to have a deep respect for but now I'm like Fuck you ya worthless sack of shit, it makes me angry as opposed to sad. Actually they sad it best in the video, Bruce Willis takes all the Budget and everyone on set gets shafted, with Adam Sandler he has a holiday with his friends, but everyone gets paid a decent wage... At least I hope they do.

Munchman

was mike wearing a lot of makeup????? Its annoying me.... Love ya guys

Christopher Rodman

It's great to see the Plinket storyline continue, everyone was in top form. I'm glad Rich is back on camera, I hope the three of them do more stuff together in upcoming projects.

Damon Killian

Just a guess, but Liam Neeson has the Taken franchise behind him. Keanu Reeves has John Wick behind him. Both fairly recent big money franchises. When was the last big Bruce Willis movie? It may be that he's willing to work with these geezer teasers and a case of "What have you done for me lately?" in Hollywood.

AllGoodNamesRGone

I'd be curious if RLM explored this idea of action stars interacting with their crew. Take Liam Neeson. He does action movies like Bruce Willis but yet they always end up in the theaters. Does Neeson just handpick good projects? Does he produce them? Does he create a good environment or just leave right off the bat? Keanu Reeves is known for gifting his crews so this could be an interesting subject.

Newtz

RLM was briefly mentioned today on the John Campea show. One of the co-hosts mentioned this video, and Bruce Willis wearing an earpiece. All because the Razzies gave Bruce Willis his own category this year.

AllGoodNamesRGone

Bruce Willis confirmed for replacing Cameron Mitchell (see earlier comment). Then again, I really feel Mr. Mitchell tried harder.

Bort Ward

You guys did more work watching these movies than the filmmakers did making them. Bravo.

andrew

Seagal did this sorta thing. He had 6 movies released in a year. I just assumed they were filming all 6 movies at the same time, and Seagal would just move from chair to chair. He wore really dark sunglasses so he could have been sleeping for all I know. His movie Sniper was even more sleazy as it feature the name Van Damme on the cover. Little did I know it was former professional wrestler Rob Van Damme.

John Radoff

Listening to you guys even float the idea that these are skilled craftsmen merely struggling under executives, deadlines, and page counts is nauseatingly disingenuous. You know better. I used to shoot product commercials; if you know what you're doing and have a crew, the minimum bar you'll ever hit looks like Goodfellas compared to this valueless crap. We're squarely into a Dark Age, and the total devolution of art and craft across all spectra is an indicator of it.

Mike Verta

I think this is such a great conversation. You touched on that subject with the Adam Sandler movies, but at least with the Sandler movies, they were a scam, but a harmless scam. Everyone got paid, including the talents behind the camera and everybody seems to be having a great time. But in this case, it's just taking advantage of a system so that a hand full a people can make some quick money and move on to the next scam. Jay also bring a very good point with the Corman movies. Corman made shit movies, but he still gave a chance to a creative person behind the camera. He encouraged a very DIY and low budget way of making things, which can give place to people being resourceful and creative.

Bruce Willis got his own category at the Razzies. Worst performance by Bruce Willis in a 2021 movie 😂

Pez

I think Mike and Lena Dunham are morphing in to each other in the great merge.

Beez

Bruce Willis is the modern Cameron Mitchell.

Chloe S

i feel like y'all have been making more and more trans jokes lately...well, really they're all the same tired old joke but still. kinda lame.

Ashley Wintermute Williams

Less than 1 minute in and already a Star Trek reference. Is that a new record?

Kellic

This video felt like their Jack and Jill two parter or the box office numbers video. RLM looking at a trend or filmography and expounding on that. Also I'm always impressed by what RLM catches. Of course, they have trained eyes to notice bad shots or a hearing aid, but I never seem to notice these things unless they are pointed out.

AllGoodNamesRGone

This production company sounds like the new Asylum for cheap, cash-grab films. It almost hurts just thinking about how stupid the idea is but how (just like The Asylum) these films have probably always made a profit.

James Van Sickle

Wasn't Mr Willis reportedly always difficult to work with? Maybe this is the natural evolution of a personality that, while bankable, isn't necessarily desirable.

Remember when the best things to come from Bruce Willis were Die Hard, Pulp Fiction, and the Seagrams ads?

Amanda Foster

This episode made me feel something I never expected -- a kinship with Bruce Willis. He lost most of the hearing in one ear from gunshot noise, and I lost most hearing in one ear from a showing of "Spartacus". Entertainment can take a heavy toll.

Kurt

"I saw Bruce Willis on a shelf. And three fraudulent hacks called him a Hall of Famer." - Book of Revelation.

Juan Calvo

Someone who allegedly worked on one of these movies posted on the YouTube version. The individual supported the suspicion that Willis is likely struggling with dementia, thus the earpiece and disconnected acting. The theory is that he’s doing as much of this stuff as possible to make money for his family until he can’t any longer. If that poster is to be believed—and a few more posters knew people who’d worked on the films too who confirmed the rumor—these are all the more sad to see. Still, who knows if that’s actually true.

I hope I'm the first to suggest Bruce Willis' production company should be called "Fuck You, it's January!", in honor of that beloved, yet sadly neglected RLM series.

Top Hat Monkey

At least all these garbage movies gave us one hour or RLM finest entertainment. So good job Mr Willis.

Mak

Honestly, I think this is wishful thinking to at least arrive at some kind of viable explanation, when in reality the truth is much more banal...

Manuel Johnen

I also felt those vibes at the start of the video!

Carly

1) Thanks for the opening bit. I wish politicians would be more in tune with Red Letter Media skits. 2) I really like the good mood in this episode. Feels like things are going back to normal. 3) The swirling and shrinking Bruce Willis movie posters to the sound of a flushing toilet made me laugh. Also, thanks for talking about set and editing related issues in Bruce Willis movies. That black void in one of his ears, interesting detail!

Marvin Falz

Please make a rich Evans version of Apex. Give him a bald cap to match the body double and he'll look like he belongs there

LittleTub

For some reason I thought Mike's outburst to Jay about wanting the pandemic to go on forever was going to end in a love confession. It legit looks like they just filmed Bruce Willis wandering around as he ate some berries he got from crafty and took a nap. Also wow, Plinkett said trans rights! Love to see that kind of character growth.

Rhea

"It's like poetry, it rhymes...!"

Manuel Johnen

Oh my god the flamethrowers in Breach are fire extinguishers

Carly

Excellent, hilarious video. Thank you for your hard work because there is no way in hell I am ever watching these movies. Love you guys ❤️

Amy Nelson

I've heard that too. The question of why is he doing these films then gets really sad, if that's the case.

AllGoodNamesRGone

Thank the maker! I needed closure on the Mr Plinkett storyline!

Mike St Louis

Idk, I got some misgivings abt this video, fellers… To me Willis looks and sounds tired. He’s 65, sure, but why is a well beloved and bankable star looking like maybe he’s sick?? I really hope not but for a dude who seemed to really enjoy being part of the Hollywood film community/lifestyle, for him to suddenly start making strings of cash-grab garbage with zero artistic value (he was always trying even if he failed miserably — what changed?) makes me wonder if he just flat out needs the money for health or family reasons and this is the shortest distance bt 2 points; sizable guaranteed paychecks. I got no idea if he’s ailing and I hope him and his family are 100% ok, but he isn’t looking great for a 65 year old highly bankable American movie star/personality. So with him looking that poorly, is it the best idea to dedicate an entire video series to ragging on the guy? What if (God forbid) he turns out to be really ill? Again, I don’t know for sure, but imo, there’s something else going on here. I hope it’s nothing though. Peace…

I had no idea that this video would be a discussion about "those" movies. I've seen a handful of these "geezer teaser" flicks, as I guess they are called, but none with Bruce Willis. I always found their existence oddly perplexing. Like, why do these movies even exist? What demands this type of movie to come into existence? Do these people know how shitty of a movie they are in right now? I kinda became keen on them for a moment at the beginning of the pandemic when I was literally scraping the bottom of the barrel to find something to watch. Most of them, I couldn't get past the 20 minute mark. But then with some, I could find enough cheese to latch on to and have some good laughs. I definitely want to seek that article out, though. Seems interesting. I will say that A Poison Rose was pretty funny to watch. It stars John Travolta trying his hardest (or campiest) at a southern accent. It takes place in the "1970's" and features the best performance of Brendan Fraser I have ever seen. And a special shoutout to Staying Alive, the best movie ever directed by Sylvester Stallone, since Jay brought up movies directed by Stallone. Thanks again guys. Loved this video.

rachel

I am so excited to watch this! Thank you for your brilliant work 💗

Carly

ralphthemoviemaker has a nice video (or two?) on these.

JTruts

Jokes aside these movies might be actual elderly abuse. The man is 66 years old and every article about people working with him says that he can't memorize lines even as far back as Cop Out. Could have CBT issues or early-onset dementia or something, and these people are just taking advantage of him.

run_away

“Geezploitation”

Joe Triscari

You gotta give us something! :)

Thomas Branch

wow

Dylan Hall

I worked on Breach haha now that was an interesting month lol

My snout descends

Conor

One of the greatest episodes ever. A possible conclusion to the Plinkett-Omega arc? Considering the amount of work that went into it, and the quality of the material, this is one of those subjects that could fit any format : BotW, Mike and Jay talk about, re:View and why not a Nerd Crew. Seems the guys had a blast making, it was very communicative.

Bill Wilson

It's the super-easy work. Willis has always been a character actor and he's tired of actually giving a shit.

Adam C.

Damn, if this becomes a semi regular feature then you can't go wrong with the absolute fucking schlock that Steven Segal seems to star in! He always seems to be sitting down in whatever scenes he does, and is some top of his field badass who gets the 20-something girl in the end

Nathanial Ross

"Fire with Fire" was indecent, Bruce Willis-wise (he does literally nothing). But Vincent D'Onofrio is in it.

Bill Wilson

Thank you for your work.

Benway23

Bruce Willis is doing those kind of Redbox/VoD movies for over ten years now, and I've seen a couple of the earlier ones... "Fire With Fire" and "Marauders" were actually decent and had some recognizable actors beside Willis in them, that did okay work (honestly, do check out "Marauders" just for Christopher Meloni, he's giving everything in that!). But there has been a noticeable decline in quality over the past few years even in that kind of undemanding b movie, if you look at something like "Out of Death", you can really tell, that nobody involved in that cared even the least bit... least of all Bruce Willis, whose career downfall is - at least for me - unprecedented, because it was all self imposed. Usually when name actors are slumming in some piece of shit movies, it's because of necessity, in the case of Willis it was of his own choosing. That's the really baffling part...

Manuel Johnen

Nice the half in the bag story line continuing

Let's not ignore the money laundering potential of these films. I'd respect that more.

Renus Dewberry

I almost watched one of those movies because it had Bruce on the poster. I almost fell for the scam but decided the movie would be trash and skip it. I'm not shocked this shit works.

Steven Wisniewski

the episode starts at timecode 9:14

A White 1993 Camry

From what I’ve heard, Van Damme would basically sell blocks of time to these companies. You pay 5 million for 3 weeks or something, and you can shove him into half a dozen movies. It’s how lifetime makes their Christmas movies as well. They send a crew to Romania or South Africa and crank out a dozen in a couple months . I wouldn’t be shocked if these movies were money laundering like 95% of Bollywood and Hong Kong films

Jeff Kleist

Thank you for your sacrifice!

Peter Varga

Woot! I'm often mistaken for Bruce Willis. It might be the deadness in my eyes.

Damon Killian

Hairlines recede