Bruce Willis makes a dozen movies a year and you've never heard of any of them. We thought we'd dive into this strange phenomenon and figure out what's going on, where these things come from, and why they keep getting made.
Bruce Willis is not at fault for trying to cash out as much as possible before kicking the bucket, and RLM is not at fault for making fun of him before the full story of his illness came out.
Nor would they be now. The films are ludicrously bad and worthy of nothing but mockery. If people want to criticize, aim it at the hacks making the films, his agent, even his family for letting it continue. The guy has generational wealth, he wasn't doing these for the money, but the people convincing him to definitely were.
@@YevOnegin Bruce Willis himself is not beyond mockery either, even now that he came out publicly with the illness. The illness does not impede his decision to cash in on his name, he still with sound mind decided to do that, and everyone still should be able to mock him.
Of course he's at fault, these movies are just a big middle finger to his fans. He completely ruined his legacy and credibility as an actor and pretty much ripped off the people who loved him to make a quick buck
@@YevOneginHis old movies were nothing like these new fake movies, at least he was in scenes with other actors in "Hostage" and "Red" and "Looper" were actually great movies
My dad was a boom operator on Moonlighting, the Bruce Willis sitcom from the 80s. He said he would always chill with the crew, eat lunch with them, hang out, because he hadn't done Die Hard yet so he wasn't a superstar or anything like that. The other lead in the show, Cybill Shepard, would have these long drawn-out diva freakouts that shut the production down for hours. One time Bruce said to my dad and a few coworkers "If I ever make it in this business and start acting like that, next time we work together you have permission to come up to me and punch me in the face." So over the years he quickly gained the reputation of a total asshole and never got that punch. Clearly he doesn't deserve the punch anymore. but it's still a funny story.
I'd like to think I'd be alright if I was a A list star getting into the best places with everyone telling me how great I am but I fear the reality is that I'd end up behaving like an absolute asshole.
@@anonymouse740 it’s just like how bipolar people can’t tell they’re bipolar. Then again some say “money corrupts all” but I believe “money reveals all”. I do think the actor lifestyle does make you out of touch with the average person.
Cybill Shepard has a reputation as being notoriously awful to work with. One story (confirmed) is while in a limo, she called her manager to call the limo company owner to call the limo driver to tell him to adjust the air conditioning. Actually speak directly to the driver? Perish the thought!
“While filming Glass [in 2019], staffers worked around him by cutting and editing and having him overdub lines because he struggled to remember and/or deliver them,” an insider reveals. “In most scenes on Glass he’s hooded, and they used stand-in and body doubles to replace him. On set, he wouldn’t smile and was always chaperoned by an assistant to guide him while walking.” Man, reality is depressing.
So a few years ago I was in Atlantic City with my family and we saw the lounge singer Wayne Neuton. Took my old mother who listened to him when she was young and I brought a copy of fallout NV for him to sign (he is the dj in that game) now he was an old man and could totally just have phoned in a performance. He was at a small venue compared to his Vegas shows and it wasn’t even marketed well so there was a lot of space. Instead he just did 3 hours of jokes and songs and hung out with everyone. It was a very fun time for everyone. That’s a guy who is a pro. Brings his a game to every show. I even got to speak to him after the show and he brought up how him being fallout has lead to him getting lots of young male gaming nerds showing up to his acts and asking him to songs from the game and he loved it. Made him feel super relevant! He signed my platinum chip and I got a picture. I bring this up cause It’s just sad seeing Bruce just give up. Fans are fans because they like seeing people perform! It’s all about energy!
@@speed0spank it was really fun. My mom just yelled at him to play danke shane and he nearly fell over laughing! And then he sang it! He also sang my spurs go jingle jangle! It was a great time.
@@Poormrworry He was, he was one of the soldiers refuelling the plane at Korea, i think one of the drafts was to have an ensemble cast including him and that would have been his last big role, i think
Honestly, I can't fault them for this video in hindsight. They didn't know. Barely anyone outside of his family and some other people knew of Bruce's aphasia. But it also makes the weird editing of the films and Bruce's level of involvement make way more sense now unfortunately.
Yeah him having an earpiece in to be fed lines makes a lot more sense now. He wasn't being too lazy to bother learning his lines, he actually had trouble remembering them.
@@friendlybetty the dude can still remember concepts and ideas. He had the forethought to bang out as much as he could, while he was still able to. He knows he is having trouble reading, so he has someone else do that for him. All of this would be erased, of course, if it was found out someone was taking advantage of him. But he seems to have a very supporting family structure
@@chyang2690 the main question is why does he have the disorder, because it’s usually caused by something else- dementia, tumors, stroke or head injury.
I know quite a few people who worked on Apex. Most of the movie was shot with a picture double on Vancouver Island, with Bruce's coverage being shot by a different unit in Washington. The Vancouver Island shoot turned into an absolute nightmare, as they had hired an entirely unqualified non-union special effects department, which led to a couple of incidents where pyrotechnics went off without the crew on set being notified beforehand. This led to most of the camera department walking off the show, taking their carts and personal kits but leaving the rented gear behind. The rest of the movie was shot by the DP with the help of anyone who had any camera experience from the other departments. They were also unable to hire any union stunt performers or extras as an indie production during early covid, so most of the bad guys getting shot are actually random crew members in costume. Jay is right in that Bruce's lines are being read to him through an earwig by the script supervisor, but unfortunately this is more due to dementia issues than laziness. The guy couldn't remember his lines if he tried, and often has issues interpreting direction and the instructions being given to him. I don't know Bruce or his motivations, but having worked with Kris Kristofferson who was still acting well into his mental decline, I can tell you that Kris truly loved acting and being on set and wanted to do it as long as he could. Bruce taking part in that stage play suggests to me that there's a shred of that attitude in him as well, but I can't deny that taking millions of dollars in exchange for two or three day shoots smacks of cashing in on his fame while he still has the chance.
I don’t know anyone who worked on Apex but I have friends whose friends and acquaintances worked on it. I heard basically the same thing you’re describing.
Oh, that gives me a sad sheen over all these movies. I love Ralphthemoviemaker's reviews of all these, I thought Bruce Willis was phoning it in because he lost his passion for acting, I had no idea about his neurological degeneration.
I think you’re bang on about his motivations. He was really good in a quality film like Moonrise Kingdom, but it’s clear that making all this junk is 100% cynical.
@@LadyTylerBioRodriguez Scarily similar incident. A couple people suffered permanent hearing damage after squibs went off indoors while noone was wearing earplugs.
There you go, we now know why. He probably wanted to make a few bucks before being forced to quit. He was a very charismatic and memorable actor for years, sad to see him go out like that.
@@chech5774 it happens. The same way a lot of professional athletes go bankrupt when they retire. It's difficult to change lifestyles when your level of income reduces.
He once called Shark Exorcist, a sleazy fetish film with a possibly underage girl fondling a plastic shark, the Best of the Worst. This is completely on brand. Mike gets off on inflicting psychic trauma on others.
Somebody should make the movie "Geezer Teezer" about an aging Hollywood actor who's in deep with the mob and needs to make all these terrible movies. and get Bruce Willis to star in it.
Shit, hearing the brief rundown of the guy behind them being hunted by the mob and hated by Hollywood... I want "Geezer Teaser" to be the name of the movie about *him.*
That Bruce has an unfortunate diagnosis does not prevent all thwse movies from being absolutely shit. Their criticism of bad movies, made cheaply, using tricks so that Bruce is barely in them, is valid criticism.
These are the exact kind of movies my dad and brother watch downstairs in the living room while I'm upstairs in my room watching the latest episode of Half in the Bag.
@@ordinator7203 my dad introduced me to film thru films like Taxi Driver and The Godfather. For some reason every time I visit him he's got on some schlock, most recently Ginger Dead Man starring Gary Busey. I don't know where he went wrong
It just occurred to me: That whole trope of the grizzled cop whose wife is dead....kind of loses its impact when the cop is 66. In an action movie, the dead wife is what turns the young idealistic cop into the dead-eyed veteran with nothing left to lose. But when you and your wife are both senior citizens, that narrative doesn't really play. "My wife died...because we're an elderly couple, and that's just kind of what happens."
“My wife died… ever since then I’ve been bitter, resentful of the unfairness of this world.” “I’m so sorry. All these years must’ve been so hard on you.” “It was last week, died of heart disease, but yeah.”
60s is still relatively young to die in a post-industrial country. The average age of death is the late 70s in the US and early 80s in Canada, Germany, Japan, the UK, etc. Plus Bruce Willis' characters could have wives that are younger than them too, in their 50s or even 40s.
He probably doesn't want the fame. Sure it probably means a lesser paycheck, but something tells me that Bruce's double was paid well before Bruce retired.
@@d3l3tes00n If you’d watch the director’s commentary track there’s a long segment where they reveal that Rich Evans is just a digitally de-aged Mike Stoklasa.
Watching these scenes is eerie now; his acting style is definitely "a guy struggling to speak". Aphasia is more of a symptom than an illness per se. Something, probably a small stroke, affected the speech center. Sadly this means more strokes might be coming. My mom spent months last year working with an old friend who had aphasia from a stroke; she didn't make it to the end of the year. Hopefully Mr. Willis fares better.
No stroke, he had progressive aphasia and had known for a few years. These movies were made to build up a stockpile of cash before he had to stop because he physically can’t even do the bare minimum anymore.
@@jameshamilton5849 Having an illness doesn't absolve him from basically defrauding his fans to get cash for himself/his family. If I get diagnosed with cancer, do I have the right to defraud others to benefit my family? Bruce willingly and knowingly trashed his name and legacy to cash out. He deserves the ridicule in this video even if RLM made it after the statement about Aphasia.
They should, considering this video is factually inaccurate Now That We Know Better. They should at least make another video to apologize for this considering the man had an actual mental problem.
This one hurts. I'm old enough to remember Bruce Willis as more than an "action star". He had range, he was very good on comedies like Blind Date or Moonlighting. Then he did Die Hard and became an action star but he was charismatic and charming as a lead. And he is in some of my favorite movies of all time like Pulp Fiction, Four Rooms, 12 Monkeys, The Fifth Element, Unbreakable, Sin City... I wish he retired in the 2010's.
Dolph Lundgren made that argument a number of years ago about the kind of work he does. He could either move to LA, get a small part in a big movie and go from there, or he can do cheap movies in eastern Europe; he can write them, direct them, star in them, whatever he wants, makes enough money to live comfortably, and gets to spend more time with his family.
Eric Roberts is in the same boat where he'll go from doing 5 to up to over a dozen of these bad Red Box films in a single year. Eric's rule is that has to be paid $100,000 a role no matter how little screen time he gets. He gets to show up to set for a day and a half and moves onto the next film while making 100 grand a pop. It's not a bad hustle.
Just announced his retirement due to suffering from Aphasia. As many have said, he was putting money in the bank before retiring. Can’t blame him for that.
Well, when you watch a B (or even worse) movie that is sold as an A movie with an A listed movie star, then yeah, it's a bit misleading and taking advantage of the audience. So yeah, you can blame him for that.
@@scottmatznick3140 id feel awfully if I wat taking 90 percent of the budget while the people doing physical about around me on set are making pennies. your moral compass is non existent.
My father works at auto parts store on a federal highway and sells usb drives with movies to truck drivers. Sometimes he asks me to find and download some movies no matter the quality. And usually I try to find something from mediocre to decent, but now I'm gonna download ALL of these!
I am credited as the Key Set PA on Cosmic Sin. I can attest that you two are completely accurate of your description and mindset on to how these films are made and BW in them. It was a crazy 2 week shoot, right before the pandemic of 2020, and I'd love to tell me more. Long time fan of RLM, first time commenter
My roommate and I watched it when it first hit Netflix and we were just astounded at how little Bruce Willis mattered to the "plot". How long was he ever there for?
Yeah, I don't know, honestly, if you've never sat down and tried to watch a Neil Breen film from start to finish, then you're kind of missing out. They're like watching someone's film made on Microsoft PowerPoint. These Bruce Willis films are just... Loathsome. Breen fails at movies, but there's a passion and drive there. These are competent film producers, not content with lowering the bar to the ground, have dug a 30 feet deep hole, and throwing it down there instead.
I'd like to think this video kick started Willis and family into letting him enjoy his retirement just a little bit faster. Sometimes you have to shine a light on a plight, if only someone had done this for Stan Lee maybe there wouldn't have been someone stealing his literal blood for signatures.
@@vietnamd0820 Sometimes you just need a reality check to make you realize "What am I doing?" I mean, if you were an old man suffering from an illness that meant that you were barely even aware of what was even going on you'd probably want someone to point out that you've been the star of 11 crappy movies all filmed within a very short time frame.
I kept watching that thinking "that is not Bruce's voice and is delivered in such a weird, disconnected way." I've decided that either Bruce couldn't get the line or they changed it later or his mic didn't work, etc. And they had to fix it in editing and just had the director say it and then modulate it.
The Razzies just gave Bruce Willis his own category: "Worst Performance by Bruce Willis in a 2021 Movie", which includes 8 out of the 11 movies, presumably the other 3 were released in 2020. Though not the most important thing in the world, I do hope these movies get more exposed for what they are and avoided.
It's kind of interesting comparing Bruce Willis' performances chronologically in this list, knowing what we know now. Breach is one of the earlier films and came out in late 2020. He probably had more cylinders firing at that point. Apex came out in November 2021 about a year later and... oh my. It's rough. He inadvertently documented his decline. I love the man, so I find this rather sad. Thanks for all the good memories, Bruce. Heal and rest. You've done your part. Still, I think Jay and Mike are right. We probably shouldn't watch any of these. It is a movie factory grinding out low budget efforts, each one banking almost entirely on an aged movie star. That having been said, Breach with a few more weeks of production time and half of Bruce Willis' paycheck used instead for creature effects, better sets, and a fight scene choreographer would have probably been a bona-fide good B movie. These movies wouldn't exist without the aged movie star propping them up, but such said star sucks it dry like a leech and drains it of its potential to actually be good in the first place. It's kind of a no-win, really.
This is more or less what I thought. "Breach" was filmed late 2019, Apex a full year later. Director who filmed "Out of Death" in 2020, and then "Wrong Place" in 2021, said in interview that Bruce had declined noticeably between the films. I have seen "Breach" and as long as Bruce is playing the drunk janitor, he is doing okay. He interacts with the cast and sort of tries to get the character over. The middle part of the movie, when the crew tries to figure what is going on, is honestly not that bad. But once the action starts, it's clear Bruce is out of it. He mostly just stands around confusedly, unable to do anything physical. And the movie falls apart towards the end too.
Mike can't help himself, I think his pathological incapable of not referencing Star Trek. His phone call bit with the Double dumbass line is a from Star trek A voyage home. It's sad I know every single reference he makes... I need help
Like Mike didn't know the character was Lt. Hawk. Least believable aspect of this video, including that any of these are "movies". They all look like the fake movie posters you'd see in a TV show or a real movie LOL!
"Thank god that's done. Where's my cigar." "Bruce, we gotta go into the forest" "I don't wanna go into a forest. I want a cigar." "There'll be a cigar in the forest." "Fine. But I better get a nice sitdown with it."
One performer who gives a Bruce Williis-tier performance live is Bob Dylan. He barely sings anymore, and just kind of mumbles onstage to background music.
Couldn't stop laughing at the intro where Mike asks "how do you not know who Plinket is?" because I'm imagining a scenario irl where Mike is like "Don't you know who I am? Im the guy who reviewed Star Wars while pretending to be an elderly mental patient!"
@@stirgy4312 The complicated origin story is that Rich originally played Plinkett in some old short films he and Mike made. Mike then reused the character for the Plinkett reviews, basing the voice on Rich's performance. Now Rich has reprised the role of Mr. Plinkett for Half in the Bag. So Rich is the original Plinkett, but Mike does the voice for the Plinkett reviews.
This probably isn't something anyone usually mentions but i wanna thank RLM for not flooding their videos with ad time. Every other channel I watch has triple the advertisement breaks in 20 min videos than you guys put on in 70. And thank you for always making great content
Some of the actors like Grillo and Neal have talked about how these films have budgets up to $20M but the actual production budget is between $400-800K. Most of the money goes to the producers and someone like Bruce, it’s clearly a scam but no one says anything because they’re all getting paid. Grillo made $300K for 5 days of work and said everyone was aware they were making shit but they’re moving so fast they have no time to think about embarrassment.
@@lowserver2 Like Kb0w said, moving from one cheap shit movie to another at the speed of light. They don't have integrity, they are fine as long as they get paid. Be it from cheap tax credit flick or propaganda from totalitarian hellhole.
Oh man, that part where they're showing Bruce Willis talking to the hologram. That's really, really bad. Even a normal person can tell he's given no sense of direction about what's happening and just being given lines. And the knowledge of his illness really makes a lot of these scenes they're showing pretty sad.
do you think you might just be projecting? like come the fuck on. he's not late stage Alzheimer's. as someone who's grandfather has been going through crippling alzheimers let me be honest with you and that Bruce has no excuse to use his issues for pity. and stop acting like the whole "has to be given lines" is some sort of sad tragedy, its what countless actors do and its what bruce has been doing for DECADES. he's simply lazy and has no soul anymore for acting.
The ironic thing about their Cher metaphor is that I saw her about three years ago and even in her seventies she put on an INCREDIBLE theatrical show with costume changes for EVERY song (in itself would be extremely tiring!), along with revolving set pieces and video effects. An example of a TRUE artist who wanted to give HER ALL for the audience's enjoyment.
Seeing them speculate about him is sad now. But at least we know he was just trying to cash in a little before he couldn’t work anymore. Dementia is a nightmare.
My going hypothesis is that a SciFi movie for them might be counterintuitive cheaper and easier to make. Having it be "SciFi" means you can assemble inexpensive styrofoam sets, bath everything in unnatural light, and insert relatively inexpensive special effects (like the holograms, people beaming in) instead of having to do these things practically (i.e. coordinating actors, showing people arriving at the Apex hunt via helicopter, truck, etc). None of the SciFi movies do anything particularly scifi-worthy that wouldn't also work as a less scifi-y movie
Willis' acting in these movies is remarkable to watch, they're like performances made up entirely of the "Part time" take from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
I’m glad Jay acknowledges Neal McDonough as a pro. Every time I see him in a movie or TV show, he’s always the highlight. As far as I’m concerned, he’s a hidden gem in a chest of national treasures.
Check him out as Dave Williams in season 5 of Desperate Housewives. Hes awkward, menacing and oddly sympathetic. He gives you a great "fake smile that slowly changes to a sinister look as the music swells" before every commercial break.
I completely agree. I first saw him in Suits, where his performance/character was one of my favourite aspects of the otherwise pretty lackluster middle and later seasons. Then he ended up turning up in a bunch of (otherwise mediocre) things I watched (Altererd Carbon, the new Resident Evil schlockfest, etc) where - as you said - he was consistently the highlight.
Willis making these movies made no sense but now it does make sense. Now I wonder why his people were putting him in these movies in the first place when he simply couldn't work.
his managment team was straight up exploiting him for their own financial gain, his dementia was obvious to anyone who worked with him and he often didnt know where he was or why he was there. the people trying to defend this say that he agreed to it but a person in his mental state cannot consent, he doesnt seem to even know he has dementia. they kept pushing him in all these shitty movies so they could get a nice payout for it.
I now have to wonder if that berry scene was Bruce actually aimlessly wandering on set and eating berries, and the producer was forced to come up with that pointless scene in an attempt to use what they had
"Bruce, i appreciate all the help so much, but these medical bills just keep piling up..." Bruce Willis; "Say no more, brother. Consider me on the next plane to Atlanta."
Once society has collapsed entirely they’ll just be sitting around a camp eating beans out of a can and discussing bad movies they saw 20 years ago. And I’ll sit there and listen
Well... It all makes sense now. He literally can't communicate (act) fully! He's not bored or grouchy, he's got a degenerative brain condition. Wow. Poor guy.
why are people giving RLM grief about this video? they are not the only movie reviewers to point out that something was clearly not right with his performance in movies over the last year or two. that is the job of an actor. regardless of the cause, if you are no longer able to deliver lines and play a role with any level of conviction, then you are not doing well at that job. they were not insulting him as a person. they were merely pointing out that he has been giving incredibly lackluster performances of late, and that he is delivering his lines as though they were being fed to him... which, turns out, was the case. so, now they should delete this video because... turns out they were right? seriously?
It'd be like if you went to work all day and sat on your ass for 12 hours while your co-worker was outside in the hot sun for 12 hours and you both make the same amount of money. It's not right.
I don't think there's anything wrong about Bruce Willis exploiting his stardom to earn a few easy bucks (MILLIONS), especially since he's probably trying to do what he can for his family's finances if he passes away. Nothing wrong with RLM roasting Bruce for his shitty acting, too, given they had no clue what he was going through
@@DoctorCyan It's a slippery slope we don't want to see actors start going down. Actors and film makers used to care and have pride in there work and most of the time all the movies were great. Now a days everything has gone down hill so much that we barely get a few great movies a year. They should have pride in their work and if they're too old to do it anymore then retire or do a different job that they can handle. If other old or failed actors see Bruce doing it and making money soon everyone will be doing it and people will be getting nothing but crap movies kinda like how it is getting now. I respect your opinion but I don't see it as a good thing at all.
Bruce Willis can do whatever he wants, but he is up to scrutiny like everyone else, his illness doesn't figure much into it. People need to understand that Aphasia is a disorder that only affects language processing. It does not affect judgment and decision making. Bruce decided to do all these fake movies IN SOUND MIND, exploited his fame and his fans to cash out. He willingly trashed his legacy and people have every right to point it out and blame him for it. Even if RLM did this exact video today knowing his illness, the critique is absolutely spot on and isn't diminished at all. I mean, how can people be so dumb? If I get diagnosed with cancer today, do I have the right to just flat out defraud people to get money so I can "take care of my family"? Do people still have logical reasoning intact?
I was hoping RLM would cover this since i've seen Ralphthemoviemaker cover and watch/review some of those Movies Finally it happened! Prost & Cheers from the Snow-Covered Bavarian Alps where i currently can't leave my House without having to dig a Tunnel through the Snow Also maybe i'm going insane but besides the usual Animal & Nature Noises around here, i also keep hearing some beast that sounds a lot like Rich laughing (Send Help)
This makes me think of the story of Ian McKellen being depressed and nearly retiring while on the set of the Hobbit trilogy. Where he was miserable being on a green screen by himself and being told to react to things, which he did to the best of his ability because he's a professional. He was on the verge of tears and thought "I'm an actor, I'm supposed to work with other actors." You can tell with Bruce Willis he doesn't like being on these sets but he doesn't mask his contempt at all. It's just sad to watch.
interesting....because in shakespeare, there are many soliloquies where the actor is on stage by himself so kind of a dumb thing to get depressed about...unless you are saying that sir ian sucks as an actor that he cant pretend....because that is all acting is...pretending you do know that he wasnt a real wizard...right
@@thewkovacs316 a fascinating read into my comment. I don't believe I called Sir Ian a bad actor and was just recalling an anecdote that had some parallels to the story of Bruce Willis working in Apex. As for the soliloquies they indeed are often done with oneself on stage but you also have a live audience there with you who are responding to your work. It's even better when a director let's an actor engage directly with the audience during those speeches. Sir Ian is a man of theatre so he much prefers the immediate reaction of someone of something there when playing a scene. He's not the only one who gets frustrated purely by green screen work, Ewan McGregor considered it a nightmare as well on the prequels.
McKellen hated acting at ping pong balls most specifically, I remember. acting to someone's face, which is reacting to you, is so different. Bruce Willis isn't contemptful though. He's going through dementia or Alzheimer's. Read through the comments.
I remember my mom getting a job at Arby's because she was bored. Just bored out of her skull after retiring. She was friends with the family that owned it and just worked in drive-through chatting with strangers. I always wonder about these aging actors who just do any movie that comes along. Rather than being in any financial distress, are they just bored?
If Bruce was really bored and not going after the money, he could play in movies of young aspiring directors for less money. His motives are kinda hard to grasp and the earpiece thing sort of points to early onset mental decline or something similar
@@tite93 Dunno about mental decline but he does have a second young family with a housewife type. Plus his and Demi Moore's kids are now struggling actors that he may still supporting. I can see him prioritizing leaving them a healthy inheritance over a Hollywood legacy
@@jakestroll6518 dude's worth approximately 250 million dollars, that seems like more than enough inheritance for more than two families with quite a bit to spare. Of course, the rich only want to get richer, but is it worth getting into these projects and tarnishing the craft? I'm not sure
@@TheSiprianus you know what he meant, greed is human nature, the difference is richer people have more potential to make money and are therefore potentially more greedy.
Im just imagining a young, starry eyed actor calling home 1930s style like: "Oh Ma, you wont believe it! I got a part in a big motion picture with Bruce Willis! Im gonna make it in this town, Ma, you'll see!"
This video is so retroactively eye-opening and depressing that no one is commenting on the mosquitoes that temporarily turned Mike into Pikachu Seriously though, no one in RLM could’ve possibly known what was really going on, so I don’t get how they are at fault or how this video “aged like milk” if anything it aged like fine wine cause I’m pretty sure if it wasn’t for this, nobody would’ve known about Bruce being exploited like this or anything of the sort. They simply thought they were bringing attention to another Adam Sandler situation, there aren’t even that many gratuitous “hack fraud” jabs at Bruce in the video either. But I would love a follow-up video given the info we have now.
He did about two days worth of work for a movie called Motherless Brooklyn a couple years ago and he's actually not bad in it. You can tell he put some effort into it. The hardest part of the movie to sit through is Edward Norton's tourettes act, but other than that it's watchable.
I had Bruce Willis come through our private airfield when I worked there. It was them going to shoot in the woods near/in Vancouver Canada but they landed state side. We know it was for the movie because one of the faxed documents was giving "essential business" documents to one of the other guys who was flying in from Canada. (height of travel restrictions due to covid). They stayed for one or two nights and its hilarious to see this footage. At least Bruce Willis tipped me 20$
They shoe absolutely ZERO respect to a legendary Hollywood blockbuster mutli award winning actor that has captivated audiences for over 4 DECADES. Shoe some respect you plebians.
It's a great exploration of a strange niche in the movie business. I don't think anyone will want to watch these movies after learning about Bruce's condition, but this video is the next best thing.
"Enjoy the rest of your day." "YOU'RE coming on a little strong!" Did they like teach some rural Vietnamese farmer English in 2 days and then have them write this dialog? How does this fucking happen?
Seems like the last movie he genuinely tried in was _Looper_ in 2012. I would say _"Poor Bruce,"_ but then again he's making $1 million to phone it in for a day... Pretty good gig if you ask me.
He has a bit part in Motherless Brooklyn (2019). It's not his best work, but he's not bad in it. Once you get past Edward Norton's tourettes act, it's actually a pretty decent movie. It might end up being the last decent movie Bruce Willis appears in.
I'd take that job with an earpiece. He's not killing people; it's just a movie among millions of others. The worst that happens is that people stop watching it and didn't get their $5 worth.
I would quit everything to be made fun of all day to get a mil per shit movie. In the end he's rich chilling on a yacht, laughing not giving a shit. I want no worries money, fuck it sounds great.
gives me hope they eventually talk about Steven Seagals inability to walk up and down the stairs. He will definitely be the next tlc star on my 600 lbs life
22:16 No matter what happens, this photo tells me that Bruce Willis made it in life. Goddamn I hope I'm lucky enough to have such a big and beautiful family.
I was reading an interview with one of the screenwriters for one of these Bruce Willis movies (I think Cosmic Sin), where the guy said he was called up by his buddy who was having coffee with Bruce and Bruce mentioned wanting to do a sci-fi movie. So his buddy is like 'Do you have a scifi script?', and the screenwriter was just like 'yeah, totally' and then went home and wrote the entire script in one night. It really explains a lot when you realize the scripts for these films were probably written in a few hours and most likely weren't even spell-checked.
Bruce Willis is so checked out that he never is 100% present anywhere. As with his tomatoe ratings about 20% is the highest he will go for movie productions these days.
The info and speculation may now be outdated, but this is still pretty interesting from an anthropological angle. No one will be watching these movies in the future, likely
Though he is frequently mocked for it, I never realized how tiny Jay really is till I rewatched this video. He looks so small standing next to Mike when Plinkett comes in.
I love the fact that in Apex they gave him a bright red jacket, choosing the pragmatism of stand-in continuity over the logical absurdity of him wearing that while being hunted in the woods.
I work in the Vancouver film industry and can confirm from coworkers who worked on some of these movies that out of about 20 shoot days each Mr. Willis was on set for about three to four days. He comes in like an airstrike and basically he bangs out his scenes and the crew tries to shoot a movie around it. The crew is comprised of essentially non-union 20 somethings. Mr. Willis' salary is indeed most of the budget. The film industry here is filled with low-budget film production companies headed by (in some cases criminal) rich people who collect most of the profit and crunch their crews with extremely long hours and then underpay them and people trying to break into the industry take the jobs because they have no other options. It's a sickness. It's why I'm back in college at 25.
Years ago I worked on a film called Six Ways to Kill Your Lover. We shot the whole thing, most of us working for free 18 hours a day for a week just for the credit. Director got bored and never released it. No credit. Yay! It was interesting being part of it, but quite sad.
Oh god, that's depressing. Here in Germany we're always kind of jealous of countries with better movie industries, but I guess more funding doesn't automatically make things better.
I would actually say that is a benefit for people trying to break in. Trying to hire union workers for productions like this would be too expensive and the production wpuldnt happen. Unions are just gatekeepers
@@edd542 it isn't since days worked on non union productions don't cross over into union days. I did sound and I skipped working non union and went right for IATSE big productions and started getting my days right away...people get tricked into working bottom of the barrel gigs when they don't have to... besides, the competing union ACFC does a lot of lower budget work since they have cheaper rates and still has health benefits etc
@@edd542 I wasn't objecting to working for free. I objected to getting no credit for the work. I'm especially annoyed because with the help of a local butcher and a great make up team I made a stunt neck using a mix of meat. It looked totally real in close up. And the Director wouldn't even shoot it. Stand by props budget £25. And I was so tired I can't even credit the butcher - thanks again lads, couldn't have done it without you.
After watching this, I watched Apex out of sheer morbid curiosity. OMG, that strange upbeat music that is heard while Bruce Willis is wandering through the forest eating berries, I thought the RLM had dubbed over the footage in this post. No, it's actually in the movie!!! And the guys are right, most of the movie is just Willis watching from behind a tree while the bad guys argue and kill each other.
Really sad to learn after having a good laugh from this video that Bruce is suffering from aphasia. These films are sadly documenting the steady and shocking decline in Mr. Willis's cognitive abilities. Now, these films are akin to watching Ali in the final years of his career as Parkinsons robbed him of his abilities and vitality. Bruce Willis was always quick with the one-liners and wisecracks. Here we see a 1000 yard gaze and struggle to just say the lines let alone perform. Cheers to Bruce Willis and thank you, sir, for giving us some amazing films over the years. Hopefully, he's able to enjoy the final half of his amazing life with grace and dignity in the company of family and friends.
This was one of the first RLM videos to pop up as a recommendation and i had no idea what was going on at the beginning but I enjoyed the movie reviews. I went back and watched all half in the bags over the last few months, now i finally know what's going on in this video. What a ride!
If you want to watch the start and end parts compiled into one video check out 'Half in the Bag: The Movie' on a channel called Trouchelle. Someone edited all the story bits together, it's great to see.
The most hilarious thing I can think of about these "Geezer Teaser" movies is picturing the director saying, "Hey, can we get a second take on that one?" and Bruce/Nic/Stallone telling them to fuck off. The million dollar check only covers the one day, if you want second takes they better find another million bucks.
Don't even put Nicolas in the same sentence as Willis, his output is way better. Mandy and Pig alone are better than 99% (at best) of what Bruce has been in for like the past decade.
@@roundabout468 friggin Willy's Wonderland is already better. Pig is on a whole other level. Like its a real movie, with a artistic choice and deep story. You can't even compare that to the trash that Apex is.
From the three you mention, only Bruce does that. Fun fact; his character was written off Expendables 3 because he actually demanded 1 million per shooting day, and Sly told him to go fuck himself.
Apart from a few duds Bruce Willis really did crush it in the late 80’s and 90’s - Die hard trilogy, Pulp Fiction, 12 Monkeys, The Fifth Element, Armageddon, The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable. Most actors would kill for a body of work as good as that. Makes his downfall even more sad.
@@mosaicmind88 based on onset stories, he seems to be suffering from dementia (can't remember lines, linereading stage directions, forgetting he's filming a movie) but wants to keep acting.
So sad to see a guy getting $1 million a day. Just tragic. If Bruce want's to be a clown, I'll laugh and point and throw offal at him. You might have seen me nailing him in the face with a cow liver. It was all over the news.
Well, at least the Bruce Willis neverending pile of movies mystery is now solved... And knowing why that happened is one of these situation where explanation of the mystery doesn't bring you closure nor relief, just more sadness. When do you go to theatre only to someone feed you your lines? When you have dementia...
I wonder how much he gets paid for these things since I seriously doubt they'd be able to do his ridiculous demands from a few years back of being paid a million dollars a day for every day he worked. I remember when he threw a fit because for one of the Expendables movies they only paid him 3 MILLION for 4 days of work. What a piece of shit.
Fun fact: In Portugal (where I'm from), those type of movies get theatrical releases lol. I've watched some of them with my friends (like the format best of the worst), and - as you would expect - they're awful. Our reactions are a mix of laughter and pure shock. Bruce Willis double works more than he does.
LMAO why?? Portugal is a small country and there's already so many big hollywood movies every week to fill the cinemas how are these movies getting in? what's the demand? who's these for?
The recent commentaries are getting more critical about the videos but I don't want them to take it down (and the other talking about one of these movies). This whole situation reminds me of old Bela Lugosi and Cameron Mitchell who starred in a series of B movies just to keep afloat their declining careers in spite of several personal problems. Personally speaking, it's quite sad and understandable BUT it's still true their later efforts are poorly made cash-grabs. RLM must keep these videos online to make us think about this kind of situation far more common than people might think.