Film Review: Survive The Game (dir by James Cullen Bressack)

Posted on March 25, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Looking at the title of 2021’s Survive the Game, you may be tempted to wonder what game the characters are attempting to survive.

The answer is that there isn’t a game, unless you’re one of those people who still insists on using “The Game,” to refer to the drug trade because you once heard someone do the same thing on The Wire.

Though there are no games, the film is full of people who are trying to survive. For instance, after a drug bust gone wrong, Detective David Watson (Bruce Willis) is trying to survive having been shot in the gut. He manages to do so surprisingly well, even though he’s being held hostage by the bad guys. The leader of the bad guys, Frank (Michael Sirow), is supposed to be a fearsome torture expert but David just smirks at him.

David’s partner, Cal (Swen Temmel), survives by running to a nearby farm. The farm itself is owned by Eric (Chad Michael Murray), a veteran who is haunted by the death of his wife and who just wants to be left alone. With the bad guys surrounding his farm and looking to eliminate all of the witnesses, Eric teams up with Cal.

There’s a lot of bad guys in this film and they’re all so eccentric that they really do become the main attraction. The bad guys are occasionally entertaining. They spend a lot of time bickering and each one has at least one particularly obnoxious personality trait that can be used to distinguish one from the other. Most of them have a tattoos. One has a mohawk. Quite a few have brightly colored hair. You can’t help but wonder how any of these people could possibly be successful criminals because they’ve all gone out of their way to make sure that it will be easy for law enforcement to spot and identify them. To once again cite The Wire, Wee-Bey Brice yelled at at his son Namond for not shaving his head because the police would be able to easily spot Namond’s haircut. Wee-Bey had a point.

Anyway, this is a siege film. Cal and Eric spend almost the entire movie running around the farm and picking off bad guys. For those of you who are into this sort of thing, some of the kills are imaginative and ruthless. Interestingly, some of the bad guys are presented as being more sympathetic than the film’s heroes. They have their own relationships and fears and they get upset when their friends are killed. I actually felt a little bit bad for some of them. It makes Survive the Game slightly more interesting than the usual DTV B-action movie.

As you may have guessed, this is another Randall Emmett production. Emmett is best-known for his ability to get former and current A-listers to take small roles in his B-movies. As such, an actor like Bruce Willis or Sylvester Stallone would put in a day’s worth of work and the film could be advertised as starring Bruce Willis as opposed to Chad Michael Murray. In Survive The Game, there’s a somewhat endearing moment that occurs when Willis appears to start laughing at the ludicrous dialogue to which he is being subjected. That said, Willis was obviously not doing well when he appeared in this film and it does make some of his scenes somewhat difficult to watch. The viewer really does end up missing the Bruce who could drive Alan Rickman to distraction.

Survive the Game is a film that I had long meant to watch, though I’m not sure why. I think the title appealed to me. Again, I’m not sure why. It’s better than some of Emmett’s DTV action movies but it’s still pretty forgettable. I would still watch a prequel about how the mohawk guy became a ruthless mercenary. It seems like there’s probably a story there.

Film Review: Out of Death (dir by Mike Burns)

Posted on March 25, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The first question that one might want to ask about 2021’s Out of Death is what is going on with that title.

Out of Death? Did they run out? Is there an issue with the warehouse? Is it a nationwide outage or just a regional problem? How exactly does someone find themselves out of death? I mean, there are plenty of shortages in the world. There are people who can’t get clean drinking water or tasty food. I had to wait an extra day to get my new scanner because of a supply chain issue. These things happen. But people never seem to run out of death. Death is the one thing that we will always in large quantities.

As for the film itself, it is rather death-obsessed. Shannon (Jaime King) is a photojournalist who has recently lost her father. All she wants to do is spread his ashes in the woods. However, when she witnesses a murder in the woods, she finds herself being pursued by a compromised deputy (Lala Kent). Meanwhile, Jack Harris (Bruce Willis) is a retired detective who has recently lost his wife. He wants to spend some time alone in his niece’s cabin but instead, he finds himself mixed up in Shannon’s problems. The corrupt sheriff (Michael Sirow) wants to be mayor and he’s not going to let Shannon and Jack stand in his way, even if it means killing every possible witness.

Even though Bruce Willis gets top-billing along with Jaime King, he’s not in much of Out of Death. Out of Death was one of the many film productions to be delayed by the COVID lockdowns. When production finally did begin, Bruce Willis shot all of his scenes in one day. (The entire film took 9 days to shoot. Roger Corman, if he was still with us, would want to know why the production took 9 days when it could just as easily been done in two.) Sadly, this is one of the films that Bruce Willis made after it became apparent that he was having serious issues with his health. Willis delivers his lines in a halting manner, which technically works for his emotionally shattered character but which is still hard to watch now that we know that Willis was suffering from frontotemporal dementia at the time. Producer Randall Emmett made his career by convincing big stars to appear in B-movies and he shouldn’t be faulted for that. However, the later films he made with Willis not always easy to watch. Say what you will about the films that Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro have made with Emmett, they all knew what they were getting into. It’s hard to say whether the same was true with Bruce Willis.

As for Out of Death, it’s a fairly dull cat-and-mouse game but I will give it some credit for capturing the atmosphere that goes along with being isolated in the Southern wilderness. This is a film where you could feel the humidity rising from the screen. And Jaime King, who deserves better, gave a strong performance as Shannon. Otherwise, the most interesting thing about Out of Death is the mystery as to what exactly the title means.

Out of Death? It’s a nice thought.

Film Review: Setup (dir by Mike Gunther)

Posted on March 25, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

On the mean streets of Detroit …. really, Detroit again?

Well, anyway, Sonny (5o Cent) is a career criminal who also happens to be a really nice guy. When his partner-in-crime, Vincent (Ryan Phillippe), worries about the survival of his imprisoned father (James Remar), Sonny is sympathetic. When his other partner-in-crime, Dave (Brent Granstaff), won’t shut up about how much he loves his wife and his life in the suburbs, Sonny is genuinely happy for him. Sonny may be a criminal but he’s not violent. He’s not a killer.

Understandably, Sonny is upset when Vincent kills a guard during their latest diamond heist. However, that’s nothing compared to how angry Sonny becomes when Vincent betrays both him and Dave, shooting them and leaving them for dead. Dave dies but Sonny survives. Seeking revenge, Sonny teams up with a gangster named Biggs (Bruce Willis). Biggs demands that Sonny retrieve some money for him. It really shouldn’t be that difficult except for the fact that every criminal in Detroit is soon revealed to be an absolute idiot.

At this point, I’ll admit that 2011’s Setup has more than a little in common with Gun. Like that film, it takes place in Detroit and it centers on the drama that takes place in the shadows of the underworld. 50 Cent plays a criminal in both films. James Remar has a small role in both films. Both films feature multiple betrayals and both of them contrast the criminals on the street with the bosses behind-the-scenes. Both films were also produced by Randall Emmett. Indeed, this was one of the first films that Bruce Willis did with Emmett. Emmett would go on to produce several of Willis’s final films and there’s definitely some controversy as to whether or not those films exploited Willis at a time when he was particularly vulnerable.

That said, I actually kind of liked Setup. It’s definitely a low-budget B-flick but it still has its ambitions and it actually achieves some of them. 50 Cent is far more convincing as the well-intentioned but somewhat dumb Sonny in Setup than he was in Gun and he actually does pretty well as the film progresses and Sonny becomes more conflicted about whether or not he actually wants his legacy to be one of vengeance. Ryan Phillippe is well-cast as Vincent and I liked the performances of Jay Karnes and Jenna Dewan, both playing low-level criminals who find themselves in over their heads. The film did a good job of examining all of the different levels of crime in Detroit, from the wealthy Biggs all the way down to the idiots who continually screw up the simplest of plans. Randy Courtere does an especially good job as Petey, the moron who thinks playing with a loaded gun is a good idea.

As for Bruce Willis, his role here is small and it’s a role that probably could have been played by any tough guy actor of a certain age. But, Willis still brings his cocky charm to the role. (Seeing Willis here really drives home just how different he was in the final films that he did for Emmett.) Willis plays Biggs with a sense of humor and it’s just what the movie needed.

To say a movie is better than expected can sound like a backhanded compliment but it’s a compliment nonetheless. Setup was definitely better than I expected.

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996, directed by Mike Judge)

Posted on March 19, 2026 by Jedadiah Leland

While having a dream about being a giant who can destroy a city and almost score, Butt-Head is woken up by his friend Beavis. Beavis points out that their TV has disappeared. Muddy footprints lead away from the television’s former location and out the front door. Anyone who is familiar with MTV’s Beavis and Butt-Head will immediately realize that this is a crisis. Animated and voiced by Mike Judge, the moronic teenage duo of Beavis and Butt-Head really don’t have anything in their lives beyond television and heavy metal. Beavis and Butt-Head set off to find their television, a quest that will see them traveling all the way from Highland, Texas to Las Vegas and eventually Washington D.C. Along the way, they’ll be pursued by ATF Agent Fleming (Robert Stack), they’ll get hired by alcoholic Muddy Grimes (Bruce Willis) to kill his wife, Dallas (Demi Moore), and Dallas will set them up as the perfect patsies for a terrorist attack on Washington D.C. Chelsea Clinton will beat up Butt-Head. President Clinton will declares the boys to be heroes. They’ll even meet their fathers, though everyone involved will be too dumb to realize it. But will Beavis and Butt-Head ever find their TV?

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America was the first movie to star Beavis and Butt-Head and I can still remember when it first came out in 1996. No one expected much from it but it turned out to be one of the funniest movies of the year, a triumph of animation, social satire, and jokes about wood. A lot of the film’s humor comes from just how stupid Beavis and Butt-Head are but even more of the humor comes from everyone’s inability to understand just how stupid they are. Agent Fleming may think he’s saving America but he’s actually just chasing two teenagers who don’t even know how to read their own names. Muddy may think that he’s hired two experienced hitmen to “do” his wife but instead, he’s promised to pay two idiots to do his wife. (With the money, “we could buy a TV,” Butt-Head tells Beavis.) Everyone, from Fleming to Muddy Grimes, assumes that there must be some sort of grand scheme behind Beavis and Butt-Head’s journey across America. There isn’t. They just want to find a television.

Beavis and Butt-Head were and still are two wonderfully comedic creations. Watching them, I’m always surprised to remember that Mike Judge provided both of their voices. When they argue with each other about where their TV has gone or if it’s a good idea to jump out of a speeding car, Judge is arguing with himself. Butt-Head may be the leader but the heart of the duo is definitely Beavis and maybe Cornholio. The non-stop laughing, the inability to read, the obsessively crude humor, Beavis and Butt-Head were the future and they didn’t even realize it. Voicing the boys and their neighbor Mr. Anderson, Mike Judge generates most of the laughs in the movie but he still gets first-class help from Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, and especially Robert Stack.

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America was considered to be a surprise commercial and critical success but the only people who were really surprised were those who hadn’t previously experienced Mike Judge’s sense of humor and satirical viewpoint. Beavis and Butt-Head Do America is smart comedy about some very dumb people.

Blind Date (1987, directed by Blake Edwards)

Posted on March 19, 2026 by Jedadiah Leland

Hé

Walter Davis (Bruce Willis) is a workaholic who, in typical 80s fashion, is trying to secure a deal to manage the assets of a Japanese industrialist. When he needs a date to a business dinner, his brother (Phil Hartman) sets him up with his wife’s cousin, Nadia (Kim Basinger). Walter is warned to not let Nadia take a single sip of alcohol. Of course, Walter lets Nadia drink some champagne. It turns out that Nadia loses all of her inhibitions when she drinks and she says exactly what’s on her mind. The dinner turns into a disaster as Nadia convinces the industrialist’s wife to file for divorce. Walter not only loses his job but he now has to get the intoxicated Nadia back home. Making that difficult is that Nadia’s ex, David (John Larroquette), is still obsessed with her. David is also crazy and spends almost the entire night chasing Nadia and Walter.

Blind Date is historically significant because it was both Bruce Willis’s first credited film role (he had previously appeared, uncredited, in The First Deadly Sin and The Verdict) and also Willis’s first starring role. Willis received the role after becoming a sudden star due to his role on Moonlighting and the entire movie is full of television actors. John Larroquette was best-known for Night Court. Phil Hartman had just started on Saturday Night Live. William Daniels appears as Larroquette’s father. At the time Blind Date came out, Kim Basinger was the closest thing that the cast had to a legitimate movie star.

Watching Blind Date today, it’s strange to see Willis playing a nebbish. He’s likable but miscast as a straight-laced executive who needs his sister-in-law to set him up on a date. It’s a role that would have been best-served by someone like John Ritter, who starred in director Blake Edwards’s Skin Deep just two years after Blind Date. As David, John Larroquette is cartoonish but entertaining and he gets most of the best lines. Kim Basinger is beautiful as Nadia but doesn’t always seem to be comfortable performing comedy. There are funny moments but, as with so many of Blake Edwards’s later films, it’s uneven.

Blind Date was a box office hit. (It was the last big hit of Blake Edwards’s career.) The film found its real success on HBO, where it was a mainstay for several years. Luckily, a more appropriate starring vehicle for Bruce Willis was released just a year later. In Die Hard, Bruce Willis brought John McClaine to life and made film history.

I Watched The Whole Nine Yards (2000, Dir. by Jonathan Lynn)

Posted on March 19, 2026 by Dazzling Erin

Oz (Matthew Perry) is an unhappily married dentist who discovers that his new neighbor, Jimmy (Bruce Willis), is a notorious contract killer who has a bounty on his head. Oz’s wife, Sophie (Rosanna Arquette), wants Oz to rat Jimmy out to the local mob boss (Kevin Pollack) and collect the bounty. Oz is deeply in debt and has a hard time saying no to his wife but he and Jimmy have actually become friends. Also, Oz is falling in love with his dental assistant, Jill (Amanda Peet) despite the fact that Jill is also a contract killer, though she’s still a “virgin” because she’s falling in love with the man that she was hired to kill.

The Whole Nine Yards is an amusing comedy that works because of the chemistry between Matthew Perry and Bruce Willis. When it came to his movie career, Perry was always Chandler Bing no matter who he was playing but that didn’t matter because everyone loved Chandler. I know I loved Chandler, even if Joey would have been the Friend that I probably would have ended up flirting with. Perry was a naturally funny actor and he and Willis made for a good team in The Whole Nine Yards. I also really liked Amanda Peet’s energetic performance as Jill and Kevin Pollack as the crime boss. The Whole Nine Yards is basically a violent sitcom. It may not be a great movie but Perry and Willis will make you laugh.

It’s a little hard to rewatch now. Matthew Perry is gone. Bruce Willis is retired for health reasons. They’re both having so much fun in this movie and are so entertaining to watch that it’s impossible not feel a little sad watching them. But the movie also shows what Perry and Willis could do, even with so-so material. Watching the movie made me laugh and it made me sad but mostly it just made me appreciate their talent. We can mourn what we’ve lost while still appreciating what we had.

I Liked Look Who’s Talking (1989, Dir. by Amy Heckerling)

Posted on March 19, 2026 by Dazzling Erin

Mollie Jensen (Kirstie Alley) is an accountant who has an affair with a married client, Albert (George Segal) and ends up getting pregnant. At first, Albert has no interest in being a father but luckily, when Mollie goes into labor, she’s driven to the hospital by a down-on-his-luck taxi driver named James (John Travolta). After little Mikey is born, James agrees to be Mikey’s babysitter in return for Mollie letting James use her address so he can set up nursing care for his grandfather (Abe Vigoda). Mollie and James are falling in love but then Albert reenters the picture. Will Mollie choose rich Albert or goofy James?

As if there’s any doubt!

The important this is not the story but that the story is narrated by Mikey and Mikey sounds just like Bruce Willis!

I will admit it. I like Look Who’s Talking.

Hey, it’s cute! It’s a movie that opens with a point of view shot of a herd of sperm heading for an egg. Little sperm Mikey is so excited! Even before Mikey is born, he’s giving us his opinions. When he is born and they cut the umbilical cord, he says, “Hey, I need that!” What newborn wouldn’t say that? You’re comfortable and suddenly, you’re getting dragged into the real world.

What I really like about Look Who’s Talking is that we just hear Mikey’s narration and thoughts but Mikey himself doesn’t actually talk. It’s not like those creepy commercials where they use cheap CGI to make it look like the babies are actually talking. I hate those commercials. Instead, we’re just hearing Mikey’s thoughts and his thoughts are probably the ones that most babies would have. He just sounds like Bruce Willis. John Travolta is adorable in this. Kirstie Alley is neurotic and relatable. The babies are all cute. But the true star of the film is Bruce Willis’s voice. Supposedly, Willis ad-libbed most of his lines. Mikey’s crude but most babies are.

No, I haven’t seen the sequels. I won’t ever see the sequels. I get the feeling this is one of those movies that could only work once. Didn’t the third movie feature talking animals and no Bruce Willis? There’s no need for that.

Song of the Day: Under the Boardwalk, performed by Bruce Wills and The Drifters

Posted on March 19, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today is the birthday of the legendary Bruce Willis. Here he has in the 80s, performing Under The Boardwalk with The Drifters. It’s also our song of the day.

Oh, when the sun beats down and burns the tar up on the roof
And your shoes get so hot you wish your tired feet were fire proof
Under the boardwalk, down by the sea, yeah
On a blanket with my baby is where I’ll be

Out of the sun
(Under the boardwalk) We’ll be havin’ some fun
(Under the boardwalk) People walking above
(Under the boardwalk) We’ll be fallin’ in love
(Under the boardwalk) Yeah (boardwalk)

From the park you hear the happy sound of the carousel
You can almost taste the hot dogs and french fries they sell, yes you can
Under the boardwalk, down by the sea, yeah
On a blanket with my baby is where I’ll be

Yeah, under the boardwalk, down by the sea, yeah
On a blanket with my baby is where I’ll be

Songwriters: Arthur Resnick / Kenny Young

Scenes I Love: Bruce Willis and Dennis Franz in Die Hard 2

Posted on March 19, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I’ve always enjoyed this confrontation from 1990’s Die Hard 2.

I think it accurately reflects how most cops and security people would react to having John McClane in their town (trouble does tend to follow him!) and both Bruce Willis and Dennis Franz seem to be having fun trying to irritate each other.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Bruce Willis Edition

Posted on March 19, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

Today, Bruce Willis turns 71. It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Bruce Willis Films