Announcing A Year in the Life of Bruce Willis!
As readers of this blog, but also my second, SECRET patron-only blog over at my Patreon page are all too aware, I have been going through a bit of a professional midlife crisis. I was hoping that The Joy of Trash would be a big commercial success that would drive traffic and income to the website that spawned it.
Instead the book has under-performed, sales for my previously successful “Weird Al” Yankovic books have dropped precipitously and the site’s Patreon income is near an all time low just under five years into its existence.
What I’m doing simply does not seem to be working from a business standpoint. Normally I would just keep at it, because I am terrified of change and also failure and also success and also spiders and also pretty much everything else.
Thankfully, there’s a new spirit sweeping through Nathan Rabin’s Happy Place, one that embraces the future and invites readers and patrons alike to “get high on yourself.”
No, wait, I confused my site with Get High on Yourself, the Robert Evans-produced “Woodstock of the 1980s” that I write about in The Joy of Trash.
The new spirit sweeping the Happy Place is instead my trademark combination of inspiration and desperation. I need to do something new and different and I need to do it now if I’m ever going to achieve my goal of hitting five hundred patrons (we’re 28 away at the moment) by Valentine’s Day.
I love the Happy Place, but I feel like it has gotten very regimented and predictable. It’s pretty much just Travolta/Cage, The Travolta/Cage Project, The Big Whoop and Control Nathan Rabin 4.0
There’s nothing wrong with those features but they do not attract new readers/patrons/commenters, nor do they get current readers excited about the site.
So I’ve decided to do some new and different things. Over at my Patreon page, I’ve started writing and posting a daily blog just for patrons. It’s a lot of work but so far it has been going really well.
People donate to the site now because they like me and want it to survive but I would like to give patrons more for their money. I want patrons to be motivated by self-interest as well as generosity, and to create more of a community.
In a bid to give you more than what you expect I’ve begun a project called A Year in the Life of Bruce Willis where I will watch and write about all seven movies Bruce Willis released in 2021.
I certainly don’t have to remind any of you that last year was the magical annum when Willis “starred” in Cosmic Sin, Out of Death, Midnight in the Switchgrass, Survive the Game, Apex, Deadlock and Fortress.
He undoubtedly would have made many more movies if it were not for COVID 19. I know damn well that I am not the only person to have the idea of writing about these movies.
When one of the most famous movie stars in the world, a mega-star whose films have grossed over five BILLION dollars makes 7 movies in a year people are going to take notice.
Just this afternoon I saw that Red Letter Media’s “Half in the Bag” was covering Willis ‘recent output. I know someone did a Twitter thread ranking them as well.
But I think it’s safe to assume that no one else is going to devote TEN THOUSAND WORDS and SEVEN ARTICLES to these ridiculous bit of pop detritus.
I’m not the only one covering Willis’ not so magnificent seven 2021 movies, but I will go deeper than anyone else. I’ve watched and written up Out of Death, Midnight in the Switchgrass, Fortress, Apex and Survive the Game and while they are terrible in predictably similar ways I’ve been having a blast wading hip-deep into these murky waters and I am perversely excited about finishing my journey with Cosmic Sin and Deadlock.
In all of the Willis movies I’ve watched so far, he’s played a lawman. He’s played a cop nearing retirement, a retired cop, an ex-con turned convict and an FBI and CIA agent. At this point in his career I’m not sure he’s aware he can play characters other than cops.
Travolta/Cage and The Travolta/Cage Project and The Joy of Trash have helped prepare me for this journey by making me think long and hard about some of the most pointless and obscure movies around.
Willis and Travolta are even slated to work together again on the upcoming thriller Paradise City, which is coming soon to a RedBox machine near you.
So look for A Year in the Life of Bruce Willis beginning this Wednesday and ENJOY the ride.
The Joy of Trash, the Happy Place’s first non-"Weird Al” Yankovic-themed book is out and it is magnificent!
Buy The Joy of Trash, The Weird Accordion to Al and the The Weird Accordion to Al in both paperback and hardcover and The Weird A-Coloring to Al and The Weird A-Coloring to Al: Colored-In Special Edition signed from me personally (recommended) over at https://www.nathanrabin.com/shop
Or you can buy The Joy of Trash here and The Weird A-Coloring to Al here and The Weird Accordion to Al here
Help ensure a future for the Happy Place during an uncertain era AND get sweet merch by pledging to the site’s Patreon account at https://www.patreon.com/nathanrabinshappyplace We just added a bunch of new tiers and merchandise AND a second daily blog just for patrons!
Alternately you can buy The Weird Accordion to Al, signed, for just 19.50, tax and shipping included, at the https://www.nathanrabin.com/shop or for more, unsigned, from Amazon here.
I make my living exclusively through book sales and Patreon so please support independent media and one man’s dream and kick in a shekel or two!