Thursday, May 7, 2015

Riske Business: Talking Movies With my Mom

by Adam Riske
Happy Mother’s Day all you moms!

I love going to the movies with my mom. She has eclectic taste, funny and surprising opinions and is my go-to-buddy for seeing all of the Fast & Furious movies. She’s the best. Just like last Mother’s Day, I caught up with her to chat about an array of movie topics. Here’s our conversation:

Adam: Hi Mom!

Mrs. Riske: Hi!

Adam: We talked recently about how you’ve been watching Jersey Boys over and over on HBO. It struck a chord with you, huh?

Mrs. Riske: Jersey Boys is one of my favorite movies that have come out in the last few years.

Adam: Um, don’t read my review then please. I don’t want to hurt your feelings. I am not a fan.

Mrs. Riske: I really like the music because it reminds me of when I first started to like it back in 8th grade or at the beginning of high school.

Adam: That’s cool. Nostalgia has a powerful pull. Have you ever seen Frankie Valli or The Four Seasons in concert?

Mrs. Riske: Your dad and I went to see Frankie Valli and the original The Four Seasons twice. We went in 1968 to the Civic Opera House to see them and they were terrific so we went again to see them in 1969.
Adam: Nice. That’s a concert I would have liked going to, seeing them in their prime. Now let’s get into talking about Furious 7.

Mrs. Riske: I really liked the car stunts and the fight scenes and I think they handled the exit of Paul Walker’s character very well.

Adam: Yeah, I would rank the movie fifth out of the seven in terms of my personal favorites but I did enjoy the movie overall. That mountain chase and the parachute drop that came before it were dope and among the best action sequences in the series. I also thought the send-off for Brian O’ Connor’s character made narrative sense and they did the best they could under the circumstances of Paul Walker’s death. The ending was sweet and that’s all this Furious fanboy could ask for.

Mrs. Riske: I think Furious 8 will be as successful as the seventh one because people will want to see how the story evolves without the Paul Walker story line interwoven into the main story.

Adam: Could you tell when it was him or if it was special effects/his brothers standing-in?

Mrs. Riske: Most of the time I could not tell when one of Paul Walker’s brothers substituted for him or when special effects were being used in the movie.
Adam: Are you going to miss Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster) being around since they seem to have written her character out of the series too? I remember last year you said, to my amazement, that she was one of your favorite characters in the series.

Mrs. Riske: Not having Jordana Brewster in the series any longer is no great loss because her character has become really dull and boring. I think that Vin Diesel’s girl in Furious 7 – Michelle Rodriguez – was much more interesting because of the fight scenes.

Adam: Yeah, I loved the end of the fight scene she had with Ronda Rousey where they threw each other over a balcony and onto a deejay’s turntable. That was badass.

Switching gears, you’ve watched Frozen a ton of times babysitting your grandkids. Do you think it’s as good as Disney classics from the early days including Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty?

Mrs. Riske: Yes, I think it’s just as good of a movie. I also think the music in it is just as good too.

Adam: Favorite song from Frozen?

Mrs. Riske: “Let It Go,” because I think it’s so cute and funny when my grandchildren sing the song along with the CD.

Adam: Yeah, it’s adorable. They sing “Le Go. Le Go!”
What are some movies you’ve seen recently that you thought were really good?

Mrs. Riske: Jersey Boys, Frozen, Furious 7 and also Whiplash.

Adam: Whiplash was my favorite movie from last year. That or Selma. You liked that too.

Mrs. Riske: I did. We saw that together. We both cried.

Adam: That movie made me a wreck. One thing I like about you when we go to the movies is that you’ll see a lot of different stuff. For example, we saw a Vincent Price double feature together once and you’re always down for watching Price movies on DVD. What’s your favorite?

Mrs. Riske: The Last Man on Earth, because it’s creepy and not over-the-top in silly gore or campy horror.
Adam: Good choice. It’s up there for me but I think my favorite is Tales of Terror. I’m more into the campy and silly Vincent Price than you are.

Ok, to wrap up, tell me the first thing that comes into your head when I mention the following actors, actresses and genres.

Hugh Jackman

Mrs. Riske: Van Helsing (STUPID MOVIE) and The Wolverine (UGH! GROSS CLAWS). He is laughing all the way to the bank.

Adam: I love that you think Hugh Jackman is this money grubbing bastard person when he seems like a perfectly nice gentleman. Why are you grossed out by Wolverine’s claws?

Mrs. Riske: You don’t know where those claws have been or who they’ve been in.

Adam: Probably up a butt or two.

Mrs. Riske: Oh, Adam. You’re gross. I also think they look silly or like the claws Freddy Kreuger has in A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Reese Witherspoon

Mrs. Riske: Showed her true self when she and her husband got arrested.

Adam: No forgiveness at all. I guess I’m seeing Hot Pursuit without you! I think ol’ Witherspoon is a fox. That girl’s Wild!

Ethan Hawke

Mrs. Riske: Does weird movies and cheated on his wife.

Adam: It’s hilarious how mad you and dad were after watching Predestination. Is cheating on your wife a deal breaker for you when it comes to liking an actor?

Mrs. Riske: I think actors don’t cheat on their wives or husbands any more than ordinary people do but we hear about it more often because they are famous. They also can afford to get divorced whenever they want to because of their wealth. Some people want to marry actors because they are rich and famous regardless of their advanced age.

Adam: Didn’t really answer my question, but I appreciate you’ve given this topic so much thought. ☺

Rachel McAdams

Mrs. Riske: I liked her in The Time Traveler’s Wife, The Notebook and Wedding Crashers.
Adam: Yeah, she’s pretty cool. She’s the type of girl I want to bring home to you and also the type of girl I want to see drop it down low, down lo’ to the flo’. Bradley Cooper has to (seemingly) choose between her and Emma Stone in Aloha. Lucky bastard.

Jennifer Lopez

Mrs. Riske: I liked her in The Back-up Plan and Maid in Manhattan.

Adam: You and dad are the only ones who like The Back-up Plan. You love Hawaii Five-O and Alex O’Loughlin ☺
Superhero Movies

Mrs. Riske: Usually not my thing but some are good.

Adam: Which ones do you like?

Mrs. Riske: Birdman, Superman (with Christopher Reeve) and the original Ninja Turtles movies.

Romantic Comedies

Mrs. Riske: Some are alright, but some are ridiculous like the old romantic comedies with Doris Day, Rock Hudson, James Garner, Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley. They were far-fetched and ridiculous.

Adam: What is one you think is alright?

Mrs. Riske: The Back-up Plan!

Adam: Good chat as always mom. Happy Mother’s Day!

6 comments:

  1. I'm kinda jealous of your movie relationship with your mom. Here's how my conversation would probably go:

    Mom: Why do you waste your time watching so many movies?
    Me: Heavy sigh.....*walks away*

    (P.S. My mom is still awesome.....just not that into movies.) :)

    Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there.

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  2. I have 2 great movie stories about my mom. The night before I was born, mom was off and on dealing with labor pains and what not and could not sleep for the life of her, so to pass the time she watched a Steven Segal marathon on TV all night. It was something like 6 Segal movies in a row, and she just couldn't et enough of them. I joke that that's what started my love of action movies, but it could also be this next story. I didn't know this until like a few months ago, but my first movie ever (technically) was CLIFFHANGER. It came out 2 weeks after my birth, and she really wanted to see it, but couldn't find a baby sitter. So instead she just took me, and whenever I got fussy would just go to the back of the theater and rock me to sleep. So my first movie I ever watched (sort of) was CLOFFHANGER, and that would seemingly explain a lot about my movie preferences. Thanks mom! You're the best. Woooo moms.

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    Replies
    1. Those are great stories, Tim. Thanks for sharing. You're mom's awesome.

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  3. I tried it with my mum


    Seen any movies lately mum?

    I don't like movies

    What's the last one you saw

    I cant remember? I like Coronation street, Im a Celebrity get me out of here and Big Brother

    Big brother made a Zombie series in the Big brother house called Dead set

    I don't like Zombies neither

    At this point I gave up, maybe I was adopted ;)





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    Replies
    1. I hear such good things about Dead Set but I still don't think there's any way to see it in the U.S.

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    2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBuXdH-0WPU&feature=youtube_gdata_player


      I know you don't like to watch on YouTube but sometimes there's no other option, the Whole series combined here is only 2hr 20mins, ;)

      Delete