Wednesday, September 2, 2015

F This Movie! - Adam Riske's Favorite Movies

It's the long overdue countdown of Adam Riske's five favorite films.



Download this episode here. (95 MB)

Subscribe to F This Movie! in iTunes.

Listen to F This Movie! on Stitcher.

Also discussed this episode: The Duff (2015), We Are Your Friends (2015), Mistress America (2015), American Ultra (2015), Cop Car (2015), Chappie (2015), I Am a Ghost (2012),

53 comments:

  1. Really interesting so far. Riske, you are a really smart and funny dude...and I am being straight with you :)
    I am guilty of the Saturday Night Fever misconception. It is a movie I have never seen, but always just assumed it was a "time capsule" and the "disco movie".

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    1. I agree Steve. I think Adam has a really great sense of humour. He's always fun on the podcast. Really easy to laugh with. Sorry if we're embarrassing you Mr Riske ;)

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  3. YES!!! Finally! Been anticipating this podcast for AGES. I love your work Riske.

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  4. Nice intro!

    Thanks for the kind words, guys. That sounds like a great experience watching "I am a Ghost"! That reminds me of when I would be watching Twin Peaks late at night and start dozing off, then the Frost/Lynch outro would hit LOUD AS HELL and wake me up! Terrifying. Don't you think that "I am a Ghost" has the friggin' best Title Card in years?! It blew me away. The Conjuring is a close 2nd of recent note. Glad you took the time to see it and spread the word to the F-Heads. It's certainly not a film for every taste and can be daunting, but from a first time director and very little budget I think it's a beautifully shot, well crafted film steeped in atmosphere and works better than most Horror films these days.

    Anyway, enough of that, this is Adam's show. I really liked the way you broke down your favorite picks. I've always felt that specific times and circumstances in one's life plays a huge role in how you view a film and you captured that perfectly with your background for each film. I'm curious if you found it hard to pick a top five? I try to do it every once and a while and find it impossible so I always start breaking down my top lists into genres. I finally stopped trying and said fuck it, Die Hard is my #1. I've seen it more than any other film and never get sick of it. Did you come to your top 5 with a lot of back and forth or did it come easy?

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    1. I totally will watch I Am A Ghost soon and report back.

      I did find it difficult to pick a top five. A few moved in and out and there's one I sort of regret saying is on my top 5 already (I won't say which though).

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    2. Haha! That's really interesting. Hmmm...I wonder which one cause all of them were super strong picks especially with you explaining what they meant to you. I feel you though - like I said I gave up cause mine changes non-stop. #1 will most likely remain but the rest are up in the air any given moment in time. I believe It's all about where you are in life and those certain years where you are exposed to stuff that you never knew existed and it just blows you away at the time you see it. Hopefully, that keeps happening forever therefore making the choices for top lists that much harder and that much varied.

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    3. Btw - I hope you like I am Ghost or at least appreciate it.

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    4. Me too! I'll check it out this weekend.

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    5. Hey Chaybee. Just finished I AM A GHOST. I don't think I understand the ending but it's very impressively made for the budget. It's unsettling for sure.

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    6. Nice! Glad to hear you watched it, Adam.

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    7. Yeah, keep me posted with future recommendations :-)

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  5. Awesome! I've been hoping for this one since I started listening a year or two ago. Always meant to suggest it as a "rainy day" idea, but I'm sure plenty of people did. Excited to listen.

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  6. SLP lovers, unite! I'm glad we share an enjoyment of that wonderful movie, Adam. And I'm equally thrilled that we've been able to bond over our love for it. I get you, Adam. I get you. :)

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  7. "Fuck fish" - Adam Riske, F This Movie

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  8. Ive just started and that intro is brilliant ;)

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    1. Ps I know what chronologically means. It's the order you watched them in

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  9. Riske rules. Can't wait to listen.

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  10. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't listened yet, but I just wanted to say I have the exact same favorite movie, and yet I'm still known to fast forward through the first thirty minutes. Like you say, you have to be in a very specific place psychologically and emotionally to really watch that movie in its entirety, and I recognize that I'm not always in that place, but some of its imagery is just so unimaginably beautiful that I can't resist putting it on anyway. And that's when I fast forward through the monkeys.

    Lovely podcast, fellas! A joy to listen to, as always.

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    1. Thanks Wes. I'm fascinated by you skipping The Dawn of Man altogether. That's ballsy :-)

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    2. Haha yeah I don't always do it, just when I'm in certain moods. Thank you for sharing some of your favorite movies!

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  11. Can we get a mini podcast on Adam Riske's favorite Lights-Camera-Jackson reviews??

    - David Lupton

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    1. It would be my honor. BTW...start with his Ted 2 review, then move straight to his 12 Days of Xmas videos.

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    2. Holy crap, Ted 2 - top 5 favorite comedies ever?! Haha! Thanks, that was brilliant. I can NEVER watch his 12 days of xmas video again as I might jump out of a window.

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    3. That kid's got the stuff. The right stuff? I'm not so sure, but def the stuff... gnawmean.

      - Dave

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  12. Looking forward to listening to this one since I enjoy Mr. Riske's work. I've got a feeling it's going to be a very interesting show, I scrolled past the above comments to avoid spoilers.

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  13. Are you gonna do one of these with Heath?

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  14. I don't know you, Adam, and I don't know if I've read many of your articles, but this was very nice to hear your favorites, thank you for sharing. It's nice to hear what personally touches people about movies, and it's totally different than critiquing movies on their own. I feel like I'm always trying to figure my sister out by watching her favorites. And I get into similar "wtf" moments like Patrick- sometimes you just don't get it.

    SLP is one of her favorites, too. But gotta say I'm with Patrick on that one- I couldn't take the ending. After seeing American Hustle I felt I could accept that David O Russell maybe probably just has a personal thing for happy endings, even if they spin his movies into fairy tale land (for me at least).

    I can relate to one thing you said - for me, as I get older, I too have a greater appreciation for seeing that romance can work out in life and on screen. I wish there were more strong women to look up to in movies and more relationships that looked like they'd stand a chance.

    Also I also agree with your favorite horror movie! The concept of it is so terrifying to me that I've never watched it. I live on an island and frequent the beach. I can never see it.

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    1. Thanks Meredith. I really enjoyed reading your comment.

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    2. Also, have you seen As Good As It Gets? Haven't heard about that on this site.

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    3. I have. It's been a long time though. I liked it back in the day. You a fan?

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    4. Yes, although surprisingly so. It's a romance and too sophisticated for my usual taste. Something about the dialogue is amazing. Maybe I'm partly fascinated by the fact that they're older people. Hey, can I ask you something? Do you think if you saw SLP and the leads were not good looking, you would still love the movie?

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  15. Good list Adam, a couple of super quick notes I know your solo movie going experience well as 2 of the last 3 movies i saw were in private theatres (the movies being Iron Will and The Gift) and came super close with the recent No Escape but I had a perfectly nice old couple ruin my private screening room last minute. Also as someone who has seen the Shrek movies way too many times for work related purposes yeah those things are just pop culture reference waterfall- the 4th movie redeemed the series a bit but still was only a marginal improvement.

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  16. Never thought I would hear Silver Linings Playbook on your list, but I'm glad I did. I love that freaking movie so much. I have a real special connection with it as well, also having dealt with anxiety and depression. I also have a dad whom I really only connect with through sports and sometimes movies. The ending almost always makes me cry, yup I said it. Jennifer Lawrence is perfect...just perfect in SLP. I love movies that can take you through so many emotions and make you a believer in the end, a believer in happy endings, that good things can happen in this world if you stay positive and work hard.

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    1. Yep. I love the message of the movie. It's very uplifting.

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  17. Also a big Kubrick fan, was hoping I would hear one of his films on your list Adam, for me it's a difficult choice between 2001 and A Clockwork Orange. The most amazing thing about 2001 is how it still holds up to this day, for a movie made that long ago, it still looks pretty damn good.

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  18. I'm still going through this and loving it but just wanted to stop and add this kinda weird confession that I almost CRIED the last time I watched Pulp Fiction - I think it was when John and Uma are at the end of their date - not because of the emotion of the scene or whatever, but just because the movie is so damn good. I've never had that experience before - choking up purely from my heartfelt love of something that wasn't a person - it was weird. So far 2/3 of your movies are in my all-time Top 5 so I'm definitely going to have to check out Saturday Night Fever and looking forward to the next two!

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    1. Cool. Let me know what you think of SNF when you watch it :-)

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  19. "Jaws: good." - Adam Riske, F This Movie

    I love this series, I'm glad we finally get to hear Adam's and I'm looking forward to Heath's next week. Adam's common theme of people trying to be better people is beautiful and makes me want to give him a hug.

    I saw Saturday Night Fever around the time I was 12 and was really disturbed by the rapes in the movie and by how easily the main girl forgives him in the end. I then saw it again in my late teens and, though it still disturbs me, I feel like it adds to the complexities of the characters; Patrick is right (I have thought this so many times listening to the podcasts) that it would have been an easy choice to make Tony a hero, but having him do terrible things gives him flaws and makes him human. That we could still like that character despite some despicable behavior is a testament to Travolta's incredible performance.

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  20. Yay! Like a lot of people here I have been wanting to hear this episode for a very long time! Really great show you two. Adam, really nice to hear the stories alongside these picks :)

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  21. I love this show. I actually saw Pulp Fiction back in high school and had almost no reaction to it. It was fine and I never revisited it. In the past few years I've grown to love Tarantino so much but never came back to Pulp. But Adam, you talking so passionately about it got me to check it out again. I put it on late last night totally not expecting to finish it... but I could not turn it off. Oh man, I was so insanely wrong about this movie. It's incredible. My favorite thing about it is actually John Travolta. I can't begin to understand how great his performance is. Now all I want to watch is Pulp Fiction. Thank you Adam Riske!

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  22. Watched Bed of Roses last night and liked it.

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    1. Haha. That's awesome. It's a crazy movie, right? I love it so much.

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    2. They really weren't pulling any stops. It's the boring kind of fantasy that makes you feel safe... which is a needed fantasy sometimes. Refreshing to see in the shiny Nicholas Sparks era. Also... Christian Slater's character was a great blend of creepy and square. I think the movie could have worked just as well if he decided to go the serial killer route halfway through.

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    3. I just love that you think Christian Slater is crazy in that movie and then they reveal that Mary Stuart Masterson is equally, if not more, nuts.

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    5. It would actually be a more chilling horror movie if she was the one to flip the switch on a harmless, romantic stranger who wanted to rescue her.

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  23. Riske, you ever seen Blood Punch (2013)? Would like to hear your thoughts.

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    1. No I haven't. I'll check it out and let you know.

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