Shows
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast181. Groundhog DayWe often say it's a miracle any movie gets made, but some movies are actual miracles. Groundhog Day (1993) is a perfect example of this, because its three primary creative voices (director Harold Ramis, writer Danny Rubin, and star Bill Murray) were each pulling in different, conflicting directions throughout the movie's production. Somehow, all that dissension led to a perfect object of a film, a hilarious comedy that gets at huge philosophical questions, but not in an annoying way. And it's also a sweet and lovely little romantic comedy... so why did it ruin the decades-long friendship between Ramis and...
2026-01-301h 54
1-Week Rental: A Movie PodcastDr. No1-Week Rental is launching a brand-new spin-off, a monthly podcast hosted by Matt and Wade Hymel going through the James Bond franchise, one movie at a time! Introducing PodJob: A James Bond Podcast. 1-Week Rental returns next week (January 30, 2026) with an episode about Groundhog Day (1993). Subscribe to PodJob: A James Bond Podcast: Apple Podcast | https://bit.ly/4jRL2K1 Spotify | https://bit.ly/4a8jM6E YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@PodJob007 They really had it figured out right away—the look, the sound, the feel of James Bond. Sean Connery just walki...
2026-01-231h 50
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast180. Den Of ThievesMatt brings Laci into the glorious world of Gerard Butler, who is single-handedly trying to save American movies by making throwback '90s-feeling thrillers that are actually playing in movie theaters. The best of these is Den of Thieves, a wonderful heist movie from 2018 in which the cops who chase the bad guys are maybe less honorable than the bad guys themselves, if you can believe it. Time stamps: 00:09:30 — History segment: Career overview of Gerard Butler; production and reception of Den of Thieves 00:36:15 — Movie discussion 01:42:55 — Final thoughts & star ratings Sources: "Christian...
2026-01-161h 46
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast179. The Shining (1980)Matt and Laci go through the The Shining, probably the best English-language horror movie ever made. Is it the story of a man's battle with alcoholism, a complicated metaphor for the American ruling class's many sins, or is it just a simple haunted house story? What if I told you… yes? The Shining started life as Stephen King's third novel. It was a very personal novel for King, inspired by his own life and his struggles with alcoholism and fatherhood. It's understandable that he wouldn't like Kubrick not centering those issues in his film, but Kubrick saw so...
2026-01-022h 13
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast178. Elf (with In Love With Horror)Laci and Matt are joined by their friends AJ and Kristie from the In Love With Horror podcast to go through the history of the modern Christmas classic Elf (2003). First, the podcast goes through the history of the movie, starting as a spec script in the '90s with Jim Carrey vaguely attached. It entered development hell for years before being revived with Will Ferrell and Jon Favreau, before ultimately becoming the classic it is today... one that you just know Warner Bros is threatening to turn into a cinematic universe at any second. Time stamps: 0:00 — Episode opening 4:30 — Hist...
2025-12-191h 47
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast177. Stephen King's It (1990)Content warning: We talk about child abuse as part of our discussion of both the 1980s "Satanic Panic" craze in the history section, and extensively in the discussion of the movie itself. Laci and Matt hop on their bicycles and rush home in time to see American Bandstand on the TV set while scarfing down mayonnaise sandwiches and whole milk. That's right, we're talking It! No, not the hit movie from 2017, but the made-for-TV miniseries from 1990 that traumatized a generation. Next week (Dec. 19, 2025): The lovely AJ and Kristie from In Love With Horror return to...
2025-12-122h 25
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast176. The Cabin In The Woods (with Cinematic Joshua)Laci, Matt, and returning guest Cinematic Joshua pay a visit to The Cabin In The Woods, where things are not quite as they seem. We get the feeling somebody's watching us, and pumping chemicals into our scalps to make us stupider and hornier than we usually are, and suddenly we're tossing around the old pigskin and vroom-vrooming on our dirtbikes. What's going on???? Next week (Dec. 12, 2025): We revisit Derry, Maine by talking about Stephen King's It (the 1990 TV movie starring Tim Curry as Pennywise the Dancing Clown)! Time stamps: 00:02:44 — History segment: HP Lovec...
2025-12-051h 55
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast177. Stephen King's It (1990)Content warning: We talk about child abuse as part of our discussion of both the 1980s "Satanic Panic" craze in the history section, and extensively in the discussion of the movie itself. Laci Goth and Matt Chokes hop on their bicycles and rush home in time to see American Bandstand on the TV set while scarfing down mayonnaise sandwiches and whole milk. That's right, we're talking It! No, not the hit movie from 2017, but the made-for-TV miniseries from 1990 that traumatized a generation. Next week: We check in to the Overlook hotel and dive deep into...
2025-11-072h 48
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast176. The Cabin In The Woods (with Cinematic Joshua)Laci Goth, Matt Chokes, and Cemetery Joshua pay a visit to The Cabin In The Woods, where things are not quite as they seem. We get the feeling somebody's watching us, and pumping chemicals into our scalps to make us stupider and hornier than we usually are, and suddenly we're tossing around the old pigskin and vroom-vrooming on our dirtbikes. What's going on???? Next week: We revisit Derry, Maine by talking about Stephen King's It (the 1990 TV movie starring Tim Curry as Pennywise the Dancing Clown)! Subscribe to our Patreon, Load Bearing Beams: Collector's Edition...
2025-10-192h 04
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast175. Saw (with HFK & Spooky T)Laci Goth and Matt Chokes welcome their friends Tiera (@SpookyT on TikTok) and Derek (@HFK on TikTok) join the show to play the game of Saw. We all have varying degrees of affection for this franchise, and we get into the long history of its development under James Wan and Leigh Whannell first in Australia and then in Hollywood, and the major series it spawned. Then we go through the movie at length, wondering, at the end of the day, what exactly Jigsaw is trying to teach us. Watch this episode in full: https://youtu.be/MFpl...
2025-10-171h 45
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast174. Interview With The Vampire (1994)Laci and Matt revisit Interview With The Vampire (1994), a movie the podcast covered back in 2018, in the Old Testament days. Much more care and attention is given this time, because there's so much to love… and so much to be confused by. Has a movie ever been dragged down so much by its whiny-baby lead character as this movie is by Louis (Brad Pitt)? Rather than spending eternity partying with his good buddy Lestat (Tom Cruise), he just putters around and around, moaning and complaining like some unholy combination of Charlie Brown and Eeyore. And rest assured, he...
2025-10-032h 37
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast173. Dennis the Menace (1993)In the origin story of Michael Myers, the slasher killer from the legendary Halloween series of horror films, young Michael sees his sister….. Wait, what? Oh, this is Dennis the Menace? In which a little slingshot punk from the 1950s rides around on a tricycle in 1993 and torments an innocent old man? And you're telling me it's not about Michael Myers, it was just directed by the man who originally played Michael Myers in John Carpenter's Halloween (Nick "The Shape" Castle)? Gotcha. I see where the confusion started. Unregardless, here is our long-awaited discussion of the 1993 Dennis th...
2025-09-262h 06
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast171. FernGully: The Last Rainforest They thought they were making a movie that would save the environment and destroy extractive industries. Instead, they made a generation of millennials horny as hell for cartoon trees. FernGully: The Last Rainforest is a fascinating mid-budget animated film that presents a mighty counterweight to the Disney behemoth of the early 1990s: Modest in scope, budget-level pop songs, and an anti-capitalist message Disney would never allow (unless James Cameron does it). And it's not a great movie, but it's very good, and the animation is extremely impressive. And everyone jokes that Avatar lifts the story of FernGully…. Bu...
2025-09-121h 22
1-Week Rental: A Movie PodcastFinal Thoughts on The Rock + Answering Listener Questions! We weren't expecting this miniseries on Dwayne Johnson to be so relevant, but as he debuted his "new look" at the Venice Film Festival and began his awards season campaign, Laci and Matt react to the news of the week and unpack his public comments. Johnson reflected on his own career with many of the thoughts we've had as we've gone through his filmography. Is he sincere about it, or just being a good politician trying to win an award? Does he mean it when he says he was ready to pivot to "serious acting" or he was forced...
2025-09-0554 min
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast170. Jungle Cruise (Summer of Rock)This is the end, beautiful friends. We conclude the Summer of Rock with the much-better-than-I-remembered Jungle Cruise, a movie we abruptly pivoted to covering after trying to watch Black Adam and giving up out of boredom. We cover the history of movies based on theme parks, the rocky production of Jungle Cruise, its unfortunate failure at the box office, and then we go through the movie itself, trying to figure out if this is one of The Rock's better late-career performances or if he's being carried entirely by Emily Blunt. The Summer of Rock is...
2025-08-292h 15
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast169. Hobbs & Shaw (Summer of Rock)They went and made a dang spin-off to the Fast & Furious franchise, and it made a ton of money, and there's no chance it'll ever get a sequel because no one liked it. Especially not Matt. Matt is utterly miserable talking about Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019), but Laci's able to help him get through it by diving in to all the messy drama surrounding Dwayne Johnson's feud with Vin Diesel that led to Luke Hobbs getting exiled from the main Fast & Furious series of movies. Next week: Jungle Cruise (2021) The Summer of Rock is...
2025-08-222h 22
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast165. Fast Five (Summer of Rock) Laci and Matt hop in a go-fast car and head for Rio de Janeiro to join up with Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker), and their whole extended family, as they attempt the heist of the century. All while trying to evade federal agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson), the deadliest agent you'll find in Hillary Clinton's State Department. We discover how fascinating Vin Diesel is for Laci, who has had startlingly little exposure to the man of the vast empire he controls. We try to figure out what it is he does well… be...
2025-07-182h 08
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast160. Wayne's World Join us at Stan Mikita's for crullers, dear listener, as we go through one of the very best comedies of the 1990s: It's Wayne's World. Excellent. But is it truly Wayne's world? How much control does Wayne really have? What does he want? What does he stand for? And will he ever transcend the limitations of his corporeal space? We definitively answer these and so much more, as we cover both the making of the movie (including what sounds like a very difficult experience for director Penelope Spheeris in having to work with Mike Myers) and the...
2025-05-231h 57
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast158. Death Proof (with Cinema Chris) Please note: Like how Death Proof uses fake film grain to make it seem like it's an older movie, only to stop doing it halfway through, Laci and Matt's audio improves halfway through this episode. You might not even notice the audio isn't great in the first half... but if you do, just know it gets better eventually. Friend of the Show Cinema Chris joins Laci and Matt to talk about Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof (2007). Originally a 90-minute movie presented as part of a double feature alongside Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror, Death Proof now stands...
2025-05-091h 37
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast154. Heartbreakers (2001) Laci and Matt head to Palm Beach, Florida, to con some rich geriatrics out of their money with their best pals, Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt. That's right, it's the perfectly cromulent 2001 crime-comedy Heartbreakers, brought to you by director David Mirkin (showrunner of seasons 5 and 6 of The Simpsons, and director of previous episode Romy & Michele's High School Reunion). Bonus video: Most awkward experience seeing a movie with a parent. Watch it on our Twitter or on our TikTok. Next week: Superman (1978) Subscribe to our Patreon, Load...
2025-03-281h 39
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast153. The Firm Our coverage of the late, great Gene Hackman begins with Laci and Matt getting sucked into the vortex of legal intrigue that is The Firm. And, okay, it's not exactly a Gene Hackman movie, but he's wonderful as always as part of this ensemble cast that is one of the all-time great ensemble casts. Seriously, this movie is a warm bath you can just slip into, not unlike Gene Hackman's character Avery Tolar at the end of this film. Bonus video: We talk about things people do in the movies that are weird, very much...
2025-03-212h 12
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast151. The Devil's Rejects (with Austin Proctor) Austin Proctor of the Frightmares podcast joins Laci and Matt to go through The Devil's Rejects, the second film from director Robert "Robbie" Zombie. A family of demented devil freaks is running roughshod over Jimmy Carter's America, and the only thing standing in their way is a demented devil sheriff who just might be even more evil. Who will win? Answer? You, the listener, as we unpack this gory, unpleasant, but fascinating early 2000s horror/neo-western. Check out the Frightmares podcast on Apple Podcast (https://apple.co/4h7Qaqh) or Spotify (https://bit.ly/4kvmHtl...
2025-03-071h 43
1-Week Rental: A Movie PodcastBRRRR it's cold. Here's a message from Laci & Matt.Louisiana got hit with a historic winter storm and the state shut down. Your pals Laci and Matt have cabin fever and are furious as they haven't been able to go anywhere or do anything all week, including podcasting. So here's their apology and update on the schedule. We will return in one week with our episode about Baby Boom (1988). If you are shaking from withdrawal because it's Friday and you need your fix, you can just go to our Patreon and become a subscriber, and then you'll have a handful of brand-new episodes to tid...
2025-01-2403 min
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast145. Mortal Kombat (1995) Get over here to this podcast about Mortal Kombat (1995). We're revisiting this movie, even after having already covered it on episode 76, because that episode was less than 30 minutes long. And respect must be paid! Director Paul W.S. Anderson knows exactly what kind of movie he's making here, and the scuzzy mid-'90s vibes are immaculate! Now, is this movie basically just you watching the video game, but in movie form? Well, yes. But that's what you bought the ticket for! Bonus video: We spin the wheel and select the winner...
2025-01-171h 32
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast141. The Santa Clause (with Movie Talk With Brock) Ho ho ho and ruff ruff ruff. Scott "The Tool Man" Calvin (Tim Allen) is cursed with hideous Christmas powers and finds himself turning into the eternal sprite of winter. He has only 11 months to get his affairs in order before he leaves Earthrealm behind. Can he patch things up with his estranged son Charlie (Eric Lloyd) before it's too late? And does he need to watch his back or the elves who work for him will arrange a quiet coup, i.e., drug him and cause him to slip off a roof, like his predecessor?
2024-12-201h 43
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast140. While You Were Sleeping When Matt falls onto the train tracks, Laci hops down to rescue him, but they both get hit by a train, and now they're podcasting from the afterlife. The first movie up in this Afterworld Era is While You Were Sleeping (1995), the Sandra Bullock imposter/coma/Christmas rom-com classic. How great is it seeing star-making, lightning-in-a-bottle performances like Bullock's performance here? How great is this Chicago-at-Christmastime establishing shot footage, complete with extras falling down? How great is it to know that if Laci or Matt realized the other had been lying about their identity for 15...
2024-12-131h 23
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast139. Home Alone 2: Lost In New York (with Elliott Stokes) Matt's brother Elliott returns to the show to help Matt and Laci cover Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. It's 104 minutes of trying to figure out if Kevin McAllister (Macaulay Culkin) is cinema's greatest sociopath. This movie is a beloved classic to many thirtysomething adults in America, but it is a mess. Shouldn't the whole movie have taken place at the hotel? Also, adult Kevin McAllister is definitely a masculinity influencer, isn't he? Check out Elliott's gallery The Front in New Orleans, Louisiana, with gallery hours on Saturdays and Sundays from 12 - 5 p.m. Learn...
2024-12-061h 44
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast"What movie tattoo would you get?" and other fun questions!Gobble gobble. As previously announced, we have taken the week off. We shall return in one week with an episode about Home Alone 2: Lost in New York with returning guest Elliott Stokes. Thank you for your support of Load Bearing Beams. We love you, you're very special. We have for you here a selection of some of our favorite social media videos that are usually adjacent to the episode of the week. You can catch these in real time by following us on Twitter, Instagram, or TikTok. Time stamps: 01:38 — What movie tattoo woul...
2024-11-2946 min
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast137. Pulp Fiction (with The Reel For Real) Isaiah, Kevin, and Trevor from the great podcast The Reel For Real join Laci and Matt to go through Quentin Tarantino's classic Pulp Fiction. The five have come together to explain what this movie's "actually" about: friendship. Please support The Reel For Real by subscribing to their podcast on Spotify (https://bit.ly/4ftLevU) or Apple Podcast (https://bit.ly/3ZhFzUl), and following them on TikTok (@TheReelForRealPodcast), YouTube (@thereelforrealpodcast6), or Instagram (@thereel_forreal). Next week: Spider-Man (2002) with special guest Smash Trivia John! Time stamps: 00:07:48 — Our pe...
2024-11-152h 04
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast134. The Craft We call upon the guardians of the watchtowers to aid us on our journey through the Tunney/Balk teenage witch classic The Craft (1996). This is the second time Load Bearing Beams has covered this movie. On the fourth episode of the podcast (all the way back in 2017), Laci and Matt made endless fun of it, but this time, they're making endless fun with it, because, you guys, it's a fun little movie! Bonus video: We talk about our favorite movies about magic, whatever that means. Watch it on our Twitter, Instagram, or TikTok.
2024-10-251h 37
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast132. The Others (2001) You need to stay away from the light! Or do you? What is light anyway? What is truth, what is meaning, what is words? We try getting to the bottom of all of this by discussing the 2001 ghost movie The Others. Nicole Kidman is Grace, a young mother who seems to have misplaced her marbles. She's alone in an enormous house with two little moppet children who can't go into the light because of an illness [citation needed]. For some reason, she still needs to open the curtains every day and pretend like everything's okay...
2024-10-111h 34
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast131. Scream (1996) What's your favorite Screamy movie? Is it Scream (1996)? Is it Scream (2022)? Or is it one of the numbered Screams? Well, we're talking about the one that started it all, the first movie to ever acknowledge that other movies exist*: Wes Craven's 1996 film Scream! *not true Is Neve Campbell, who is indeed good in the movie, doing a little too much "face business" in this film? Is Principal Henry Winkler a little too enthusiastic with those scissors? And what kind of journalist is Gale Weathers, anyway?
2024-10-042h 05
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast130. Road Trip (2000) We take a look at what appears to be a "boob comedy" from the year 2000: Road Trip, directed by Todd Phillips, who makes Joker movies now. It's the heartwarming story of Josh (Breckin Meyer), a Boring Guy who cheats on his girlfriend but doesn't mean it. Josh and his pals E.L. (Seann William Scott), Rubin (Paulo Costanzo), and Kyle (D.J. Qualls) do the only thing that make sense: They head across the country on a road trip to keep Boring Guy Josh's girlfriend from finding out about his betrayal. ...
2024-09-271h 50
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast129. 10 Things I Hate About You (with Patrick Perot) Friend of the Show Patrick Perot (bass player for Rural Route Nine, official house band of Load Bearing Beams) stops by to preach the gospel of his favorite movie, 10 Things I Hate About You (1999). And he's right to! It's a lovely and very funny romantic comedy from back when Hollywood still made those. The chemistry between Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger! The, uh, good efforts given by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Larisa Oleynik! And best of all: Krumholz, Krumholz, Krumholz. A real-life high school teacher, Patrick is also here to school us on how accurate a...
2024-09-202h 13
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast128. Friday the 13th, Part 2 Laci and Matt are off to learn how to be better camp counselors by getting back to basics. Safety. Canoeing. Shooting arrows. Singing "Hang Down Your Head Tom Dooley." Making love and drawing the ire of Mrs. Voorhees. Trying to keep their bodies fragrance free, so as not to attract bears. On a totally unrelated note, this episode is about Friday the 13th Part 2, Matt's favorite entry in his favorite horror series. It's the debut of Jason as the killer, although he still hasn't quite nailed his look. Still, it's an absolute blast and a...
2024-09-131h 09
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast127. Drumline Laci and Matt talk about the 2002 college band-centered classic Drumline, a highly entertaining journey into the world of HBCU marching bands. Nick Cannon is either "great" (Laci) or "perfectly fine" (Matt) as Devon, whose me-first attitude doesn't quite gel with his teammates on the campus of Atlanta A&T. He is especially at odds with the band director Dr. Lee (Orlando Jones) and drum major Sean (Leonard Roberts). Will they figure it all out in time for the big showdown against the villainous Morris Brown University, whose razzle-dazzle tactics Dr. Lee disapproves of? It's a...
2024-09-061h 20
1-Week Rental: A Movie PodcastSummer of Spielberg Wrap-Up Show (YouTube Live)Well, the Summer of Spielberg is over, and we say a tearful goodbye with our friends on YouTube. This is the audio from our livestream on YouTube from August 23, 2024. In the exciting conclusion to the episode, Matt will rank all 34 Steven Spielberg films, and it is sure to annoy you, whoever you are and no matter what you believe. The show returns to its classic format next week, September 6, 2024, with an episode about the Nick Cannon-plays-in-a-college-band film, Drumline (2002). As always, thanks for your support of Load Bearing Beams. And an EXTRA SPECIAL thank you...
2024-08-301h 04
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast126. The Fabelmans (with Paul of Twin Flicks) (Summer of Spielberg) The Summer of Spielberg comes to a somber, respectful conclusion as we say goodbye to Mr. Spielberg by prying into his personal affairs and taking a look at his latest film, the autobiographical The Fabelmans (2022). It's the story of young Sammy Fabelman (but they're not hiding that the Fablemans are the Spielbergs) and his budding love of picturemaking. And we have the perfect guest to help us along the way, as we welcome in filmmaker and physical media enthusiast Paul of Twin Flicks (https://www.youtube.com/@TwinFlicks). Paul tells Laci...
2024-08-231h 45
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast125. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (with Drewbie Doobie's Movies) (Summer of Spielberg) What do you get when you combine one precocious wizkid director who's actually not that young, one cocaine-addled producer, one befuddled Frenchman, one Bob Balaban taking notes, and lots and lots of McDonald's? You get what is quite possibly the greatest science fiction film ever made, Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). Our friend Drewbie Doobie's Movies (@DrewbieDoobieMovies on TikTok) returns to the show to gush about one of Spielberg's very best movies… maybe his very best. It's the second time we've covered this movie on the show, but back in 2018, we only talked about it...
2024-08-162h 08
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast124. Catch Me If You Can (Summer of Spielberg) Tom Hanks chases Leonardo DiCaprio in one of the most fun cat-and-mouse chase thrillers of all time! And it's all "inspired" by a true story! As the tagline says, it's "a true story of a real fraud." Okay. So how true is it? Well, we looked into it and……. Guys, what we found out is depressing. Frank Abagnale didn't do any of the things he claimed he did in his book. You know, the things that are interesting, the things you're here for. He didn't pretend to be a lawyer or a doctor, he didn't forg...
2024-08-091h 55
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast123. Ready Player One (Summer of Spielberg) Laci and Matt are at war with each other like the gunters are at war with the villainous Nolan Sorrento in the Oasis of Ready Player One. And it's all because they can't agree on this movie! Is this the first BAD Spielberg movie the show has covered this summer? Or is it another classic? First we get into the history of the movie, starting with the career of novelist Ernist Cline. From his humble beginnings as a slam poet in Austin to his screenwriting career working with Harvey Weinstein on the film Fanboys, to...
2024-07-261h 38
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast122. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Summer of Spielberg) Is A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) Steven Spielberg's best movie? It's certainly his most misunderstood. A.I. Artificial Intelligence is best remembered as a curious Stanley Kubrick project taken over by Spielberg, and the movie does indeed feel like a strange hybrid of the two filmmakers. But that's part of its magic, because there is no other movie like this. It's a movie all about the horror story that is life. Even artificial life. We are cursed by our bodies and brains, folks. Life is a prison. We are in a cage. ...
2024-07-192h 25
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast121. Raiders of the Lost Ark (Summer of Spielberg) Unlike lots of people their age, neither Laci nor Matt grew up with the Indiana Jones films. But at least one of them has fallen in love with the franchise as an adult, especially this first film. The two talk about the origins of Raiders of the Lost Ark on a beach in Hawaii in 1977 as Steven Spielberg and George Lucas built sandcastles together. One imagines they were very well-crafted and functional sandcastles, Lucas's a little too clinical, Spielberg's a little sappy. Still, they were good castles, is what we're saying. Matt recalls his first time watching...
2024-07-121h 541-Week Rental: A Movie PodcastLoad Bearing Clips, vol. 2The first leg of the Summer of Spielberg is behind us, and we're taking a scheduled week off. But we have another curated clip show for you! This time both Matt and Laci are taking you through it. And this clip show actually features like 25 minutes of brand-new audio from Laci and Matt, relitigating the arguments documented in these clips. We'll be back with a regular episode in one week (July 12, 2024) with an episode all about Raiders of the Lost Ark. Time stamps: 06:43 — Clip from episode 44 (Hocus Pocus) 15:27 — Clip from episode 7 (Death Be...
2024-07-051h 27
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast120. Minority Report (Summer of Spielberg) Has there ever been a movie better at predicting (hey!) the future? Swiping, pinching to zoom, targeted ads that follow you everywhere, optical identification, and constant facial surveillance? Hey, it's like we're living in some sort of Philip K. Dick nightmare! But it wouldn't be so bad if life could be as fun as the movie Minority Report, Spielberg's first of two collaborations with Tom Cruise. This was supposed to be a Jurassic Park-level blockbuster. Instead, it was merely a solid hit. And it's very well-liked, but Load Bearing Beams is here to tell you...
2024-06-282h 06
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast119. Jurassic Park (with In Love With Horror) (Summer of Spielberg) The Summer of Spielberg continues as Laci and Matt were able to buckle their seatbelts in time for their helicopter to land on Isla Nublar, where they meet up with AJ & Kristie from the In Love With Horror podcast to talk about Jurassic Park (1993). The four team up for a rollicking podcast so good it'll have you shouting "Hello John!" at total strangers. First of all, this famous action/horror/sci-fi/disaster epic has like 50 incredible lines of dialogue! So we just spend some time saying these lines at each other. But eventually we get...
2024-06-212h 03
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast118. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (Summer of Spielberg) The Summer of Spielberg begins with Spielberg's biggest hit, the classic 1982 alien/divorce family film E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. Adjusted for inflation, this is the fourth-highest-grossing movie of all time. Beloved by generations, it is a lot of fun, yes… but it's also some dark, dark shit. Laci explains why it's always been so difficult for her to watch, even though she knows how good a movie it is. There is much gushing about puppets. There has maybe never been a better puppet in a movie. And there may have never be...
2024-06-141h 49
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast117. William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet (1996) (with Screen Time Kota) Love me, love me, fish tank you love me. Load Bearing Beams takes you to Verona Beach, America to talk about Baz Luhrmann's William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet. The year is 1996, and two great business families are feuding in the streets, but that won't stop our two child protagonists from falling in big-eyed love with each other and hastily getting married to please the Lord. Laci, Matt, and their pal Screen Time Kota (@screentimekota on TikTok) have a lengthy discussion about this candle-heavy movie. It's beloved by a generation of angsty teens, but does its choice...
2024-05-311h 29
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast116. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior Matt, Laci, and their unnamed dog are on a quest for as much guzzoline as they can carry in this episode covering one of the all-time great action movies, George Miller's Mad Max 2 (1981). In this wonderfully weird film that we yanks tend to call The Road Warrior, Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) is enlisted against his will by a ragtag band of oil refinery folks in their war against the dread Lord Humungus. It's kind of like Casablanca, but after the world ends. And Australian. Mad Max is Matt's favorite movie franchise...
2024-05-241h 31
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast115. Sister Act Matt and Laci are mysteriously missing, so this episode is brought to you by replacement hosts Sister Anastasia Killian and Friar Jacob Aloysius Clement, who have the required expertise to talk you through the 1992 Whoopi Goldberg vehicle Sister Act. Is it an accurate portrayal of convent life? Do nuns really have this much fun? Anyway, the show has lots of praise for this frankly delightful nun comedy. Obviously Whoopi is a megastar here, but how wonderful is Maggie Smith? Honestly, all of these nuns are terrific, they should star in remakes of other movies. Like...
2024-05-171h 32
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast114. Planet of the Apes (2001) (with Cinematic Joshua) As we face the dawn of the new Planet of the Apes, the podcast takes a look at Tim Burton's ill-fated 2001 "reimagining" of the original classic. Charlton Heston gave one of the most captivating leading man performances in sci-fi history back in 1968, so how does Mark Wahlberg's performance stack up here? And why is Tim Roth doing... that... in this movie? The ape makeup looks great though, doesn't it folks? This is a movie Matt has long contended is "not as bad as everyone says." Will he stick to his convictions this time around?
2024-05-101h 48
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast113. Howard the Duck (Listener Choice!) We held a Listener Choice Lottery, and the winning selection was 1986's Howard the Duck, brought to us courtesy of Smash Trivia John. So we dive in—beak first—to unpack the history of this notorious disaster of a movie. Then we go through the movie itself, excruciatingly thoroughly, to figure out if this movie is too sexy or not sexy enough. Plus, a lot of talk about '80s weirdos and how they're not so different from us, when you think about it. And we try to get to the bottom of what exactly this movie is saying.
2024-05-031h 37
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast112. Cruel IntentionsNOTE: Boy do we say some stuff in this episode. As always, please keep in mind that the language on this podcast is rated R. For pirates. As adults in their late thirties, Laci and Matt are just the right age to play the "teenager" characters in the sexy cult classic Cruel Intentions (1999). Together, your hosts unpack how differently the movie plays for them as adults (funny) than when they were teenagers (deadly serious), and gush over the deliciously evil performance of Sarah Michelle Gellar. Also, Laci finds this Ryan Phillippe fellow very appealing, but we won't...
2024-04-261h 35
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast111. X2: X-Men UnitedContent warning: We discuss the sexual assault allegations against director Bryan Singer. As adults in their late thirties all around the world gush about X-Men 97 on Disney Plus, we take a look back at a movie widely considered one of the high points of superhero cinema: 2003's X2 (a.k.a. X-Men 2, a.k.a. X2: X-Men United). We begin by unpacking our histories with the X-Men and comic books and superheroes in general, then take a look at the serious allegations against Bryan Singer. We also talk a lot about how surprisingly...
2024-04-191h 39
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast110. Overboard (1987)Look, you shouldn't kidnap a woman who has suffered a traumatic brain injury and then imprison her for months, lying to her about who she is in order to get her to clean your house and raise your kids. It's not an ideal way to start a relationship. That is something we believe. But when you're Kurt Russell and you do it? Well then we're having a different conversation. We're talking about the rom-com classic from 1987, Garry Marshall's Overboard! Plus, a lot of talk about an ass crack and its centrality to the plot. Next we...
2024-04-121h 43
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast109. The Producers (1968) (with Harry Marks)It's Springtime for Laci and Matt as film historian Harry Marks (@lobbyintros on TikTok) joins the show to go over Mel Brooks's first movie: the classic comedy The Producers (1968). Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder give two of the funniest performances ever… but what about the rest of the movie? Is it laugh-out-loud-funny in 2024? Or is it hopelessly dated? Or is there possibly a third option? Harry's making great videos about classic films on his TikTok. We'd like to point you specifically to his movie intros (https://bit.ly/3TB6KVV), his series on the Hollywood Blacklist (https://bi...
2024-03-291h 30
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast108. EvolutionAs the world prepares to embrace its new Frozen Empire, lovingly brought to us by the good people at Ghost Corps, we take a look at a movie that was kind of Ivan Reitman's unofficial Ghostbusters 3: 2001's Evolution. Um, so… yeah, this movie is something else, I tell you what. David Duchovny trying to be Bill Murray. Julianne Moore falling down. Selenium sulfide. A magical periodic table. But hey, Phil Tippett did the creature designs! And Seann William Scott's always a fun addition. Next week: The Producers (1968) with Harry Marks from Let's All Go to th...
2024-03-221h 38
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast107. Heart And SoulsThe week Robert Downey Jr. has finally secured his coveted Oscar, we take a trip back in time. The year is 1993. A movie called Heart and Souls is released, in the aftermath of what Downey must have assumed was his Academy Award for the movie Chaplin (1992). We take a big long look at RDJ's career and also examine the curious '90s phenomenon of angel movies. Next week: The movie that was supposed to be Ghostbusters 3: Ivan Reitman's Evolution (2001). Watch every episode of Load Bearing Beams on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@loadbearingbeamspod T...
2024-03-151h 48
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast106. The PagemasterThe written word... that's the real magic, isn't it, you guys? Don't you just love cracking open a great book and being transported to a wondrous world? The Pagemaster (1994) is going to insist that you do love this. Loudly, and repeatedly. Laci and Matt take a look at this bizarre '90s live-action/animation flop and try to figure out exactly what Turner Feature Animation was going for. There's also a lot of discussion about the sort-of-forgotten genre of made-for-kids-not-families movies. Next week: The Robert Downey, Jr. vehicle Heart and Souls (1993) Watch this episo...
2024-03-081h 21
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast105. Dogma In what is quite possibly the most snoogans episode we've ever recorded, we examine Kevin Smith's Dogma (1999). At Laci's behest, we take our maiden voyage into the View Askewniverse to see what this controversial, transgressive, downright RUDE film has to say about religion, politics, and the state of things in Clinton's America at the end of history. Next week: We're taking a week off. We'll be back on March 8, 2024 with an episode about (...reads notes...) ... The Pagemaster? Watch this episode in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/i67IeCrBlNE Time stamps: ...
2024-02-231h 46
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast104. GoldenEye (with Wade Hymel) Hear Wade's amazing new album WHO SAID THAT? on Apple Music, Spotify, or wherever else music is streamed. Or you can purchase the album from Bandcamp. Load Bearing Beams welcomes back Number 1 Friend of the Show, "Jack" Wade Hymel, to reconsider GoldenEye (1995). Wade first brought this movie to the show's attention on an episode in 2017, when both Laci and Matt panned it. Have their hearts thawed? Will James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) catch that falling plane in time? Will the villainous Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean) successfully pull off his illegal electronic ACH bank transfer? Will the power of...
2024-02-161h 49
1-Week Rental: A Movie PodcastLaci and Matt were guests on another podcast!Hey folks! Laci and Matt here to tell you that we were just on the great In Love With Horror podcast, and you can catch that episode right now! It's a deep dive into the classic 1981 slasher My Bloody Valentine and its 2009 remake. If you're not already listening (In which case: the fuck?), it's a show hosted by a married couple, the lovely Kristie and AJ. They cover all things horror—movies, TV, games, books. Like our show, their show can go a little off the rails, but a good time is had by all. You can...
2024-02-1402 min
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast103. Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves (Listener Choice!)At the suggestion of our friend StitchAndStoryTime, we take a look at 1991's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. This movie was a colossal hit in its day, and it's got a little something for everyone—tree houses and homemade gadgets and traps for the kids, sword battles for Dad, romance for Mom, and a healthy amount of the Dark Arts for Matt Stokes. This movie is nuts and we had a lot of fun talking about it for over two hours (sorry/you're welcome). Next week: Friend of the Show Wade Hymel returns, and we rec...
2024-02-092h 05
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast102. CasablancaWe head back to good old Hollywood, USA: Golden Era for a look at one of the most beloved American films of all time, 1942's Casablanca. You hear this all the time about old, black-and-white movies, but this thing feels incredibly modern, and with much to say about the world of 2024. We discuss our personal histories with it, Matt's story of getting into classiv movies after watching it for the first time as a teenager, what audiences would have understood watching the movie in the 1940s that we might not understand now, and, of course, that beautiful f...
2024-02-021h 37
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast101. The Whole Nine YardsWe take a trip to Montreal, to check in with the mild-mannered Dr. Nicholas "Oz" Oseransky (Matthew Perry) and his scary neighbor, Jimmy the Tulip (Bruce Willis). Can you even imagine what shenanigans these two get up to? We'll tell you all about them in our discussion of the 2000 hitman/dental comedy The Whole Nine Yards. Most of this episode is a fierce argument about whether or not all the Matthew Perrying Matthew Perry does in this movie is good or bad. Next week: Casablanca (1942)! Watch full-video episodes of Load Bearing Beams on our Yo...
2024-01-261h 22
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast100. Star WarsOnce there was a time when Star Wars was just the name of a movie, and not the most toxic subject ever to hit the internet. Well, we yearn for that time, listener... so go with us on this journey back to the Skywalker homestead and get ready to harvest some moisture as we return to the very first movie we ever discussed on the show: Star Wars (1977). Among other things, Matt reiterates for the thousandth time that this movie should only ever be called Star Wars. You may be tempted to call it something else, perhaps some...
2024-01-122h 07
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast99. Dirty DancingTo celebrate finally getting to episodes 99 and 100, we're going back to the very first two movies we covered on Load Bearing Beams and give these two classics the full LBB treatment they deserve. First up, it's Dirty Dancing (1988), one of Laci's favorite movies. It's a charming dancey melodrama with some surprisingly poignant political commentary that is much easier to see in 2024 than it was back in 2017. Matt gave this movie a big fat thumbs-down on his first viewing for that first episode. Have his feelings changed? Can Laci teach him to mambo in time for the gig? And...
2024-01-051h 59
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast98. Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (1971)Fine. Fine. No problem at all. We'll talk about the actual movie. Also: Happy holidays! Thank you for a great year! We'd normally have an episode coming out on Friday, Dec. 22, but we're taking a break and shall return on Friday, December 29 with a very special mailbag episode. And after that, we're on to episodes 99 and 100, where we'll revisit the movies covered on our very first episode (Dirty Dancing and Star Wars). It only took us seven years to get to a hundred episodes. Time stamps: 00:02:15 — Thoughts about the new movie Won...
2023-12-182h 18
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast97. National Lampoon's Christmas VacationGet out your stapler gun and empty your shitter, because it's time to look at the holiday classic National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) in extraordinary detail. Laci's seen this film dozens of times, while Matt had only seen it once, decades ago. To prepare, he watched the entire Vacation series, and he has much to say about the merits of the individual Vacation films, despite no one asking him to do this. Plus, we admire Clark Griswold's aptitude for concealing his boners and Randy Quaid's aptitude for lifting giant bags of dog food. Happy holidays, everybody!
2023-12-082h 14
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast96. Jingle All the WayMatt had Laci watch the "beloved" "family" Christmas-present-hunt movie Jingle All the Way (1996). So… did she have a good time? Listener, she did not. But you'll have a good time hearing them commiserate about the experience for two hours. Why would a movie cast Arnold Schwarzeneggar to play a normal man? When is it inappropriate to buy a Christmas tree? And wouldn't this movie have been better if the quest for a coveted Turbo Man figure sent Howard (Schwarzeneggar) deep into the seedy Santa-sexual Christmas underbelly of Minneapolis? It's there in this movie if you look for it. ...
2023-12-011h 59
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast95. The NeverEnding Story (with Drewbie Doobie's Movies)You can lead a horse to water, but you can't cure its depression. We discuss this sad fact with our friend Drew (a.k.a. Drewbie Doobie's Movies, @drewbiedoobiemovie on TikTok) by covering a movie he loved growing up, Wolfgang Petersen's The NeverEnding Story (1984). Yes, this movie traumatized a generation of children, but to look upon it now is to see into an alternate dimension of unbelievable practical effects and puppetry. Laci, Matt, and Drew have a great conversation gushing over how incredible this movie looks, and also get to the bottom of important questions such as...
2023-11-161h 39
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast94. The Butterfly Effect (with Cinematic Joshua)Friend of the Show Cinematic Joshua (@CinematicJoshua on TikTok) joins us for a rollicking conversation about the cult classic Ashton Kutcher time travel picture The Butterfly Effect (2004). Laci, Matt, and Joshua discuss the career of Ashton Kutcher, the influence of the Final Destination series on this movie, and the many different time strands this movie juggles, as well as the merits of the conventional Hollywood ending of the theatrical cut and the extremely dark original ending included in the director's cut. Content warning: We discuss the movie's depictions of sexual assault and self-harm. Ple...
2023-11-101h 59
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast93. MannequinMan, if you weren't there in the Philadelphia department store scene back in '87, then you just wouldn't get it. Luckily, the movie Mannequin (1987) is here to fill you in: It's a battle of two behemoth stores—the mom-and-pop-owned Prince & Company and the tacky upstart Illustra. At the center of it all is Jonathan Switcher (Andrew McCarthy), a dreamer with a heart of gold who falls in love with a mannequin (Kim Cattrall). Except this mannequin's secretly a real person, inhabited by the spirit of an ancient Egyptian woman named Emmy. Tale as old as time. Swirling aroun...
2023-11-031h 39
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast92. Halloween (1978)We head back to Haddonfield, Illinois for another encounter with Laurie, Annie, Lynda, Michael, Sheriff Brackett, and that wacky Dr. Loomis. That's right, we're taking another (much longer) look at one of Matt's favorite movies, John Carpenter's Halloween (1978). Untouchable classic this picture may be, but Laci was not a fan back in 2017. Surely time has softened her impenetrable heart... or has it? This film established so many hallmarks of the horror genre that are still used today. But there's so much more to unpack! How did Dr. Loomis not lose his medical license? Did Bob and Lynda pu...
2023-10-272h 02
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast91. Addams Family ValuesHave any movie characters ever been more sinister and disgusting than the Addamses? No. But we can't help but love them anyway, gosh darn it. We take a deep dive into the world of the Addams Family, first going through their long history and then talking about Barry Sonnenfeld's Addams Family Values (1993), the sequel to the original Addams Family (1991) that was a financial disappointment but has since become even more beloved. Time stamps: 00:21 — Our personal history with the Addams movies and TV shows + predictions 15:13 — History of The Addams Family, from cartoon beginnings...
2023-10-201h 48
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast90. SignsIs M. Night Shyamalan's Signs (2002) just a bunch of corny rubbish, or is Matt right when he calls it the scariest movie he's ever seen? We made our longest episode ever to figure it out. He's seen this movie so many times he can recite every minute detail of it. We talk about weird background characters, the newsworthiness of crop circles, the threat level posed by armadillos, the acute stress one goes through preparing one's house for an alien attack, and so much more. It's the second entry in this year's collection of Load Bearing SC...
2023-10-132h 19
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast89. BeetlejuiceFor the first time on our show, we're revisiting a movie we already covered. It's Tim Burton's second feature, 1988's Beetlejuice. Matt didn't like this spooky haunted house classic back in 2017, but does he feel any differently all these years later? And how complicated were stereo instructions, anyway? To answer these questions and many more, we devote about three times as much time talking about the movie as we did the first time around. Time stamps: 00:01:27 - Why we're doing an episode on Beetlejuice (again) 00:07:27 - Our histories with Beetlejuice 00:13:39 - Pre-movie predictions 00:17:35...
2023-10-061h 41
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast88. PleasantvilleThe fifties, baby. We're taking a look at 1998's Pleasantville, which takes a look at a 1950s America that never was, and always will be. This movie, marketed as a comedy, is actually a pretty serious look at fascism, oppression, and forced conformity, and would it surprise you to hear its message is still relevant today? We thought we were past all of that! Want to watch this episode on YouTube? My friend, we have great news for you. https://youtu.be/zxqnO4vW4CY And while you're at it, head to https://www.youtube.co...
2023-09-291h 20
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast87. Romy & Michele's High School ReunionThe nineties, baby. We're getting into it over Romy & Michele's High School Reunion (1997), which sees Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino as the attractive women version of Beavis and Butt-Head trying to persuade their former high school classmates that they invented Post-Its. But beneath this sweet and pleasant comedy lurks something far more sinister. Is this actually a toxic, co-dependant friendship that's imprisoning both Romy and Michele? Would their lives be better if they actually stayed split up after their Tucson road trip? And why would anybody ever want to go to their high school reunion? Content warning: We...
2023-09-221h 31
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast85. The First Wives ClubLaci and Matt discuss 1996's divorced women picture The First Wives Club, where Diane Keaton, Bette Midler, and Goldie Hawn rekindle their college-era friendship and then something something get back at all of the world's scummy ex-husbands? We're not sure either, but this is a rollicking good time discussing this really funny '90s hit. A lot of time is spent debating how the closing musical number makes each of us feel. Want to watch this episode? Check it out on YouTube: https://youtu.be/aGmlo0BafxM Artwork by Laci Roth. Music by R...
2023-07-081h 08
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast84. Up In The AirGeorge Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a man who just wants to fly around in big jet airliners and accrue miles, but will his heart get in the way?? Find out with us as we discuss Up In the Air (2009), director Jason Reitman's follow-up to his massive hit Juno (2007). This movie packs a lot of stuff in, and we address it all—how it feels to get fired, why Laci hates George Clooney's stupid face, and what's the deal with the food they're serving up there. Want to watch this episode? Head over to our YouTube channel: https://www.yo...
2023-06-3058 min
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast83. Fried Green TomatoesJoin us, dear listeners, at the Whistle Stop Cafe, where Idgy, Ninny, Buddy, Grady, Little Buddy, Smokey, Big George and all your best pals are waiting to cook you up a plate of Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), a tale of southern-fried romance and deadly train accidents. In a wide-ranging, free-wheeling, railroad-riding discussion, Laci and Matt unpack this movie and the many questions it raises. Why does Jessica Tandy harass strangers at the nursing home? What about Mary-Louise Parker's pill-addled energy in this movie do we find so appealing? And how is Kathy Bates's character Evelyn like Jigsaw from th...
2023-06-231h 07
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast82. Lake PlacidWe unpack Matt's lifelong fear of crocodilians by taking a look at 1999's big budget B-movie spectacular, Lake Placid. Is this schlocky special effects extravaganza just a Jurassic Park ripoff, or a sly commentary on the genre with a brilliant cast (Bridget Fonda, Brendan Gleeson, Oliver Platt, Bill Pullman, and Betty White) operating at the top of their game interacting with a killer croc made by a master of practical creature effects (Stan Winston) and directed by a guy (Steve Miner) who seems to know what he's doing? Spoiler: It's the latter. This movie RULES. We were as surprised as...
2023-06-091h 02
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast81. Private PartsLaci picked the Howard Stern movie Private Parts (1997) for this episode, so we thoroughly discuss this odd but very charming film and try to figure out what it's really trying to say. Laci unpacks her history with Howard Stern, which literally involves her listening to his show in class via large headphones hidden by a hoodie. And Matt goes on a too-long solliloquy about his favorite radio show, the Dan Le Batard Show, and how it parallels Howard Stern's show. Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/vift8VSjRsM Artwork by Laci Roth. M...
2023-06-021h 17
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast80. The Blair Witch Project / Meet The Parents (with Wade Hymel & Patrick Perot)The other members of Matt's band Rural Route Nine join the show for a classic two-movie Load Bearing Beams therapy session. Wade Hymel triumphantly returns to the show to convince the gang of the merits of the 2000 Ben Stiller/Robert DeNiro comedy Meet the Parents, while Patrick Perot presents The Blair Witch Project (1999) for consideration. We discuss the history of found footage horror movies, being fooled into thinking The Blair Witch Project was real back in 1999, whether it's possible to make any sense of the Blair Witch lore, and whether any good horror movies were made in the 20...
2023-05-261h 28
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast79. Grease 2 (also: Grease 1)(Do keep in mind that this podcast is rated R for utterly filthy language.) Well hi there, partner. Load Bearing Beams is back for season 2 with a long and free-wheeling discussion of Grease 2 (1982). This famously bad (but maybe it's not so bad?) sequel to the 1978 smash was an enormous flop upon release, but it has built quite a cult following over the years. We break it down, plus talk extensively about the first Grease movie and the different versions of the stage musical that preceded it. Plus we get to the bottom of whether the T-Birds and Pin...
2023-05-191h 29
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast74. Godzilla (1998)It's Roth v. Stokes in this episode. The gloves are off. Fisticuffs. A brawl for all. A royal rumble. Malice at the Palace. We got a donnybrook on our hand, folks, because Laci thinks the Roland Emmerich-Matthew Broderick Godzilla (1998) is the worst movie Load Bearing Beams has ever covered, while Matt thinks it is merely bad. Who will prevail? Matt's brother Elliott and sister Maggie stop by eventually (at the 1 hour, 4 minutes mark) to help settle the whole ordeal. Other topics covered include: Laci and Matt have both now received the COVID vaccine Matt suspects a boome...
2021-04-021h 17
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast73. ElvisElvis was a hero to Laci, but he never meant s*!@ to Matt. When your two hosts first started dating, Laci asked Matt a fundamental question: "Are you an Elvis person, or a Beatles person?" Matt thought it was a nonsensical question. What kind of person would choose Elvis over the Beatles? His future wife, that's who! And so. We were going to pick an Elvis Presley movie for this episode and use it as a springboard to talk about Elvis in general, and see if Laci could persuade Matt to warm up to him. B...
2021-03-191h 11
1-Week Rental: A Movie PodcastThe First Ever Triannual Quarterly ClaptrapLaci and Matt didn't watch a proper Load Bearing Beams movie for this episode, so they instead reflect on all the TV and movies they've been watching recently: Munich, The Post, JFK, Nixon, Spotlight, The Simpsons, Futurama, Disenchantment, I Know That Voice, High Score PLUS: Two separate stories about being scammed A story about Laci's appearance at a meeting of the New Orleans Historical Landmark Commission Laci has a fantasy wherein she talks her way out of a mental institution. Matt's favorite and least favorite movies that Laci has picked, and Laci names her favorite and le...
2020-08-2148 min
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast60. Terminator 2: Judgment DayThe Beams are back in town to discuss James Cameron's sci-fi/action classic, Terminator 2: Judgment Day. And the first Terminator movie too. Topics addressed: Whether or not free will is a thing Laci is distracted by Sarah Connor not wearing a bra Problems with time travel The inevitable invention of an artificial superintelligence that destroys us all Whether you can be on your phone while watching a movie A scary thing that happened to Laci and Matt's kid Whether Edward Furlong is good If you can't change your own universe via time travel, but you can cre...
2020-07-101h 17
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast51. The CrowHello, friends. To honor the mothers of the world this weekend, we're covering a movie about the best mothers in the animal kingdom: crows. In addition to discussing The Crow (1994) and the tragic death of Brandon Lee, Laci dives into her mysterious past as a goth kid. Plus a detailed breakdown of the career of the professional wrestler Sting as well as the fall of the Roman Empire. All of that and a discussion of movies Laci and Matt have pretended to like to seem cool. (Sorry about the spotty audio in some of this. It's not a...
2020-05-0853 min
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast47. Cars TrilogyLaci and Matt end their hiatus and return to the podcast by first explaining their family news that partially explains the long absence. Then, they go into all three of Pixar's Cars movies in excruciating detail. Fiery arguments ensue. For example: Both agree that Doc Hudson (Paul Newman) is a jerk, but they disagree about why. Matt defends the much-maligned Cars 2 and the character of Mater (Larry the Cable Guy), while Laci makes her case for Cars 3 as the best of the series. They've seen these movies way more than you have. Time stamps: Cars - 14:5...
2019-03-111h 02
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast39. ParenthoodAfter a month away, Load Bearing Beams returns to talk 'hood... parenthood, that is! Ron Howard's 1989 feature warmed audiences' hearts everywhere, but how does it hold up today? Then Laci and Matt give real talk about child rearing, pregnancy, and the perpetual exhaustion that comes with being a parent, as well as the movies and TV shows that accurately show all of this. Finally, they discuss Terms Of Endearment, James L. Brooks's 1983 Oscar-winning classic about mothers, daughters, and children of all ages. Laci and Matt agree that it executes everything Parenthood is going for about 10,000 time...
2018-07-101h 15
1-Week Rental: A Movie PodcastThe Best Of Load Bearing Beams!Due to a family emergency, Laci and Matt weren't able to record a new episode this week, so instead we present seventeen short clips from the podcast that are just plum terrific. They are: "John Williams Loves a Buffet" (from Hook) "Is Jim Carrey Funny?" (from The Grinch) "Shouldn't Young Doc Brown Recognize His Future Self?" (from Back to the Future Part II) "Farting Your Dinner" (from Nacho Libre) "Matt hates The Goonies" (from The Goonies) "We're not impressed with Vada's poem at the end of My Girl"...
2018-05-2537 min
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast27. Rocky / Welcome To the DollhouseIn an episode Laci calls "Rocky House" but that Matt calls "Rockin' At the Dollhouse," Laci and Matt discuss the feel-good movie of all time, Rocky (1976) and the feel-bad movie of all time, Welcome To the Dollhouse (1996). What follows is weirdly intense discussion about mortality, bullying, and happiness. Also: Matt's senior class trip to Disney World sucked. Time stamps: Rocky: 06:08 Welcome To the Dollhouse: 22:37 Website: www.loadbearingbeams.com Twitter: @LoadBearingPod
2018-03-0956 min
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast24. Jumanji (Listener Choice!)Jumanji Fever is sweeping America—nay, the world—and Load Bearing Beams catches the fever by viewing Welcome To the Jungle's predecessor, 1995's much more somber, pensive, and scaled-down film, Jumanji. A listener selected this movie for the show, as neither Laci nor Matt was a big fan of it growing up. But this movie is much beloved by millions of people, so the show sets out to figure out why. It's a movie in which Robin Williams doesn't get to Robin Williams, and the plot revolves largely around dead and emotionally unavailable parents... we have a winner...
2018-02-1634 min
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast21. Blow / WatchmenBack before Johnny Depp sucked, he starred in a movie called Blow (2001), the story of a mediocre, uninteresting drug dealer who can do no wrong... until he can do no right! Does this film pack the emotional punch for adult Laci that it did for teen Laci? Then, LBB examines Zack Snyder's Watchmen (2009), a bloated, confused, utterly fascinating adaptation of the classic graphic novel. Laci and Matt debate whether Rorshach is a flawed but admirable hero, or an overgrown male junior high school student who scrawls Nietzsche quotes in his notebook. Matt loved this movie so much that...
2018-01-2650 min
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast16. Jurassic Park III / My GirlLaci and Matt return, if not better than ever then at least not diminished, to discuss the films Jurassic Park III (2001) and My Girl (1991). First up, it's Jurassic Park III, a movie selected by Matt because he loves the first Jurassic Park and this one also has dinosaurs on an island, so it'll do. The Roth-Stokeses assess this movie and its place in the larger Jurassic canon, especially when compared with Jurassic World. Then it's My Girl. What can you say about My Girl? This is a movie. Originally called Born Jaundiced, this treacly piece of '70s nosta...
2017-11-1845 min
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast14. Napoleon Dynamite / Blade RunnerAs an October hurricane heads for their house, Laci and Matt turn their attention to Napoleon Dynamite (2004) and Blade Runner (1982), a set of movies about inscrutable men and the women who can't help but love them. First, Laci and Matt tackle Napoleon Dynamite [03:10], a movie about which Laci no longer knows how she feels, but which Matt calls "not unenjoyable." But does this collection of awkward quirks ultimately amount to something more than Mad Libs: The Movie? And is the secret to this film's enduring legacy merely that Napoleon's voice is easy to impersonate? Then there...
2017-10-0646 min
1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast01. Star Wars / Dirty DancingNOTE FROM 2024: Many years later, once we learned how to actually podcast, we revisited both of these movies. In Episode 99 we went back to Dirty Dancing and in Episode 100 we went back to Star Wars. In the debut episode, Laci and Matt discuss the concept of load-bearing-beam movies, and then do a deep dive into their first selections. Matt choosesStar Wars (1977) and Laci chooses Dirty Dancing (1987). Many important issues are tackled, including why the original "Star Wars" movie should only be referred to as "Star Wars"; how the Kellerman Resort is basically a summer camp a...
2017-05-121h 31