Load Bearing Beams

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 Fablemans (2022).   It’s the story of young Sammy Fableman (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 and Matt about how Spielberg inspired his filmmaking journey, and then the three discuss the real lives of Steven Spielberg’s parents and how Steven decided to finally stop making movies about other people’s divorces and make one about his parents’ divorce.   And how about this? At 75 years old, Steven Spielberg made one of his best-ever movies.   Watch this episode in full: https://youtu.be/ouKRlcanTyw   Next week: We’re taking a week off. The Bonus

Hey folks, please join us this Friday (August 23) at 9:00 p.m. EST on YouTube Live. We're doing a live wrap-up show—the season finale of the Summer of Spielberg. Movie rankings, lessons learned... other stuff, probably. Talk to us live!  Visit the link below to view the stream live (or, afterward, watch a replay). Or, before it starts, click "Notify Me" and why not give it a Like as well? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8pyu7x4Hgo Hope to see you there! 

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 for about 10 minutes, and most of that time was spent with Laci complaining about Melinda Dillon not wearing a bra.   This is a beautiful, special movie, but it doesn’t seem like it’s as widely seen as your Jurassics Park and your Jawses. So please, folks, give it a chance.   Watch this episode in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/bVPDZKa9dFc   Next week: The Fabelmans (2022) with special guest Paul of Twi

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 forge millions of dollars of checks, he didn’t travel the world as a fake pilot. Indeed, when his book was published in 1980, reporters who bothered doing even the tiniest amount of due diligence were able to debunk his claims. Skeptical reporting has followed Abagnale his entire career. It hasn’t mattered. His story is more fun.   Does that affect the way we view the movie? You’ll have to listen to find out.   Watch this episode in full: https://youtu.be/zui8jgp2bqo   Next week: Close Encounters of the Th

Laci and Matt are off this week, but please enjoy this bonus episode, a recording of our TikTok Live discussion of the Indiana Jones franchise, a companion piece to our episode about Raiders of the Lost Ark. The show will be back next week with an episode about Catch Me If You Can. Thank you for your support of Load Bearing Beams! Get more bonus content from us on our social media channels: Twitter - https://x.com/LoadBearingPod  Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/loadbearingbeams/  TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@load.bearing.beams 

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 writing Ready Player One and creating bidding wars for both the publishing and movie rights, Ernie is a true American success story. And then he got Steven Spielberg to direct the thing! Wow! Will Spielberg use this opportunity to do some crucial self-examination about the role he has played in shaping pop culture, in emphasizing nostalgia and sentiment and comfort amongst moviegoers everywhere, keeping them in a perpetual state of adolescence? Or does he just use the cool toys and giant

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.   But have fun with David (Haley Joel Osment), this child robot who’s out here looking for love, and his best friend Gigolo Joe (Jude Law), who’s also out here looking for love (of a different kind, wink wink). And don’t forget about Teddy (played by himself), an adorable little animatronic bear who stumbles around after David. These three are on a divine quest to talk to God and ask Him what the hell, man.   Watch this episode in full: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-Vs9gXx

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 Raiders of the Lost Ark at the relatively late age of 16, while Laci has mushed all the Indiana Jones movies together and experiences all of time as one instant. But she loves Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones! He’s doing a lot of work, she says.  Then the podcast goes very thoroughly through the film, recapping Raiders of the Lost Ark in excruciating detail. Harrison Ford and Karen Allen are great, of course, but Paul Freeman as René Belloq kind of st

The 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 Becomes Her) 25:42 — Clip from episode 12 (2001: A Space Odyssey) 36:53 — Clip from episode 23 (Back to the Future Part 2) 48:47 — Clip from episode 45 (Psycho) 57:04 — Clip from episode 10 (Drop Dead Fred) 01:08:23 — Clip from episode 15 (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) 01:18:54 — Clip from episode 77 (Wild Wild West) 01:26:46 — Outro music: Matt's demo for the "Summer of Spielberg" theme song

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 it’s one of the best movies in Steve’s entire career!   Watch this episode in full: https://youtu.be/MiEkZQEiEDI   Next week: We’re off! But there will be another curated clip show hosted by at least one of your Load Bearing pals! Look for it on Friday, July 5, 2024. And then, on July 12, 2024, we’re back with an episode about a little movie called Raiders of the Lost Ark!   Time stamps: 00:05:41 — Our personal histories with Minori

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 into it, talking about the history of Michael Crichton’s novel and its adaptation by Steven Spielberg. Then we take a close look at the movie, wondering just how bad of a boss John Hammond must be and what exactly is the nature of his relationship with Ian Malcolm.   Also, apparently John Hammond was originally intended to sing a song explaining how Jurassic Park works? Instead they did the Mr. DNA thing, but we would love to hear that song. Who knows... may

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 been three better child actor performances than the brothers and sister in this movie.   Next week: Jurassic Park (1993) with our special guests, Kristie & AJ of the In Love With Horror podcast!   Watch this episode in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/dFtaf-8wxjA   Time stamps: 00:03:35 — We have a new theme song! 00:05:57 — Our histories with E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial 00:15:50 — Pre-movie predictions 00:32:28 — History segment: Development and produc

We're taking the week off as we prepare for the Summer of Spielberg, which starts next Friday (June 14) with an episode about E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. But to hold you over, we have this episode where Matt will take you through some of our favorite moments from our back catalogue. Thank you for your support of Load Bearing Beams! The listenership has really grown in the past few months and we want to give new listeners a tour of where the podcast has been and where it's going. Head over to our YouTube channel for bonus stuff that hasn't been on the podcast feed: https://www.youtube.com/@loadbearingbeamspod Or follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@load.bearing.beams    Time stamps: 02:41 — Clip from episode 56 (The Mummy Returns) 08:55 — Clip from episode 41 (Dude, Where's My Car?)  19:24 — Clip from episode 20 (The Lost Boys)  33:54 — Clip from episode 53 (Who Framed Roger Rabbit)  42:00 — Clip from episode 37 (Little Nicky)  45:21 — Clip from episode 61 (Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood)  51:4

Hey folks, here's an audio recording from a TikTok livestream we held to discuss Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge (2001) as a companion to our Romeo + Juliet episode. Thanks to everyone who attended the stream! You can follow us on TikTok and catch future livestreams at https://www.tiktok.com/@load.bearing.beams  And we have plenty of good stuff in addition to our regular episodes on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@loadbearingbeamspod  Reminder: No new episode this week. At least not a regular episode. We might have another bonus thing for you this Friday.  The SUMMER OF SPIELBERG begins on Friday, June 14, with our episode about E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982). 

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 to use Shakespeare’s actual dialogue work on screen? Is young Leonardo DiCaprio’s boyish performance an asset or a fatal miscasting? And how do we feel about all of this as adults who are significantly older than the little babies at the center of the movie? Also, will Laci ever be able to stop making fun of Matt’s English major ass?   Next week: We’re taking a week off to prepare for the SUMMER OF SPIELBERG, which begins on June 1

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, so listen up and he’ll tell you how this movie is actually politically poignant and emotionally devastating. A grand adventure indeed!   Matt made a six-minute video about how Babe: Pig in the City is George Miller’s most Mad Max movie: https://youtu.be/ah38veX7RSc Watch this episode in full: https://youtu.be/fEIYAIczSJo   Next week: William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet (1996) with special guest Screen Time Kota!   Time stamps: 00:01:50 — Our history with th

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, wouldn’t it be great to see Nuns in Wonderland, or The Nuns and the Chocolate Factory, or Nun Transformers: Age of Extinction?   Prayers up for Laci and Matt, who we haven’t heard from since all that unpleasantness in Reno.   Next week: Mad Max 2 (we Americans know it as The Road Warrior)   Want to watch this episode? Catch it on YouTube: https://youtu.be/5XUj0Pm3MbQ   Time stamps: 00:02:32 — Our histories with Sister A

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?   The show is joined by its friend Cinematic Joshua (@CinematicJoshua on TikTok) to help us answer these questions and many more.   Next week: Sister Act (1992)   Watch this episode in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/-XdQPkT1mNk   Time stamps: 00:05:37 — Our relationships with the many Planet of the Apes movies 00:13:34 — Pre-movie predictions 00:25:25 — History segment: Pierre Boulle’s original novel, the 1968 film, and the development of production of t

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.   Next week: We visit Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes (2001) with our friend, returning guest Cinematic Joshua   Watch this episode in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/c3i2sKcFp7Y   Time stamps: 00:01:00 — Why are we covering Howard the Duck on our podcast? 00:06:31 — Pre-movie predictions 00:17:34 — History segment: A history of Howard the Duck in comics and the production and disastrous reception of the movie, as shepherded by executive producer George Lucas, writer/director

NOTE: 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 get into that here.  You can put this podcast anywhere, but we recommend the ear.  Next week: We engaged our listeners to program our next episode, so on this episode you will hear us spin the wheel and land on the winner, and react to it in real time. (You have to listen to find out the movie that won, is what I am saying.) Watch this episode in full: https://youtu.be/ci7L1LG1mwc    Time stamps: 00:03:43 — Our personal histories with Cruel Inten