Load Bearing Beams

Content 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 resonant mutants as metaphor is, and how movingly this movie deals with the metaphor.  Next week: Cruel Intentions (1999) Watch this episode in full: https://youtu.be/OgKbZ2rxy4U   Time stamps: 00:07:22 — Our personal histories with the X-Men, and comic books 00:15:35 — Pre-movie predictions 00:22:25 — History segment: A brief history of the X-Men; career overview of and allegations against director Bryan Singer 00:41:20 — In-depth movie discussion 01:32:37 — Final thoughts and star ratin

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 week: X2: X-Men United (2003) Want to watch this episode? It's on YouTube: https://youtu.be/tWIed_vOamA  Time stamps: 00:04:17 — Our personal histories with Overboard and Goldie & Kurt 00:09:15 — Pre-movie predictions 00:20:33 — History segment: The real-life news story that inspired this script; career overviews of director Garry Marshall and stars Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell 00:34:51 — In-depth movie discussion 01:42:26 — Final thoughts and star ratings   Artwork by Laci Roth.   Musi

Howdy everybody. We're still exhausted after our epic Easter Egg Hunt earlier this week. That's right, like Parzival and all his Ready Player One friends, we're Gunters. Anyway, we're taking this week off. We'll be back on Friday, April 12, 2024 with an episode about Overboard (1987), starring that adorkable couple, Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. 

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://bit.ly/43EsswF), and his series on the WGA strike of 1960 (https://bit.ly/3TYksDP).  Next week: We’re taking a week off. We’ll be back on April 12, 2024 with an episode about Overboard (1987). Watch every episode of Load Bearing Beams on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@loadbearingbeamspod   Time stamps: 00:12:25 — Our personal histories with The Producers and Mel Brooks 00:20:30 — Pre-movie predictions 00:24:47 — History segment: Career o

As 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 the Lobby Watch every episode of Load Bearing Beams on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@loadbearingbeamspod   Time stamps: 00:03:07 — Our personal histories with Evolution and also Ghostbusters 00:09:24 — Pre-movie predictions 00:16:31 — History segment: The evolution of Evolution; career overviews of director Ivan Reitman and designer Phil Tippett 00:40:05 — In-depth movie discussion 01:34:57 — Final thoughts and star ratings   Artwork by Laci Roth.   Music by Ru

The 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   Time stamps: 00:01:04 — Our personal histories with Heart and Souls 00:08:04 — Pre-movie predictions 00:12:23 — History segment: Career overviews of director Ron Underwood and star Robert Downey Jr. 00:47:41 — In-depth movie discussion 01:43:37 — Final thoughts and star ratings   Artwork by Laci Roth.   Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (https://bit.ly/48WBtUa), Apple Music (https://bit.ly/3Q6kOVC), or YouTube (https://bi

The 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 episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/A8pJpwKGKuY   Time stamps: 00:01:00 — Our personal histories with The Pagemaster 00:10:25 — Pre-movie predictions 00:19:53 — History segment: Turner Feature Animation; career overviews of animation director Pixote Hunt, live action director Joe Johnston, and star Macaulay Culkin 00:32:47 — In-depth movie discussion 01:15:41 — Final thoughts and star ratings   Artwork by Laci Roth. Music by Rural Route Nine. List

Hey folks, as we announced previously, we are taking this week off due to work requirements. We're coming back and better than every on March 8, 2024 with a brand-new episode about the wild Macaulay Culkin book movie The Pagemaster (1994).  As always, thanks for supporting our dumb podcast. If you haven't already, please check us out on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@loadbearingbeamspod And why not check us out on TikTok, where Laci is producing great videos, including her popular 'coloring' series: https://www.tiktok.com/@load.bearing.beams  

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:  00:04:19 — Our personal histories with Kevin Smith 00:27:14 — History segment: Career overview of Kevin Smith 00:41:12 — In-depth movie discussion 01:40:32 — Final thoughts and star ratings   Sources:  Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film by Peter Biskind — https://amzn.to/42Q2wOo  Kevin Smith on Surviving a Heart Attack: ‘It’s Like I Got to Attend My Own Wake’ - by Matt Wilstein, The Daily Beast — htt

Wade Hymel and Matt Stokes sit down for a free-wheeling discussion about different approaches to songwriting, creativity, collaboration, and recording. Wade also talks about his experience as a working musician, what going on tour is like, and what it's like to play music on a cruiseship. Then they talk about Wade's great new album Who Said That?  Hear Wade's amazing new album WHO SAID THAT? on Apple Music (https://apple.co/49xiC29), Spotify (https://bit.ly/3I2SwYE), or wherever else music is streamed. Or you can purchase the album from Bandcamp (https://bit.ly/3I2Syje). Watch this conversation on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Z3pf0N858yA Time stamps: 00:44 — What is a typical day like for a working musician? 05:37 — Wade's experiences playing on cruiseships 08:50 — Van life 11:39 — How have things changed over time for touring musicians? 16:58 — The importance of the producer in recorded music  19:24 — Different approaches to songwriting 22:57 — How did Rural Route Nine's song "Winston-Salem" go from a

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 Bond's tender kisses ever bring a woman to climax? Will Laci like any of this?  Next week: Kevin Smith's Dogma (1999)! Watch all episodes of the show in full on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@loadbearingbeamspod   Time stamps: 00:05:04 — Fierce debate: Are movie posters part of a movie? 00:12:44 — Our histories with James Bond and GoldenEye 00:29:02 — Pre-movie predictions 00:34:29 — History segment: Brief history of Ja

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 watch the episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/rS3Dt1g_liw?si=5VEJrJ2dq7iCr-Uv Or else listen to it on Apple Podcast: https://bit.ly/48cDqKN ...or Spotify: https://bit.ly/48mzEhM  And why not give them a follow on Twitter while you're at it? @nlovewithhorror

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 reconsider GoldenEye (1995)! Watch all episodes in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Cu55CX78ga8?si=g2frpAKZeH5xf_nj   Time stamps: 00:06:23 — Our personal histories with Kevin Costner and movies about Robin Hood 00:20:40 — Pre-movie predictions 00:25:00 — History segment: The Robin Hood folklore, movie adaptations of Robin Hood, and career overviews of star Kevin Costner and director Kevin Reynolds 00:37:56 — In-depth movie discussion 02:00:20 — Final thoughts and star ratings   Artwork by Laci Roth.  Music by

We 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 friendship between that scoundrel Rick Blaine and that scamp Louis Renault.  Next week: It's a Listener's Choice selection of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)!  Watch this episode in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Cu55CX78ga8?si=g2frpAKZeH5xf_nj   Time stamps: 00:11:35 — Our personal histories with Casablanca 00:28:01 — History segment: The Second World War, Vichy France, and American neutrality in the early 1940s; the development and production of Casab

We 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 YouTube channel.   Time stamps: 00:03:16 — Our personal histories with The Whole Nine Yards 00:14:57 — Pre-movie predictions 00:18:50 — History segment: Career overviews of director Jonathan Lynn and star Matthew Perry 00:36:33 — In-depth movie discussion 01:16:22 — Final thoughts and star ratings     Artwork by Laci Roth.  Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (https://bit.ly/48WBtUa), Apple Music (https://bit.ly/3Q6kOVC), or Yo

We have to postpone our episode this week because of some ridiculous weather events that basically threw our lives into chaos. Here's what happened: It got cold in Louisiana. No one knew what to do, so they shut down the schools, the roads, everything. Three days at home with the kids, unable to work, or think, or podcast. So we have to push back our schedule and do our episode on The Whole Nine Yards on Friday, January 26; our episode on Casablanca will follow on Friday, February 1, 2024. Thank you for your support of Load Bearing Beams. We love you, bye!

Once 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 sort of chronological designation, or a fragmentary expression of some sort of new hopeulness. Resist this temptation. Also: We unpack why Laci has never been able to get into the original Star Wars movies, and why that is perfectly reasonable. Next week: The Whole Nine Yards (2000)!   Time stamps: 00:01:51 — Big-picture thoughts on the Star Wars franchise 00:10:25 — Our personal histories with Star Wars 00:22:28 — Pre-movie predictions 00:25:25 — History segment: Career overview of George Luc

To 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 what exactly happened to Baby and Johnny after that memorable summer of '63? Find the answers to all these, and so much more, in our first episode of 2024. Next week: We're revisiting Star Wars (1977)! Watch each new episode of Load Bearing Beams in full on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@loadbearingbeamspod   Time stamps: 00:05:49 — Our personal histories with Dirty Dancing 00:09:58 — Pre-movie predictions 00:16:58 — History

Happy New Year, y'all. We're ringing in what promises to be the most cursed year ever with our very first mailbag!   Time stamps:   00:04:40 — What are our new year's resolutions for the podcast and for our movie watching?   00:12:08 — Where's the weirdest place we've made whoopee?   00:12:57 — Which movie or TV show was the biggest waste of our time?   00:19:11 — What was the most surprisingly good movie we've covered on the podcast?   00:22:24 — What movie did someone hype up so much that it ruined the experience for us when we finally watched it?   00:29:58 — What is one movie that takes us straight back to childhood and gives us instant comfort?   00:35:40 — What are our criteria for movies that are not Load Bearing Beams?    00:39:00 — What was the first R-rated movie that we each saw all the way through, and how old were we?   00:42:25 — How many movies named Casino Royale count as official James Bond canon?   00:43:40 — What are some of our favorite recent movies?   00:46:02 — What were some of our big

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 Wonka, which we haven't yet seen 00:08:59 — Our histories with Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory 00:11:43 — Pre-movie predictions 00:23:23 — History segment: Roald Dahl (author of Charlie & The Chocolate Factory), the strange development of this movie and its entanglement with the Quaker Oats company, director Mel Stuart, and star Gene Wilder 01:00:47 — In-depth movie discussion 02:12:06 — Final thoughts and star ratings   Artwork by Laci Roth.  Music by Rural Route Nine. Li