Load Bearing Beams

We may all go a little mad sometimes, but one thing that won't drive you PSYCHO is listening to this podcast about Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 shock-tastic thrills-a-minute slasher joint. Happy Halloween.    Time stamps: Psycho: 12:00 Best horror movie decades: 36:20   Do you want us to talk about YOUR movie? Leave a review of our podcast on iTunes, and in your review give us the name of your load-bearing beam and why it's so important to you.   Website: www.loadbearingbeams.com   Twitter: @LoadBearingPod YouTube: LoadBearingBeams

In an extra-scary episode of the show, Laci "R.I.P." Roth and Matt CHOKES talk about the classic Disney Halloween film Hocus Pocus (1993). But wait... classic? This pile of garbage?    Also, hear our abbreviated thoughts on What's Eating Gilbert Grape in lieu of an actual episode on the film, and then we review Netflix's The Haunting of Hill House.    Time stamps: Hocus Pocus: 01:29 What's Eating Gilbert Grape?: 37:50 The Haunting of Hill House:  41:38    Do you want us to talk about YOUR movie? Leave a review of our podcast on iTunes, and in your review give us the name of your load-bearing beam and why it's so important to you.   Website: www.loadbearingbeams.com   Twitter: @LoadBearingPod YouTube: LoadBearingBeams

When Matt was in college, he took a film class where the professor showed Danny DeVito's The War Of The Roses (1989), a movie in which an affluent couple go through a bitter divorce. At the end of the movie the professor asked who in the class sided with Michael Douglas, and who sided with Kathleen Turner. The divide split evenly on gender lines—the women sided with Turner, the men with Douglas. So what now does a man/woman married couple think of this movie? Are they destined to divide like the college students, and head for a War of their own?  Also: They discuss the hype for A Star Is Born and predict how much they'll like it.  Do you want us to talk about YOUR movie? Leave a review of our podcast on iTunes, and in your review give us the name of your load-bearing beam and why it's so important to you. Website: www.loadbearingbeams.com Twitter: @LoadBearingPod YouTube: LoadBearingBeams

It's a Steven Spielberg double-header as Laci and Matt pit their cherished, beloved load-bearing beams against one another.  First up: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) whose title, we all know, refers to a physical interaction with an alien. We all know this.  Then it's The Color Purple (1985), whose title, as we all know, refers to naturally occurring purple. We all know this.  Time stamps: Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (9:43) The Color Purple (33:16)  Do you want us to talk about YOUR movie? Leave a review of our podcast on iTunes, and in your review give us the name of your load-bearing beam and why it's so important to you. Website: www.loadbearingbeams.com Twitter: @LoadBearingPod YouTube: LoadBearingBeams

Get shibby with us as we discuss Dude, Where's My Car? (2000) and all its fascinating and devastating implications. What can the continuum transponder tell us about the effects of quantitative easing? How could Jesse and Chester have used Bayesian probability theory to determine where to first look for their car? And wouldn't this movie be better if these two nice fellas were just boyfriends the whole time? Come on, guys.  Do you want us to talk about YOUR movie? Leave a review of our podcast on iTunes, and in your review give us the name of your load-bearing beam and why it's so important to you. Website: www.loadbearingbeams.com Twitter: @LoadBearingPod YouTube: LoadBearingBeams

Synecdoche, New York is a life-affirming romp about how gosh-darn fun it is to make gorgeous works of art! (Maybe we misread it.) Topics covered include mourning Philip Seymour Hoffman, traveling for work, how buying a house is basically buying a burning building that will smell, whether a nice person can be a great artist, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and constructing your own reality on social media. Time stamps: Synecdoche, New York: 03:00 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: 36:55 Do you want us to talk about YOUR movie? Leave a review of our podcast on iTunes, and in your review give us the name of your load-bearing beam and why it's so important to you. Website: www.loadbearingbeams.com Twitter: @LoadBearingPod YouTube: LoadBearingBeams    

After 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 times better.    Do you want us to talk about YOUR movie? Leave a review of our podcast on iTunes, and in your review give us the name of your load-bearing beam and why it's so important to you. Website: www.loadbearingbeams.com Twitter: @LoadBearingPod YouTube: LoadBearingBeams   Time stamps: Parenthood: 10:22 Movies about parenting and pregnancy: 39:27 Terms Of Endearment: 57:07

Brother Of The Show Elliott Stokes hops aboard to discuss all three of Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather films.  Do you want us to talk about YOUR movie? Leave a review of our podcast on iTunes, and in your review give us the name of your load-bearing beam and why it's so important to you. Website: www.loadbearingbeams.com Twitter: @LoadBearingPod YouTube: LoadBearingBeams

Matt and Laci watched Little Nicky (2000) and Slums Of Beverly Hills (1998) two weeks ago and barely remember them. Still, they bravely trudge ahead and discuss their feelings on revisiting the two films after more than ten years.  PLUS: Thoughts on Solo: A Star Wars Story, more debate about the merits of the Foo Fighters, and an examination of when phone calls became the worst. Time stamps: Little Nicky (15:48) Slums Of Beverly Hills (29:30)  Do you want us to talk about YOUR movie? Leave a review of our podcast on iTunes, and in your review give us the name of your load-bearing beam and why it's so important to you. Website: www.loadbearingbeams.com Twitter: @LoadBearingPod YouTube: LoadBearingBeams

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" (from My Girl) "Matt was miserable on his senior trip to Disney World" (from Welcome to the Dollhouse) "We hate crooners!" (from The Grinch) "What is fliffity floo?" (from Beetlejuice) "Did Rocky drink raw eggs just to save time?" (from Rocky) "The Lost Boys is actually about heroin addiction" (from The Lost Boys) "Laci loves vampires" (from Interview With the Vampire) "Laci thinks Matt lies about liking old movies" (from Duck Soup) "Remember record stores?" (from Empire Records) "Why are people scared of clown

We lost most of this episode, but we salvaged a debate about whether or not the Foo Fighters are good and included a 20-minute bonus review of Avengers: Infinity War and Matt's thoughts on the weirdness of how voice-over narration is used in the 1996 film Matilda.   Time stamps: Foo Fighters [09:20] Avengers: Infinity War [14:55]   Do you want us to talk about YOUR movie? Leave a review of our podcast on iTunes, and in your review give us the name of your load-bearing beam and why it's so important to you. Website: www.loadbearingbeams.com Twitter: @LoadBearingPod YouTube: LoadBearingBeams  

Friend Of The Show Caleb Hogan joins the show live in studio to discuss his Listener Choice (because he's a Listener as well!) movie: 2006's Nacho Libre. Jack Black plays Ignacio, a friar in rural southwestern Mexico who longs to be a luchador. But that makes this movie sound much more conventional than what it is, because, really, it's just Napoleon Dynamite, but in Mexico instead of Idaho, and with a monastery instead of a high school, and with lucha wrestling instead of silly dancing.  Is Nacho merely a cucumber to deliver meme-worthy quotes like GET THAT CORN OUT OF MY FACE! that people who don't get just don't get? Or is something else going on here? Do you want us to talk about YOUR movie? Leave a review of our podcast on iTunes, and in your review give us the name of your load-bearing beam and why it's so important to you. Website: www.loadbearingbeams.com Twitter: @LoadBearingPod YouTube: LoadBearingBeams

In an episode Laci calls "A City Of Their Own" and Matt calls "A Light Of Their Cities," the Dangerous Dyad discuss 1992's baseball picture A League Of Their Own and 1931's alienation picture City Lights. A League Of Their Own starts right off with the annoying wrap-around modern story that then flashes back to the action you bought your ticket for. Why do so many movies do this? Does League overcome this tiresome trope?  Then, City Lights is for many people a gateway drug into silent films in general and silent comedy in particular. It's Charlie Chaplin's tale of an outcast, shunned by society, finding love and connection in some surprising places. Laughter, and a few tears, ensue! Or do they?? What did Laci think watching her very first silent film?  Time stamps: A League Of Their Own: 08:00 City Lights: 31:32 Do you want us to talk about YOUR movie? Leave a review of our podcast on iTunes, and in your review give us the name of your load-bearing beam and why it's so important to you. Website: www.loadbear

In 2001, Corky Romano rode a wave of movie vehicles led by Saturday Night Live alumni whose titles were the first and last names of their fictional protagonists. The movie was not a success. It derailed Chris Kattan's career. It has a 6% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the most poorly reviewed movie covered on the podcast.  But is it actually that bad? Could the critics have been correct? Or is there something more to this movie? Is it, perhaps, what Laci calls a cucumber?  Listen and find out. ALSO: We apologize for the audio quality, which is 12% worse than it normally is. Do you want us to talk about YOUR movie? Leave a review of our podcast on iTunes, and in your review give us the name of your load-bearing beam and why it's so important to you. Website: www.loadbearingbeams.com Twitter: @LoadBearingPod YouTube: LoadBearingBeams

In an episode Laci calls, "Ace Soup" and Matt calls, "A Detective, Duck!" the Cromulent Couple once again wade into the uncertain world of comedy. Comedy is hard to discuss. You either find something funny or you don't.  Case in point: Duck Soup (1933), an 85-year-old movie that Laci, having never before seen a Marx Brothers movie, found utterly hilarious. And case in counter-point: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), a movie heretofore unseen by Matt that is comparably new, yet seems incredibly dated.  Who is the best Marx? Is Jim Carrey funny? If Jim Carrey had brothers who made movies with him, would he be better? We answer these burning questions once and for all.   Time stamps: Duck Soup: 08:02 Ace Ventura: Pet Detective: 22:15   Want us to talk about YOUR load-bearing beam movie on a Listener's Choice(TM) special? Leave us a review on iTunes and in your review include the name of the movie and why it means so much to you. Website: www.loadbearingbeams.com Twitter: @LoadBearingPod YouTube: LoadBearingBeam

Friday (1995) is a slice-of-life comedy from the mid-nineties that has spawned a million quotes and memes repeated ad infinitum. It's one of those movies that's hard to appreciate afresh. But Matt had never seen it, and Laci hadn't seen it in a long time, so at a listener's behest, they watched and talk about. To make a long story short: It's really funny, and actually really deep. We recommend this oral history of Friday from Complex.  Do you want us to talk about YOUR movie? Leave a review of our podcast on iTunes, and in your review give us the name of your load-bearing beam and why it's so important to you.  Website: www.loadbearingbeams.com Twitter: @LoadBearingPod YouTube: LoadBearingBeams

Guys: things used to be weird. In 1996, Beavis & Butt-Head Do America earned $61 million at the box office. Matt loved it as a teenager, and still loves it as an adult. But it leads to perhaps the biggest divide Laci and Matt have ever had on this podcast, as she is physically repulsed by it. What exactly is going on here?  Then, in The Pick-Up Artist (1987), a film helmed by accused serial sexual predator James Toback, Robert Downey, Jr. is a sexual predator. But he's charming! So we don't know what to think. We get into our feelings about this baffling film. Time stamps: Beavis & Butt-Head Do America: (03:40) The Pick-Up Artist: (17:40) Want us to talk about YOUR load-bearing beam movie on a Listener's Choice(TM) special? Leave us a review on iTunes and in your review include the name of the movie and why it means so much to you. Website: www.loadbearingbeams.com Twitter: @LoadBearingPod YouTube: LoadBearingBeams

Listener Polliwogwannabe suggested Luc Besson's 1994 classic Léon: The Professional, a film Laci mistook for a kids movie about a cartoon mouse. Turns out she had actually seen it before, because it fits right into her mid-nineties canon of thrillers featuring antiheroes in dark clothing who like to talk about pop singers. Matt had never seen it. WHAT DID WE THINK? Only one way to find out: By reading this sentence—we loved it! But you should still listen. Time stamp: Léon: The Professional (06:25) Website: www.loadbearingbeams.com Twitter: @LoadBearingPod Want us to talk about your movie? Leave us a review on iTunes and include your Listener's Choice suggestion, as well as a sentence or two about what the movie means to you.

In an episode Laci calls "The Black Bird Interviews" and that Matt calls "Vampires Of Malta," the Peerless Pair discuss 1994's vampire/journalism film Interview With the Vampire and 1941's detective/raptor movie The Maltese Falcon. Topics covered include Tom Cruise's career, Kirsten Dunst vs. Natalie Portman, the Twilight Saga, and Humphrey Bogart's mouthpiece.  Time stamps: Interview With the Vampire: 06:39 The Maltese Falcon: 36:26   Website: www.loadbearingbeams.com Twitter: @LoadBearingPod

A Listener joins us to talk about his Choice! Friend Of The Show Wade Hymel makes his triumphant return to LBB to discuss 2007's The Bucket List, a movie about death and the meaning of life. And that's what this episode is—a mediation on mortality, self-actualization, and the strange arc of human life, from infancy to mature adult to immature elderly person. Wade is technically a listener, so this fits into the whole scheme of Load Bearing Beams. Not gonna lie: This episode goes to some weird places. Website: www.loadbearingbeams.com Twitter: @LoadBearingPod