1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast

Matt and Laci spend a week with a movie, and take you along on the journey. They spend the week watching, re-watching, researching, reading interviews, and reading the source material of the week's movie. Whether it's a blockbuster from the past, an all-time flop, or a cult classic, they unpack the history behind its production and the people who made it, then discuss, review, and make fun of the movie itself. New episodes every Friday. Formerly known as Load Bearing Beams.

BONUS: Darkness Falls (with AJ from In Love With Horror) 11/21/2025

Nickelodeon's Doug (with Wade Hymel & Patrick Perot) 11/14/2025

Nickelodeon's Doug (with Wade Hymel & Patrick Perot) As Matt and Laci work on the transition from Load Bearing Beams to 1-Week Rental, they are unlocking some episodes from behind the Patreon paywall to hold you over. First up: Matt is joined by his friends and bandmates Wade Hymel and Patrick Perot to cover two episodes of Nickelodeon's Doug. “Bangin’ On A Trash Can” is one of the best songs ever written for a fictional character, right? We gush endlessly about it, as well as its “Think Big” remix, and try to find parallels between Doug’s band and our own individual musical endeavors. Plus, you’ll learn way more than you could possibly be interested in learning about the history of Rural Route Nine. And of course, it’s a larger discussion of Nickelodeon’s Doug and the wider history of Nickelodeon and Nicktoons, plus the sad migration of Doug into the greasy maw of the Walt Disney Company, where he was badassified with baggier clothes and a dog who rides a motorcycle. We also discuss the original Doug pilot, “Doug Can’t Dance.” There’s a fake Quailman at the school dance, a girl wearing a physics-defying donut costume, and Roger Klotz condemned to eternal torment like a slug on the ground. Also, we ponder how bad Doug would be at having sex for the first time. If you haven’t revisited Doug since the 1990s, you might be surprised to find how well it works on every level — it looks great, it sounds incredible, and it’s kind of hilarious. A great time is had by all, is what we’re saying. Source: "You Don't Know Doug" by Mathew Klickstein | Vulture (2012) - Time stamps: 00:02:40 — Our histories with Doug and the early Nicktoons; opening thoughts on “Doug Can’t Dance” and “Doug’s Garage Band” 00:12:01 — History of Doug: Jim Jinkins develops Doug in his head, then as a character for TV commercials, then as a children’s book star, and finally as a TV show for Nickelodeon; after its run at Nickelodeon ends, Jinkins reboots the show for Disney starting in 1996 00:35:35 — “Doug Can’t Dance” 00:58:00 — “Doug’s Garage Band” 01:26:40 — Final thoughts 01:31:28 — Impromptu “Bangin’ On a Trash Can” at band practice (2014) Follow Wade’s band Dash Rip Rock on Spotify (). And hey, while you’re at it, give a listen to Wade's amazing solo album WHO SAID THAT? on Apple Music (), Spotify (), or wherever else music is streamed. You can also purchase the album from Bandcamp (. Follow the show! Twitter: | | Facebook: Instagram: TikTok: | Letterboxd: | Bluesky: /episode/index/show/loadbearingbeams/id/39030660

So, We Made This Change To Our Podcast... 11/10/2025

177. Stephen King’s It (1990) 11/07/2025

177. 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 The Shining (1980)! Subscribe to our Patreon, Load Bearing Beams: Collector's Edition for $5 a month to get two extra episodes! Time stamps: 00:05:40 — Our histories with and opening thoughts on Stephen King’s It 00:25:15 — History segment: Quentin Tarantino’s dumb critique of Stephen King for not originating the “fear monster” idea; the Satanic Panic of the 1980s; the origins of It; development of It for TV; reception and legacy of the TV movie; the “child orgy” scene from the book, explained 01:02:00 — Movie discussion 02:45:45 — Final thoughts and star ratings Sources: "Back to Derry: An Oral History of 'Stephen King's It'" by Ethan Alter | Yahoo! (2015) - Eli Roth's History of Horror: Uncut | Season 1, Episode 3 - "Quentin Tarantino" (2019) - "Interviewing Tim Curry, aka Pennywise, on the set of Stephen King’s IT" by Steve Newton | Fangoria (1990) - "Steve's Explanation For Loser's Sex Scene" | Stephen King Official Message Board (2013) - "Stephen King's It: 25th Anniversary" | SciFiNow Annual. Vol. 2 (2015) Artwork by Laci Roth. Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (), Apple Music (), or YouTube (). Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode: “Your Ambition” - “Winston-Salem” - “Snake Drama” - “The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” - Follow the show! Twitter: | | Facebook: Instagram: TikTok: | Letterboxd: | Bluesky: /episode/index/show/loadbearingbeams/id/38945030

176. The Cabin In The Woods (with Cinematic Joshua) 10/19/2025

175. Saw (with HFK & Spooky T) 10/17/2025

28 Years Later (with Screen Time Kota) 10/10/2025

174. Interview With The Vampire (1994) 10/03/2025

174. 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 will tell you, at length, about how conflicted he feels about the whole “vampire” thing. So get ready. Other than that, the movie’s a blast. Tom Cruise is wonderful, Kirsten Dunst gives an all-time great kid performance, and the Stan Winston makeup can’t be beat. Watch this episode in full: Next week: 28 Years Later with Screen Time Kota! Out now on the Patreon: Matt and Austin Proctor from the Frightmares podcast discuss David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive Time stamps: 00:03:04 — Opening thoughts on Interview with the Vampire 00:16:30 — History segment: The career of Anne Rice; development of a movie adaptation of Interview with the Vampire; Rice’s feud with the production over the casting of Tom Cruise; reception and legacy of The Vampire Chronicles on film 01:00:50 — Movie discussion 02:31:47 — Final thoughts and star ratings Sources: "Anne Rice: The Extended 1995 Interview" by Mikal Gilmore | Rolling Stone (1995) - “You Asked, Anne Answered — ‘How is it that your birth name was Howard Allen?’” - “Interview with a Vampire director Neil Jordan: I had a great time making this movie, but there's a dark Catholic guilt underneath” by Una Brankin | The Belfast Telegraph (2014) - “The Anne Rice Reader” edited by Katherine Ramsland (1997) - “A look inside Hollywood and the movies: Interview With the Vampire’s Picky Creator” by Elaine Dutka | Los Angeles Times (1993) - Cruise's Vampire Turns Off Oprah - She Walks Out | The Orlando Sentinel (1994) - Artwork by Laci Roth. Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (), Apple Music (), or YouTube (). Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode: “Your Ambition” - “Winston-Salem” - “Snake Drama” - “The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” - Follow the show! Twitter: | | Facebook: Instagram: TikTok: | Letterboxd: | Bluesky: /episode/index/show/loadbearingbeams/id/38408695

173. Dennis the Menace (1993) 09/26/2025

173. 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 the Menace starring Walter Mathau as Mr. Wilson and Christopher Lloyd as a hobo killer who rides the rails and skins children alive, even though we never get to actually see that. And this was written and produced by John Hughes, during his “Let’s just do Home Alone again and again and again” period. Laci loves it, Matt does not, so this is the two-hour therapy session that results. Watch this episode in full: Next week: Our October Extravaganza begins with Interview with the Vampire (1994)! Bonus video: Matt and Laci reveal their blindspots from the IMBD Top 250 movies of all time list - Out now on the Patreon: Matt, Wade, and Patrick dive deep into Nickelodeon’s Doug, discussing its history and reviewing the episodes “Doug Can’t Dance” and “Doug’s Garage Band.” Time stamps: 00:03:15 — We read this week's Dennis the Menace newspaper comics 00:11:08 — Opening thoughts on Dennis the Menace (the movie) 00:17:30 — History segment: The Dennis the Menace comic strip created by Hank Ketcham and its long afterlife; the 1950s Dennis the Menace sitcom; the production of the 1993 movie and John Hughes’s pivot to cranking out family movies with very similar premises 00:39:45 — Movie discussion 02:00:20 — Final thoughts and star ratings Source: "Dennis the Menace and ADHD" by Matthew Smith | Psychology Today (2018) - Artwork by Laci Roth. Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (), Apple Music (), or YouTube (). Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode: “Your Ambition” - “Winston-Salem” - “Snake Drama” - “The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” - Follow the show! Twitter: | | Facebook: Instagram: TikTok: | Letterboxd: | Bluesky: /episode/index/show/loadbearingbeams/id/38352970

Nickelodeon’s Doug (Patreon Preview) 09/22/2025

172. Charlie’s Angels (2000) 09/19/2025

172. Charlie’s Angels (2000) The year is 2000. You are a 12-year-old boy. You spend your days watching Total Request Live and hoping they’ll man up and play “Stellar” by Incubus. You spend an inordinate amount of time choosing the coolest song lyrics to leave as your AOL Instant Messenger away message. And you head out to the cinematorium to see three women kick ass in Charlie’s Angels. You like it a lot, but you have difficulty explaining why. Well, revisiting it 25 years later, it’s actually pretty easy to see why: It’s kind of just a straightforward, fun, slightly silly action movie. In Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu, and Cameron Diaz, you have three extremely likable and charismatic performances. And, in the biggest shocker of all, the much-maligned McG is able to direct some fairly competent action sequences. Who knew? Watch this episode in full: Next week: Dennis the Menace (1993) Bonus videos: Review of the new Stephen King adaptation The Long Walk: Review of FernGully 2: The Magical Rescue: Watching The Godfather with a 14-year-old: Time stamps: 00:04:08 — Opening thoughts on Charlie’s Angels 00:19:15 — History segment: The 1970s Charlie’s Angels TV show and the advent of “Jiggle Television”; the movie’s development with Drew Barrymore as producer and the hiring of McG; the “complicated legacy” of the 2000 movie as the 2019 reboot movie starring Kristen Stewart came out and was then poorly received 00:43:00 — Movie discussion 01:59:45 — Final thoughts and star ratings Sources: "The Complicated Legacy of the 2000 Charlie’s Angels" by Ashley Spencer | Vanity Fair (2019) - “Drew Barrymore: I Need to Be the Person to Rescue Myself in Life” by Alyssa Bailey | Elle (2016) - “Bill Murray says 'Charlie's Angels' director 'deserves to die'” by Chris Nashawaty | Entertainment Weekly (2009) - "Post-Godzilla: Broad Sony agenda shows there's life after lizard" by Dan Cox & Benedict Carver | Variety (1998) - Review of 'Charlie's Angels' by Roger Ebert | The Chicago Sun-Times (2000) - “Charlie's timeless angels: Women who transformed television” by David Usborne | The Independent (2006) - "Elizabeth Banks Thinks This Interview Is Dangerous for Her" by David Marchese | The New York Times (2022) - Artwork by Laci Roth. Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (), Apple Music (), or YouTube (. Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode: “Your Ambition” - “Winston-Salem” - “Snake Drama” - “The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” - Follow the show! Twitter: | | Facebook: Instagram: TikTok: | Letterboxd: | Bluesky: /episode/index/show/loadbearingbeams/id/38273165

171. FernGully: The Last Rainforest 09/12/2025

171. 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…. But man, it really seems like Avatar has seen FernGully. Or maybe it’s just that there are so few anti-capitalist movies made by Hollywood studios that the few that exist all seem to resemble each other. Also: Seriously you guys, there is some legitimately horny stuff going on in this movie. Avatar also seems inspired by that part. Watch this episode in full: Next week: Charlie’s Angels (2000) Bonus video: Matt reviews the 1980s Yugoslavian animated film The Elm-Chanted Forest. Watch it on YouTube: Subscribe to our Patreon, Load Bearing Beams: Collector's Edition for $5 a month to get two extra episodes! Time stamps: 00:02:23 — Welcome to “season three” of Load Bearing Beams 00:05:50 — Opening thoughts on FernGully 00:21:32 — History segment: Producer Wayne Young and his wife Diana steward the FernGully project; animation lifer Bill Kroyer directs; Robin Williams’s hiring creates a feud with Disney and Jeffrey Katzenberg 00:39:27 — Movie discussion 01:17:42 — Final thoughts and star ratings Sources: "FernGully at 25: How an Upstart Disney Rival Created a Millennial Silent Spring" by Chantel Tattoli | Vanity Fair (2017) - "Ferngully an enchantment" by Jamie Portman | The Calgary Herald (1992) - "Robin Williams's Change of Life" by Jesse Kornbluth | New York Magazine (1993) - “Technological Threat” (Bill Kroyer’s 1988 animated short) - Artwork by Laci Roth. Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (), Apple Music (), or YouTube (. Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode: “Your Ambition” - “Winston-Salem” - “Snake Drama” - “The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” - Follow the show! Twitter: | | Instagram: TikTok: | Letterboxd: | Bluesky: /episode/index/show/loadbearingbeams/id/38184470

Final Thoughts on The Rock + Answering Listener Questions! 09/05/2025

Final 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 to by having so many consecutive box office failures? And is Emily Blunt really his best friend? Does it matter? We take the new information and give our concluding thoughts on the acting career of The Rock, and then rank the nine movies we covered during the summer. And then, we answer some mailbag questions, including: Fuck/Marry/Kill: The duck who shows her tits in Howard the Duck, tiny Dwayne Johnson in Tooth Fairy, and the Thanksgiving turkey from Spider-Man? What relationship from any movie sums up our relationship? Is there a movie that strikes both of us in such a way that we connect over it? What are some underrated movie sequels? What makes us passionate about movies and TV? What movie makes us fight? The Summer of Rock is our summer 2025 miniseries covering the movie career of Dwayne Johnson through nine movies, presented in chronological order. Starting with his attempt at crossing over from the world of wrestling, The Rock’s career got off to a bumpy start before finally taking off in the 2010s. But it wasn’t long before the bumps returned, and we’ll be telling the story for you all summer long! Next week: FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992). Bonus video: Matt does a deep dive into Tower of Terror (1997), the made-for-TV movie starring Steve Guttenberg and Kirsten Dunst and based on the Disney theme park ride English-language: Subscribe to our Patreon, Load Bearing Beams: Collector's Edition for $5 a month to get two extra episodes! Time stamps: 01:00 — Dwayne Johnson at the Venice Film Festival 34:38 — Ranking the Summer of Rock movies 37:02 — Mailbag Sources: “Dwayne Johnson Gets Choked Up Discussing ‘The Smashing Machine’ in Venice” by Patrick Brzeski | The Hollywood Reporter (2025) - "Dwayne Johnson Uncontrollably Sobs as ‘The Smashing Machine’ Gets 15-Minute Venice Standing Ovation and Generates Oscar Buzz" by Rebecca Rubin & Ramin Setoodeh | Variety (2025) - Artwork by Laci Roth. Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (), Apple Music (), or YouTube (). "Summer of Rock" theme song credits:Words and music by Matt Stokes Engineered, mixed, and mastered by TJ Barends | Bare Sounds Follow the show! Twitter: | | Facebook: Instagram: TikTok: | Letterboxd: | Bluesky: /episode/index/show/loadbearingbeams/id/38097815

170. Jungle Cruise (Summer of Rock) 08/29/2025

170. 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 our summer 2025 miniseries covering the movie career of Dwayne Johnson through nine movies, presented in chronological order. Starting with his attempt at crossing over from the world of wrestling, The Rock’s career got off to a bumpy start before finally taking off in the 2010s. But it wasn’t long before the bumps returned, and we’ll be telling the story for you all summer long! Next week: We’ll have a shorter bonus episode to wrap up the Summer of Rock, and we’ll answer a few mailbag questions. Our next proper episode will be September 12, 2025, about FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992). Bonus video: Matt does a deep dive into Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, the 1989 English-language anime: Subscribe to our Patreon, Load Bearing Beams: Collector's Edition for $5 a month to get two extra episodes! Time stamps: 00:02:59 — Wrapping up the Summer of Rock (sort of) 00:15:40 — General thoughts on Jungle Cruise 00:22:45 — History segment, part 1: The Jungle Cruise Disney theme park attraction and the craze of adapting theme park rides into movies 00:37:50 — History segment, part 2: the production and COVID-hampered release of Jungle Cruise; the production gets attention for featuring Disney’s “first” “openly gay” character 00:58:40 — History segment, part 3: The Rock’s movie career after Jungle Cruise: Red Notice, Black Adam, Red One, and The Smashing Machine 01:16:00 — In-depth movie discussion 02:10:50 — Final thoughts and star ratings Sources: “Disney's 'Jungle Cruise' Movie Coming Out Scene with Gay Character ... But Avoids the Key Word” | TMZ (2018) - “Dwayne Johnson & Chris Evans’ $200M+ Christmas Action Movie ‘Red One’ Opens To $34M: Is It A Bomb Or A Streamer’s Rounding Error?” by Anthony D'Alessandro | Deadline (2024) - 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://bit.ly/3MbU6tC). Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode: “Summer of Rock” - https://youtu.be/dvRY72jNIEE “Winston-Salem” - https://youtu.be/-acMutUf8IM “Snake Drama” - https://youtu.be/xrzz8_2Mqkg “The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” - https://youtu.be/k7wlxTGGEIQ "Summer of Rock" theme song credits: Words and music by Matt Stokes Engineered, mixed, and mastered by TJ Barends | Bare Sounds Personnel: TJ Barends - backing vocals Wade Hymel - drums/guitar/backing vocals Laci Roth - vocals Matt Stokes - vocals/guitar/bass Follow Wade on Instagram: @wadealready Follow TJ on Instagram: @baresoundstwitaj Follow the show! Twitter: | | Facebook: Instagram: TikTok: | Letterboxd: | Bluesky: /episode/index/show/loadbearingbeams/id/38016815

169. Hobbs & Shaw (Summer of Rock) 08/22/2025

169. 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 our summer 2025 miniseries covering the movie career of Dwayne Johnson through nine movies, presented in chronological order. Starting with his attempt at crossing over from the world of wrestling, The Rock’s career got off to a bumpy start before finally taking off in the 2010s. But it wasn’t long before the bumps returned, and we’ll be telling the story for you all summer long! Subscribe to our Patreon, Load Bearing Beams: Collector's Edition for $5 a month to get two extra episodes! — Time stamps: 00:02:20 — General thoughts on how The Rock is evolving, his chemistry with Jason Statham, and broad reactions to Hobbs & Shaw 00:22:10 — History segment, part 1: Career overview of Jason Statham and director David Leitch 00:31:30 — History segment, part 2: The feud between The Rock and Vin Diesel 01:03:35 — In-depth movie discussion 02:13:40 — Final thoughts and star ratings Sources: “Inside The Rock and Vin Diesel's 'Fast 8' Feud: 'Tension Has Been Building for Months,' Says Source” by Mike Miller | People (2016) - “Vin Diesel talks Rock feud: 'In my house, he's Uncle Dwayne'” by Bryan Alexander | USA Today (2017) - “Vin Diesel Is 53 and Still Shifting Up” by Ryan D'Agostino | Men’s Health (2021) - “Dwayne Johnson Lets Down His Guard” by Chris Heath | Vanity Fair (2021) - “Dwayne Johnson reflects on his record-breaking year, becoming the tequila king and whether he’ll run for the White House” by Chloe Melas | CNN (2021) - Artwork by Laci Roth. Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (), Apple Music (), or YouTube (. Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode: “Summer of Rock” - “Winston-Salem” - “Snake Drama” - “The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” - "Summer of Rock" theme song credits: Words and music by Matt Stokes Engineered, mixed, and mastered by TJ Barends | Bare Sounds Personnel: TJ Barends - backing vocals Wade Hymel - drums/guitar/backing vocals Laci Roth - vocals Matt Stokes - vocals/guitar/bass Follow Wade on Instagram: Follow TJ on Instagram: Follow the show! Twitter: | | Facebook: Instagram: TikTok: | Letterboxd: | Bluesky: /episode/index/show/loadbearingbeams/id/37916550

168. Baywatch (with Caleb Hogan) (Summer of Rock) 08/15/2025

168. Baywatch (with Caleb Hogan) (Summer of Rock) There were big expectations in 2017 for the Baywatch movie. 21 Jump Street had shown that raunchy, irreverent takes on cheesy '80s and '90s TV shows could earn bofo box office, and with the dual star power of Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron, it looked as if Baywatch couldn't miss. But critics hated it and the movie was a flop at the box office, canceling Paramount’s big plans for a Baywatch Cinematic Universe. So, what happened? And is the movie really as bad as its reputation? What does this movie think it is? Is it a raunchy R-rated comedy that wants to mock its source material? Or is it a loving tribute to the most-watched series in the world in the 1990s? It’s… kind of neither. Does The Rock make any sense in the lead role of Lieutenant Mitch Buchanan, or has he fully entered the “most boring actor in every movie he’s in” portion of his career? Why does the movie suddenly start working as a surprisingly functional comedy when The Rock inexplicably disappears from the movie for 25 minutes and Efron takes over as the lead? Join Laci, Matt, and our official Zac Efron correspondent Caleb for a spirited debate about a movie we’re actually pretty divided on. Plus a deep dive into the history of Baywatch and an in-depth look at Dwayne Johnson’s extended business empire. The Summer of Rock is our summer 2025 miniseries covering the movie career of Dwayne Johnson through nine movies, presented in chronological order. Starting with his attempt at crossing over from the world of wrestling, The Rock’s career got off to a bumpy start before finally taking off in the 2010s. But it wasn’t long before the bumps returned, and we’ll be telling the story for you all summer long! Bonus video: Matt takes us through movies (like Baywatch) that explicitly promise a sequel and then never end up getting a sequel: Subscribe to our Patreon, Load Bearing Beams: Collector's Edition for $5 a month to get two extra episodes! Time stamps: 00:04:03 — Our personal histories with Baywatch the TV series AND the movie 00:17:55 — History segment, part 1: The creation of Baywatch (the TV series), and its unlikely rise to become the most-watched show in the world 00:30:30 — History segment, part 2: The production of Baywatch (the movie) under director Seth Gordon 00:47:45 — History segment, part 3: An in-depth look at Dwayne Johnson’s business empire, insatiable appetite to own the world, potential presidential ambitions, and relationship with Vince McMahon 01:11:20 — Discussing the 2017 Baywatch movie at length 02:41:10 — Final thoughts and star ratings Sources: “The Drive (and Despair) of The Rock: Dwayne Johnson on His Depression, Decision to Fire Agents and Paul Walker’s Death” by Stephen Galloway | Hollywood Reporter (2014) - “Dwayne Johnson lets his guard down” by Chris Heath | Vanity Fair (2021) - “How ‘Baywatch’ Went From an Early Belly Flop to the Big Screen” by Chris Lee | New York Times (2017) - (reprinted in the Austin American-Statesman: “The Inside Story Behind Baywatch, The TV Phenomena That Owned The '90s” by Brian Boone | Looper (2023) - “‘Baywatch’ Origin Story: How One Lifeguard Turned His Dream Into A Hassle That Paid Hoff” by Michael Schneider | IndieWire (2017) - “How ‘Pirates’ & ‘Baywatch’ Are Casualties Of Summer Franchise Fatigue At The Domestic B.O.” by Anthony D'Alessandro & Anita Busch | Deadline (2017) - “Dwayne Johnson once fired his agents because they didn't agree he could be bigger than Will Smith and George Clooney. Now his movies have made more money than theirs.” by Ayomikun Adekaiyero | Business Insider (2024) - “Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson bemoans 'woke culture,' declines to endorse presidential candidate” by Naledi Ushe | USA Today (2024) - "Boss of the Beach: For 40 years, the city’s lifeguard corps has been mired in controversy, and for 40 years it’s been run by one man: Peter Stein" by David Gauvey Herbert | New York Magazine (2020) - Artwork by Laci Roth. Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (), Apple Music (), or YouTube (. Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode: “Summer of Rock” - “Winston-Salem” - “Snake Drama” - “The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” - "Summer of Rock" theme song credits: Words and music by Matt Stokes Engineered, mixed, and mastered by TJ Barends | Bare Sounds Personnel: TJ Barends - backing vocals Wade Hymel - drums/guitar/backing vocals Laci Roth - vocals Matt Stokes - vocals/guitar/bass Follow Wade on Instagram: Follow TJ on Instagram: Follow the show! Twitter: | | Facebook: Instagram: TikTok: | Letterboxd: | Bluesky: /episode/index/show/loadbearingbeams/id/37832285

The Fantastic Four: First Steps 08/08/2025

167. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (Summer of Rock) 08/01/2025

167. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (Summer of Rock) Sony made a sequel to Jumanji, that sad Robin Williams movie from the ‘90s, 22 years later? And it made a billion dollars? And everyone liked it?? It’s true. And as a result, every time a movie studio makes a questionable legacy sequel this is why. They’re telling themselves: “It worked with Jumanji.” It’s why Disney is putting out a Tron movie this year. Well, the thing is, the movie needs to be good! And Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle IS good. It’s a very likable and winning comedy. It’s just kind of a lackluster blockbuster. But what a fun cast! The Rock is once again able to have fun playing a guy who feels very awkward looking like The Rock. Kevin Hart is very funny, Karen Gillan kicks ass, and Jack Black gives maybe his best ever performance. Nick Jonas is also here. And this movie has us asking the big questions. What makes you you and me me? Are our personalities completely predetermined? Do NPCs have a right to privacy? If you’re popular in high school, will you be popular for the rest of your life? And are dicks just the tits of the man? There’s also an unexpected 10-minute Blade Runner digression. The Summer of Rock is our summer 2025 miniseries covering the movie career of Dwayne Johnson through nine movies, presented in chronological order. Starting with his attempt at crossing over from the world of wrestling, The Rock’s career got off to a bumpy start before finally taking off in the 2010s. But it wasn’t long before the bumps returned, and we’ll be telling the story for you all summer long! Subscribe to our Patreon, Load Bearing Beams: Collector's Edition for $5 a month to get two extra episodes! Time stamps: 00:02:45 — Our personal histories with Jumanji and its haphazard franchise 00:15:25 — History segment: Jumanji the book by Chris Van Allsburg; the original Joe Johnston movie starring Robin Williams; and the long path to the 2017 sequel directed by Jake Kasdan 00:33:00 — In-depth movie discussion 01:43:30 — Final thoughts and star ratings Sources: “How Producer Matt Tolmach & Sony Revived The ‘Jumanji’ Franchise 22 Years After The Original” by Anthony D’Alessandro | Deadline (2017) - “Jumanji Overtakes Spider-Man as Sony's Biggest Domestic Box Office Release Ever” by Michael Domanico | IGN (2018) - Artwork by Laci Roth. Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (), Apple Music (), or YouTube (. Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode: “Summer of Rock” - “Winston-Salem” - “Snake Drama” - “The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” - "Summer of Rock" theme song credits: Words and music by Matt Stokes Engineered, mixed, and mastered by TJ Barends | Bare Sounds Personnel: TJ Barends - backing vocals Wade Hymel - drums/guitar/backing vocals Laci Roth - vocals Matt Stokes - vocals/guitar/bass Follow Wade on Instagram: Follow TJ on Instagram: Follow the show! Twitter: | | Facebook: Instagram: TikTok: | Letterboxd: | Bluesky: /episode/index/show/loadbearingbeams/id/37630930

166. Pain & Gain (Summer of Rock) 07/25/2025

166. Pain & Gain (Summer of Rock) Pain & Gain is Michael Bay’s magnum opus, a razor-sharp dissection of the American id. This movie has it all: Con artistry, prosperity gospel, and drugs, drugs, drugs! It also features career-best performances of Dwayne Johnson, Mark Wahlberg, and Anthony Mackie, and it’s easily Bay’s best movie. Indeed, it’s a look at an alternate career for Johnson where he could play interesting, complicated, vulnerable characters like he does in this movie. Instead, he made a bunch of movies with big cars and/or gorillas. Still, Pain & Gain is an absolute blast and we had a great time breaking it down, marveling at how much fun it is and how well it predicted what America would feel like in 2025. Next week: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) The Summer of Rock is our summer 2025 miniseries covering the movie career of Dwayne Johnson through nine movies, presented in chronological order. Starting with his attempt at crossing over from the world of wrestling, The Rock’s career got off to a bumpy start before finally taking off in the 2010s. But it wasn’t long before the bumps returned, and we’ll be telling the story for you all summer long! Bonus video: Families in movies are always eating breakfast together, but nobody in real life actually does that, right? Subscribe to our Patreon, Load Bearing Beams: Collector's Edition for $5 a month to get two extra episodes! Time stamps: 00:12:07 — Our personal histories with Pain & Gain and Michael Bay 00:27:08 — History segment: The Rock returns to WWE from 2011-2013 for two matches against John Cena; Michael Bay’s relationship with the American military; the real-life Sun Gym Gang 00:42:43 — Movie discussion 01:51:42 — Final thoughts and star ratings Sources: “Pain & Gain” by Pete Collins | The Miami New Times (1999) - “Pain & Gain: Where the Real-Life Sun Gym Gang Characters Are Now” by Francisco Alvarado | The Miami New Times (2013) - “‘Pain & Gain’ killers spared from death by Miami juries. They’ll still spend life in prison” by Charles Rabin | The Miami Herald (2024) - “MICHAEL BAY - Understanding A True American Auteur (PART 1)” by Patrick H. Willems | YouTube (2019) - “MICHAEL BAY - Understanding A True American Auteur (PART 2)” by Patrick H. Willems | YouTube (2019) - Artwork by Laci Roth. Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (), Apple Music (), or YouTube (. Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode: “Summer of Rock” - “Winston-Salem” - “Snake Drama” - “The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” - "Summer of Rock" theme song credits: Words and music by Matt Stokes Engineered, mixed, and mastered by TJ Barends | Bare Sounds Personnel: TJ Barends - backing vocals Wade Hymel - drums/guitar/backing vocals Laci Roth - vocals Matt Stokes - vocals/guitar/bass Follow Wade on Instagram: Follow TJ on Instagram: Follow the show! Twitter: | | Facebook: Instagram: TikTok: | Letterboxd: | Bluesky: /episode/index/show/loadbearingbeams/id/37543005

165. Fast Five (Summer of Rock) 07/18/2025

165. 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… because it’s hard to say what it is, there’s just something about him. Honestly, that’s true for Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, and Tyrese Gibson as well. It’s not that they’re captivating actors. They just have a certain quality that you can’t help but love. We also get into the history of the Fast & Furious series and the strange journey it took to becoming a Star Wars-level international blockbuster franchise. Time stamps: 00:14:24 — Our personal histories with the Fast & Furious franchise 00:30:55 — History segment: The history of the Fast & Furious franchise; director Justin Lin; on the weekend of Fast Five’s release, Dwayne Johnson Tweets the news that Osama bin Laden has been killed 00:49:55 — Movie discussion 02:02:15 — Final thoughts and star ratings Next week: Pain & Gain (2013) The Summer of Rock is our summer 2025 miniseries covering the movie career of Dwayne Johnson through nine movies, presented in chronological order. Starting with his attempt at crossing over from the world of wrestling, The Rock’s career got off to a bumpy start before finally taking off in the 2010s. But it wasn’t long before the bumps returned, and we’ll be telling the story for you all summer long! Bonus video: Matt reviews Planet 51 (2009), the bonkers science fiction family film that was Dwayne Johnson’s first animated movie: Subscribe to our Patreon, Load Bearing Beams: Collector's Edition for $5 a month to get extra episodes! Sources: “'Fast Five' Will Transition Franchise From Street Racing To Future Full Of Heist Action” by Nikki Finke | Deadline (2011) - “How Paul Walker nearly quit the ‘Furious’ franchise” by Amy Kaufman | Los Angeles Times (2015) - “The remarkable evolution of the Fast and Furious movie franchise” by Zach Harper | CBS Sports (2015) - Artwork by Laci Roth. Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (), Apple Music (), or YouTube (. Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode: “Summer of Rock” - “Winston-Salem” - “Snake Drama” - “The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” - "Summer of Rock" theme song credits: Words and music by Matt Stokes Engineered, mixed, and mastered by TJ Barends | Bare Sounds Personnel: TJ Barends - backing vocals Wade Hymel - drums/guitar/backing vocals Laci Roth - vocals Matt Stokes - vocals/guitar/bass Follow Wade on Instagram: Follow TJ on Instagram: Follow the show! Twitter: | | Facebook: Instagram: TikTok: | Letterboxd: | Bluesky: /episode/index/show/loadbearingbeams/id/37452400

Jurassic Park (with In Love With Horror) (Summer of Spielberg Re-Release) 07/11/2025

Jurassic Park (with In Love With Horror) (Summer of Spielberg Re-Release) It is with heavy hearts that we have to push back our release schedule one week. Actually, no, our hearts are light and full of joy. A new baby has been added to House Stokes in the form of past guest Elliott (from the Home Alone 2 episode) and his lovely wife having a baby. Said baby was just very inconsiderate in arriving at precisely the time we were set to record our Fast Five episode. So, it'll be here in a week. All will be well. In the meantime, we're flashing back to last summer when it was the Summer of Spielberg, and we're giving you one of our most popular episodes, the Jurassic Park episode featuring AJ and Kristie from the In Love With Horror podcast. 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... maybe we will. Please check out the great In Love With Horror podcast on Apple Podcast (, Spotify (), or YouTube (), and support them on Patreon (). Watch this episode in full: Time stamps: 00:09:41 — Our histories with Jurassic Park 00:30:05 — History segment: Career overview of Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton; overview of Spielberg’s career since 1982; and a brief overview of the production of the movie 00:48:16 — In-depth movie discussion 01:13:14 — John Hammond's deleted musical number 01:54:35 — Final thoughts and star ratings Artwork by Laci Roth. Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (), Apple Music (), or YouTube (. Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode: “Summer of Spielberg” - “Winston-Salem” - “Snake Drama” - “The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” - “Summer of Spielberg” theme song credits: Words and music written by Matt Stokes Performed by Wade Hymel (drums/guitar), Laci Roth (vocals), and Matt Stokes (vocals/guitar/bass) Produced by TJ Barends, Wade Hymel, and Matt Stokes Engineered and mixed by TJ Barends at Bare Sounds Studio in Ponchatoula, Louisiana Sources: Steven Spielberg: A Biography by Joseph McBride - “'Jurassic Park' screenwriter David Koepp reveals the origin of the film's most quoted line” - by Tom Butler | Yahoo! Entertainment (2019) - /episode/index/show/loadbearingbeams/id/37361780

Jurassic Park Franchise Rankings + Godzilla (2014) 07/04/2025

164. Tooth Fairy (Summer of Rock) 06/27/2025

164. Tooth Fairy (Summer of Rock) Well, a movie finally broke us. Horror and mortal terror have a face. In the absolutely dreadful “family film” Tooth Fairy (2010)—quite possibly the worst movie our podcast has ever covered—Dwayne Johnson plays Derek Thompson, a hockey player who specializes in knocking out opponents’ teeth. He has a lot on his plate: He’s dating Ashley Judd, who has two kids: An adorable little girl who loves him and a punk teenage boy who thinks he’s full of crap (Because he is.). At the same time, Derek has some hotshot new competition in the form of Mick “The Stick” Donnelly, a hot-shot new prospect who is described in the span of 25 seconds by the team’s coach as both “the future face of this (minor league) franchise” and “only here for a cup of coffee before he makes the NHL.” Then he becomes the Tooth Fairy. Hilarity ensues. Next week: We're off! We return on July 11 for an episode about Fast Five (2011). The Summer of Rock is our summer 2025 miniseries covering the movie career of Dwayne Johnson through nine movies, presented in chronological order. Starting with his attempt at crossing over from the world of wrestling, The Rock’s career got off to a bumpy start before finally taking off in the 2010s. But it wasn’t long before the bumps returned, and we’ll be telling the story for you all summer long! Bonus video: Matt explains how director Paul Verhoeven could predict how the future would feel, through examining three of his movies: RoboCop, Total Recall, and Starship Troopers. Watch it on YouTube: Subscribe to our Patreon, Load Bearing Beams: Collector's Edition for $5 a month to get two extra episodes! Time stamps: 00:09:30 — History segment: The Rock’s wrestling career winds down in 2003 and 2004 as he turns heel and embraces his “Hollywood Rock” persona; his acting career sputters as he tries a number of lead roles that don’t work out; he pivots to family films, where he becomes much more successful; genesis of Tooth Fairy under writer Jim Piddock and director Michael Lemdeck 00:36:15 — In-depth movie discussion 01:59:45 — Final thoughts and star ratings Source: “Interview with THE TOOTH FAIRY's Jim Piddock” by Clint Morris | Geek Week (2010) - Artwork by Laci Roth. Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (), Apple Music (), or YouTube (. Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode: “Summer of Rock” - “Winston-Salem” - “Snake Drama” - “The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” - "Summer of Rock" theme song credits: Words and music by Matt Stokes Engineered, mixed, and mastered by TJ Barends | Bare Sounds Personnel: TJ Barends - backing vocals Wade Hymel - drums/guitar/backing vocals Laci Roth - vocals Matt Stokes - vocals/guitar/bass Follow Wade on Instagram: Follow TJ on Instagram: Follow the show! Twitter: | | Instagram: TikTok: | Letterboxd: | Bluesky: /episode/index/show/loadbearingbeams/id/37170915

163. The Rundown (Summer of Rock) 06/20/2025

163. The Rundown (Summer of Rock) Dwayne Johnson followed up his debut lead performance in The Scorpion King with The Rundown. Released as Welcome to the Jungle outside America, The Rundown might be his very best movie. Along with Seann William Scott, Rosario Dawson, and a deliciously hammy Christopher Walken, The Rock is firing on all cylinders as both a physical and emotional actor. He can be funny when called to be, but leaves most of the humor to Scott and Walken, and he really shines as a stoic badass. It's no mistake that Arnold Schwarzenegger makes a cameo at the beginning of this movie, passing by The Rock and telling him to "have fun." It was his world now. As The Scorpion King was The Rock's version of Conan the Barbarian, The Rundown was his version of Commando. Unfortunately, the world had changed since the 1980s, and the public appetite for throwback action-adventure movies was waning. We were robbed of a world where he made a movie of this quality every year. But we’re also robbed of a world where dozens of movies like this get made every year. We had it all, we just didn’t know it. The Summer of Rock is our summer 2025 miniseries covering the movie career of Dwayne Johnson through nine movies, presented in chronological order. Starting with his attempt at crossing over from the world of wrestling, The Rock’s career got off to a bumpy start before finally taking off in the 2010s. But it wasn’t long before the bumps returned, and we’ll be telling the story for you all summer long! Bonus video: The Rundown should’ve had a sequel! The Rock and Seann William Scott have excellent chemistry, and their partnership could easily have fit into all kinds of different sequel scenarios. Really, there should have been 10 Rundowns. We name a few other movies we think should’ve gotten sequels as well: Subscribe to our Patreon, Load Bearing Beams: Collector's Edition for $5 a month to get two extra episodes! Time stamps: 00:04:40 — Our personal histories with The Rundown 00:14:00 — History segment: The Rock’s wrestling career in 2002 and 2003, including his feud with Hulk Hogan and the fans turning against him; brief history of the production of The Rundown under director Peter Berg 00:32:20 — In-depth movie discussion 01:20:30 — Final thoughts and star ratings Source: “Man of Action! ** Former Bethlehem resident The Rock is on a roll with ‘The Rundown’” by Amy Longsdorf | The Morning Call (2003) - Artwork by Laci Roth. Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (), Apple Music (), or YouTube (. Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode: “Summer of Rock” - “Winston-Salem” - “Snake Drama” - “The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” - "Summer of Rock" theme song credits: Words and music by Matt Stokes Engineered, mixed, and mastered by TJ Barends | Bare Sounds Personnel: TJ Barends - backing vocals Wade Hymel - drums/guitar/backing vocals Laci Roth - vocals Matt Stokes - vocals/guitar/bass Follow Wade on Instagram: Follow TJ on Instagram: Follow the show! Twitter: | | Instagram: TikTok: | Letterboxd: | Bluesky: /episode/index/show/loadbearingbeams/id/37086005

162. The Scorpion King (Summer of Rock) 06/13/2025

162. The Scorpion King (Summer of Rock) The Summer of Rock begins as Laci and Matt dive into the movie career of Dwayne Johnson with his first leading role in The Scorpion King (2002). The Rock first graced the big screen a year earlier in The Mummy Returns, in a brief prologue in which he plays a character who seemingly has nothing to do with the sturdy nice fellow he plays in Scorpion King. And now he gets to lead a picture. And what a picture. An old-fashioned picture, you might say. One refreshingly free of irony, self-awareness, or any of the oppressive trappings of modernity. This movie’s kinda great, actually. And so is The Rock. Is it possible his career peaked with his first feature? We shall find out in the weeks and months ahead. The Summer of Rock is our summer 2025 miniseries covering the movie career of Dwayne Johnson through nine movies, presented in chronological order. Starting with his attempt at crossing over from the world of wrestling, The Rock’s career got off to a bumpy start before finally taking off in the 2010s. But it wasn’t long before the bumps returned, and we’ll be telling the story for you all summer long! Bonus video: Matt explains why all movie studio CEOs are basically the exact same guy and why they all make the exact same decisions. Watch it on YouTube: Next week: The Rundown (2003) Subscribe to our Patreon, Load Bearing Beams: Collector's Edition for $5 a month to get two extra episodes! Time stamps: 00:11:28 — Our personal histories with The Scorpion King 00:28:20 — History segment: Brief career overview of Dwayne Johnson; development and production of The Scorpion King and the surprisingly long direct-to-video franchise it spawned 00:47:45 — In-depth movie discussion 01:32:00 — Final thoughts and star ratings Sources: The Last Action Heroes: The Triumphs, Flops, and Feuds of Hollywood's Kings of Carnage by Nick de Semlyen (2023) - “Hiding Out with Dwayne Johnson: The GQ Video Cover Story” by Zach Baron | GQ (2024) - Review of “The Scorpion King” by Roger Ebert | The Chicago Sun-Times (2002) - Artwork by Laci Roth. Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (), Apple Music (), or YouTube (. Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode: “Summer of Rock” - “Winston-Salem” - “Snake Drama” - “The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” - "Summer of Rock" theme song credits: Words and music by Matt Stokes Engineered, mixed, and mastered by TJ Barends | Bare Sounds Personnel: TJ Barends - backing vocals Wade Hymel - drums/guitar/backing vocals Laci Roth - vocals Matt Stokes - vocals/guitar/bass Follow Wade on Instagram: Follow TJ on Instagram: Follow the show! Twitter: | | Instagram: TikTok: | Letterboxd: | Bluesky: /episode/index/show/loadbearingbeams/id/36969735

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning 06/06/2025

161. I Love You, Man (with Wade Hymel) 05/30/2025

161. I Love You, Man (with Wade Hymel) Friend of the Show Wade Hymel makes his triumphant return to the podcast, and he’s brought with him I Love You, Man (2009). So what’s up with men, huh? With their man caves, and their jam seshes, and their pizza pies. Can’t live with ‘em, can’t help but love ‘em, am I right? And how do adults make friends anyway? It’s pretty weird. Somebody should make a movie about it. Oh, that’s what this movie is. Hear Wade's amazing album WHO SAID THAT? on Apple Music (), Spotify (), or wherever else music is streamed. Or you can purchase the album from Bandcamp (. Bonus video: Matt unpacks the story of The Black Cauldron, Disney’s biggest ever flop. Watch it on YouTube: Next week: We’re off. Our Summer of (redacted) miniseries begins the following Friday (June 13) with an episode about (redacted… listen to the episode to learn what it is!). Subscribe to our Patreon, Load Bearing Beams: Collector's Edition for $5 a month to get two extra episodes! Time stamps: 00:01:45 — Our MAJOR summer miniseries announcement 00:06:08 — Summer miniseries theme song debut 00:10:15 — Our personal histories with I Love You, Man 00:18:20 — History segment: The Male Loneliness epidemic — why is it so hard for men to make friends? We definitively answer the question. Then we talk about the origins of this movie under original screenwriter Larry Levin in the 1990s, and how it was finally brought to life by director John Hamburg in 2009 00:32:00 — In-depth movie discussion 01:59:35 — Final thoughts and star ratings Sources: “Younger Men in the U.S. Among the Loneliest in West” by Benedict Vigers | Gallup (2025) - “John Hamburg Says I Love You, Man” by Edward Douglas | (2009) - Artwork by Laci Roth. Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (), Apple Music (), or YouTube (. Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode: “Summer of Rock” - “Winston-Salem” - “Snake Drama” - “The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” - Follow the show! Twitter: | | Instagram: TikTok: | Letterboxd: | Bluesky: /episode/index/show/loadbearingbeams/id/36783745

160. Wayne’s World 05/23/2025

160. 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 movie itself, reading very closely to divine its message. Bonus video: Matt tells you about the ONLY Disney Animated Feature that you won’t find on Disney Plus, and why that is. Watch it on YouTube: Next week: I Love You Man (2009) with special guest Wade Hyel Subscribe to our Patreon, Load Bearing Beams: Collector's Edition for $5 a month to get two extra episodes! Time stamps: 00:03:00 — Our personal histories with Wayne’s World 00:14:45 — History segment: Mike Myers & the origins of Wayne Campbell on 1980s Canadian television; “Wayne’s World” debuts on SNL with Myers and Dana Carvey; production of Wayne’s World led by director Penelope Spheeris 00:37:57 — In-depth movie discussion 01:52:45 — Final thoughts and star ratings Sources: "Comedy in the ’90s, Part 1: ‘Wayne’s World’ Starts the Party" by Alan Siegel | The Ringer (2019) - “Gentle Reminder: ‘Wayne’s World’ Was, and Will Always Be, a Totally Canadian Thing” by Greg Hudson | Sharp (2017) - “Mike Myers: Man of Mystery” by Josh Rottenberg | Entertainment Weekly (2008) - https://bit.ly/43BD5lD Artwork by Laci Roth. Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (), Apple Music (), or YouTube (. Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode: “Winston-Salem” - “Snake Drama” - “The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” - Follow the show! Twitter: | | Instagram: TikTok: | Letterboxd: | Bluesky: /episode/index/show/loadbearingbeams/id/36683080

159. Final Destination 05/16/2025

159. Final Destination Laci and Matt are broadcasting to you from a cabin in the woods, where they're eating canned cat food with oven mitts, trying to dodge that pesky Grim Reaper. But the rats need their cheese, so here’s a new episode about Final Destination (2000). (You’re the rat, I guess.) It’s the movie that launched one of the great horror franchises. A franchise that Matt posits is Friday the 13th for the decade of the 2000s. This series has it all: Primitive cell phones! Internet research on big ole computers! And nu-metal, nu-metal, nu-metal. And it all started here, with this movie that began life as an X-Files spec script and, even in its final form, has forgotten to take the X-Files out. That’s not a bad thing. Next week: Wayne’s World (1992) Bonus Video: We suggest scenarios we’d like to see in future FInal Destination sequels. Check it out on , , , and . Subscribe to our Patreon, Load Bearing Beams: Collector's Edition for $5 a month to get two extra episodes! Time stamps: 00:01:28 — Our personal histories with the FInal Destination franchise 00:13:00 — History segment: How Final Destination began as an X-Files spec script by Jeffrey Reddick, and instead was turned into a feature film helmed by X-Files writers James Wong and Glen Morgan 00:28:52 — In-depth movie discussion 01:28:25 — Final thoughts and star ratings Sources: “Final Destination: the definitive oral history by the people who made it” by Ian Sandwell | Digital Spy (2022) - “How Final Destination Went From Real-Life Premonition to Horror Phenomenon” by Jack Beresford | Den of Geek (2021) - Final Destination press kit (2000) - “Devon Sawa: ‘I had to smoke pot in movies and be in a hip-hop video to get away from Casper’” by Rachel Brodsky | The Independent (2022) - Artwork by Laci Roth. Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (), Apple Music (), or YouTube (. Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode: “Winston-Salem” - “Snake Drama” - “The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” - Follow the show! Twitter: | | Instagram: TikTok: | Letterboxd: | Bluesky: /episode/index/show/loadbearingbeams/id/36581110

Thunderbolts* Review + MCU Roundtable 05/12/2025

1-Week Rental: A Movie Podcast

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