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Welcome to Kicking the Seat!

Ian Simmons launched Kicking the Seat in 2009, one week after seeing Nora Ephron’s Julie & Julia. His wife proposed blogging as a healthier outlet for his anger than red-faced, twenty-minute tirades (Ian is no longer allowed to drive home from the movies).

The Kicking the Seat Podcast followed three years later and, despite its “undiscovered gem” status, Ian thoroughly enjoys hosting film critic discussions, creating themed shows, and interviewing such luminaries as Gaspar NoéRachel BrosnahanAmy Seimetz, and Richard Dreyfuss.

Ian is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association. He also has a family, a day job, and conflicted feelings about referring to himself in the third person.

Ep246: The Motormouth City

This week, the Kicking the Seat Podcast welcomes back HollywoodChicago.com's Pat “The Über Critic” McDonald for a look at two societal pressure-cookers masquerading as movies. First up is John Avildsen’s 1970 drama Joe, starring Peter Boyle and Dennis Patrick as frustrated, middle-aged, middle-class men waging a secret war on hippies. The second is Kathryn Bigelow’s Detroit, which is out now and centers on a flashpoint of that era’s brutal Civil Rights struggle.

This is a free-wheeling and wide-ranging conversation that covers everything from race and politics; to the definition of second-wave feminism; to the pitfalls of after-market DVD purchases. Also, Ian teases the podcast’s return to a relentless (some might say ridiculous) schedule.

Note: If you want to avoid spoilers for Joe (and newcomers absolutely should), fast forward at the 41:00 mark and resume the episode at 54:02.

Start drawing up those protest signs: Episode 246 has a lot to say!

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Ep247: Pod Mentality

Ep245: DARK, SICK Yippies