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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.

Ep526: Rare Bindings

Today, the Kicking the Seat Podcast welcomes back Keeping it Reel's David Fowlie for a double-feature of spoilerific film analysis! Now available to stream are two eerily similar documentaries: The Booksellers chronicles the highs and lows of New York's book-collector subculture, and My Comic Shop Country follows a fan's quest to understand the state of American comic book retailers.

Ian and David geek out and freak out over the colorful personalities, troubling trends, and wallet-demolishing rarities featured in both illuminating docs--one of which towers bookishly over the other!

Also, Ian reminds you about tonight's Facebook Live Q&A with the filmmakers behind Mercury in Retrograde, which you can stream right now in support of the Gene Siskel Film Center during its corona-closure!

Episode 526 is highly collectible!

Show Guide:

Intro Music: 0:00 - 0:14

Intro: 0:14 - 3:32

The Booksellers Trailer: 3:32 - 5:29

The Booksellers Discussion: 5:29 - 1:27:33

Outro Music: 1:27:33 - 1:27:49

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Ep527: Reelpolitik: The More Things Change

Ep525: Page2Screen: Sadness Cake