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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.

Ep1032: Here We Go Again: SPEAK NO EVIL (2022/2024) - LIVE Round Table Review

Ep1032: Here We Go Again: SPEAK NO EVIL (2022/2024) - LIVE Round Table Review

It's official: the movies have finally broken Ian!

His only way to cope? Why, launch a new series, of course!

"Here We Go Again!" kicks off this week when Earth's Mightiest Critics look at the latest Blumhouse genre offering, Speak No Evil--as well as the original Danish film of the same name, which came out a mere two years ago!

Both movies center on two very different married couples who, after meeting on vacation, decide to spend a weekend together in the countryside. One is a buttoned-up, politically correct pair of helicopter parents, while the other is so free-wheeling as to be downright freaky. Of course, something sinister is afoot, and the idyllic weekend soon devolves into a desperate fight to survive.

The question is, who did it best?

The EMC will break down the good, the bad, and the criminal of the Big Studio treatment of Christian Tafdrup's nuanced and unsettling nightmare of manners, which, for Ian, finally brings into focus Stephen King's distaste for Jack Nicholson's turn as Jack Torrance in Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of his novel, The Shining!

But is this crusty critic being too, well, critical? Find out as we enjoy a tongue-clippin', remake-rippin' good time! We also talk spoilers and take your questions, comments, and SuperChats!

Subscribe, like, and comment to the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel, and check out kickseat.com for multiple movie podcasts each week!

Show Links

  • Watch the Speak No Evil (2022) trailer.

  • Watch the Speak No Evil (2024) trailer.

Ep1033: REBEL MOON: The Director's Cuts (2024) - Movie Review with Armond White

Ep1033: REBEL MOON: The Director's Cuts (2024) - Movie Review with Armond White

Ep1031: BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE (2024) - LIVE Round Table Review

Ep1031: BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE (2024) - LIVE Round Table Review