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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.

Ep986: CIVIL WAR (2024) - LIVE Round Table Review

Ep986: CIVIL WAR (2024) - LIVE Round Table Review

Earth's Mightiest Critics hop off the fence to engage with Civil War!

Alex Garland's latest look into mankind's cracked crystal ball features Kyrstin Dunst, Cailee Spaeny, Wagner Moura, and Stephen McKinley Henderson as four journalists trekking across a combat-ravaged America on a quest to interview a dictatorial 3rd-term President (played by Nick Offerman).

Writer/director Garland has said his film doesn't take sides, and leaves it up to the viewer to interpret Civil War's true political implications. Is that true--or just more Hollywood spin? And does the combination of hard-hitting drama and pulse-pounding action make ideology (or the supposed lack thereof) irrelevant?

Join us as we dig into the firepower, politics, and prescience of Alex Garland's latest dystopian drama--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

Ep987: Gettin' Our Phil: BATMAN (1989)

Ep987: Gettin' Our Phil: BATMAN (1989)

Ep985: Power in Itself: An Interview with A FORGOTTEN MAN Writer/Director Laurent Nègre

Ep985: Power in Itself: An Interview with A FORGOTTEN MAN Writer/Director Laurent Nègre