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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.

The KtS Contest: All is Lost!

UPDATE: This contest has ended. Congratulations, Brian!

All is Lost, starring Academy Award® winner Robert Redford, opens nationwide on October 25th. To celebrate, Kicking the Seat and Partnershub want to give you two free tickets to see it in theatres!

Follow Redford in this open-water thriller about one man’s battle for survival after his sailboat is destroyed at sea. Mortality looms as the ever-resourceful sailor faces an unrelenting sun, circling sharks, and dwindling supplies. Written and directed by Academy Award nominee J.C. Chandor (Margin Call) with a musical score by Alex Ebert (Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros), All Is Lost is a gripping, visceral and powerfully moving tribute to ingenuity and resilience.

Check out the trailer, if you dare!

Pretty cool, huh? For a chance to join the adventure, simply answer the following question in the Comments section:

What is your favorite Robert Redford movie?

I'll pick one winner at random to received two tickets for All is Lost!

Entries must be received by 11:59pm on Friday, October 25th, 2013.

In the meantime, have fun with the All is Lost interactive movie poster below!

Thanks, everyone, and take care!

Eligibility: All prizes for the "All is Lost" Contest and the All is Lost Blog App are provided courtesy of All is Lost. Prize will be sent via FedEx or UPS. No P.O. boxes, please. Each household is only eligible to win 2 Free Movie Tickets via blog reviews and giveaways. Only one entrant per mailing address per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you will not be eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification. Notification: Kicking the Seat will contact the contest winner within twelve hours of contest close. If no response is received within twenty-four hours, an alternate winner will be chosen. Contest is open to residents of the US and Canada only.

The KtS Contest: The Conjuring!

The KtS Contest: Go BIG or Go EXTINCT!