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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.

Ep186: Bahstin Strong

Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg are at it again, bringing their unique dramaction touch to real-life stories of terror and heroism. Patriots Day is not at all what Ian and David Fowlie of Keeping it Reel expected, and this exciting (occasionally ridiculous) account of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing made for one fascinating (and spoilerific) conversation. Does Wahlberg's alternately affecting and obnoxious Composite Cop character hurt the film's emotional impact? How does Patriots Day stack up to the filmmakers' previous collaborations, Deepwater Horizon and Lone Survivor? And why can't we stop thinking about those delicious Dunkin Donuts Coolatas, kid?

Also, Ian shares some big news about We Believe in Dinosaurs; announces a one-of-a-kind screening of Martin Scorsese's Silence this Sunday at Chicago's Music Box Theatre; and presses full-steam ahead on the non-apology train of his deep-seated disdain for movie Bostonians.

It may be Friday the 13th, but Episode 186's luck is Boston Strong!

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Ep187: 20TH CENTURY WOMEN on THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN

Ep185: Reclaimed Wood