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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.

Ep370: Late Screening: It's SPEED on a DIE HARD!

The Kicking the Seat Podcast and Cole Rush of ColeTries.com and The Quill to Live close out the first full year of "Late Screening" with a look at the mother of all action movies, 1988's Die Hard! How does a millennial immersed in decades of tropes and pop culture call-backs to the movie that put Bruce Willis on the map react to seeing the film for the first time? The answer may surprise you--as will Ian's ideas for improving a cinema staple that's 98% perfect!

Also, Ian talks about seeing Miracle on 34th Street in Park Ridge, IL's newly renovated Pickwick Theatre! The ninety-year-old movie palace recently stepped into the twenty second century with a state-of-the-art laser-projection system that must be seen to be believed. For more info on the Pickwick's history and the recent updates, check out this segment from WGN News.

Only Episode 370 can make someone that crazy!

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Ep371: Dinner at Dawn?

Ep369: High Tide