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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.

Ep313: Late Screening: Bowman for You (Son of Borat [Part 2])

Today, The Kicking the Seat Podcast and Cole Rush of ColeTries.com conclude their two-part look at Comedy Central's docu-series, Nathan for You, with a discussion of the feature-length Season Four finale, Finding Frances. When host Nathan Fielder invited professional Bill Gates impersonator Bill Heath to record an audio commentary for the episode in which he'd appeared, he could not have predicted the months long journey to reconcile a decades-old lost love that would ensue. The film pushes the boundaries of cringe-comedy-as-social-critique even further than the show that inspired it, and Ian and Cole dig into the significance of Fielder's artistic accomplishment.

Also, Ian talks about the Chicago openings of the delightful animated adventure, Lu Over the Wall, and the not-so-delightful neo-noir, Terminal. Lastly, you'll hear a tease of a interview Ian conducted with producer/director Marc Turtletaub, whose must-see drama, Puzzle, hits theatres in July!

Episode 313 wanders, but is not lost!

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Ep314: Disaster Relief

Ep312: A Tale of Two Movies