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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.

Ep323: Can't Help Falling in Love

Today, the Kicking the Seat Podcast and HollywoodChicago.com's Pat “The Über Critic” McDonald fry up some banana sandwiches and talk Elvis! In anticipation of Eugene Jarecki's new documentary, The King,* the guys look at one pre-Army picture, 1958's King Creole, and one post-Army pitcure, 1960's G.I. Blues.

How did Elvis's military service affect the kinds of films he starred in? How do the movies hold up after more than a half-century of social change, technological advances, and the upending of the way in which audiences consume media? And just what is Elvis Presley's appeal, anyway?

Some of these questions (and more) will be asked, answered, and possibly discarded in this hour-long riff on America's preeminant pop culture titan. Also, Ian reminds listeners that Cinepocalypse will overtake the Music Box Theatre this Thursday, and that the theatre is showcasing the works of director Michael Curtiz (who made King Creole in addition to films like Robin Hood and Casablanca) all summer.

Episode 323 will never die!

*In case you missed it, check out our April discussion of The King for Chicago Film News!

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Ep324: Bizarre Exploits

Ep322: Incredibility Gap