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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.

Ep348: Black & Dekker Cage Match

Today, the Kicking the Seat Podcast and Keeping it Reel's David Fowlie look at two seemingly different films that could make for one hell of a double feature: Shane Black's The Predator and Panos Cosmatos' Mandy--both of which open today!

What does an action-comedy sequel to a beloved sci-fi franchise have to do with a killer-cult revenge thriller featuring the Cage-iest Nicolas Cage performance yet? And why is the theatre-going experience crucial to understanding what both films have to offer? The answers to these and other questions you might not even have thought to ask (for good reason) await in this wide-ranging conversation.

Also, Ian reminds you to back the Housesitters "Physical Media is Dead" Blu-ray/DVD campaign on Kickstarter, and shares some info on the Music Box Theatre's 70MM Film Festival, which returns to the Windy City tonight!

Episode 348 bleeds--but you can't kill it!

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Ep349: Page2Screen: Phoenix-washing

Ep347: MDMA'd in America